A LETTER FROM ASIA
A United Airline representative called my phone as our team of college students sat at the airport in Chicago.
Waiting for a delayed flight - image by Clopin Clopant
“Your flight will be delayed 1.5 hours because of mechanical difficulty,” she said. “But it shouldn’t create a problem for your connecting flights.”
Well, four and a half hours later we were boarding our plane — the same time our connecting flight was leaving. When delays like this happen to a team, it can be disheartening.
It wasn't our team's first delay together, and we have discovered that delays are not necessarily a bad thing.
Financial delays brought us together as a team, built unity, and involved others who are now praying for us. They gave people an opportunity to participate in the work God is doing in Asia. Two weeks before we left, our team still needed $10,620 to fund the outreach. In just nine days, we saw God provide $6200. Amazing! It continues to give us the faith that the remaining money will be provided for us.
Delayed flights gave us divine appointments for someone who “always knew there was more to life than what he had been experiencing.”
Delays brought us into a culture that we didn’t know. Now we can identify with those who come into our nation feeling helpless and vulnerable.
Delays reminded us Who is holding our hand and directing our steps.
Returning to Asia always brings me an internal excitement and anticipation for every day. As God's kingdom continues to grow here, the country feels different spiritually. We continue to be full of expectation of what God will do here as each day unfolds.
Yesterday we stood on the city wall of this ancient city and prayed. While we prayed, we sensed the compassion of God’s heart. We saw His desire to make this city full of people who will carry the Good News into all the world. What a privilege it is to be part of this!
We're only a few days in and we've already met new friends, prayed (interceded) for the nation, were challenged to maintain the joy we came here to display, and discovered how God has revealed Himself in another culture.
Today we leave for the mountains. We will teach and share our lives with people from both the city and villages. Pray for us that we will discern what God is doing and that we will be sensitive to minister. Our team is teaching about the Fatherheart of God, how to hear Him, how to be a friend to God, explaining God's character, and playing games with people. We want to interact in such a way that our lives can be a reminder to these people of who God is even after we leave.
Pray for our participants. They are believing God for the finances they need to be with us. It was costly for many of them to even travel to get here for this needed teaching. Pray that they will really KNOW God as they leave from this camp, that they WILL NEVER BE THE SAME.
Thank you for praying for us and for making it possible for us to come!
Watch for our stories as we come down from the mountains in two weeks so that you can see what God has done through our lives and through your prayers.
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