It is with great joy I write to this letter to tell you that our mission trip to Asia has gone well. We spent three weeks in Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. It was extremely intense as Laos and Vietnam are considered one of the closed nations where it is forbidden to proclaim the Gospel fo Jesus Christ publicly. But just like Paul, we were encouraged to keep going while being wise and safe about sharing the Gospel. I think we all learned in this mission trip that quality is better than quantity. We weren’t necessary in big crowds, but we had time with people, one on one meaningful interactions. The same way Jesus modeled to take time for a few people in the midst of a crowd.
During our stay in Thailand we had the opportunity to visit a christian based children’s home. I think sometimes we can make it so complicated to think about what to do, but it was quickly very clear that every child wants to belong and be part of greatness. So with a team of 15 people we were able to love and play with children from ages 0-17 years young. Plus the teenage girls and I really connected and they even tried to teach me Thai language!! I definitely have some work to do.
On top of that we had our awesome youth pastor Mark Johnston with us, who has such a gift in sharing the Good News about Jesus Christ in a very creative and fun way.
I want to share a testimony with you to show you how God can work. In this photo you see me and Chu Ahn who was my travel agent in Vietnam. She came to one of the concerts we had and I never met her at the concert. But a few days after we met in person and I asked her what she thought about the concert. She mentioned how she saw such constant joy in every Christian who danced or sang at the concert. I explained this is the love of Jesus that you see, then I asked her would she like to have her own relationship with Jesus and pray for Jesus to be her Lord and Savior and to welcome the Holy Spirit. She said she was afraid and didn’t know what to do. So I explained what the Gospel was to her. We grabbed hands and then she prayed with me the Prayer of Salvation. I was able to connect her to another Christian Vietnamese woman and I like to ask you to pray that this step of faith will flourish in Chu Ahn’s life towards discipleship, fellowship and a deeper relationship of knowing who Jesus Christ is. The seed is sown! Hallelujah!
I conclude that the time in Vietnam was so powerful the way God orchestrated everything. We met people who have been undercover Christian for over a year, because of the fear there is in being banned from the family if they found out that they have become Christian. The passion in people their hearts and the love they have for Jesus is one of a kind.
We can learn so much about faith from others who can get persecuted instantly simply because they have said Yes to Jesus Christ as their Savior.