This past week, however, I received a letter and updated picture from our family, and they have a new baby!
Their names are omitted for security concerns.
Dear Godbey Family: My family has a rice field that we work in the highland areas. Roads are in very bad condition. Our daily lives are difficult, especially if someone gets sick. My children are small and my wife alone works in the rice field as I serve the church. I accepted Christ as my Savior in 2003. I became a group leader in 2005. Now I lead the church of 164 believers. Of these believers 30 have been baptized. I do many things. I help the church and all the workers. Please pray for me and my family and my ministry that I will have the strength and wisdom to continue serving. The church does not have a chapel or a good place to worship. Pray that God will send more workers to help us. Pray for our members to love God more and to serve others. Thank you for your help and prayers. I am very grateful to you...As I was reading it, shame came over me. How can I be so caught up in my trivialities when I am so blessed? I am shamed by the strength and commitment to Christ of my brothers and sisters around the world... I am also amazed how I love these people I have never met. And then it occurred to me: I am here so that I may help them there. God is so wise and clever!
"Remember the prisoners, as though you were in prison with them, and the mistreated, as though you yourselves were suffering bodily." Hebrews 13:3