"They Don't Know About Heaven!"

It was the answer to my own leading question, but the words still shocked me. "They don't know about heaven!" The little Laotian girl in my Sunday School class back home was talking about people she loved and her voice was intense with urgency. I looked into her eyes and was forced to ask myself the questions that have only burned themselves deeper into my soul since arriving in Boudha a few days ago:

"What would it be like to live without knowing about heaven?" 

And, "If you didn't know about heaven, 

what would it be like to die?"

L.

Too Much Christmas Morning

The story goes that I once had a tantrum when presented with a stack of Christmas gifts. Fell apart at the seams, kicked and screamed. Still in the toddle stage, I had been spoiled by grandmas and doting aunties all day long, dutifully tearing into one mound of Santa's blessings after another. When my parents and I arrived at Grandpa Jim's house that evening for  a rerun, I faced the Christmas tree and came unglued. Poor Grandpa.
Well, here I am confessing that emotional little girl still lives somewhere inside this grown up. She revealed herself sometime a week or two ago and as often as I tried to reason her away, she came back with all her baby tears. The more I talk it out, the more I blubber, and the less sense I make. "My daddy leaves town tomorrow." *Sob* "Another donation posted to my account!" *Bawl* *I have too much to do in one week!" *waaa* "My dream is really coming true!" *boohoo* Maybe I've had too much Christmas morning.

God Did It!

The month of August has arrived in a swirl of happy busyness.

I am in Nashville, Tennessee, eating up the precious moments with my new niece, Olivia Kathryn. Why yes, Kathryn is my middle name too, thank you for noticing!

                            

"Livi"

                   

Last week sent me road-tripping to Michigan with my sister’s family to witness the breathtaking wedding of dear ones.

Dr. and Mrs. Matthew Chetta

The week before took me to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, for a few days of intense pre-field training and fellowship with the staff at ABWE and other eager short-term candidates like myself.

Team Asia

Leah (whom I am joining in Nepal) and I even had a chance to catch up and make plans.

Somewhere in the middle of all these hundreds (thousands?) of miles and Kodak moments, the month of July came to a close.

July 31.

By the end of July, you remember, I needed to raise $5000.

ABWE required the $5000 before I could be cleared to book a flight. I needed financial clearance by the end of July in order to start my trek east by the end of August, a goal that is important because of visa policies in Nepal.

An impassable mountain.

But that was okay, because my God delights in scaling insurmountable obstacles.

And this week, I stand in awe again, as I look back on a mountain no human could remove.

Only God.

Only God could move the hearts of His people to give the astounding support I’ve received.

Only God could meet my July goal by 104%, a week ahead of schedule.

Only God can supply the needs not yet met, take me safely to Nepal, keep me there, use me.

Only God can convey to your hearts the intense joy, delight, anticipation, the deep gratitude I am powerless to express.

                                       

Cleared to go!

L.

Is Anything Too Hard?

 One week ago, my support looked like this:

Today, my support looks like this:

Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?

Jeremiah 32:27

L.

Utterly To Be Thine Forever . . .

"Lord,

I give up all my own plans and purposes,

All my own desires and hopes,

And accept Thy will for my life.

I give myself, my life, my all,

Utterly to be Thine 

forever.

Fill me and seal me with Thy Holy Spirit.

Use me as Thou wilt.

Work out Thy whole will in my life

At any cost,

Now and Forever.

Amen."

~Betty Scott Stam

Betty was killed for her Lord in China. 

The Widow's Mite

A lady reaches for my hand during a prayer meeting. She is a widow, in her mid-seventies, and still working because she can’t afford to quit yet. I eagerly take her outstretched fingers, thinking she wants to pray with me. That would be like her. But not this time. Instead, she deposits a folded check in my hand and turns away, refusing to talk about it. Later when I regain my composure I ask her if she’d rather give the money through the church or ABWE, so it will be tax deductible. She shakes her head adamantly. "This is for you, now, for whatever you need." And the subject is closed. How does one spend such a sacred gift?

Over the past several weeks my support account has sat empty. That has scared me as I watch the clock tick. I need to raise $5000 by the end of July in order to be approved to book an end of August flight to Nepal. I have sometimes wondered if I am mistaken in God’s leading in all of this. The economy is rough this summer. A lot of people who want to give, can’t. My own income is minimal and I must quit my job to do a training seminar and visit distant churches. There have been moments of panic.

If there is one thing I have learned as I travel this phase of my journey, it’s that God is as interested in the girl He sends as He is in the people He sends her to. He didn’t check me off a list the day I decided to follow Him. No, that day was just the beginning, the introduction to the relationship I was created for; fellowship with the Almighty.

The thought thrills me. No joke, I am sitting in outdoor July temperatures as I type and I have goose bumps! Seriously, if God was no longer interested in drawing me to Himself, this would be easy! If I was just a tool, it would be simple for me to fulfill my God-given call. But instead, it’s hard. Really hard. I have to trust Him for every penny. I have to beg Him on my knees, sometimes with fasting, to supply the means for accomplishing the task He has given me. And then I get to stand in awe and rejoice before Him when He sends me exactly what I need with not a moment to spare. Through it all I learn to know Him. This is my ultimate calling.

 “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death . . . I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 3:10, 14

So the weeks fly by. A few generous donations start showing up in my account. I stand at 8% of the amount I need by the end of the month. I can’t promise you I know God will supply in time for me to set an end of August departure date. But it wouldn’t surprise me! I have precedent. You see, when the dear widow at the prayer meeting handed me a check, she didn’t know I was desperate for just that amount to cover a medical bill. When my tech-geek brother-in-law offered to have a computer built for me, he had no idea he was answering the most urgent prayer on my list. When my church took up a love offering, they didn’t know I needed just that figure to cover deputation expenses; domestic travel, postage, and printing costs. But my Heavenly Father knew it all. He knows all about the $5000 I need by the end of the month. And the $9000 I need to keep me in Nepal until May. I trust Him. Whatever He chooses to do, I trust Him, because I know Him.

If you share my burden for the Tibetan refugees of Nepal and would like to be a part of reaching them, you can learn how to contribute to my ABWE account, #0786801, by clicking here.

Freedom of Religion vs. Freedom of Worship

This evening as I celebrated the glorious 4th among friends and relatives I was struck with the “American-ness” of it all.

The conversation, free and unrestrained, was born of a deep confidence that we will not be censured for the ideas we choose to express. A clergyman obliged a request to deliver again an excerpt from Sunday’s sermon. A lady cracked a political joke. A couple shared shocking memories of life as missionaries. A gentleman criticized a popular cult. A professor explained why he is unashamed to pass on a Biblical world view to his students.

Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Religion are cornerstones of the American lifestyle. The basic rights are so ingrained in our psyches that we don’t even notice when we exercise them.  Many of the world’s constitutions guarantee the right of the individual to worship as he pleases, but our Bill of Rights goes a crucial step farther, to protect the mandates of a worshiper’s conscience as he interacts with society. 


"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."


This is why American Christians may legally persuade others to follow Christ; A volatile liberty unknown to many nations. To see a map and understand more about Religious Freedom in other countries click here. Find Nepal just north of India!

L.