Vietnam missions report
Date: September 10, 2019
Ms. Gatora used to—all the Jorgensens for years—would take groups around in the summertime from the Bible College. Miss Gator was part of a tour group they took, a summer or two, two summers. So we went to Crackerberg before, and they had asked about Brother Anthony and Miss Gator singing. I was wondering; I thought they would do it. Brother Anthony might have sung with her, but his throat’s not feeling real good.
But it was special for everybody, but I think the Jorgensens enjoyed it very, very much. And that’s kind of one of their girls, if you will, you know, when they had a part in both their lives. But Brother, he’s not one of their girls, amen, you know. And he wasn’t on tour with them either, you know. So anyway, I liked it. I thought it was great. And praise the Lord, I appreciate it. Thank you for it. I think the Jorgensens enjoyed it very, very much.
It’s exciting to see what God is doing in other parts of the world. I love to hear about people getting saved, lives getting changed, ministries being built for the Lord. I love it. It sounds like the Lord is just using Brother Garcia in a great way in Vietnam, and it’s just exciting. When we get to heaven, oh, we’ll just see what God’s doing all around the road. We get sometimes narrow-minded.
America. America is less than 5% of the population of the world. It’s such a good thing to hear a missionary and to see what God is doing in other parts of the world. I love it. I love the missions program. We get to have a part in all those different mission works, and praise the Lord for it. And praise the Lord for men following God’s will for their life and serving God in the part of the world He’s called them to.
And so Brother Garcia is going to come. Brother Garcia, make yourself at home. We appreciate you coming. Just, as the Lord leads, we’re excited about the video, excited about your preaching. Amen, praise God. So, just video to preach you? Yes, a big way. Thank you, Pastor.
All right, good evening. Xin chào Hội Thánh, chào buổi tối. So, yeah, those are greetings in Vietnam. I’m Missionary Javier Garcia, and I’m very happy, Pastor. Thank you very much for this privilege, of course, to my great driver—well, really, help us and drive for us—Dr. George Johnson, thank you very much.
And really, praise God. This is my second year here in America. I thank God for the beautiful country of America, and praise God for this opportunity to be here. So, just before I show the video, I just want to give some background on…
…about the ministry in Vietnam. I don’t know if there’s anyone here who are veterans during the Vietnam War. So maybe if you are veterans? Oh, yes, sir. Yeah. So you know already how hard it is, how dangerous it is. And I know that they fought the best that they can to keep Vietnam, to keep South Vietnam, to be a free country. But it happened. Maybe it’s the Lord’s plan that…
…that they fell into communism. And Vietnam, since 1975, South Vietnam and North Vietnam—South Vietnam was reunited—and they became an all-communist country. Then it became a domino effect because Laos also followed communism in Vietnam. So, if we talk about communism, there are lots of restrictions in preaching the gospel, restrictions not only for the gospel but in any…
…activities in Vietnam. So, just some statistics about Vietnam so we understand that Vietnam: there are 100 million people in population, and about 82% are…
…82% have no religion, and just 0.5% are Protestantism, including all kinds of Protestants. Of course, Independent Baptists just came to Vietnam in 2000, 2003, the first Independent Baptist missionaries came to Vietnam.
And it remained unrecognized. The same is true in Laos. Laos is about 7.7 million in population, and 6.7 million are Buddhist, and 1.5 million are Protestants. It’s really hard to explain the power of God, but I can see…
…what God is doing, that God is opening the country of Vietnam, little by little, especially right now that they are becoming very close to America. I just came from Atlanta, and I received news that the Vietnam government made an agreement with the American government to ask to send more…
…to send more American English teachers to Vietnam because their goal is to make Vietnam an English-speaking people. I don’t know, but I believe that there’s a plan for that, and I know that God has a plan for that. I can see the potential of Vietnam. They are now developing, but the problem is only a few missionaries are over there. So…
I came to Vietnam in 2007, but before I came there, I got saved when I was nine years old in Sunday school. After high school, I immediately surrendered myself to study in the Bible College. By the grace of God, when I was studying in the second year, when I was just 17 years old, the Lord entrusted me to pioneer a work in the Philippines. So I started my pastoring in 1998. And in 2001, I was…
…challenged by a message to surrender myself and to make myself available for foreign missions. I gave myself; I said, “Lord, if you want me, if you will use me, I’m available. Use me and send me.” But one thing I wanted was to make it 100% sure that you are really calling me, not just that I’m following others. I wanted to be sure that you are calling me to go to another country. But I didn’t know yet where God wanted me to go. I just prayed that, Lord…
Okay, bring me to the place. So one sign that I wanted was to see that country first. If you would permit me to see it, I would know that you’re really calling me. But I really didn’t know how I could go to another country. Of course, we were poor, and we didn’t have money for that. I continued, but I didn’t know how I could go because I didn’t have a passport yet. I didn’t have money for a plane ticket.
