After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.
5 “When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ 6 If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. 7 Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house. … 8 “When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. 9 Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.’ 12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. b]16 “Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.” (Luke 10)
So we went out(with our stuff due our transition to our next country) with the responsibility of the knowledge of the things that the Lord has imparted in us throughout our life and even more so during this year. The Blue team went out, just the four of us along with Jesus and relying only on the faith that we had in Him and the words we had been given through much prayer over the previous week. We felt called to go to Laos. What we were supposed to do when we got there, we did not know specifically. But, we did know that we were to be obedient and head to the border of Laos from our location of southern Thailand. So we went out, initially hitching rides, but then being blessed with free bus rides and even a free train ride to the northern border of Thailand. We heard what we were to do, and we were going in obedience. Through all this, we saw God’s hand opening doors to people’s hearts and making way for modes of transportation in a way that could not be planned more perfectly.
With faith and no money we arrived on the border of Laos. There we were told we could not enter the country without paying the visa fee. After praying, our group felt led to go out and find our man of peace. Although we did not find our man of peace, we did find people to help us along the way. One of the men that stuck out to us the most was actually a Thai catholic priest, Peter. When we asked him if he spoke English, he actually replied, “yeah, can I help you?” We then were able to tell him of the incredible journey we were on with god and how faithful He had been to get us to the Laos border. We spoke of Luke 10 and how we were going out on the journey of faith and told him of the current faith challenge of the visa money. He said, “Wow, it is because of things that god does like this that we can know He exists.” Next thing we knew, he pulled out his wallet and gave us the remainder of the money that we needed for our visa. At that moment, as we were rejoicing and picking up our bags to go to the visa counter, the border patrol came to us and told us that they decided that we would not be allowed to enter into their country that day and that we were to go back to Thailand. Realizing the current situation, recognizing the necessity of submitting to our authority, and feeling an unexplainable peace that came over us while we continued speaking to the priest, we felt sure that we had been obedient to accomplish& nbsp; what God had called us to do at the border of Laos.
So, as Luke 10 says, we kicked the dirt off our feet and went to the next house so to speak. After praying, our group leader felt that we were to get on the bus back to Bangkok, and head for the border of Thailand and Cambodia the next day. Feeling that that was the direction that the lord was leading us in next, we put weight into that decision and walked in it having faith that God would show us the next step. With the money provided from the previous day, God enabled us to get all the way to the Cambodian border.
This day was the hardest day of the journey for me. On the train ride for the border of Cambodia, I knew that we had just enough to get out of Thailand and only had enough money to pay for all but one visa into Cambodia. The whole train ride I struggled. I struggled with fear, I repented and chose faith. I chose to walk out of worrying and sing out to the Lord in worship on the train despite the puzzled looks I got from surrounding people as I sang under my breath. As I rejoiced in the faith and security I have, I felt peace come over me where fear had previously been present. As we approached the border town and there was one visa’s money still missing I began wrestling with whether I should pay for the visa personally. In my pride, I wanted to be able to return to the group and have this “incredible “ story of how God had provided. I prayed for that money to be multiplied in that pocket. I prayed for a random person to walk up and just hand us money. I was very creative in the ways that I wanted to see god provide, but in my heart I was still wrestling with the idea that God might be asking me to lose my pride and break down and pay it. We arrived at the border with no time to spare and our leader made the call. He said we would pay the remainder of the money out of our pocket. In that moment, I was relieved but disappointed. God had provided, but not in the way that I thought He would. Not in the way that I thought best, but “His ways are not my ways.” That night I went to bed wanting to kiss the Cambodian soil in thankfulness for everything God had done and provided to get us there, but at the same time under attack with doubt over how my Father had provided.
The next morning, we arose, had a quiet time and prayer time and really felt like god was leading us to go to the capital Phnom Penh. So without money for the bus, we headed down the highway to hitch hike to our destination. After an hour of walking on the dusty road in the heat of the sun without any response to the universal sign of the hitch-hiker thumb, we approached a parked car. There we talked to the man in the car about our story. Before we knew it, the 4 other men arrived on motor bikes and were telling us to put our stuff in the vehicle and that they would take us to the bus station and put us on the bus. Next thing we knew, we were on a bus to Phnom Pehn! Epic. I can’t tell you how much rejoicing was happening in that bus and how much praise was being lifted up to heaven while we were riding on that bus. Our minds were being blown by the faithfulness of God and we were not getting callused Him continuously being faithful! YES! God is good!
