Summary

SummaryI’m Luke, and along with my wife Kate, we answered God’s call to serve as medical gospel workers in a remote Myanmar village. Last year, a routine visa run turned into months of waitingβ€”six weeks in Thailand and eight weeks trapped in Myanmarβ€”when checkpoints and closed roads barred our return home. We sat in hotels, passports stamped, favors exhausted, hearts full of frustration and grief. Yet, I’ve learned to trust that God’s timing has no timestamp and to intercede passionately for our village from afar. Meanwhile, our spiritual children in the house church have remained faithfulβ€”three baptisms in three months when we normally see one per year! Our kids, too, bear this displacement: missing Shan weddings and noodles, they process loss and growth alongside us. As we dream of serving refugees across borders and teaching at a Burmese-student medical school, we cling to perseverance. Though homesick, we rejoice that God uses hardship to refine us and empower local believers to carry the torch of the gospel. πŸ™β€οΈ

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Last week Luke and Kate, medical gospel workers who’ve served in Myanmar, shared how God called them to Myanmar to share the hope of Christ. This week, in Part 2 of our conversation, they reveal the loss and devastation their family experienced as they were forced to leave the place God had so clearly called them to.

β€œIt was devastating,” Kate says, β€œand we still sometimes have to process through that again.” While returning to their village home is not an option right now, Luke and Kate are clear that the Lord has not released them from their calling to the people of Myanmar.

Listen as they talk about wrestling with what God’s will is, and how they have walked through this disappointment and displacement alongside their children. They’ll also offer advice for others feeling a call to serve as missionaries or other overseas ministry service.

Though there has been deep grief in leaving their home, there has also been joy. Since Luke and Kate left Myanmar, three people in their village have been baptized as new believers. They are thrilled to see local believers taking the reigns of ministry and leading others to Christ.

Please pray for Luke, Kate and their family as they consider two opportunitiesβ€”outside the countryβ€”where they could continue to serve the people of Myanmar.

The Bible commands us to remember those in prison as if we were with them (Hebrews 13:3). Please pray for freedom for Dr. Kiflu Gebremeskel and Pastor Haile Nayzgi, two pastors in prison in Eritrea. May 23rd, 2024, marks the 20th anniversary of their arrest in Asmara. Pray also for the release of 350+ other Christians imprisoned in Eritrea right nowβ€”including more than 80 arrested so far in 2024. Speak out and share their story with others who will stand with these persecuted Christians in prayer.

Never miss an episode of VOM Radio! Subscribe to the podcast. Or you can listen each weekβ€”and get reminders to pray for persecuted Christiansβ€”in the VOM App for your smartphone or tablet.

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Time Chapters
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02:55 Called out of their village
04:56 Blocked at final checkpoint
06:13 Six weeks of waiting in hotels
11:08 Three baptisms in three months
13:00 Children process displacement
16:09 Advice on staying accountable
22:16 New refugee clinic opportunities
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Voice of the Martyrs USA
The Voice of the Martyrs serves persecuted Christians in the world’s most difficult and dangerous places to follow Christ. Β 
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