They needed a counselor in the team that would go to Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. So I said, “Pastor, I don’t have money. I don’t have a passport.” The pastor said, “Don’t worry, we will raise funds for you. You will not worry about it. So just go with them.” They took care of my plane ticket and my pocket money, and even the processing of my passport.
Then I remembered my commitment two years ago that I made myself available. I said, “I think this is it.” But, Lord, which of these three countries: Thailand, Cambodia, or Vietnam? Which one? So I started, “Lord, I will meditate on the mission book,” and that is the Book of Acts. I started to open it. Every time, every day when we arrived in Thailand, I asked God and prayed, “Lord, do you really want me here in Thailand?”
Here, it’s good; there’s religious freedom here. One week we helped the missionaries there, but there was no answer from God. I did not receive confirmation to go to Thailand. After Thailand was Cambodia, and I said, we enjoyed the ministry in Cambodia this harvest time. It’s very open, and a lot of missionaries are coming there, and poor people, the same as in the Philippines. So I said, “Lord, I’m good. I’m okay here. I’m good here in Cambodia.” So, Lord…
Do you want me to be a missionary here in Cambodia? But still, there was no conviction and no confirmation from the Word of God. The last country we were going to visit was Vietnam. So I was already thinking, if not Thailand, if not Cambodia, then it might be Vietnam. But when we studied Vietnam, I had already given the orientation to our Bible school students about the things that are dos and don’ts.
“You cannot bring—don’t bring your Bible. Second, don’t share the gospel. Don’t talk about God, about Jesus Christ. Don’t call me Pastor.” So I said, “Lord, if it’s Vietnam, I don’t know how I can do the ministry over there. I used to knock on doors for soul winning, but I don’t know how I can do it.” So, on the way to Vietnam…
I already felt the fear in my heart that God might call me to Vietnam. So I was already afraid. When I arrived, we were only supposed to stay there for three days and two nights in Vietnam, just to see Vietnam. When I arrived in Vietnam, I tell you, I didn’t want to pray. I didn’t want to open the Bible.
I didn’t want to ask God, because God might answer me.
We just stayed in the hotel. But, you know, in the middle of the night, I got a high fever. So I got sick. And of course, I needed to ask God while I was sick. I needed to ask God to heal me. I had no choice; I had to pray. Then I had to ask God if God wanted me to go to Vietnam, and if that was God’s will for me. And you know what?
In the middle of the night, I opened the Word of God. God talked to me in the Word, like when God called the Apostle Paul. He talked to Ananias that the Apostle was a chosen vessel for Him. “I have chosen him to be a chosen vessel for me to bring the gospel in this city, to be a witness.” That really spoke to me. But the more it confirmed, the more I confirmed that that was God’s will for me…
…the more I was so afraid.
And I said, “Lord, I don’t know how I can do the ministry here. I don’t know.” And I don’t want to die here in Vietnam. I don’t want to be in prison here in Vietnam. So, way back, back to Cambodia—we had to go back to Cambodia. I was struggling. I was fighting against God’s will. I really didn’t want to, “Lord, please, send me anywhere but not in Vietnam or not in any close country.” So when I arrived in Cambodia…
Again, my fever came back. That time it was worse than when I was in Cambodia. I had a doctor with me, I had a nurse with me, and they gave me medicine, but after three days, the doctor came to me and she said, “Pastor, I don’t know what to do anymore. I gave all the medicine, but my fever is not going down.” And the pastor’s wife—she’s a pastor’s wife—told me, “Pastor, I think you have to…”
…deal with God. You have to talk with God. And whatever it is, Pastor, please, surrender it to the Lord. Surrender it to the Lord." I told her, and I said, “Doc, yes, I know. I’m struggling because I really don’t want to go to Vietnam. I know God is calling me there, but I don’t want to die in Vietnam. And it’s impossible. I don’t know how I can do the ministry in Vietnam.”
But that night I said, “Please help me, please pray for me.” That night, we prayed together and opened the Word of God. Exactly when I opened the Word of God, it was the calling of the Apostle Paul, where God, where Jesus Christ told the Apostle, “Saul, Saul, it is hard for thee to kick against the goads.” And I knew I was the one kicking against the pricks.
