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Orchestrated Steps
By Dara Rasavanh
Missionary to Thailand
 My name is Dara Rasavanh, my husband, Mike, and I are newly-appointed missionaries with Global Missions of Open Bible Churches to Thailand. Mike and I are the descendants of the Taidam people from North Vietnam. Our parents fled North Vietnam at the end of the French Indochina war in 1954 and migrated to the country of Laos. Mike and I claim Laos as our birth country.
War seemed to be an unending story in Southeast Asia. The Vietnam War stretched from 1955 to 1975. At the end of that war most of the people thought that peace was going to take place; however, it was actually the beginning of horror beyond our imagination and people started to flee, again! After the announcement of the ceasefire in April of 1975, the people of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia took drastic action by leaving their homes and possessions and fled to a nearby free country without knowing if they would ever get to return home. Most never did.
 My family didn't leave Laos until 1979 because we were waiting for my brother who had been arrested and sent to a concentration camp to return. Our family was forced to escape at night and risk getting killed crossing the Mekong River. By the grace of God, my family made it to Thailand. We lived there in a refugee camp for a year before being accepted and allowed to come to the United State in 1980. I was 13 years old.
As a child growing up in Laos, I remembered seeing pictures of high-rise buildings, city lights that sparkled in the night sky, cars on paved streets, and people dining on a table full of foods. As a child born in a poor country like Laos, coming to America was only a dream. Only rich people could afford to send their kids to America to study, and we were not rich! But God can change things beyond our imagination. He changed that for this child who dared to dream.
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Contributions to the
are our main source of
funding. This fund covers
many aspects of Open
Bible's
outreach around
the world.
Each of our missionaries
raise
their own funds
to
f
ulfill the ministries for
whi
ch
G
od ha
s called
an
d equipped them.
Read about each of
them on the MVP
page.
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make our plans,
but the Lord
determines our steps.
Proverbs 16:9 |
Our family was fortunate to be sponsored by a Christian Reformed Church in Sioux Center, Iowa. I came to know who God is and that He had a purpose for my life. In the beginning, I thought coming to America was a dream come true. I thought I would have a chance to get a good education, have a nice home, car, and many things that I couldn't even dream of, but I was so wrong! After I came to know God and who I am in Him, I came to understand that God brought me here so that I can come to know the truth through His Son, Jesus Christ, and that Truth had set me FREE!
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In July of 1986 I married the love of my life, Mike Rasavanh. We have three children, Samantha (who went to rest in Jesus' arms in 1989); Zach, age 26; and Bella, age 23. I can't say that everything was perfect in our lives. We had to overcome many struggles, but through it all, God never ceased to bless and keep us near. It was a humbling experience in 1996 when God called us to plant the first Asian Open Bible church (now Lifesong Church of the Open Bible) in Des Moines, Iowa, with the help of our mother church, First Church of the Open Bible, then pastored by Ken Groen. The Lord told us that we would pastor the Asian church for twenty years and then He would call us somewhere else. We didn't think He would call us to go back to our homeland, but sometimes God works in a circle and He's in the center of that circle!
We knew God went ahead of us and was preparing our way to Thailand. In 2002, Mike and I had the opportunity to take a "Prayer Walk" trip to North Vietnam, where my parents came from. There, I met my maternal grandmother. Out of my mother's eight children, I was blessed to be the only one to have met her mom. Before I went on this trip, my mom told me to go and visit her uncle. All I knew was that his name was Uncle Khone. During that time there were no cell phones, and people in Vietnam did not have home phones, so there was no way to communicate with my relatives prior to arriving in North Vietnam. When we arrived, Mike's cousin's wife knew of my mom's uncle and took me to see him. Due to blindness, my uncle usually had to go to the field with his son because there was no one at home to take care of him. They would normally be at the field for at least a week or two before returning home.
The day we arrived, for "some reason" my uncle had not gone to the field with his son. When I arrived at his house, my uncle said he had been waiting for me. He asked, "Are you the messenger who came with the message for me?"
At first I was dumbfounded. My uncle could not have known who I was or that I was coming to see him. Then the Holy Spirit prompted me to realize that my uncle had seen a vision!
So I replied, "Yes, I'm that messenger!"
He said, "What is the message?"
I said "The One who sent me is the God who created the heavens and the earth; He created this world. He loves us so much that He sent His Son to die for us. Whoever believes in His Son, Jesus Christ, will be forgiven and be with God in heaven forever when we leave this world."
Then I asked him "Do you receive the message, uncle?"
He said, "Yes, I received it and now I can die with my eyes closed."
I soon found out that my uncle was a high priest for the entire region in the Taidam area. Two years later, I received news that the uncle had died.
This incident was a sign that God was already at work there, at the place where we're going. He is already working with His people through dreams and visions. I believe that He will give us divine appointments and meetings to declare His mercy and grace. The presence of God was so strong at Uncle Khone's house that day that every time I close my eyes and remember it, I still feel that same presence of God that strengthens our calling.
