God’s Protection During FaithCamp
God is with us even in the situations we wish we didn’t have to be in.
God has been blessing tremendously at all the FaithCamps we have been having this summer, but along with those blessings, we have faced many challenges. Through these challenges, God has been reminding us to trust in Him no matter our circumstances, and giving us testimonies to share about His faithfulness.
Here are two such challenges our FaithCamp speakers have faced this summer:
Kasey’s Unforgettable Flight
We were so blessed to have Kasey Norton come to our first few FaithCamps this year and share about the work God is doing through her family in Thailand. Because she works with children, she needed to leave sooner than the other speakers to go back to Thailand and help take care of them.
Kasey and two of her children had booked flights through Ethiopian Airlines to both come to America and to return to Thailand. Their flight to Thailand included a layover in Addis Ababa, but the first flight left several hours late. While landing at the end of their first flight, Kasey suddenly felt intense pain inside her ear (most likely a perforated eardrum).
“There was an intense pain near my temple and then behind my ear and then I heard water inside my head. Then fluid came from the ear so I assumed something ruptured or perforated...” Kasey shared.
She became dizzy and passed out in her seat. The flight attendants offered her orange soda when she woke up, but provided little extra help.
Because of the delayed flight, they missed their connecting flight to Bangkok and were told they had to stay in a hotel for two days. Kasey’s Visa card didn’t work, so they survived on a little free food and one bottle of water each for the two days!
Despite the uncomfortable situation, God was still with them, and the three travelers made it safely back to the airport and home to the rest of their family in Thailand.
Kasey remarked, "Somehow the front lines seem easier than America now.” Please keep them in prayer as they resume their daily burdens in Sukhothai.
Read Kasey’s blog to learn more about her family’s ministry in Thailand.
The Tengkanos’ Dangerous Escape
This year, God has provided a travel trailer for the Tengkano family to stay in as our team treks across the country and back for various FaithCamps. After FaithCamp Idaho, they started traveling to their next destination in Colorado. They intentionally looked for routes that avoided mountains, but without them realizing, Google took took them on a detour through the Teton Pass in Wyoming. By the time they noticed, they had gone too far to turn back. They had to continue over the 8,400 ft mountain pass.
Everything was okay until they started their descent down the 10% grade, and the brakes started to overheat.
They thought, “If this is our time to go, then we surrender our lives to the Lord.”
Miraculously, they were able to take a turnout, and with Ramon pushing on the brakes as hard as he could, they stopped just at the last moment, smoke pouring off the brakes.
Midnight was fast approaching, so they decided to try to sleep while the brakes cooled. After only an hour or so, they heard several cars honking at them, and they realized they had to move again. They were situated near a curve in the road, and the other cars couldn’t see them as they came around the corner.
The brakes had not fully cooled, but they rolled down the mountain in first gear for about 20 more miles, finally coming to a place where they could rest until morning.
In the morning they checked the brake lines, fluid, and pads. Everything was okay, and they made it the rest of the way safely.
We are blessed to see how God has faithfully protected our team members as they went through these scary situations. Our God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and we know that we can count on Him no matter what we encounter in our future.
Please continue to keep our missionaries and FaithCamp staff in your prayers as we finish our last few FaithCamps, not only for protection, but for God to use each one to share the messages He wants His people to hear.