I was disobeying. And the Bible says, “And I was not disobedient to the heavenly calling.” So I said, if Apostle Paul was not disobedient, who am I that I will disobey the calling of God? That night, I remember, I wrote it in my Bible—1:30 in the morning—I knelt down in prayer and surrendered myself. I said, “Lord, I am willing to go to Vietnam. I am ready to die. I’ll go.”
And you know what? The following day was like nothing happened. My fever was gone. It was gone. No more fever. Immediately, we flew back to the Philippines, and I needed to go ahead and get further treatment. When I came back to the Philippines, my church welcomed me for one month. They missed me so much and welcomed me, and they loved me. My church is a small church, but a loving church. And I said, “Lord…”
“It’s hard for me also to leave my church.” So what I did was, “Lord, please, I will just support missions. I will not go. I’ll just support missions, or maybe bring others.” So I went back again on my commitment to the Lord. I said, “Lord, no, I will not go.” But you know what? After two weeks, again, my sickness returned, came back.
That was the worst thing because no hospital admitted me. We went to about four hospitals, and they all rejected me because they knew I came from Vietnam. If you remember, I think only the adults remember that in 2003, there was the SARS virus in Hong Kong and in Hanoi in Vietnam. They thought that I was a SARS carrier.
So they thought that I had all the symptoms of the SARS virus in me. So they wouldn’t accept me. It was even reported on our local radio that we had a SARS suspect in our province, and they wouldn’t accept me. I just stayed at home for seven weeks, and my sickness got worse and worse and worse and worse, up to the point of dying.
I knew that at that time, after that day, I was going to die. I already said goodbye to my loved ones, my mom, my dad. They were all crying inside our home, and they didn’t know what to do either. But at that time, God reminded me. God showed me: “Now I am dying.”
Even if I don’t go to Vietnam, I might die. But the question is, where do you want to die? Inside the will of God or outside the will of God? My will for you is Vietnam. Where do you want to die? Here, you are in the Philippines, but you are dying. So where do you want to die? That night, at that time, I asked God, “Lord, if you will give me another chance to live, I promise…”
“…I will go to Vietnam. I will go. Just give me another chance to live. I’m ready. I’d rather choose to die inside the will of God than to die outside the will of God.” Then our municipal mayor sent an ambulance, and they brought me to San Lazaro Hospital in the capital in Manila, Philippines. I was treated for two weeks, and I praise God that…
…it was not SARS, but it was really very complicated. But thank God for that sickness that God used to make me surrender myself fully to Vietnam. Then I resigned from my pastoring in 2004, and I said, “Lord, I just have one request before I go to Vietnam: Please give me a wife. Give me a wife. I’m still afraid.”
“But Lord, give me a wife that will go with me.” God blessed me with a wonderful wife. In 2014, I resigned, and at the same time, I got married. We took our deputation for two and a half years. After two and a half years around the Philippines, I visited 400, more than 400 churches in the Philippines, and I was able to raise around about $500.
But our office, the Independent Baptist clearing house, they didn’t want us to go to Vietnam because $500 is really not enough for my family. It’s really not enough. But I said, “Pastor, I want to go. I need to go. I’m tired of deputation.” So, I knew God called me, and I knew God would provide my needs.
That’s how God—in 2007, God gave us two children. When we went to Vietnam, my daughter was two years old and six months old. We went to Vietnam in 2007, and by God’s grace, now we have been 12 years in Vietnam. A lot of wonderful things that God did, that God is doing in Vietnam. So brethren, I just want to encourage you tonight, no? And…
This was really a great encouragement to me before I went to Vietnam. It’s really a great encouragement and a great challenge in my life, and I hope that this will be a blessing also to all of us. So I want to invite everyone of us to stand, if you would, and open your Bible to Joshua chapter 14, verses 6 through 15. But let’s just read verses 10, 11, and 12.
Okay, verses 10, 11, and 12. Joshua chapter 14, verses 10, 11, and 12. I will read verses 10, 11, and 12, and you can read also. Verse 10, the Bible says: “And now, behold, the Lord hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the Lord spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness.”
“And now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old. As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me; as my strength was then, even so is my strength now for war, both to go out and to come in.” Verse 12: "Now therefore give me this mountain whereof the Lord spake in that day, for thou heardest in that day…
…how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced. If so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said." The title of my message tonight is Mission. This is very, very, very—I don’t know if we have enough time—but this is about a very particular mission.
