What can I say this month is totally different from any other month. First of all the travel day went smoothly, and only took about 6 hours, which is rare. Then we end up staying in hotels in Ho Chi Min while we wait for our ministry host to be established. In Vietnam it’s ok to be a Christian, but it’s not ok to be a missionary. So we could tell tourists that we were missionaries on the World Race, and talk more openly about the Father. With Vietnamese we could not tell them we were missionaries because it may jeopardies the entire group. Yea to me this was a stumbling block at first, and then God showed me a different viewpoint. He showed me that it’s all about the relationship! Relationship, relationship, relationship! It’s a powerful tool that is rarely used. I think back to my child hood when I would be in youth groups or be confronted by people with the question of “If you died tonight, where would you go? Heaven or Hell.” I answered these questions with confidence because I loved the Father. That’s great I answered the question correctly, but what about the poor souls that don’t know how to answer. Should we be pursing non-believers in this manner? Personally I think creating a relationship, and pouring out the Fathers love on the person is a great way.
This month has made my heart jump back to Nepal. Everyday in Nepal we would travel throughout the mountains, and the cities giving out tracts. Well tracts are not my ideal ministry, but God calls us to honor our brothers and sisters in their ministry. This ministry was difficult, and it brought me to the realization that people will just say they are Christians to get you to leave. Wow! This broke my heart. I thought I was going up to them with the Fathers love. What was wrong? There was no relationship, there was no true love, and the beautiful sacrifice was not reveled. These people had probably received tracts over and over again, but they never got to experience the true love of relationship. Yes, we were planting seeds in a fruitful ministry, and of course God is the only one who can grow these seeds. That does not discount the fact that I felt God calling me to more love. I should have acted in that love. I mean I felt it, but I did not execute it. I believe that it’s easy to get into a routine, which leads you to forget the reason for your ministry.
Vietnam is a place where it’s so easy to build relationships. For the 5 days we were in Ho Chi Min I decided to make the park my ministry. For my first day in the park, I sat down on a bench and started to read my bible. I said to God “ if you want me to talk with someone then have them come to me.” He answered that quickly with a man that knew only Vietnamese. I drew pictures and he drew pictures. Then two other men who knew some English sat down to help translate. In all, the conversation did not go to Christ or anything about religion. The one thing that happened was the start of a relationship and an open door to spread His love. The next day I went back to the park for round two, and God was faithful to bring a college student to my bench. He became a good friend who was eager to learn English. Open door! God was opening doors throughout everyone in our group. This young man asked me to teach him English so I offered to teach him for the next couple of days before I leave.
I think this month started off with a harvest that was ready for picking. From Vietnamese coming up to us to practice English, to being centered in a tourist area with many broken people. This place was incredible! Think about it, you spread the gospel with one tourist that is traveling throughout the world, and then the infecting love spreads everywhere. I want to assure my brothers and sisters that His love is burning throughout this nation! His love is everywhere! Yea the stats are disheartening, and the beautiful thing is that our God is bigger than stats. Anyways stats are very misleading. For example, most people in America claim to be Christians but honestly it’s hard to see the onset of a revival. In Vietnam there is about a 1% Christian population and people are begging for a revival. I see their passion, and I see how the spirit moves in their worship. They fight past the people who say no to God, and run with tears in their eyes after their brother and sisters. I love America, and I know that we started in His love, but I also see a Christian nation becoming less thirsty. I pray for a revival in America so that we can risk it all for the glory of the Father, and that His love will echo from all 50 states. He is worth everything!
I always seem to go crazy in the middle of my blogs despite the fact that my goal is to tell you more about my ministry. My ministry is actually located in beautiful city north of Ho Chi Min. I wish that I could post lots of pictures, and describe everything about my ministry, but we are advised not to give full descriptions about our ministry. This is to protect our contacts and the beautiful ministry that exist here. I can tell you that we work with a near by Church, and also a school to help teach English.
I love you all so much and I will be writing another blog soon with more ministry stories. Please pray for the squad to feel the full love of the Father so much that we cannot stop pouring out from His everlasting fountain.
