It is always a privilege to hear from Anita Wong. She shared that when she turned 70 years old in 2023, she asked the Lord what is next in her life and got the scripture Isaiah 43:18-19:
Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
I’ve personally been on a mission trip with Anita and seen her serve under both Alvin and Gabe as a Pastor at LifeSpring. Even when it seemed like she had served her time and paid her dues, God still had plans for her; plans to prosper her and not to harm her, plans to give her hope and a future. These plans would end up sending Anita back into the mission field to do God’s work.
One of my takeaways was that it started with a word. Anita heard from the Lord through the scriptures and felt the Lord impress upon her the word “fluid.”
With discernment she interpreted fluid to mean “Whatever I say you do, wherever I call you to go you go, etc.” She did not necessarily know what was next at the time or what it would look like but she decided to take action by faith.
Her faith in action took her to Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Thailand, Philippines & Japan. Traveling to those nations and serving different people and leaders requires a lot of fluidity and Anita demonstrated that by stepping out in faith. God opened up doors for her and she was able to see God’s faithfulness everywhere she went. From seeing first fruits to a younger generation open to hearing more about God, Anita was experiencing a new thing firsthand.
Anita reminded us that faith in action precedes God’s faithfulness. When we step out in faith after hearing from God and believing in Him, we will see His faithfulness.
We heard it in Theresa’s testimony with sponsoring a child and we hear the same thing with Anita going out into the nations to do God’s work.
As Gabe mentioned in his sermon: It starts with hearing, then believing, then action, followed by God’s faithfulness.
Take some time to reflect on where you are on your faith journey. Do you need to hear from God? Do you need to start believing what He said? Are there action steps you need to take in faith? Can you see God’s faithfulness?
Father, You are good and your mercy endures forever. Give us eyes to see and ears to hear you. Help us to trust in your word and walk by faith. May we be a people who can see your faithfulness in every generation. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!