We were sitting by the water, after having been apart for two and a half months. We had met in late April and had only known eachother for a month before we both traveled the world to do ministry this summer. All summer long we kept contact through Facebook and Skype, reading the Bible, reading books, watching movies, praying, and sharing our summers with eachother in the only way we knew how. All of those hours we spent talking and getting to know eachother, encouraging eachother led to this moment where we were looking out at the river. After having an awesome day in a historic town in St. Louis, smelling candles, taking crazy pictures, looking at antiques, and eating chocolate covered strawberries, we were sitting there after I asked him what he was thinking. David told me all that he was thinking and he asked me to be his girlfriend! Afterwards we just sat there holding hands with my head on his shoulder. I didn't want it to ever end!

What is really mind boggling and completely amazing about this story is that we had been going to the same college for years and never crossed paths. We found photos in which we both were in and yet we didn't even know eachother. Our paths however began to cross when my friends and I had a girl's night. Two of my friends were really upset about a couple at our school. The couple was having trouble and I had no idea that anything was wrong with their relationship. Some of the details of the situation just really struck a chord with me and I couldn't get it off my mind. That night I prayed for them but more specifically I prayed for Dave. I didn't personally know Dave at all but I knew of him. That night I couldn't sleep but I kept waking up praying for him. I thought it was really weird that I kept praying for someone I didn't even know. After that night I kind of forgot about it all and went on Spring Break for a week or so. After coming back to school after break, one of my friends told me that he broke up with his girlfriend a day or two before spring break. I felt like God definitely moved through my prayer and I was thankful for it. After that Dave kept coming to mind and I became curious about him and began asking friends about him. After realizing that it was just really weird that I was begining to like this guy that I had never met. I then decided that I needed to just give this all over to God and I got on my knees and just surrendered it to God. After almost a whole week had gone by after spring break when I was hanging out with friends before going to band practice. All of a sudden he walked up to us and began talking with my friends, and said hi to me. All the while, I was thinking about the fact that this is the guy that I prayed for that one night and couldn't sleep and he had no idea. Before I left to go inside he said "Bye Delilah." I was kindof shook up by the fact that he said hi to me for the first time ever and it was after I had prayed for him.I didn't expect anything to ever happen between us and brushed this off as coincidence. Little did I know a friend of ours told him that I liked him even though I definitely didn't want her to do that haha! He then messaged me one day on Facebook chat while I was in the shower and I was late receiving it but wrote back after finding that he did. He had added me on Facebook before any of these things were even in my mind, months before. We then talked on Facebook that night for a little while and then he invited me to a baseball game in Kansas City. He then began writing me hand written letters and sending them via my friends. We wrote back and forth for about a week or so before we started texting and calling. We then hung out and talked about missions over Chai Tea and went for a walk. We kept hanging out after that, all the way up to when I left for Mexico.

Before I left for Mexico, I began reading a book called "Boy Meets Girl" by Joshua Harris. I had read it when I was in highschool but hadn't picked up since but found it in my dorm when moving my stuff and decided maybe I should read it again. While reading the book one day at work I remember thinking that I wished I could share it with Dave and all the things that were really insightful about it, how to do relationships wisely and to God's glory. I remember thinking that if Dave was the kind of guy I should be spending so much time with, that he would be sharing this with me and reading this book all on his own without me telling him to. I started a prayer but didn't fully finish it, I prayed to God that if Dave was the right guy that he would read this book all on his own. I realized how silly my prayer had seemed and stopped half way through. After having left for Mexico, Dave and I talked daily, he was like my journal for the summer, instead of writing down all of the things I was learning, I simply told Dave and we prayed together about things that were happening in Mexico. He one day told me he had been reading a book and I asked him what it was, he then showed me the book on the screen and said "Boy Meets Girl," the book that I had prayed that he would read!!!!! I didn't tell him in that moment what I had prayed but I was shocked and amazed at how God had answered my prayer! It was so specifc and only half prayed because I thought it was silly. It was like God was showing me, don't underestimate what I can do! I was so amazed and finally told Dave about this weeks later.

It seems like all of things that led up to this relationship were from God. I am amazed at how God works and I just wanted to write all of this down so I could remember every detail! I can't wait to see what happens here! :) Here are some pictures from the day he asked me out! August 5th!

He is such a godly, amazing guy!

Haha! We are dorks together!