No, I think this movie, Mission: Impossible, no? So, Mission: Impossible. But I crossed out the “Im.” Okay? And I just made it “Mission… Possible.” Mission is possible, even in a closed country, it’s possible. And that was my question before I went to Vietnam: “Lord…”
“How can I do the ministry in Vietnam? I know it’s impossible.” Shall we pray first? Lord God, please bless our worship tonight and please talk to us. I ask the Holy Spirit to work in our midst, in our hearts, to encourage us, to challenge us. Lord, please use me mightily. Use me, Lord, and cover me with your precious blood. Anoint my lips…
…and put the right words in my mouth. So, Lord, I pray that you will bless us, O God, and encourage and challenge us. Lord, thank you so much for this church, and I pray all these things in Jesus’ name. Amen. You may be seated. I remember when we got married, I talked to my wife and said, “Now that we are married, I want God to talk…”
…to talk to you and to talk to me as well." So after our wedding, we took our honeymoon at a youth congress in Cebu City. We started to ask God, and one thing we asked before we came to the youth congress was: “Lord, will you use us? Can you use us mightily in Vietnam? Will you use us, God?”
Exactly when we arrived at that service, we were challenged by the message that God is able to make you ten times better. I said, “Wow, praise God. I know that God will use us.” Then the next question that God put in our heart was: “Lord, is it possible that you can use us to turn Vietnam upside down? Is it possible that you will use us to turn Vietnam upside down?”
We went back to our hotel, and that would be our first devotion as husband and wife. We asked that question, and exactly when we opened the Word of God, God talked to us in our devotion that “With man, it is impossible, but not with God. For with God, nothing shall be impossible.”
God answered our question: Nothing is impossible. “I can use you to turn Vietnam upside down.” We claimed that promise. We claimed that promise from God. That’s the promise that we were holding when we came to Vietnam. The situation in Vietnam is really impossible; it’s really hard.
But brethren, God proved to us for 12 years that mission in Vietnam, mission in Laos, or mission in any other country—even here in America—maybe we think that it’s hard, it’s difficult, maybe it’s hard to win. I don’t know what kind of mission God is giving to us, what kind of mission God gave to our church, maybe so many are so hard. But one thing for sure is God has proven to us that mission is possible.
And that is impossible with God. There are four things that God showed to me in this passage, concerning the things that happened to Caleb. Remember, Caleb was already 85 years old. He was already old, and they already…
…entered the Promised Land. So maybe if you are old, you might think, “I will be tired, I will stop, I will rest. We conquered already. We possessed the land already.” But for Caleb, he said, “No, I still have a mountain to conquer. I still have a mission to do. I still have a purpose in my life.” He came to Joshua and reminded Joshua about that mountain. He said, “Give me that mountain. Give me this mountain.”
We understand that that mountain, Mount Hebron, was given to Caleb. Now, there are four things that make mission possible, and this is also very true in our life. So, number one, one thing that makes mission possible is verse 8. The Bible says in verse 8, “Thou knowest,” Caleb said, “the thing that the Lord said unto Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in Kadesh-barnea.”
In verse 7, you can see in verse 9, “And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance for ever, because thou hast wholly followed the Lord my God.” So Caleb reminded Joshua, “Joshua, remember, remember the promise of God. And remember Moses swore that this mountain belongs to me. He promised this mountain to me.” So, mission is possible.
Number two: Mission is possible if we wholly claim the promise of God. Just claim the promise of God. Mission is not possible because people promised you support. So many churches promised to support me in the mission field—400 churches—so many promised. But many of them did not keep their promise, no? So don’t claim the promise of man. The promises of man are things you cannot hold on to.
You cannot claim that. You cannot stand on it. But claim the promise of God. I remember the promise of God that we can turn Vietnam upside down, and nothing is impossible with God. And we claimed it. Of course, brethren, in the ministry, it’s not always smooth. There are also some problems, some trials, and we experienced that. I experienced the darkest part of my life in 2013. I nearly…
…quit being a missionary. Just imagine in 2013, you know, the thing that really hurts a pastor is if the person you love, the person you train, the person you invest your life in—and we even sacrificed the food for my children just to give to our Bible school students, just to give to the full-time worker—then later on, that worker will fight against you.
That worker will turn his back against you. And not just fight against you, but have you experienced being spat on by your workers, or being hit by your workers? It’s really very terrible. I had never experienced that.
When I experienced that, I was so brokenhearted, and I was so discouraged. I was so disappointed, and I was so angry. I said, “Is this what I get from surrendering my life? Is this what I get from sacrificing?” I said, “These people are not worthy of my sacrifice.”
