Saying “yes” to God’s call overseas
Cade Sivadge, our brother and recent high school graduate, posing for a photo with his Thai church family in November.
We value sharing the gospel overseas, and we’ve commissioned, supported, and invested in people from our congregation to go out and do just that! Here’s an update from recent high school graduate Cade Sivadge on his 11-month trip in Bangkok, Thailand.
By Jasey Christensen, Providence short-term missionary and volunteer
Three months.
That’s how long he was supposed to be in Thailand.
Cade Sivadge in Bangkok, Thailand, this October.
Thailand is a country full of rich culture and different people walking many different paths of life. According to statistics, only 1 percent of its nearly 70 million people are walking a path that leads to Christ. In early 2018, Cade Sivadge was a recent high school graduate at Providence who committed to serving three months as an Envision intern at the Bangkok, Thailand, site from May to August 2018. After three months in a country where Christians are few and the call for workers is great, Cade felt called to extend that internship into six months.
“I loved seeing [my friend] come to understand God’s forgiveness and salvation and to see him growing in his faith is a sweet gift.”
Then God moved even further. Shortly after returning from his first internship in November 2018, Cade knew he would be going back to continue kingdom work there. In early 2019, God opened the door once again, and in June, Cade said “YES” once again to an Envision internship in Thailand. This time he committed to a full year! Presently, he is seeing God present different opportunities for the chance to stay even longer.
God is using Thailand to bring out the best in Cade. His refining work can be seen in Cade’s life there. I asked him what the most encouraging thing about what God is doing with his ministry in Thailand and Cade said, “[God] has given me better awareness of the skills He has blessed me with and is giving ideas of how to embrace those skills and what ministries could work best through them.” Cade is all in on God’s kingdom and he prays every day for a new Thai person to come to know Christ. He has been able to see that prayer come to fruition through the conversion of one of his Thai friends who recently committed his life to Christ. Cade said, “I loved seeing [my friend] come to understand God’s forgiveness and salvation and to see him growing in his faith is a sweet gift.” What an encouragement that God grows the seeds we help plant!
After Saying Yes
What was intended to be a three-month trip has turned into a potential life-long calling for Cade. This is how God works in us when we put our YES on the table and surrender our goals to Him and His kingdom glory. I had the privilege of interning with Cade from June to July this year, and I can say first hand that Cade thrives among ministry in Thailand. Something we often shared with each other as a team were our “highs and lows.” It never failed to encourage me and make me smile when Cade would proudly state, “I have Jesus so I have NO LOWS!”
“This is how God works in us when we put our YES on the table and surrender our goals to Him and His kingdom glory. ”
I would challenge us as a church to reorient our hearts for the kingdom. What tools has God given you that could most effectively build His kingdom right here in Omaha? Can we put our YES on the table and pray that a friend, stranger, or a person 8,500 miles away in Thailand would come to know Christ today?
“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (James 5:16 ESV).