Hey everyone!

I’ve been getting a lot of questions about my trip and whether it is still happening with the current COVID-19 situation. The short answer is yes, as of right now I will still be going to the Philippians in June. Adventures in Missions is closely monitoring the situation over there and here. They are making every possible effort to ensure a safe trip. There’s a lot of questions about this I just can’t answer right now because, well, I can’t see the future and I don’t know what exactly God’s plan is in all of this. I do know that He is still in control and I really believe that this trip, or at the very least the preparation for this trip, is something that is making Satan very uncomfortable. 

As I think about everything that’s happening right now, the story of Shadrach, Meshack and Abednago keeps coming to my mind. This was one of my favorite stories as a kid, and still is. If you're unfamiliar with it, here’s the short version. A King decrees that everyone must worship this giant gold statue he has set up when music plays. If they don’t, they get thrown into a fiery furnace. So, naturally, everyone is bowing down and worshiping this statue. Then someone notices these three dudes not bowing down. They get brought to the king and he offers them a second chance to worship his statue, but they respond by saying, “Our God can save us, but even if He doesn’t, we will never worship the statue.” They end up getting thrown into this fire that’s so hot it kills the guards who threw them in! But they don’t burn up, and instead they’re walking around in the fire like nothing is happening. The king calls them out and the dudes don’t even smell like smoke! For the full story check out Daniel 3 in the Bible.

So the guys response to the king is what’s been coming to my mind again and again. If my God is big enough to keep three dudes alive in a literal fire then He can definitely handle what’s going on in the world right now and every detail about this trip. And even if He chooses not to just make everything go away and calm down, I will still not bow down to fear, but will instead lean on my God’s strong arm and trust Him.

Trusting in God has given me the peace I need in the midst of uncertainties. It's because of Him that I've been able to keep from checking for news every five minutes, and He's given me freedom from carrying the burden of everything that's going on. What about you? Do you want to bow to fear or do you want to lean on and trust the God who is always there?

Thanks for reading,

Rebekah Sartain