[RUDDICK UPDATE] VIETNAM: A NATION'S DESTINY - Morris Ruddick

Morris & Carol Ruddick A close friend recently observed that far too many don't really "read" emails anymore -- they selectively scan them. Many are plagued with -- shall we just call it what it is: spiritual ADD (attention deficit disorder). We've become a generation of Martha's: encumbered and distracted with the cares of serving. Simultaneously, we live in a time of being bombarded with distractions, when the tendency to slip into spiritual myopia -- majoring in minors -- is simply overwhelming. It all dovetails with my most recent SIGN post on the antics of the religious spirit, if you haven't seen it yet: http://strategicintercession.org/2015/04/the-religious-spirit/ In keeping the focus, we need more undistracted time with Him -- much more than ever before. That observation sets the tone for our current venue in Vietnam. We're already in-country and about His business. The time before leaving was a series of spiritual firestorms, each demanding priority over the priorities. That included not getting to this pre-trip prayer letter until now -- days after arriving. Another sign of the times is that the bar has been raised. Within the context of God clearly doing "new things," no longer can we rest on "more of the same harder" or past exploits. We need to overcompensate in our spiritual maintenance, in finding our rest, our priorities and our focus in Him. God's Timing and Opportunity Punctuating the tempo of the times, and not unlike the setting giving rise to Pharaoh's dreams, God clearly is unveiling dimensions of incredible opportunity, driven by His timing on things. In coming through Hong Kong, the front page of the Asian Wall Street Journal (April 29) had an amazing article titled: "Entrepreneurs Return as Vietnam Thrives."http://www.wsj.com/articles/forty-years-after-fall-of-saigon-entrepreneurs-return-to-vietnam-1430326981?KEYWORDS=Vietnam++Entrepreneurs It shouts to the importance and timing in our role of planting God's economy and the message we have for those called in the marketplace. While Vietnam still has its challenges, it is emerging with significance. This article unveils the amazing role that the Vietnamese Diaspora has played in Vietnam's recent economic development. The growth figures Vietnam now touts economically compares and in ways even overshadows heavyweights in the region such as Indonesia and China. Shared Values and the Destiny of a Nation It is why we're here, as Vietnam's praying Body prepares and assumes its role as the head and not the tail. To coin an adapted overused wakeup call unveiling the focus: "It's the marketplace, Stupid!" The Wall Street article highlights one of the shining stars, a Vietnamese-American, who came to the US as a toddler with his family after the regime-change in 1975 -- and the impact of his recent return and influence. It points to shared business values, but in the author's not incorrect, but short-sighted view, Confucian ones. What he has missed is that Vietnam in its wisdom has been developing closer and closer ties to Israel and has remarkable parallels in the values it shares with Jewish culture and those known over the centuries as THE people of business. That's why it's God's time for those who live their lives by the Book. http://www.strategic-initiatives.org/pages/publications/EnduringEconomies.htm So, here we are. What is unfolding is something bigger than us. And the pace is increasing. Strategic Agendas and the Soul of a Nation While continuing to impart and plant God's economy, we have transitioned into working with Vietnamese brethren, genuinely called as marketplace practitioners who, like the biblical Joseph, will change the spiritual climate in their spheres of influence. From that, God has anticipatory responses from which the spirit of poverty is broken, releasing God's destiny for His people. Carol's work with orphans is closely related. It is a key to God's heart and our Isaiah 58 mandate. The Vietnamese believers we work with take Isaiah 58 very seriously. There are 300,000 orphans in Vietnam. The soul of a nation is defined by ones such as these and those reaching out to them. It marks the future for all of them. It wasn't long ago, that we spent time with some Vietnamese orphans, schooled in God's economy, now believing adults turned entrepreneurs, who as trained, skilled hair-stylists were buying out the owner. Related and giving focus to raising the bar and working with "Vietnamese willing to help Vietnamese" includes an initiative, a fund, operated by committed believers, that targets youth from late teens into their 20s. It is modeled after the very positive accomplishments of Junior Achievement, a program in which teens start fledgling businesses sponsored and mentored by successful community businesses: (https://www.juniorachievement.org/web/ja-usa/home), but in this case believer-owned businesses. We likewise have been working together with bridging and combining the strengths of marketplace practitioners in the north with those in the south -- with business agendas that bless the community while carving out the leadership role destined for the Body. Along those lines, we have serious discussions underway, with key people for other business-ministry agendas ripe for the groundswell and costs that have been paid for what is now taking place in this nation. Encapsulating all this, one of our closest Vietnamese associates, punctuated our efforts, encouraging us to bring more, with the words: "You bring the fire of God to us." The fire we bring is the authority for the mantle they wield. Pushing Beyond the Distractions But we need your prayers and support. What is converging is equally marvelous, extraordinary and timely. It's why we need to surmount the distractions! It's why we need your prayers. It involves the destiny of a people who bear the brandmarks of the Lord Jesus, who have been through the fire. Opportunity looms and the timing is now. It was in just such a time of turning that the prophet Samuel said: "God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in failing to pray for you." (1 Sam 12:23) At another critical juncture -- and after Jesus told His disciples He no longer called them servants, but friends, that He found them asleep. He said to Peter: "Could you not keep watch with me for one hour?" (Matt 26:40) I'm not oblivious to the distractions, but this is a time to gird up the loins of our hearts and press past the distractions. Please, for God's destiny for this nation, will you vote with your prayers? Please, will you enable us to do more? Gratefully in His service,

Morris Ruddick Global Initiatives Foundation www.strategic-initiatives.org www.strategicintercession.org