We haphazardly walked into a shop thinking we would get our faces painted for free but we saw that they had had hand waxing! We were asked if we wanted a model of holding eachother's hand and we said yes! This is the first time we ever held hands haha!

This is the wax still onour hands, we then pried it off after dipping it in wax, and ice water several times! So cool!

We took old fashioned photos to, where we got to dress up in western wear! It was great!!!! :)

Till' next time!

 

Delilah

 

 

So, I ended the last post on a very sad note but I must say that this last semester has been the best by far! So what has gone down in the past few months you may ask?! Well. . . .

First, I got adjusted to living in the dorms which was really different for me, I wasn't sure how I was going to handle it but having my own room on campus has turned out to be a change for the better. Here is a vid of move in day and a little peek at what life entails in the girl's dorms . . .

Also this semester I have been doing awesome academically and just giving each day to God in prayer, getting on my knees literally at the beginning of the day and telling God, "This is your day, your life, do with it what you will, it is yours." I really believe God has blessed that! I have also had a big part in the gospel choir at my school! Here is a compilation of video and pictures from this semester in gospel choir!.

As for right now I am getting ready to go to NY to visit my Dad and friends there! I will be watching the ball drop in NYC on New Year's Eve! So excited! Also this summer after a long Spring semester will be God willing going to Mexico to live with missionaries for the summer and helping them, while learning what long term missions is like in one place! I am so excited! Here are some pictures from this past semester!

Here is a quick summary of what we did and the amazing things God did!

First after our 12 hour flight we landed in South Korea and had a 12 hour layover there. We had a friend there named Norma who showed us around the city of Seoul. We then got back on a 5 hour plane ride to Bangkok, Thailand!

Bangkok, Thailand

We arrived in Bangkok late at night and were picked up and brought to the YWAM (Youth With A Mission Base) and stayed the night there. The next morning we had orientation with Chris Lenti a missionary in Bangkok who is now doing ministry with male sex tourists (sex trafficking offenders). He was extremely energetic and funny! We then hopped a train to Nong Khai where our first contact was. From there a pastor picked us up and brought us to Udonthani, with Lori and I sitting on the luggage in the back of a truck in the rain haha!

Udonthani, Thailand

When we arrived we had dinner Thai style, sitting on the floor. The food was very hot but very good. Our ministry centered around this church and we led cell groups, prayed over the sick, handed out tracts, did gospel skits and dramas at the local mall, and led their Sunday service. We became very close with the church and they asked us to participate in a traditional Thai dance, which included getting made up and dressed up for the event! It was amazing and the dance was really unique. We also got to go diving for clams, which we never got to eat thankfully haha. We did get to eat scoprion however and believe me you don't want to try it, it tastes like burnt fingernails basically. This church was so amazing to me, the doors were literally always open and the people were all like family. You could not distinguish who was family and who was not. Everytime that had a get together and dinner at someone's house, they alknowledged the Lord by having a time of worship afterwards. When we finally left for our next destination, it was very tearful and I don't think I cried more in all my life. I will never forget their kindness. Our interepreter Piyack had stayed up all night the night before we left to make us bracelets and told us to think of him and know we are in his heart when we look at them.

(Yes that is me in the pink on the right! :)

We then went back to our contacts house and spent an entire day of fasting and praying about our crossing the border to the North in Laos, because we had no translator and Laos is a very hostile place for Christians. We felt that God was giving us the go ahead and it required a lot of faith in order for us to go without a translator in sight. We crossed the border and met our next contact who had finally found a translator for us. We did some skits at the only Christian school in Laos the next morning and then met up with our translator and made plans to go further inland.

Unspecified Location, Laos

It was when we got further inland and away from the city that we could see a big difference in the way the people their lived. Their were bamboo huts and mud floors, and insufficient bathrooms. It was here we learned that we would would be training pastors. When I learned this I felt very intimidated. Who am I to train pastors? We learned that the only training these men had was what they read themselves in the Bible. They had never heard sermons, they had never gone to Bible college. It was unthinkable, when I look over my life, I know I have heard countless sermons. The pastors at first were afraid to be caught by the authorities and wouldn't even look at our leaders when they made plans so the training could take place. One of the pastors had just gotten out of jail a month before we came and the people were living in fear. So we began to teach them and go through sessions of different topics. It was an overwhelming task but God was with us. It made me thankful for all of the teaching I have had in my life. I got to teach about evangelism in the midst of persecution and I got to encourage them. I felt like God was speaking through me when I was encouraging them through His word. It was like God was saying to these people,"I haven't forgotten you, I am bringing people to you, I will never leave you nor forsake you." It was really powerful! When we left you could see the epression on their faces had taken a complete turn, they were encouraged and exuberant! Praise God! We also got to travel to a village that hadn't been visited by missionaries since the 30's! Despite this fact the entire village was almost completely Christian and the authorities somehow allowed them to have their own makeshift church! It was a speck of hope in the midst of despair! We then headed out to our next destination, Viet Nam!

Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam

This part of our ministry took place in the city and was a change of pace for us. The whole city was filled with mopeds, we found out that 80% of people had a moped! So the streets were crazy to see, with people going in all different directions! This was our second closed country. We learned we had to code our e-mails and be careful about what we said and did. We were there under the guise of tourism. We got to minister to a lot of college students and underground churches. We prayed over people, led English classes based on scripture verses, we did discipleship and hung out with college students who were considering Christ. This part was my favorite, I got to get to know some of the girls really well and got spend time with them. I also had the chance to go on the back of a moped with one of them and hand out food to street kids. I will never forget those girls, they even named me "Linh" which means miracle or sparkling. I got to share what God has done in my life, lead a Bible study, and do dramas at place that was a cafe by day and then a ministry by night. It was also here that I lost my passport and my debit card, and God forbid . . .my germex haha! It stunk but I learned a lot here, that I could trust God even when the worst happpens. We got an emergency passport and visa for me and we headed out to Cambodia!

Cambodia

We met up with our new contact here and were happy to be in a more free country, but a very poor, war torn country, destroyed by sex trafficking and the Khmer Rouge. We spent our first night at the YWAM base and took part in an international banquet in which saw presentations from each country and got to represent the US by doing the Cha Cha Slide haha! The next day we had orientation and got to see "Daughters" which is a safe house for women who have been the victims of sex trafficking and teaches them valuable work skills and teaches them about Christ through Bible study, so that they won't return to the sex industry. The sex industry is the main source of income for this country and it is a huge problem. When I got to look into the eyes of these women and smile at them, you could see the pain in their eyes and the newfound hope they now had. The next day we went to minister to orphaned children because of aids as a result of sex trafficking, and also kids who were children of those who have left sex trafficking. We did gospel skits, played with the kids, and taught them Bible stories by acting them out. We visited "Rappha House" as well and got a tour of the building and what the ministry does, which is a lot like daughters. The rest of our time in Cambodia we got to teach parents about the dangers of sex trafficking and about a child's right to providence, protection, ect. We also did a lot of kids ministry and I was able to preach one Sunday about coming to God in faith as opposed to coming in fear like the people Cambodia, who worship idols and demons to appease them. After this very long outreach we got to go on debrief for four days.

Siem Reap, Cambodia

It is here that we got to see Angkor Wat which is a thousand year old Hindu temple that was built at the height of the Angkorean Empire, which was the last time Cambodia saw preeminence because of war and the Khmer Rouge.

Koh Samet

It was here, an island off of Thailand, that we had our debrief, in which we talked about the trip, spent time with God and enjoyed the island!

Our Departure

I got to meet a Pakistani missionary who inspired me to go on this trip and had supported me on this trip, while we waited for our plane at the Bankok airport, it was such a blessing. We then had abother 12 hour lay over in South Korea and got to see the largest church in the world with largest amount of people in attendance. God is really moving in South Korea!

Wow, I have sooooo much more I could say and I can't possible go through every experience in a blog, but if you all have some questions and some time I could tell you all soooo much more and about how God has totally changed my life through this trip! Thank you all for your prayers and support, I am so thankful and could never thank you all enough! I will be making DVDs of the vids and pics soon and plan to give it to my supporters and anyone else who wants to have a copy! I love you all! God bless!

Delilah a.k.a Linh :)

P.S. Here are the videos we did from each country we visited, enoy!

 

 

I am here sitting at a missionary's house in Nong Khai, Thailand and it has been a long journey to this point! All the way up to the day that I left I wasn't sure I was going and it still hasn't hit me yet that I am on the other side of the world! After bus rides, train rides, even rides on the back of a truck, we are finally here!

