After around 40 hours of traveling, my squad arrived in Bangkok, Thailand. We had a few days of debrief and then my team drove up to Chaiyaphum, Thailand to work at the YWAM base here.
From the offset of arriving in Thailand, the hold that Buddhism has on the country is very apparent. Being the national religion, you see Buddha statues, temples, and monks everywhere. You also see “spirit houses” outside of almost every house and business. People regularly put drink and food offerings on these miniature houses to appease the spirits and keep them from harming their family or attacking their home. We’ve seen blatant idol worship, where people will literally bow down to gold statues. While almost 96% of Thais confess to being Buddhist, their religion looks a lot like a mix of Buddhism, animism, and other ancient superstitions.
On the flip side, less than 1% of the population here is Christian. And to go even further, a majority of the people here have never even heard the name of Jesus. I was talking to one of the missionaries here from India, Nit, and she told me that if asked people will say that Christmas is just “New Years for white people.” So this is what an unreached people group looks like. It’s pretty surreal to experience, coming from a culture like America where almost everyone has heard of Jesus- so much so that many people have become indifferent towards him. As a result, Christians here are radical- there is no room to be a Sunday Christian. If you call yourself a follower of Jesus here, you run the risk of being estranged from your family and culture. These Christians are truly committed to prayer, meeting together, and reaching out to the unreached with the Gospel. It’s refreshing.
Since being on the race, I have been most excited about evangelism and so have been loving this month in Thailand. We have been busy teaching English to kids during the day and putting on assemblies where we tell about Jesus, the Christmas story, and share our testimonies of meeting Jesus. (Something you would never see in America, but that the schools are more than open to here.) At night, we put on Christmas parties in the nearby villages where we give out food, put on a drama about the Gospel, and teach more about Jesus and Christmas. It has been so cool to be able proclaim the name of Jesus where He isn’t known yet. But with the spiritual climate as it is, warfare is real here too. The other night, as we were wrapping up our Christmas party in the village of two Canadian missionaries, Jim and Marianne, I looked at their faces and sensed unease. We soon learned that a Buddhist neighbor didn’t like what was going on. He had a knife and was threatening to kill someone. Thankfully, the situation was resolved and nobody got hurt, but it really opened our eyes to the power that preaching the Gospel has.
As of now, we are planting seeds and I couldn’t be happier. Our contact, Raem, told us about an old lady who recently came to know Christ. When she heard about Jesus, she remembered being taught about Him by Christians as a little girl. She spontaneously lifted her hands and started praising God.
I am in love with the Thai people. They are so kind, have such servant hearts, and I know they are so hungry for Jesus and truth. Please be praying for my team and squad. Pray that we would be directed by the Holy Spirit and that God would speak through us powerfully. That He would open the hearts of the Thai people to receive the Gospel and that He would break down walls in their hearts. Also pray for the missionaries and Christians here long-term- Raem, Nan, Joy, Sangit, Nit, Kowit, Jim, And Marienne- that God would refresh and sustain them, and that He would allow them to see the fruit of their work.
Love you all and thanks for your support! 🙂
Bridget
