NEVER FEAR WHEN GOD CALLS

When I was only 13 years old, God called me to serve Him overseas. He led me to work in Laos with the Overseas Missionary Fellowship. I had experienced leg aches and back trouble since I was a child, but I knew God could help me overcome every health problem, and He did. In 1959 I found myself striding up a mountain in Laos, feeling great. By the end of the day, 25 miles later, my legs felt like numb stumps attached to my hips, but I was thrilled to be where God wanted me. We were able to take two treks into the Nong area where missionaries had never lived.

In April 1961 God led me to visit a remote village near some territory controlled by the communist Viet Cong. I rode my bicycle to La Tup village where I played Gospel recordings on my portable phonograph for the people. That village sent a guide with me to the next village. It was a hot two-hour walk across the dry paddy fields to Keng La Teng. Both villages showed good interest. At the last village I saw men in black clothing sitting in the background as I chatted and played the records in the headman’s house. They were probably rebels looking me over. I felt a chill of anxiety but pushed it away, knowing that God had led me there.

One man in black asked what I thought about the war. I told him honestly that I was not on either side because my main responsibility was to teach people about Jesus. I ate the rice they served me and didn’t stay long. I had traveled a total of 46 kilometers that day, walking 20 miles of that with the guide. The next day people came from that village to inquire more about the Lord. Two weeks later my home and all that area were taken over by communist troops, and we were never able to return.

This may sound like a dangerous adventure, but it doesn’t compare with what Alice Compain did the same month. She had stayed behind when her coworkers went to a wedding. Then she felt impelled to visit a new believer in an area quite near the Lao-Vietnamese border. The Viet Cong were already advancing rapidly along the Annamite mountains toward her area, so she had been told to prepare for evacuation.

Alice knew of a man called Nai Aprang who had inherited a Gospel of Luke from his father, who although himself illiterate, had bought it from a Lao evangelist many years previously. Nai Aprang treasured this book but knew little about the Lord Jesus. Alice felt God prompting her to take a Laotian Bible to the Aprang family before the enemy invaded the area.

As she heard the guns pounding in the distance Alice developed “heart” symptoms which she tried unsuccessfully to alleviate with an injection. She realized it was the stress of the situation. She set off, however, on the 11-mile ride toward the Vietnamese border, praying for safe passage, only to have a tire puncture just out of town. She prayed that if the puncture repair held she should continue. Rather unusually it did, so she went on to reach the family at dusk, much to their surprise. They retired late that night after she passed on all the information required for them to get started reading the Old Testament in Lao.

The next morning she returned to Takong and resumed packing for evacuation. A fellow missionary came for her and they left on the regular bus for Savannakhet the next day. A few days later she heard of the death of a French Roman Catholic missionary who had been in the country since 1940, right through the Japanese occupation. He was not afraid to meet the Viet Cong. But later he did meet them at Takong (where Alice had lived). Soon his body was returned to the French authorities. Alice knew she had taken a big risk, but God had protected her on the mission of delivering the Word of God to Aprang. She felt God had put His mark on her so she could continue to serve Him in Laos and Cambodia for the next 45 years.

Years later some Bru Christians crossed the mountains from Vietnam to bring the Gospel into that eastern part of Laos. They reaped the seed that we had sown. Now there are hundreds of believers there in several villages. It is always important to obey God’s promptings. We can trust Him to take care of us in any situation.

Some years later two young men serving in Laos in a safe area were captured at KengKok and taken north to Hanoi by the Viet Cong. They endured many months in prison but were finally released and eventually returned to serve again in southeast Asia. God doesn’t promise to protect us from all suffering, but He does promise to always be with us and to make our lives worthwhile.

Listen to the Lord, and you may hear His call upon your life. Don’t be afraid to follow Him.