This month has been full of many
things, and it’s been so good to see God working here in eastern
Thailand. We’ve been able to encourage many Christians while being
encouraged ourselves. I know I can’t cover everything, but here are a
few things that really stood out to me over the past few weeks.
Flexibility
We’ve definitely learned this month to
write down any plans with pencil rather than pen. Things change
minute by minute. One day we think we’ll do one thing, then at the
last minute it changes to something else. We’ve all been learning to
just go with the flow and accept what comes. We’ve also learned to
pull things together at the last minute when needed.
Example
One day last week we thought we were
headed home after prayer walking at a village. However, on the way
back we made a detour and pulled up to a house in another village. We
were later told to go walk around and tell people to come to the
program that evening. Program?! OK, didn’t know we were doing a
program, so we had a quick meeting and decided who would do what. It
worked out fine and it was great to praise God with loud speakers in
the middle of this village.
Faith
We met Christians who are nearly alone
in many villages. Their faith has been amazing to see. Even though
they have a handful of people as their church, they are still
faithful to worship and serve God together. We met one pastor who
prayed 33 years for God to provide a church building, and He did!
This week, we met some church members
who have been meeting together for eight years. For the first six
years, they met at the pastor’s house. Most of the members came from
other surrounding villages, so they would come on Saturday night and
sleep at the pastor’s house. As soon as they all woke up Sunday
morning, they would begin worship. Sometimes they would stay for days
together just studying the Bible. Today, these Christians have a
church building, but they still have no set time of worship. They
just begin when everyone gets there. Their worship is really unique
too. They have different instruments and they play, dance and sing
together. It’s so refreshing to see that kind of passion for God.
Yes, dancing is a great way to worship
God and to evangelize! We were introduced to this on our first Sunday
morning while waiting for the church service to begin. The band
started playing and several adults went up to the front and started
dancing. It was awesome! They then motioned for us to join in. I
can’t remember a time when worship was so filled with joy.
We’ve also been able to use dancing
when evangelizing at surrounding villages. Nothing draws a crowd like
loud music and people dancing around. We were able to learn some Thai
dancing as well. The best part is it’s all to glorify God!
Prayer
We prayed over Christians,
non-Christians, churches, buildings, houses, communities, schools and
just about anything and everything else we saw. We were able to
encourage Christians through our prayers and invite God to move in
many places and situations. We’ve definitely practiced the “Thai”
style of prayer where we all gather around and pray aloud together.
It’s so powerful.
It’s been a great month in Thailand.
I’ve really enjoyed traveling to the different villages and seeing
God at work. It’s definitely been an encouragement to me to see the
faith of the Christians here.
