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Serving and Suffering For Jesus’ Sake

The church asked my husband and I to take the gospel to the ethnic people in the mountains in an area where there is still heavy persecution. We sensed that God was calling us and we needed to obey. I told the Lord, “I am a sinner. I am not worthy to do this. I do not know what to do. You will need to show us what to do.” My husband and I felt unworthy and felt inadequate for the task. There was nothing we could do but pray. We spent the whole night in prayer. We would face many challenges and we knew that the only way we would be successful is if God was with us. The next morning we bought tickets and boarded the bus to go to our new mission field. We rented a humble room where we could stay. We then went out to observe the area.

My husband is very good at teaching. However, he is very bad when it comes to meeting people one on one. I on the other hand, enjoy meeting people. So my husband and I work together as a team. I will go out and make the initial contact with people while my husband stays at home to study and prepare for the classes he will teach. I would visit the market, bus station and train station as I would silently pray for opportunities to witness. When I see an ethnic person, I approach the person and ask, “What is your name? Where do you live?” I ask if I can come for a visit. Some people are afraid when I approach. And others are shy.

I once visited a family that lived right next to a police station. While my husband and I were having Bible studies with them we were startled when we heard loud banging on the door. The people we were studying with looked very fearful. Two policemen were at the door. I quickly told my husband to put his Bible away. He slowly put the Bible behind him. The policeman asked, “Who are you and what are you doing here?” We told him that we knew the owner of the home as he had sold goods to us. One of the officers ordered, “Both of you need to follow me to the police station.” We told them that this is the first time we were visiting this area. We pleaded with them and asked them to let us go. At this time one of the policemen whispered in my ear, “Give them some money and they will release you.” I asked, “How much?” The main officer in charge said, “We do not want your money. We will take you to the main headquarters.”

With their guns pointed at us they told us to start walking. As we were heading out the doors, I felt the urge to go use the restroom and I asked them if I could use the toilet. They assumed that I wanted to throw away drugs and would not let me go to the bathroom. The police officer said, “I will turn my back, take care of your business right here.”

We went to the headquarters. They put us in a room and began interrogating us about our activities. It was first the commander and then it was his assistant who came and questioned us. Others also came by and interrogated us. There were more than ten officers who came and took turns interrogating us that day. They were asking every possible question they could think of. They wanted to know where we were from and what we were doing in this area. They wanted to know about our family and our background. They wanted to know who we had contacted in this area. They asked us every possible question that you can imagine. They wanted to make sure we were not involved in selling drugs or into religious activity. After many hours of interrogation they put us in a cell and locked the door. It was time for lunch and the officers needed a break. My husband and I prayed and we sang songs together. At 2 pm the officers came back and once again the interrogation began. This continued for several hours. Later in the evening, we were grateful that they gave us water to drink. We spent the night in the cell and the next day we were back for more questions. It was the same questions being asked again. For two whole days and one night we had nothing to eat. At about 7 pm on the second night, they did a thorough search through our clothing which we were wearing. They did not find anything. They gave us a fine of two million dong and told us it was because we had entered into this area without the proper papers.

My husband and I got out of the police station and began to praise the Lord! The Lord gave us the strength we needed to go through this trial. I thought of the story about Peter when Jesus asked him, “Do you love Me?” Oh, how my heart was filled with so much love for Jesus at that moment. I said to Jesus, “I love You and want to give all my life to You.” I consider it such a joy and a privilege to serve my Savior and to suffer for His sake.