Greetings dear brothers and sisters! Recently we visited the neighboring country, Laos, and would like to share once again the wonderful ways that God leads. We had all the days planned out in which cities we were to minister and even printed cards with the verse John3:16 in Lao language. Yet, God had a better plan and we understood that on our second day, when it began down-pouring and we got stuck in one city.
God knew what He was doing because in that city, we found out that there is a protestant church. As we were looking for the church, our attention was caught by a man lying on the side of the road, and we thought he is drunk so we passed him. Not finding the church we returned to look again that maybe we just missed it. When we came by the man on the ground again, we stopped and to our surprise saw the small Evangelical Church in the background. From excitement, we walked passed him again and came up to the church and showed the John3:16 card to the people there and explained with signs that we are Christians too and they happily started telling us something in Lao and showed us where they live, which was few run down rooms attached to back of the small church building. As we were about to leave, we saw through a window a woman on oxygen support. We came into the room and all knelt down beside her with and Pastor Alexander prayed her. After the prayer, we blessed her husband, who we believe is the pastor of the church and helped them with a small financial support.
As we walked out of the church, we asked the Lao Christians about the man lying on the road and they showed us with signs that he is not a good man. As we came near him, we saw that he was no longer sleeping and decided to pray for him. As we prayed, he cried and when we gave him the John3:16 card, he read it so thoroughly and after every word he lifted up his eyes to the heavens, that we were surprised to see someone with so much awe toward God’s word, praise God!
Few days later, we visited the church again and and didn’t see the man that was on the road, but we saw lots of flowers and a portrait of a woman in the church. We found out that they had a funeral of the woman we prayed for the other day, and we praised God that He used us to provide financial help for the funeral! Glory to God, for His ways are above all our ways!“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” -Isaiah 55:8-9.
Ministry in Vietnam – Tatyana Yevstratenko