Sea Gypsies
Thomas Mann once said, "A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people."
I think of myself as a writer and yet these words I write even here have been difficult to come by. I will attempt to write anyway, please bare with me.
Here in Khao Lak, Thailand, part of our ministry this month is to go with Bea, a lady that works with Step Ahead, into Moelken (Sea Gypsy) Tribe's villages around where we are staying and love on these broken people. The Moelken are a people long residing in Thailand, yet they have no citizenship, are looked down upon, and are the lowest of the low. Racism towards them is prevalent, even though they look like any other Thai person (to me anyways). It puts perspective on what we call racism for it isn't always just black and white.
These people have their own culture, language, customs, and beliefs on top of the regular Thai ones. Most of those over thirty-five years old cannot read and write (as well as few of those in the younger generations). It is for these reasons they do not have access to the Scriptures, not even if they were to get Bible's in the Thai language, as they can barely understand that.
Bea has a patience and love for them like I've never seen before, they are her family, even though she is not of their people. She has been working with them for five years and has yet to see any of them officially accept Christ. A total view of how God sees us and continues to love on us regardless of how long it takes to see progress.
A large reason they have not been able to make that life altering decision is the spirits of fear and hopelessness so prevalent in their villages. Our first day in the village I could sense it. The air was thick with it and my skin crawled just thinking of how repulsive those feelings were. The surrounding areas and even in their village is gorgeous and just plain wrought with God's beauty, even the people are beautiful, and yet these evil spirits have such a stronghold here on these people that the beauty of God's creation is masked and hidden. It's heart-breaking!
One elderly man we met on the first day with his eyes closed and his body unmovable because of the Parkinson's disease that so grips his body was one such beautiful creation by God. We laid hands on him and he was hot from the fever he had, and we prayed. As we prayed his skin cooled, but he still just sat there. I'm not sure what my heart did then, but I could feel it shift.
The next day as we pulled in to the village, the elderly man was up and sitting outside with his eyes open. Bea rubbed his stiff muscles and got him up to walk (physical therapy type stuff), a lot of effort but worth seeing. Our dear friend was even cheerful and joking around (once Bea and Manna translated for us). Before we left to the other side of the village we prayed for him again and I could sense thankfulness and peace about him.
It's crazy to think about, to be honest. The second day there I could still feel the presence of those spirits and it has been hard. I want to dive in so prevalently as I see my teammates doing, yet for some reason there are times when I cannot move myself to do so.
Hmmm…maybe there-in lies the problem–I cannot do anything on my own (funny how this just now dawns on me as I write).
My prayer: "Daddy, I pray for your strength and guidance. I pray to be able to dive-in everywhere you need me to–I cannot do it alone and so as for you to take over in those moments. Use me for your purposes and Kingdom.. Continue to shift and mold my heart anew! I need you and I need to be closer to you! Thank you for all you do! I love you!!"
For you to pray: for the man's continued healing; for these people and their hearts to be caught by God; for the evil spirits that so grip them to be expelled and abolished from these people; for our team to be able to come in with the power and strength of Christ Jesus to command the spirits to be gone; for myself and my team to get ever closer to God and ever closer to one another…unity at the core.
Thank you for reading and please stay tuned for the next blog about me getting closer to God! As I wrote out my prayer it dawned on me how much closer I need to be and so I must press-in to the Creator of the Universe to do so. Thank you again! I love you and so does He!!
Ash and Linds with one of the girls.