The time is fast approaching for Mike and me to leave for Thailand. Our goal is to serve the Lord and bring the Good News of our Lord Jesus Christ to Southeast Asia. We will work in five countries: Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Myanmar, implementing the CEED Project. The CEED Project consists of church planting (C), education through English and human and sex trafficking awareness (E), entrepreneurial training (E), and discipleship (D).
Some of our friends and family have concerns about our safety. They ask, "Why are you going back to the place from which fled?"
"
Trust in the
Lord
with all your heart,
and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct
your paths
"
Proverbs 3:5-7 (NKJV)
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I wish I could say that we have no fear, but in reality, as human beings, we do have some fears, especially fears of the unknown. But, we have operate through God's words and promises instead of our own understanding. The Bible reminds us in Psalm 27:1 (NKJV), "
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
" Through His words and promises, we shall overcome our fears!
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 Most people understand God's calling on our lives and have asked how they can help and be a part of this undertaking. We are thankful for you. First and foremost, please pray for us. Second, you can partner with us financially by donating to Fields of Asia mission work by clicking here (a check may be sent to Open Bible Churches, 2020 Bell Ave., Des Moines, IA 50315, designated Rasavanh). Last, your church can bring a short-term mission team to Southeast Asia and see first-hand what God is doing and how you can extend His Kingdom.
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Global Missions wants to Rebuild Liberia. Our project for the
2017 Global Harvest Offering
is to raise
$100,000 to set up literacy learning centers in strategic parts of the country. These
learning centers will help educate our Open Bible family and the rest of the people of Liberia so
they have the tools necessary to move forward and restore the country's infrastructure. In
addition, we will initiate the INSTE program, as the majority of our pastors and leaders have no
biblical or theological training.
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Freedom
By Andrew Bates
Student Ministries Pastor at Waverly Open Bible Church
In 2015, when I heard about the possibility of going to Cuba I was excited to go. Unfortunately, that trip was put on hold due to travel complications. During that year my desire to go to Cuba really grew. Cuba had a mysterious feel to it. It had been closed off for so long and that really intrigued me. I have been on many overseas missions trips all over the world, to places such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Dubai, Thailand, Mexico, and Trinidad. The church in closed countries has always amazed me. One of the main reasons I wanted to go to Cuba was to experience the Church there, especially if I would be able to encourage believers there in their faith.
I wasn't sure what to expect in Cuba once I arrived. I have been in places where it is illegal to share the Gospel, where churches have to hide, and where people have to be careful about living out their faith. I have also been in the completely opposite situations where the Church was free to be the Church. Knowing that the Cuban government restricts the practice of Christianity, I thought the church in Cuba would be smaller, hidden, quiet, possibly oppressed, and tired. I found quite the opposite.
From blocks away we could hear believers worship. Their passion for God oozed out into the streets. Worshipers not only packed the inside of house churches, but also flowed out onto the porches as people gathered around the doorways and windows to be a part of the service. We met people who had walked miles to come to services. The church in Cuba is alive, growing, passionate, and hungry for more of God.
Ministering outside the churches was more difficult as we weren't free to conduct street ministry like praying with people or sharing the Gospel through tracts or word of mouth. Outside the church walls we could only share Jesus through our deeds and even that is very restricted. Many of us on this trip spent time walking the streets, praying silently and interacting with the community. Some of the students played baseball with the locals and went swimming with some children.
A local pastor told us that miracles happen every day in Cuba. If there were no miracles there would be no church and no Christians. They don't have the resources or funds to do what God asks them to do. They act in faith and God provides daily, even multiple times a day. We experienced these miracles ourselves as we witnessed believers feed a hundred elderly people one day; attended services with working sound equipment; rode around in vans with local believers, and by the accommodations they had for us where we stayed. With God they are able to do so much.
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| Andrew with Field Director David Moreno Jr. |
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What affected me the most was the freedom I experienced in the Cuban church. It was greater than the freedom I experience in my home church in America. I wondered how a country with very little freedom could have more freedom than America? As the days went by and I kept experiencing this freedom, I wondered what was different about the church there. Our freedom in America is man-made, and while it is good, it's also selfish and can hardly compare to the God-made freedom we experienced in Cuba. The freedom there comes from believers being content with what they have and not letting things keep them from experiencing a godly life. During the last evening service we attended I sat in nearly 100 degree temperatures, thinking about how much I missed air conditioning. In that moment I realized that even those thoughts were keeping me from going after God in that moment. Because the Cuban people have been so restricted, they have learned to go after God without having all the "stuff" we think we need to have here. Their churches are growing and doing amazing things with way less than we have here. Yet we use our "lack of resources" as an excuse for why our churches are not growing. Fully relying on God every day, the Cuban people have found a freedom we don't often experience here in America. We tend to settle for what we have created instead of what God has created for us.
The experiences from Cuba made an impact on every
person who went on this trip. Some of us were thankful
for the things we have and the country we grew up in. Others were amazed at the church there and how they do so much with so little. They hoped to bring that mindset
back home with them. My takeaway is that we shouldn't settle for how good we have it in America, but that we
need to strive for the greater things God has created for
us, especially
freedom in Him.
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