All You Really Need

One of the men's groups I facilitate on Zoom connects former cross cultural workers now living in England and Canada. Lloyd, lower left in the picture, began his missionary career in Laos in the early 1970s. As I have mentioned in an earlier blog update, Lloyd was captured by the North Vietnamese and was taken to Hanoi towards the end of the Vietnam war and thrown into the notorious Hanoi Hilton prison. He wasn't even a soldier but no one would believe him. He doesn't talk much about his experience on our calls, but he lead us in a devotional a week ago that created a hush in our conversation. 

In an effort to force the North Vietnamese to peace talks, the US military unleashed a merciless bombing of Hanoi. Lloyd's captors, as punishment for being an American, placed him in solitary confinement. He was weak, sick with dysentery and frightened at all the bombs exploding around the prison. As he curled up on the floor in his 3ft. by 6 ft. cell, he repeated one of Corrie Ten Boom's famous quotes that he had memorized "You may never know that Jesus is all you need, until Jesus is all you have." Jesus was all Lloyd had left in that solitary cell. He testified that as he remembered this quote and repeated it to himself such a peace came over him that it was like his circumstances no longer had control over him. Yes, we each have a variety of needs that we juggle each day but let us draw strength from this truth that Corrie Ten Boom found and my brother Lloyd experienced as well. Our primary need is Jesus. 

Prayer Requests:

1. Pray for Alberta who flies tomorrow (June 6) to the Philippines. She will hit the ground running with women's trainings. 

2. Pray for me (Steve) as I finalize a number of messages and workshops for our pastoral counseling seminar that we will facilitate for Bethany's pastors in Isabela. I travel on June 15th to Thailand for a short visit and then on to the Philippines. Alberta and I return to the US together on July 15. 😄

3. Pray for Bethany's 40th Anniversary celebration July 7th. Lots of planning and resources are going into marking this milestone in the work that was begun in 1984. Several former missionaries will be traveling to the Philippines - may all serve to please the Lord. 

Serving Christ with You, Steve and Alberta