“Go and make disciples of every nation…” Matthew 28:19
This verse isnt a request and it isnt optional it is manditory command from the Lord. We are to go make disciples of EVERY nation. This means in America, overseas with friends, or even with strangers. So why dont we do this? Why are we so afraid?
Thinking back to when I was in the United States just before the Race and I remember holding back so much of God’s glory because I was afriad that what I had to say might offend people, I was scared to be bold, or scared that I wont be able to defend the way I feel. But living a life in the spirit has encouraged and gave me boldness I thought I could never had. Yes it is easier to be bold when you fee like your not being judged by the people around you but the Lord can give you that courage to speak out even when the people around you might not be receptive to what you have to say.
A lookout point overlooking the ocean
The last five months have been great. I have had the oppurtunity to get to pour into peoples lives and also see people come to know the Lord. Its very encouraging to see the fruits of your labor sometimes. I think the Lord has given this gift to me because it great to have the encouragment sometimes. But seeing people come to know the Lord has often came from the new boldness the Lord has given me. If you dont open up your mouth people wont hear anything. Sure it was been uncomfortable at times but the Lord has brought great things out of it .
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The Offical Ko Samet sign
At the begining of September my squad (July 2008) did our debrief on Ko Samet Island, Thailand. It had been a fairly hard past few months so it was a great chance to relax and spend some time on the beach. While we were there a few of us girls went and got massages. We fell in love with the ladies (the shop owners name was Sirion) and decided to go back and get manicures and pedicures from them. While we were there the second time we got to share our love for Christ. The ladies were all three broken and after sharing a little bit about Jesus and the gospel we decided to ask them if we could pray for them. Sirion and the other two ladies were buddist so we explained to them we were praying to Jesus and not Budda. They agreed and put there hands on top of ours. Sirion told us in our conversation that she had cancer and that her and her husbands marriage was horrible and then he was sleeping around with other women. While we were praying I felt the power of the Holy Spirit unlike I have ever felt before.We prayed for Sirion’s marriage and she would be healed of her cancer. We also prayed that the Lord would give her dreams of him that night. After praying we asked if they wanted to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior and they said yes. They all said yes ( we had new sisters that day). It made us full of Joy that the Lord would use us to witness to those three ladies on Koh Samet. The next morning we went back to give them a Bible ( that i stole from the hotel room) and to pray with them. Sirion told us she had a dream about the Lord. The Lord fullfilled our first prayer that night. We said our goodbyes and went on our way but we knew we were going to return to Koh Samet in November for another debrief. We told them we would be praying for them and we would see them again.
Kira, Tara, Siron, one of the other ladies, and me
The past few months Sirion and the other ladies have been on my heart. Every time I think about them I pray for them and their walk with the Lord. I have been praying for Sirion and her marriage and also that she would be healed of her cancer. Last week we had the chance to get to go back to Koh Samet for four days. The last morning we were there me and Tara Stephenson got to go back and see Sirion. Tara bought a good Bible in Thai for her and also an extra so she may get to share it with somebody. We got to hear her story about what the Lord has been doing in her life. SHE WAS HEALED. She went back to the doctors and he said that her cancer was gone but that she needed to go back to for a check up in Janurary. That was the second answer to our prayers and it was a miracle. How cool is that? She also told us that her husband was treating her well. There marriage had completly changed and it was because he knew the Lord. Thats the final answer to our prayers. Praise God because he is faithful. He answered our prayers because we were his voice.
Kira, Tara, and Sirion studying the Bible
I wanted to share this story to encourage anybody who is struggling with boldness to just go out there and just do it. Like i said before it might be uncomfortble at times and might not even make sense but the Lord will guide you, stand by your side, and speak through you. Boldness is something that can be given to you if you ask the Lord. Your voice does matter. Through boldness great thing may come just like the story of Sirion. If we dont live our lives with boldness for the Lord then we dont truely live. Why would we keep something so important ,something that means life or death, something that transforms our lives from the world? Speak in boldness for the Lord I’m begging you with everything in me. We are the next generation and we need to start acting like it. So go and make disciples of all nations. This is my prayer…
‘Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness” Acts 4:29
