Short-term teams play a significant role in sharing hope with the least reached. It does not matter if the trip is short or if the ground is hard; every person in the Kingdom is useful. In the Greater Caucasus, God has repeatedly used short-term teams as groundbreakers to prepare the way for long-term Kingdom work.
Luis* and Sara* live in the country of Georgia, part of the Greater Caucasus spotlight region. They were asked to host a short‑term team from their sending network in Latin America. It was the denomination’s very first trip to the region—and more than 20 people signed up.
As Luis and Sara prepared for the visit, they thought about how to effectively use the team’s time and talents. Being relatively new to the region, they had not yet established pathways for short-term teams to serve. They knew that the coming team would be eager to serve and share the gospel—but would have limited language abilities and no context for serving among Muslims and Orthodox communities. Luis and Sara worried that the team members would arrive and feel like they were not useful or like the trip had not been worth the expense and effort.
They spent months organizing the program, hotels and transportation. While preparing these logistics, they met Omar*, a hotel staff member who showed them extraordinary kindness. From his background, they knew he came from a least‑reached Muslim people group they had long been praying to meet.
When the short-term team arrived and went to that hotel, Omar served them warmly. The team showed love and kindness as well. Even though there was a huge language barrier, they all made a special effort to communicate, and by the end, Omar had even learned some Spanish words.
On the last night, Omar went to their worship time. Beforehand, Luis and Sara had been a little concerned about the worship times and wondered how this would impact Omar and others—expressive worship can sometimes seem odd or even off-putting in conservative cultural settings. But when Omar walked into the room, he stood in amazement. “Is it okay if I record this?” he asked quietly.
Sara felt in her spirit that it was okay, so she said, “Sure.”
Later, after the team had returned to Latin America, Sara wrote to Omar and asked, “What impression did our group leave?”
Omar wrote back, “I’ve never seen this before. There was a light in each of their eyes. It was a light of love that I’ve never seen before. This was a touching experience for me.”
Sara paused before responding. She wondered if this was the right time to explain. At the hotel, Omar had invited Luis and Sara to visit his family, which was a huge answer to prayer. He seemed like a person of peace who would be a bridge to his community. Yet sometimes, without a deep relationship, people in the Caucasus can become reactive after hearing the truth. Sara did not want this door of opportunity to be shut prematurely, but she realized that she needed to explain to Omar what he had seen.
In his mother tongue, Sarah prayerfully shared Matthew 5:16: “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (ESV).
Omar responded positively, saying, “I’m surprised because what is written here is exactly what I saw in them.” He had been deeply touched by the light of Jesus in the team. By just being followers of Jesus, they carried God’s presence with them and pointed people to Jesus. Their witness further opened the door for Luis and Sara to enter this least-reached community and share the truth with Omar and his family.
Later, Luis and Sara hosted another team, this time an English‑speaking REACH** team prepared to share with Muslims but unsure how to engage Orthodox people. The couple sensed God was inviting them into something new, so they welcomed the opportunity.
They welcomed the team and decided that their task would be prayer walking and sowing the Word of God. Each morning they prayer‑walked the same neighborhood. Each afternoon they returned looking for opportunities to share Scripture with anyone who spoke English.
During this time, Susan*, one of the REACH volunteers, connected with a young Muslim student named Asma.* They connected online after the team returned home, but Susan wanted Asma to meet Sara since they lived in the same city. Despite repeated attempts, they couldn’t make their schedules line up.
Six months passed.
One day, Luis and Sara felt led to pray at the university in their city. For an hour, they sat in the university coffee shop and prayed for the students, the place, opportunities and access. That same night, Asma finally wrote to Susan and asked for Sara’s contact information because she thought she would have time to meet the following day.
When Sara reached out, Asma suggested a meeting spot: the exact same university coffee shop—the one where Luis and Sara had prayed the day before. When they met the next day, Asma brought five friends and sat at the same table where those prayers had been lifted.
That was the start of a friendship. Sara met with Asma a couple of times, and Asma introduced her to several of her friends. However, Sara struggled to move the conversation to deeper, spiritual things. Whenever Sara shared anything about faith in Jesus, Asma would put up a wall and say, “My religion is this.” She was not open to talking about spiritual matters. Realizing this, Sara decided to step back slightly while continuing to pray.
Then, unexpectedly, months later, Asma wrote: “Are you available to drink coffee with me?” Sara was surprised. She agreed and met with her, and this time, Asma came alone. That meant that there was a change in trust in the friendship; Asma felt comfortable meeting Sara without other people.
Sara and Asma talked for two hours, getting to know each other better. They talked about life, culture and even religion. Sara shared her testimony of knowing and following Jesus. This time, Asma was open. She was not reactive or defensive about the differences between their beliefs.
During the conversation, Sara asked her, “What made you write to me now, after all this time? I was surprised to hear from you.”
Asma said, “You know what? One day, I was looking at my phone, and I was reminded of you. Something inside me said, ‘You need to write to her and drink a coffee with her.’ I felt that so strongly that I just did it.”
The accumulation of insistent prayer for Asma’s life and community to hear the good news overflowed the cup of God and produced an effect on earth. Sara and Asma left that day with plans to meet again. They have stayed in contact and continue to talk about spiritual things.
Praise God for short-term teams that surprise our faith and challenge our paradigms. Praise God for His invitation to pray and rely on Him to make divine connections and to move people’s hearts. He is always working. May the Lord bring more followers of Jesus with the skill of simply being sons and daughters of God to the Caucasus.
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*Name changed for security reasons.
**REACH is a full‑time, residential international training program where participants live in a multicultural community and are prepared for global missions through biblically grounded training.
