Why Nancy Loves America
This week our nation will observe National Day of Prayer. In honor of that day, this week's devotionals will be taken from the book A Call to America by my prayer partner Nancy Jesudass. The following helps to explain her burden for our nation.
I owe my life to you. Yes, I owe Americans my life. I would like to tell you why.
One day over 100 years ago, a young man was wandering in the streets of Hanoi, North Vietnam, looking for a way to commit suicide. At that moment, an American missionary "happened" to appear and offered him a gospel tract. This young man had no interest in the tract but politely tucked it in his pocket without any intention of reading it.
The man had been forced by his parents to marry a woman he didn't love. He was addicted to opium and would go straight to an opium den after work, heading home around midnight. For about two years, that was his daily routine.
One evening in the opium den, the gospel tract fell out of his pocket. He picked it up and casually read it to pass time. The gospel message captured his heart to such an extent that he began looking for a local church to inquire more about Jesus. With the help of a pastor, this young man became a follower of Jesus and never returned to opium. He began a new life, seeking to love his wife as Christ loves the Church. Eventually he led his wife and all his children to Jesus. I was one of his eight children.
Thousands like my father were saved because of the love, fervent prayers, and sacrifices of Christians who took the gospel to Vietnam. My father became a serious follower of Jesus and a man of prayer. He was discipled by American missionaries and served the Lord wholeheartedly until he died at age 49. At that time I was 11 years old.
Likewise, missionaries taught me, discipled me, challenged me, and supported me financially, sending me to the Philippines and to the United States. Many Vietnamese have given their lives to full-time Christian service because of Christians from this great nation. I owe my life to them.
