It's illegal to share the amazing news of God's love in the country of Laos.
If we were found to be missionaries, we would be deported. But it was the Laotian Christians we were more concerned for. While we would be free to move on with our lives, they would suffer the consequences, persecutions, and harassment from the government if their ministries were exposed. So with this in mind we started our month.
But laws against the Gospel have no power to keep out the love of the Father, and God certainly wasn’t worried about making His Presence known there, even in public.
We had no ministry contact for the month and were staying in a guest house, networking by word of mouth and prayer to find new contacts (Unsung Hero, part 2!). Unable to openly talk about Jesus and without any connections we waited for God's direction. And He showed up and showed off.
The month was filled with divine appointments. I could tell you about the time we met an underground house church leader and visited several services, or I could talk about the prophetic artwork I was invited to paint on the wall of a Buddhist restaurant. But one of my favorite displays of God's love and power involved card games, live music, and divine healing in an unexpected evening with new friends.
About a week into the month we met two young men from Holland who invited us to play cards at a nearby plaza. Live music was already playing when we sat down at a table where 3 or 4 local restaurants met. As one of the guys dealt out the cards, the other asked me if his eyes were red. They were. What should have been white was a sickly shade of pink. Earlier that day they had both gone to an herbal steam room and his eyes had grown cloudy and irritated ever since. He was having trouble seeing his cards. After the third or fourth time he brought it up, I asked him if I could pray for him. He said yes, and I placed my hand on his eyes, thanking my Father for his life and declaring healing over his body.
As I prayed I felt a seconds hesitation as I saw all the people surrounding us, but then I committed myself and the moment to the Lord and asked for His protection from any unfriendly eyes that might be watching. God had swung the door wide open for His love to be poured out and I trusted Him to take care of the details.
Taking my hand away I asked if they were any better.
"No," he said, "nothings changed."
But then after a second of rapid blinking he said in disbelief, "Wait! This ones better!" I praised God, then asked if I could pray again. Because Jesus prayed more than once for healing in Mark 8:24, it means I can too.
"If you think it will help," he said, his tone gradually shifting from apathy to wonder. I prayed again and this time when I took my hand away he started to freak out, saying, "They're better! I can see better!"
Across the table the other guy shuffled the deck again and again watching as the Lord healed his friends eyes. Neither of them believed in God and were very open about it. They had been hurt by hypocrisy in the church and their hearts were bitter towards God.
Suddenly he snapped down the cards and demanded, "How did you do that!? Where did you get that power?!?"
And from there my teammate and I shared that it was not us, but God who healed his eyes and that we simply represented Jesus. We told him how we pray in faith believing that everything Jesus did on the earth we can now do because we are His disciples and we carry His Spirit. We shared about the love of God and the power of the Holy Spirit and the two young men just stared.
It was incredible to see God show up in what I would have considered the most unlikely of places: the middle of of a busy pavilion in a closed country- but He did! It all started with a leap of faith in the goodness of God and the truth of His Word.
So I challenge you to stretch your faith.
If you are a born again Christian, pray for someone today and invite God to come and release His kingdom through your hands. He really really wants to! Faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains! So just do it! (And if you struggle with unbelief, ask Him to take it away. God is amazing and wants to help you represent Him well!)
And if you don't know Jesus yet, take a leap of faith and ask God to reveal Himself to you. He is alive and well and can totally handle all your tough questions and doubts. He wants to be found, I challenge you to seek Him today.
"For we walk by faith and not by sight." 2 Corinthians 5:7
God Bless!
Love,
Chelle