“They’re not worthy of my sacrifice. We left our comfort zone, we left our family, the Philippines, my church—I loved it—then this is what I get? They’re ungrateful.” I was so discouraged. I told my wife—I came to my wife in our room, crying—and I said, “Mommy, pack up our things tonight and book a ticket tonight. We will fly back to the Philippines.”
I told my wife, “We will go back to the Philippines right now, book a ticket.” But my wife just looked at me. She told me that if I wanted to go back to the Philippines, she would book a ticket for me. “You can go back to the Philippines, but I will stay. You go, but I will stay.”
I said, “No, no, I cannot go without you, without my children. We will go together.” My wife talked to me and said, “Dad, do you remember the promise of God that God will use us to turn Vietnam upside down? How will it happen if we quit?” I thank God for my wife. She reminded me…
…that we remembered when we committed ourselves to go to Vietnam, and we remembered the time we talked together about the worst things that might happen to us in Vietnam. Maybe I will die, maybe I will be put in prison, maybe our children will die, maybe they will be raped, maybe they will be put in prison. Think the worst things. And if those worst things happen in our life, will you stay in Vietnam? We made a commitment that we would stay in Vietnam.
That was the most powerful preaching I ever heard from my wife.
At that time, the Lord woke me up. I said, “Okay, we will stay.” And I stayed, and we stayed. That year also, our church was organized. That year also, we opened the first Christian school in Vietnam. From that time, our ministry continued to grow and grow and grow up to the point that we have now about 12 years in missions. We have sent out a lot of missionaries.
We have nine graduates. Our goal was to plant churches in every city, in every town. I praise God because of the promise of God. The thing that will sustain us in the ministry, the thing that will make mission possible, is the promise of God. The promise of God: “I am with you always, even until the end of the world.” “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Just claim the promise of God. Let’s go.
Number three: You can see in verse 10, “And now, behold, the Lord hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the Lord spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness.” Caleb said, “And now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old. Behold, the Lord hath kept me alive.” The Lord kept me alive.
Remember, only two persons were able to enter the Promised Land: Joshua and Caleb. Through all the wars, the Lord kept him alive. He kept him alive. And he said, “I’m still alive. I can still conquer that mountain. I can still claim that mountain. I’m still alive.”
So, number three, mission is possible if we wholly commit our lives to God. Just commit it: as long as you are living, as long as you are alive, God can still use you mightily. Maybe you are thinking, “Pastor, I’m old already. Pastor, I cannot; my strength is not that strong anymore. I cannot do many things.”
Pastor, as long as we are still alive, God still has a mission for you. God still has a purpose for you. As long as God keeps you alive—maybe many of you have experienced death. I have experienced nearly dying, too, like me. I have had a lot of that experience, even from the womb, I nearly experienced that. You know, we are a big family; we are 10 children. I am the youngest.
When my mom and dad already had nine children, my mom and my dad talked together and agreed that they would not give birth anymore. “Enough. Nine children is enough already.” So, nine children. They agreed they would not give birth anymore. But you know what? Later on, my mom vomited, and she got pregnant again.
And my dad said, “Oh, why are you pregnant?” My mom said, “You have to ask yourself.”
My dad said, “Is that mine?” My mom was so angry with my dad. “Imagine, just nine children. You never saw me go to another man, and this one? You’re doubting if this is your child?” My mom was so angry, and she wanted to abort the baby. She drank a lot of medicine and did everything to abort the baby. But my grandfather saw it, and my grandfather said…
“Norma…” I praise God, today is the 63rd wedding anniversary of my mom and my dad. 63 years. I praise God for my dad and my mom. I said, “Don’t do that. It’s sin against God.” She stopped aborting the baby. But she worried that the baby might have defects, might have problems. So when she gave birth, she immediately asked, “How’s my baby?”
“Is this okay? Is this okay? Is this complete? Is there no problem?” They showed the baby and said, “Look at your son. It’s a son. And look at him—so handsome.” He looked at him. Oh, praise the Lord. Of course, I am the youngest; I am the one person. But thank God, the Lord protected me in my mother’s belly.
Not only that, after three months, I got sick, and I was nearly dead. My mom said I was nearly dead. At the time I was already unconscious and not moving anymore. She was Catholic at the time, so she held me. She said she held me and said, “Lord, if you will give, if you will heal my child, if you will let him live…”
“…He will serve you. I gave you. I gave him to you. He will serve you.” She offered me. Of course, being a Catholic, but I think God answered that prayer. She asked my dad, “Go out, find a doctor.” My dad said, “How can I find a doctor? It’s the middle of the night.” My dad just went out and found a doctor.
