A Weekend in Another Village

A weekend in another village…and more crazy things happened…crazy good things! Are you ready to hear about it?

We drove into the village in late morning on Sunday. The village, Ban Vua, was once a completely Buddhist community where many of the people suffered from opium addiction. The land was also very infertile, and harvests would not bring in much. The community suffered greatly from all of this, but had nowhere to turn. It was up to our good friends Pastor and his wife to bring them salvation. With the villagers so desperate, some of them quickly turned to this new teaching because of the promises it brought. Christianity had taken hold in the northern Thai mountains.

When the next harvest came, those that had turned to Christianity were blessed with a bountiful harvest, as much as two or three times the expected amount. The Lord was blessing the people that had returned to Him. When the other villagers saw this, it did not take them long to also embrace the new faith. As the village grew spiritually, they still had one challenge to overcome – their addiction to the opium that had given them a false sense of happiness for so long. The villagers chose to quit taking the drug. A cold water pool was dug so that villagers struggling with temptation could be shocked back to reality. It was a painful struggle for the village, but they were able to overcome.

Fast forward several years to today. The village now professes to be 100% Christian with a church in the center. As we pulled in, the villagers came to greet us with hand shakes and “Da Bluet”‘s, the traditional greeting of the people. With so many of the other villages in the area void of happiness, it was a nice surprise to see a village that truly did have the joy of God.

We took in the view of the mountains before starting to set up for the church service. Before we knew it, villagers were coming in from every which way. They sat and watched us as we prepared to share with them. We sang songs and shared with them a sermon, but it was during prayer time that things really got interesting.

Because this village was covered in darkness for long, when the Holy Spirit finally broke through here, the power of the Spirit became apparent. During our prayer time, the Spirit took hold of several of the women leaders in the community and caused them to jump around, scream, and speak in tongues. I have also heard stories of healings in this village. Probably needless to say, once all this started happening, I wasn’t sure what to think. My goal was to stay against the wall and observe.

I will say that I never felt any sort of demonic presence, so I quickly believed what I saw was from the Lord. It was shortly after this that I heard the voice of God telling me, “Make sure these ladies pray for you”. With a hesitant sigh, I walked into the middle of the room for prayer. Before long, I had a few of those ladies praying over me.

The experience is still a bit surreal. As they prayed in Thai, I could feel the Spirit moving. My legs got weak and before I knew it, I was being lowered to the ground, where they continued to pray. I am not sure what many of them said (there was one lady, however, who was temporarily given the gift of speaking english), but I was at peace the entire time. All the unnecessary worrying I had been doing that week, was washed away in an instant.

There was even a point where I couldn’t stop smiling. I guess the joy of the Lord will do that to you. Who would have guessed? In one moment, the lady who helped convert this village to Christianity, came to pray over me. The told me later that she received a song from the Lord and sang it over me while I was laying there, in Thai. I couldn’t understand the words, but I can honestly say it was angelic in nature.

Later that evening, that same lady sat down with me and shared some of the words that the Lord had given her concerning me. I have been struggling a bit with finding my place and feeling a sense of worth in what I do, but her words from the Lord were clear. “The Lord loves you so much, and He has special plans for you.” She went on to let me know that I needed to give up the lies I had been believing and that in the Lord’s eyes, I have already accomplished much. It was exactly what I needed to hear – which was no surprise to me!

What a crazy Sunday…I’ve never had one anything like this before. I pray that I am able to keep it with me all my days, as a reminder of just how much God loves me and how He is always watching out for me. He does have a purpose for my life, and as long as I listen to His Will, nothing I do is a waste. He has something special planned for me. How amazing is that? Our God in heaven has something special planned for me. I just have to get rid of the worries I hide behind and just love Him with all my heart. I need to love Him enough to have faith in everything He does – have faith that He will take care of the large and small details – and just listen to Him.

It should be crazy to think that our God – the one who created the universe, the heavens and earth, the plants, the trees, and you – has a unique plan for your life too. But you know what? He does. He has something planned for your life too. It doesn’t matter how old you are. It doesn’t even matter what you’ve done in the past. He wants to forgive you for all those things! You just have to turn to Him. Tell Jesus you love him! He died for you so that your sins would be forgiven and so that you can take part in whatever it is that God has planned for you. Don’t give up on God, and don’t give up on yourself. He can do all things – He can certainly do amazing things in your life!