In Phnom
Penh, Cambodia God revealed to me what showing love for others really looks
like through the children at the orphanage. He gave me a father’s heart and
increased my capacity to love those around me.
When I first
heard I would be working at an orphanage with children I absolutely dreaded the
idea of hanging out with kids. Let’s be honest here, most kids are so clingy
and just hang all over you, not the most attractive quality in kids. But after
the first few days I loved it! Every time we showed up we would get greeted
with hugs and HUGE smiles of joy on each kid’s faces. It amazed me that these
kids were that excited to see us, that us just showing up each day brightened
their day. When I heard the stories about how these kids got to be in this
orphanage, God broke my heart for many of these kids. I can’t imagine being
left alone to fend for myself at the age of 3 years old. It is incomprehensible
to me that someone would sell their kid to the first person who made an offer,
just because they didn’t want the responsibility anymore. So God gave me love
for these kids and I was determined to tell them that they have a Father in
heaven! That they shouldn’t ever refer to themselves as orphans because they
belong to royal family in heaven. With every bible study or teaching I held God
used my voice to speak truth and life into these kids and the results at the
end of our time were fruitful. The kids would walk around repeating “God is
faithful” and “I’ am a child of God” with huge smiles on their faces. The Holy
Spirit returned the child like personality to the kids who were stuck in the
dark places of their past. God used us to bring light and redemption into these
kids’ lives. Being around these kids gave me back pieces of my childhood and
gave me joy.
In Ho Chi
Minh City, Vietnam God really made Christian persecution real for me. In
Vietnam it is illegal to evangelize openly or have any type of large church
group gathering. It was kind of surreal to be in such an environment, to go
from evangelizing openly to being very careful of what you say/type/do around
people. The contacts we worked with have gone to jail on multiple occasions for
just bringing bibles to the northern regions of the country. It’s really weird
because they have catholic churches all over the country, but from what I
understand the churches are governed by the government. Meaning they aren’t
allowed to do anything without permission from their government. They can’t:
sing past a certain time, sing too loudly, pray past a certain time, preach
past a certain time, etc. So you can’t imagine a lot of people don’t even
bother going. We spent time with a pastor who has a “underground” church and he
told us how the government will punish those who profess they are Christians by
shutting down their churches and or withholding government funds. I was told
that the government gives a certain amount of money to the people in the
northern regions to help them live in their remote villages, but if it is known
that you are a born again Christian then they withhold that money from you. So
many people are scared that someone will find out that they are believers that
they never say a word because that money is what keeps food on their table.
Many of these persecutions are mirrored in Myanmar (Burma) and a small team of
our men visited that country to witness and evangelize despite the danger of
imprisonment. In Vietnam our team would sneak into aids hospitals to pray for
the sick and dying, and to give them an opportunity to hear the gospel. These
situations gave me a WHOLE new appreciation for America and for the freedom
that a life in Christ brings! These persecuting governments should be afraid of
Christians, we are a dangerous people! We bring life to the dead, hope to the
hopeless, freedom to those bound in chains. My prayer is that Christianity
rises up in such a way in these countries that Believers are placed in
positions of power and authority and God can use them to bring these countries
under the authority of the most High God!