Wow. Unbelievable. On the street, he saw a drunk man walking. When he met the drunk man, he was a drunk doctor. My dad told him that my son was very sick, and he gave medicine. Praise the Lord, God kept me alive. I lived so many times. The Lord kept me alive.
As long as God is keeping you alive, God has a purpose in our lives. Mission is possible because you’re still alive. Amen? You’re still alive. So never stop. Don’t stop preaching. Don’t stop serving. Don’t stop giving. Don’t stop in well-doing. Don’t stop praying. Don’t stop supporting missions. Don’t stop witnessing. Don’t stop coming to church. Don’t stop.
If you don’t stop, mission is possible. But if you stop, yes, mission is impossible. So don’t quit as long as God is giving you life. Last, we can see in number four. The Bible says in verse 11: “As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me; as my strength was then, even so is my strength now for war…”
“…both to go out and to come in.” Lastly, Caleb said, “As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me.” How old was he when he was sent by Moses? He was 40 years old when he was sent to spy out the land. But how old is he now? 85. But look at his statement: “My strength…”
“…when I was 40 years old, it’s the same strength that I have today.” His strength never changed. His strength never diminished. His strength is the same when he was young and when he was old. How did that happen? That his strength never changed? Because the Bible says in verse 12…
…“Now therefore give me this mountain whereof the Lord spake in that day, for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced.” Look at this word: “If so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said.” If the Lord will be with me, why has his strength never changed?
Because the Lord is with him. He is with him. And he doesn’t use his own strength. He doesn’t use his own strength. He doesn’t use his own wisdom. He doesn’t use his own power. I was talking with Pastor… Brother Anthony said he talked to the Pastor and said, “Pastor, you have the same in common with Pastor Garcia.” Because I told Brother Anthony, every time I preach…
My children are taking notes of all my wrong grammar and my wrong pronunciation. I’m not good in English, and they are always correcting my grammar. They are always correcting my pronunciation. They are always correcting me because they studied in ACE. I studied in the public school, and I’m not good. I don’t have higher education. I don’t have any secular [training].
But I found that in mission, it is not your wisdom that will build the mission. It is not your strength that will build the mission. Yes, I love my wife, and I praise God. God gave me a wife. My wife is really far better than me. She graduated in Business Education. She graduated with honor, cum laude. She is very good in pronunciation, very good in English. She is my editor.
When we came to Vietnam, because we didn’t have enough money, I said we needed to have a tent-making way; we needed to have extra money. So we applied at a school. We applied at the university. When the school saw her CV, her bio-data, they said, “Okay, you’re good. You will have a demo and interview next week.” My wife did that interview.
We were so excited. She prepared so much on how to demo, how to teach, and she prepared so much. On the day of her interview and her teaching demonstration, we were so excited, we were very happy, and I had faith that she would pass.
After the demo, just five, just ten minutes, and it was finished. She came out, and I said, “Well, so fast! You’re approved already, huh?” My wife cried, and she said, “Dad, I don’t know what happened. But when I stood in front of them, I blacked out. I don’t know what I was going to say. I failed.” I just encouraged her, “Don’t worry, maybe God is teaching us to trust Him.”
So we volunteered at a kindergarten, and she was accepted in a kindergarten. She was accepted immediately; no more demo. But then she got pregnant. She got pregnant, and she vomited, and she couldn’t come to school. The principal said, “Ma’am, do you have any substitute?” They said, “I don’t have any substitute.” “How about your husband? Can he teach? Can you teach?” Of course, that is…
$5 also. One hour is $5. I said, “Okay, I have to teach. We need money.” I said, “Okay, I will do it. I will volunteer. I will substitute here.” And I started to teach. I praise God for the training in Sunday school. Praise God. I was trained in Sunday school, but I knew my English was not good. That’s right. But the students enjoyed my teaching so much.
After two weeks, my wife was okay already. I said, “Okay, next week, my wife will come back.” The students and the children said, “Sir, can you be our teacher now? Because we don’t understand your wife.” They couldn’t understand the very good English. They could only understand my English.
The broken English. I came back home, and I was laughing with my wife. I said, “Mommy, the school requested me to continue teaching. You just rest at home.” I said, “Mommy, look at that. I don’t need your diploma. I don’t need your honor. This English is the one that God will use.” Anyway, I don’t know why they like my English. Maybe my English is like the Vietnamese English, too.
Okay, so I don’t know. But one thing is for sure: it’s not your diploma that makes mission possible. It’s not your money. It’s not a big amount of money. $500 support—how can you? $500 support: $200 for my house rental, $100, $100, $100 for our visa. $150 is for my language study, and there are two of us studying the Vietnamese language.
