SPIRITUAL HEROES

It happened last year on Sunday, October 31. Bill McDonough (director of Partners in Progress, the non-profit group that Will Tucker and I worked under in Cambodia about 4 years ago) had gone to Saigon, Vietnam (now called Ho Chi Minh City). He went to supervise dry dock inspections of the Ship of Life—which plies the Mekong River in Cambodia bringing medical and spiritual sustenance to villagers there.

Bill headed for the small meeting place of the church in downtown Saigon. Although the church received legal recognition a year ago, when he arrived a uniformed policeman and a court recorder were interrogating one of the brothers. A young man said, “Everything is okay, just go upstairs.”

It wasn’t true. Other members said that police had been showing up every Sunday for a month hoping to extract a bribe and to scare people away. The congregation sang for over an hour until the man being questioned came and said, “The police are gone. We can proceed.” The Lord’s Supper was served and prayers were said asking for courage. Then the man police had been questioning stood and delivered an unforgettable message.

His text was Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. He followed this with Psalm 91:2 I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." He spoke about the God-inspired courage of Gideon and David and closed with the words of Jesus in John 14:1 Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.

He said some were not there because they feared man more than God. Some were not there because they might lose their jobs and lacked faith that God would provide. “But you are here and God will keep us safe and bless us if we follow Him.”

Bill said he left the service convinced he had been in the presence of spiritual heroes that day. He’s right. By comparison, how flimsy are the excuses some of us use that keep us away from meeting with fellow Christians? Think about it. And at the same time thank the Lord for the blessings we have of freedom of speech, movement and religion.

God bless,
Lloyd