Invitation For Intercession

Hello again friends and family! Im in the Philippines now and could not be more excited for what the Lord is doing in me and my team but I first want to reflect more on what the Lord walked me through while in Vietnam. What my “yes” looked like vs. what it should look like, the true love that God has for me so that I could better love His people, and what it looks like to put every ounce of my trust in Him. I may have written some of this already but I just really feel called to reflect and ask for prayer!

Yes!

In just the first two weeks of Vietnam, the Lord revealed to me that the “yes” that I gave Him back in Georgia and the “yes” that I had been giving to Him since, wasn’t an actual yes that I would lay my life down for. It was a partial “yes” that I had put in a box and basically said, God if you are not going to work inside of this box, it’s not for me. From this, the Lord reveals that I can’t love my team right or the people around me right, if I first don’t understand the love that He has for me. My call to action was immediate repentance, to thankfulness that the Lord first gave me this revelation and then gave me a second chance. I love Jesus so much that I can’t help but to share the gospel with every person that I come across. I have a new understanding that every person I come in contact with is someone created in the image of God that He has put in front of me because He can use me as a vessel to reach them and He will. It didn’t matter that I was in a closed country anymore, there is eternity on the line and Jesus has placed me here.

Trust!

I would say that before this new understanding, I had a pretty good idea of what it looked like to trust the Lord. I trust that the Lords word is true, I trust that the Lord knows and wants what’s best for me, I trust that the Lord will never leave me of forsake me, and I trust that the Lord will keep His promises. What I came to realize in talking with my leader, Nick, is that I didn’t truly know what it meant to put my full trust in Him. Trusting that where He leads me, He will provide. Putting my full trust in God means God speaks to me and says, “Go and make disciples of ALL nations,” and I say, “Yes Lord,” without hesitation and without doubt, even when it seems unreasonable because I know the Lord will never leave me or forsake me. I know the Lord will make a path and will provide. This also means trusting Him with the little things too. Recently one of my friends posted about how she had spent money on birthday presents, Christmas presents, coffee, meals, and was now running low. So she asked her supporters, “if you feel lead to support me in this way, here’s my Venmo.” I brought it up to Nick and was like, “that’s brave of her, I couldn’t do that knowing I’ve already raised $20,000.” Nick said, “that’s humble of her, knowing that she has already raised so much money but is trusting that God will keep providing.” Safe to say I was instantly humbled… if I’m being honest, I’m in the same position. Coming out of Vietnam, all we really had was relationship ministry because we were in a closed country where we were not allowed to talk about our faith publicly. The easiest way I found to share the gospel was to go play sports with strangers on the beach and then bring them to a coffee shop after where I could then teach them about Jesus. Coffee in Vietnam is very cheap (about $1) but as you could imagine, doing this everyday, things started to add up. And between that and getting to share Jesus through buying people gifts and explaining how they are not the only thing Christmas is about, I spent more than I was anticipating too. There are also some days where we are not provided a meal so it’s up to us to figure out what to do. I say all of this to say, if you have donated or prayed for me while on this trip, thank you, it truly means the world to me. Your donations are literally changing the world and saving lives. I pray that you see and hear the testimonies of those that Jesus has encountered through me and are encouraged by His goodness. I have one big, final favor to ask though and that is that you would continue to support me! If you would like to I will leave links to Venmo, CashApp and other such things below. If not, I ask that you would continue to pray for me and that the Lord would continue to bring people into my life who do have the ability to partner with me.

Things to be praying for:

– Health and unity within my squad.

– Soften the hearts and open the minds of the people we encounter.

– Radical encounters of Jesus within orphanages and prisons.

– Continued support financially.

Support Me!

Venmo: @cascsmith

PayPal: @cascsmith

Cash App: $cascsmith