So it’s not really enough. But I tell you, for 12 years, the Lord provided our needs. We never missed any meal in a day, and we experienced a lot of miracles that I know are only God’s mighty work. Don’t depend on what we can do, on our power.
Caleb was able to conquer that mountain because he depended on the power of God. He just made himself available. No, he let—he wholly channeled in his life the power of God. So the same: if we will wholly channel in our lives the power of God, just make yourself a channel of His power. Let the power—Lord, let Your power flow.
“Lord, use me, put Your power.” And mission is possible. It is only by the power of God, “Not by power, nor by might, but by His Spirit,” saith the Lord. “If the Lord be with me, I shall be able. I am able to drive them out.” Just wholly follow the command of God. Just claim His promises. Just commit your lives until death. And just…
…be a channel of the power of God, and mission is possible. It is not impossible. Brethren, please pray for our ministry in Vietnam. Lots of challenges. Just last July, I was caught by the police, and I was interrogated, and I was nearly kicked out. I was nearly deported. It is still dangerous. But I thank God, the Lord delivered me. The Lord delivered me.
The Lord delivered me. So, brethren, please pray for Vietnam. Please pray for Laos. We need more missionaries. We need more partners, more prayers. Before I close, let’s watch the video of Vietnam. So, watch the video.
That’s when we organized in 2013. That’s our school. For five years, the Lord blessed us with 170 Vietnamese students in one school. We baptize everywhere as long as there is water: ocean, beach, lake, bathtub—everywhere that they can be immersed.
This is our church now, a church in Da Nang. This Kamlo mission—the preacher here was a government official, a former government official, but he was converted to Christianity, and he is our personal fruit. This is our mission. We reach the tribal missions. We reached the tribe. This is another tribe; they have another language, too.
A different language than Vietnamese, but of course they can understand Vietnamese. In this tribe, we have about more than 200 members. The Lord opened a ministry to us in Laos in 2015 through the tribal ministry, so we were able to reach Laos, and our ministry in Laos is really growing.
Every month I’m baptizing. This is my first fruit in the ministry, and now he is also a pastor. He is also a missionary. They also have a school. The school is our front because we are not recognized. The government just sees us as a school, but at the back is our church.
This lady had a wonderful testimony, from Buddhism to Christianity. She surrendered her life for Bible school. When she graduated, she married a Filipino, and that Filipino became a missionary chair [leader]. These two couples are our newly sent-out missionaries. Now they are also baptizing. They also have a school, Golden Vision.
This is the newest mission. This is the place where I was interrogated and caught by the police, but now God has opened a mission there, and we are going to open another school there.
We also have a Bible school, and most of our students started with zero English. We just teach them, and now they can speak English very well. We also have an orphanage. We have 15 orphans in our church. After I was arrested, we made a commitment with the government that we would help many children.
There are many more fields where we need to plant churches. Please pray for us. Thank you very much. And Xin chào bạn Phục. God bless you. Yes, God bless you.
Take just a moment between us and the Lord and let’s decide what God is calling us to do. God has a mission for all of us right where you are. It may be someone here tonight who needs to surrender what God has for you; it may be big, it may be as simple as witnessing to your neighbor. What are we doing? What God has called us to do? We all have a mission field.
Would you do this? Would you bow your head right where you are and close your eyes? Let’s just spend some time alone with the Lord. “Lord, what would you have me do? Lord, help me to stay faithful for you.”
Maybe you are here tonight and you say, “Pastor, I’ve been struggling with the call. I know the Lord is speaking to me. Maybe it’s sin, giving up something.” But you say, “Preacher, I’ve been feeling the tug of God in my heart, and I’ve been struggling. I’ve been battling with that, and I’m going to surrender to the Lord.” It’s Caleb; he wholly followed the Lord. Preacher, tonight, I’m…
…I’m surrendering wholly, fully to the Lord tonight. God has spoken to my heart. I’m just yielding, I’m giving in to what God is doing in my heart tonight." Anybody like that? Just let your hand slip up. I see that. I’m wholly surrendering to the Lord tonight. I see that. Would there be anybody else, preacher? I see that. I’m wholly following the Lord. That’s the beginning of it. Good. I see that.
