12 Feb From Cleaning Homes to Building Churches: Grace’s Story
Based in Southeast Asia, co-mission partner Patrick* works with a local institute that provides training for local mission workers and rural church leaders on topics like discipleship, evangelism, and church planting.
In 2025, Patrick worked with many inspiring individuals, including a woman named Pastor Grace*. She was sent to the institute Patrick works at to attend some training modules, which is how Patrick learnt about Grace’s testimony.
She first learned about Jesus at the age of seven from her grandfather. At 13, Grace was unfortunately hit by a car in an accident that witnesses said was un-survivable. Yet, she walked away with minor injuries, describing a man in a white robe protecting her.
Growing up in a remote, jungle village, Grace faced hardship. She dropped out of school at 14 to help her family farm rice and a few years later, she went to Malaysia to work as a housekeeper. Before leaving, she prayed specifically to be placed with a family of exactly four members.
“I had no control over the agency, but I had control over my prayer,” she shares.
Grace was assigned to a household of that exact number and miraculously, despite the agency she worked for trying to ban her Bible, the Christian family she was placed with intervened, allowing her to keep it!
She worked in Malaysia for several years, constantly growing her faith through reading and prayer. After a while, Grace felt the Lord telling her to return to her country for a new plan. She settled back in her village and attempted to work odd jobs wherever she could find them.
“For the next two years, Grace grew very unsure of her next move. She spent a lot of time questioning what God’s plan for her was and why she had to come back home,” shares Patrick.
It was only when Grace got involved with ministries at her small local church that she understood the reason for her return. She realized how deeply the people in her district needed Jesus and began praying that God would use her!
After spending many months serving amongst her local community, Grace’s superiors recognized her potential and sent her to Patrick’s training institute, so she would be better equipped to lead others who wanted to follow in her footsteps.
As of today, Grace is now a Pastor that is training 25 leaders in her church. Together with her team, she travels to surrounding villages to evangelize and run programs that benefit the children and youth of those areas.
Pray for:
- Safety and Logistics for Ministry Travel & Events: For leaders and trainers traveling long distances to training centers, especially given difficult or flooded road conditions.
- Protection and Provision for Trainers and Leaders: Pray for God’s protection and financial provision for the trainers and leaders who are serving voluntarily by faith with minimal stipends.
- Effectiveness and Impact of Patrick’s Institute: Pray that every training session will be conducted under the Lord’s authority and anointing, and that all current students will finish strong. Pray for God to send new students who have a passion and vision for missions.
*Names changed to protect privacy