“Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.” (Psalm 119:114)
As we all now understand more clearly, God does not work according to man’s plans and timetables. As distressing as this is to mankind, He gives us hope and confidence through His Word. With a full spring schedule, we headed on our way to Washington. We had several great meetings with churches in Illinois, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Then the Lord gave us a detour, as He did for everyone. By the Lord’s design, our last meeting before America shut down was about an hour south of my parents’ home. This turned out to be a multifaceted blessing from God. Not only did we have a place to stay, but we were also able to help my parents during this time.
Another blessing of being there was the opportunity to share the Gospel with several people in the area. During the times when S___ and I were out and about, we looked for opportunities to get the Gospel to as many people as possible. One afternoon at the Laundromat, S___ was able to start a conversation with a lady named Natasha. She was able to present the Gospel to Natasha, who readily received Christ. Amen for laundry day! Natasha was able to come home that day with clean clothes and a clean soul!
Yet another blessing was that we were able to start multiple discipleship times with our Chinese friends via some relatively secure social-media and business-meeting platforms. It has been a blessing for us to be able to build the faith of our Christian friends during this time, and it brings an eagerness to get back in the country and continue seeing God’s work grow.
Our hope in Jesus is never misplaced. He has seen fit already to reschedule several of our meetings for the fall. Though our traveling was stopped and our timetable disrupted, the Lord put us in the right place at the right time.
Please pray that we will be able to fill our schedule back up. Pray also that our discipleship meetings will give confidence to our Chinese brothers and sisters to serve God boldly. I hope that the Lord has helped your stay-at-home time to be as productive as He has made ours.
Bound to His service,
Missionary #6004 and Family