There’s something maybe you’re struggling with. I’m just surrendering. “Well, Lord, whatever You have, have Your way. I’m giving it all to You, wholly following the Lord.” Would there be anybody else like that? Would there be maybe one more? One more. I’m surrendering it all. I’m giving it to the Lord. Would there be? God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. You can put your hands down. Maybe you are here tonight, you say, “Preacher, fear is gripping me.” It’s amazing how Satan works…
…through fear. You say, “Preacher, I’m just going to trust God. I’m going to keep following God. Where He leads, I’ll follow. I will not let fear dictate what I do and what I don’t do. I will let the Lord dictate that.” You say, “Preacher, tonight, I’m going to say, ‘No, Lord, I’m not going to give in to the fear. I’m going to trust and follow You…’”
“…and follow Your leading in my life.” Anybody like that? Preacher, fear has been the thing, but I’m decided; I’m trusting God. Anybody like that? Just lift your hand to be like that. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. That’s wonderful. It’s amazing how Satan works through fear. Thank you. Thank you so much for letting the Lord work in your heart. Thank you for that. Such a good thing. Maybe here tonight, you say, “Preacher, I just want to trust God in His power.”
“I want to let go of my self-reliance, and I want to have more reliance on the Lord and His power and His mind.” God spoke in my heart about that tonight. God bless your hands. All right. Anybody here, preacher, who wants to rely more on the Lord? Oh, I’m there. I’m there with you. I need that reliance on God. Oh, that’s where the power is. That’s where the mind is. God bless you, many hands. Everybody else, preacher, I want to be relying, not self-reliance, but relying on God. “My sufficiency is of God,” Paul said.
Is there anybody else? Good. Good. God bless you. God bless you. Thank you so very, very much. Let’s all stand, if you would please. We’re going to have a word of prayer, and our instruments will just play tonight. Let’s just come and do business with God. Let’s say, “Lord, I want to wholly follow You. Lord, would You use me to turn my world upside down where God has you, where you’re at, for a reason?”
And all of us doing our part, God has you there. Would you come and just surrender? “Lord, use me tonight, and I give it all to you tonight.” Father, Lord, thank you for the testimony and how You’ve worked in Brother Garcia’s life, Lord. It’s awesome to see. At the end of the day, it’s You. We praise You for it, and we surrender ourselves to You.
Father, Lord, I know we’re not much, not much at all, but You sure are a mighty God. So everything we have, we lay at Your feet. Father, tonight we’re committing again not to go by fear, but to go by You. We want to be more reliant on You, Your power, Your mind, Your Spirit, Your leadership. Father, would You work in our midst? And invitation? Father, would You meet with us in a special way?
We will thank You and brag on You for what You do. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen. As your instruments play, would you come? Would you come? Would you come? Just spend some time with the Lord. Wholly following the Lord. Not self-reliance, the reliance of Christ. It’s amazing when you surrender, when you wholly follow the Lord. The peace that brings…
Peace. Do what? Surrender? Not to your fear, not to man, not to the status quo, not to others, but to the Lord. Surrendering to the Lord, that’s where peace comes from. Would you do this right there where you are, whether you’re standing or kneeling? Would you just surrender? Just give it all to Him. “Lord, here am I. I give it all to You, surrender to You.” Just tell Him that. Let’s know that.
If you got a blessing tonight, would you say amen? Amen. It’s exciting to see what the Lord is doing. Now think of this: Brother Garcia speaks Tagalog. Tagalog. Am I saying it right? To him, in the Philippines, he speaks English and also speaks Vietnamese.
Three different languages. I have a hard enough time just speaking English properly. That’s the truth. You know that’s the truth. He was in the United States last year for a little bit, if I understand right. And now this year, he will be in the United States for a month.
Three weeks? You will be here for a month or two months? He will be here for a month. He was here last year a little bit, and now here for a month. You mentioned some projects you have going on. Can you just say a word about those?
Amen. Thank you, brother. Thank you very, very much. What a blessing. Make sure you stop back there. Check that out. The Jorgensens were just over there this summer, I believe it was in March. They have been over there many, many times, and so too. It is just a great work God is working and doing over there. It’s exciting to see what God’s doing. So make sure you stop by there.
Tell him what a blessing it was to get to talk with him, speak with him. That would be great. We’re going to dismiss. Maybe personally, if you have any questions, you’d get back there and see him. That would be good. But we’re going to be dismissed. And hang around if you can. That would be great. It’s exciting to see what God’s doing in other parts of the world. I love it. Praise the Lord for it. And what a blessing it is to see. Thank you so much, Brother Jorgensen, for kind of putting this together tonight. We appreciate it so very, very much. Would you dismiss us in a prayer, please, brother?
Original File: Pastor Paul Chisgar Sunday PM 9819