On the bus ride, through a series of events, we met a Cambodian man who had moved to America at a young age and was now returning to Cambodia 20 years later to marry. He and his new wife were on their honeymoon when we all found ourselves on the same bus having just experienced the squatty potties of Cambodia. ( Who knew that we would find out man of peace over a hilarious conversation over the difficulties of becoming accustomed to a squatty potty….) As the conversation progressed we eventually we told them the testimony of what we were doing and what God had been doing for us as we walked forward in obedience seeking to follow after Him. As we talked about our team, our countries, our purpose and our mission, they (out of the blue) offered to pay for dinner and give us a place to sleep that night.
The next morning we awoke in the home of a Cambodian military general on the Military base. We were in a home of a Cambodian-American, his wife and her whole entire extended family. Already we had experienced a welcoming of picture albums, a late night of storytelling about the family, and a comfortable place to sleep. Next, they offered to let us wash our clothes after we had volunteered to help the lady of the house wash hers. When we asked if we would have time to let them dry before we left, they replied, “Well aren’t you staying for the next three days until you meet up with the rest of your group.”
From that point on, we continued to see god’s provision and faithfulness. We had all of our needs met, but we also had a Cambodian family that we could be accepted in and build a relationship with. Through watching wedding videos, laughing about eating crickets and sparrow, learning about cultural differences and building a trust in all these things, doors began to open each day for a deeper and deeper relationship. As we prayed that God would open a door for us to share our testimonies, little by little we seized small moments to speak truth. At first, the topic of faith was avoided despite them knowing in whose name we had come. But over the course of the 3 days we saw their hearts open up to hearing us out and wanting to know more about why we were doing what we were doing and the God that was our motivation for doing it all. One morning at breakfast the conversation that we had been praying for happened. One question was asked to us and that led to the telling of my life testimony and who God is in my life and the purpose that He has for everyone. We began to talk about spiritual experiences of our Cambodian-American’s past and began to speak truth into those situations but also challenging some of his beliefs.
As our time came to an end with that family, I looked back on the times we had had over the last few days. The conversations we had had, the food we had eaten, the cultural experiences that we were blessed to have and the love that we had found for this family and the Cambodian people and I was so overcome with the Awesomeness of God.
Now, it has been over a week since our faith journey, and I can’t help but pray that God would send someone else to water the seeds that I believe have been planted in that family’s lives. Our Cambodian- America went back to America to work out all the visa details for his wife to come over, but the rest of our newfound friends remain in the influential position in that military community.
At the end of this journey, to be honest I had a lot of questions. I saw what God had done, yet there was still doubt in my mind whether we had done everything according to His will. As I sought the Lord, He asked me the question, “What happened in Luke 10 when the disciples returned.” When I opened the Bible and read the passage, I realized that it was not what the disciples had specifically accomplished , but rather how they had specifically gone about accomplishing that Jesus focused on. It was their faith that cause rejoicing in Jesus’ heart and the reason they could return in joy themselves. Jesus saw their childlike faith and their obedience in that and He encouraged them to remain and rejoice in that faith that seals their salvation. That is the key.
In a way, I felt released from questions I had about the journey. My security now rested in the truth that in my faith and carrying out of that that God was honoured and excited!
The journey was epic. It was very hard, at times very very challenging. When you have nothing but the words that you heard from the Holy Spirit and the faith that God is and will continue to be faithful to His word of being the “I am” and therefore will have the ability and actually will do.
I, a disciple, come back rejoicing for I have held on. I was pressed but not crushed, persecuted but not abandoned, struck down but not destroyed, and I was definitely blessed beyond the curse and HIS promise endured…. Now, His joy is my strength. I come back stronger. I come back sifted. I come back refined, but knowing there is so much more. He has so much more to show me and to teach me. He is even bigger than I even see Him now to be.