“We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.” •2 Corinthians 4:8-10•
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and a sound mind.”•2 Timothy 1:7•
“Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection. Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day. Do not dread the disease that stalks in the darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday.”•Psalm 91:1-6•
“God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!” •Psalm 46:1-3•
“Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body.” •Matthew 10:28•
Farewell Vietnam! Hello Ethiopia!
Vietnam will forever be in our hearts! I am so thankful for the beauty, the babies, the beautiful things the Lord did, and the amazing people who call this place home. Vietnam is so incredible! On the bus ride from Cambodia to Vietnam, I pondered the idea of communism and the law set in place against sharing ones faith. Vietnam is the first country our team has entered that is a closed country. I pondered how it must be to be Vietnamese and live under that governement style. During this month, we were so blessed to meet the people who share about Jesus so bravely amongst many obstacles. In Central Vietnam, a community of believers gathers in a home each week, and each week the police come to escort everyone out of the building and close down the gathering. This month, many were arrested. Our amazing ministry host and his family, who care for the babies and teach English while sharing the gospel, are closely watched by the police.
It is so beautiful how they care and love their neighbors and are so willing to sacrifice for them. Towards the end of the month, our team got a tiny glimpse of what they experience so frequently. The father and husband of his family and the founder of this ministry explained to our team that the police will be watching our team and that it is possible that they may enter into our rooms. Each time I go into a country, the enemy always places the thought in my mind that something terrible is going to happen to me, even to the point of thoughts of dying on the mission field. This fear can become paralyzing when a scary situation comes along. My heart is so in awe of how Jesus has nurtured, loved, and healed this fear away. The deepest healing has come from walking into the fear with Jesus as it happens. One night around midnight, five police men knocked and entered into the doorway of my teamates room. The police men spoke only Vietnamese and seemed to be searching for a couple of people with copies of passports. The police men left and never returned again.
When I heard that the police had come, my heart dropped deep. My fear seemed to be coming to life. In my thoughts, I imagined that the police would come back any minute and take our team to the police station to either be persecuted, arrested, or deported. So intense! My teammate and I prayed as well as my sweet guy at home and then I stayed awake for a couple of hours in the night to pray and read the Bible. Four hours until the morning I thought. Four hours with Jesus. That night, fear entered into my heart and I felt sick to my stomach. In those four hours and even the following night to come, Jesus drew so near, though He is always that near, the awareness of the deep need in my heart for Him became so evident. The verses I wrote at the top of this writing were beaming from the page and peace filled my heart though the terror still lingered. God is truly our only safety and peace. Our only hope. Though the pain of fear seems to over power my heart at times it has led to beautiful intimacy with Jesus and taught the lesson that He is our safety. He has sealed you and I as his children and that is the safest place to be. Though danger will come, He promises to walk and guide us as we go through the danger and fear.
A beautiful lesson I have learned from this country and community is the power of our words. Jesus gives each one of his children all the authority of heaven and earth through the Holy Spirit. In this moment, my heart seemed to be proclaiming how fearful and afraid I was and God revealed that it is written that He does not give us a spirit of fear. The Holy Spirit provides all that is needed in abundance. Even if my heart is feeling fear, an amazing way to proclaim the truth about Jesus is to cast out the spirit of fear in Jesus name and ask God as our Father to fill that fear with His power and grace. God says that we are more than conquerers through Jesus. Let’s only proclaim over ourselves what He proclaims over us, for our words have power through the authority that He has gifted through the Holy Spirit!
So thankful for this month and all the beauty! Our final evening in Ho Chi Minh City, our squad of 48, gathered at a Starbucks to worship and have squad members lead sessions to celebrate these first five months. On that night, everybody got to sing and worship with all their might! This is so beautiful and such an amazing redemption from God because it was so peaceful though many could hear and the law still stands. So peaceful and free from fear. That evening, my friend Mikayla and I were walking in the city in search of a foreign money exchange to prepare treasury money for the coming day when God opened our eyes to a woman and her baby son searching in the garbage for something to eat. God guided us to a Bon Mi shop, a local favorite, and when giving the dinner, got to share about Jesus to the mom and baby! The baby giggled and the mom smiled. It was an amazing night of redemption from fear. All thanks to Jesus! Thank you so much for reading! That is so amazing! Ethiopia, here we come! 🙂
