Feb 28th – Day 143
We went to an unregulated house church today. Gates were locked and foreigners and Vietnamese were free to worship God as they pleased without oppression from the government. I love that, for God cannot be put in a box. We cannot worship Him in a box. There is so much freedom in the Kingdom of God, with no fear of any government. Nothing held back. We gave testimonies about our relationship with the trinity. It all comes back to love. It is as simple as that. Love is all you need. Nothing else will sustain, encourage, or fill you up as love. God is love, the gospel is simply love. The trinity fills us up to pour us out to others. Love is my portion!
March 1st – Day 144
We drove about 2 hours today to an AIDS home where the Vietnamese “least of these” reside. Right away a little girl, who probably did not even know she was sick, ran up to me and held my hand. She just wanted to spend time with me and be held by me the whole time I was there. So that is what I did. The nuns took us on a tour of the home first. 1st stop was in the back where they take the sick to die. There was a wall of about 100 people’s ashes of those who passed away there and had no families to claim their ashes because of the disease that ravishes families. Heartbreaking. The little girl that stayed in my arms suffers from an incurable disease because of something her parents did, it was no fault of her own. From birth she was deemed as one of the “least of these.” But Jesus said, “What you do unto the least of these, you do unto me” I layed hands on them to pray, I held them in my arms, I asked God for healing in their bodies, I prayed for peace and comfort to overwhelm them. I asked for LOVE! I saw a range of people here: from those on their death bed full blown AIDS and TB to those recovering and living a normal life. My heart broke at how willing these people were willing to receive.
On our way home we stopped at a local restaurant. A very old lady came up to me asking for money on two different occassions. But “money and gold I do not have, I do have the love of God” and that was what I was going to offer her. She spoke in a language I did not understand but my actions can testify to Gods love. Again God reminded me, “what you do to the least of these, you to unto me.” God pressed on me to buy her a meal. I said God bless you and she was off.
March 3rd – Day 146
I saw sick, yet again, today. So while most of the team went to have fun at a water park I stayed back at the hotel. I kept myself busy for a while packing everything up to leave Vietnam in a couple of days. I got bored and decided to go and visit Alana, who lives on the floor above mine. On my way back down two communist government officials were waiting outside of my door with the hotel manager. Immediately my stomach fell to my toes. I thought, this is it, I am going to be arrested for being a missionary in Vietnam and no one else is in my room to back me up. Just God and me. So I said hello to these men. They gave no response, just stared back at me. So I walked into my room and closed the door behind me. I of course watched out my peephole in the door to try and decide what to do next. I prayed that God would just have them leave, and they did! God is the great protector. Nothing will prosper against me. For is God is for me, who can be against me?