We are still in our orientation phase and getting used to our new surroundings. Right now we are showering and having some down time after our seeming endless traveling! I just got done doing the team's laundry and playing with the missionary's one year old girl, who is half Thai, half American. We chased a butterfly around the lush front yard with palm trees, banana trees and tropical flowers. It is soo beautiful here and I can't wait to get to know more of the Thai people. Not long from now we will be heading to Laos, Cambodia, and Viet Nam. I am not sure what is ahead but I am excited to see what God is going to do. I have already written two sermons and am praying I have courage enough to give them.

I am astounded at how God provided for a trip that has cos nearly $3,000. I kept getting on my knees day after day when the money was coming in soooo slowly and it tested my faith beyond what I thought I could bear. I wondered how I would get the insurance, and the rest of the day to day items I would need for the trip but God provided like He always does. This entry is a testimony to His faithfulness, His goodness, and that He answers prayer!

Thank you all for your continued prayers and support! I will be back in July, God willing! I wish I could stay haha! :)

 

Delilah

The Person I Want To Be:

In response to the challenge in this sermon to write down who I want to be, I think I will do just that. Who do you want to be and what are your goals? How do you visualize yourself to be? Proverbs 27:3 says "as a man thinks, so shall he become."

1. I want to be focused

              -to be steadfast in whatever I put my mind to even in the face of adversity.

             - to not let myslef get distracted by things that come along to pull me away from my main goals.

            

2. I want to be organized

              - to be good steward of my time and resources

 

3. I want to be kind and thoughtful

              -  I want to be patient and loving- making time for people in my life on purpose

              - I want to keep my word and be considerate.

              - I want to be the person that remembers anniversaries, birthdays, and such.

              - I want to be patient with those that it is hard to be patient with

              - I want to be forgiving

4. I want to be honest

              - I want to be truthful even if it hurts

             - I want to be the same person in every area of my life, whether it be in church, at work, or with my friends and family.

              - I want to walk uprightly and live my life in the light, without feeling like I need to hid anything from anyone.

             

5. I want to put God first in everything

             - I want to make sure I make time for Him every morning and every part of the day when I feel His spirit prompting me

             - I want to put His plans above my own

             - I want to put Him first in my finances and in my relationships with others.

             - I want to speak about God and His salvation at every opportunity and not hide who I am as a Christian.

             - I want to make God the center of every decision I make

             - I want to continually be renewing my mind with God's word, the Bible.

              - I want my life to be a praise to God everyday

 

6. I want to always give my best

              - I want to give my best at work, at school, in my relationships, and in reaching the goals God has given me.

               - I want to be persistant, never give up on my dreams and God's call on my life

 

7. I want to be bold and not let fear keep me from doing anything

               - I want to take the path less traveled by

               - I want to do what is right and what is better even if I have to walk it alone

               - I want to be genuine and be who I am, speaking my mind

                - I don't want to be shy or afraid to be who I am, or afraid to express my opinions

              

8. I want to think positively, speak positively, and do things that are positive.

                - I want to encourage and uplift others with my words

                - I want to think positively of myself and my abilities, appearance ect.

                 - I want God's word to be a filter for all that goes into my mind, filtering out thoughts and actions that don't fit my character in Christ.

 

9. I want to be a good steward of my body

               - I want to eat in a healthy manner

                - I want to make exercise a commonplace event in my everyday life.

 

10. I want to always be growing and never staying in a rut

               - I want to find solutions to reoccuring problems I find in myself.

               - I want to be developing my talents and abilities everyday

               - I want to continually press on in my relationship with God and be persistant

               - I want to look for the lesson in every hardship and learn it at that point in time

 

11. I want to develop godly friendships/ relationships

               - I want to reserve the deepest parts of my personality with those that are deserving of it and are truly godly instead of throwing my pearls to swine.

               - I want to keep certain boundaries in place, so that people don't walk all over me.

               - I want to speak my mind when it is godly to do so.

              

12. I want to be wise

              - I want to be wise in what I say

              - I want to be wise in who I make my close friends

              - I want to be wise with the opportunities arround me

              - I want to be wise with my resources God has given me

 

13. I want to be generous

              - I want to be giving and continually keeping a surplus to help others

              - I want my house to be open

              - I want to always be pouring out the gifts God has given me

 

14. I want to live life on purpose

             - I want to not waste time doing things that are menial, or simply fill time with useless activities

             - I don't want to do anything that doesn't have an eternal purpose or anything that would sidetrack me or ruin my testimony

              - I don't want to do anything that is not in keeping with a person living with Christ.

             - I want to write down my goals and take steps to follow them