Hello from Thailand! At the end of Nicaragua I sent my computer home because it wasn’t a flat laptop and was way too heavy… Sad to say for that reason blogging has been very difficult.
But here I am! I’m currently living in Chiang Rai, Thailand- very close to the Burmese border in the north. And we are Unsung this month.
When I first heard that we were Unsung I was momentarily pensive. Unsung means the whole country is open to us and that we don’t have a home base. Our ministry this month is finding and connecting with unsung heroes of the faith that we can highlight and share their stories and what God is doing in the dark places of the world. It’s an amazing opportunity to practice walking by faith and not by sight; trusting God more today than we did yesterday. And there’s a joy and abandon in that. If he calls us to sleep on the streets and experience homelessness- I would find greater joy in that than something inside my comfort zone because it calls me to trust God more and depend on Him in a physical way. Have you ever had to depend on God for food, even a bed to sleep in and safe place to stay for the night? I have. And I am better for it. I have had very little on this race and I find that I am getting rid of even more. Because the less I have the more I trust in Him with everything.
The Philippines was the most beautiful place I have ever been in my life. That said, multiple people got rashes, infections and terrible bug bites there. Me included- I needed a cream but when I went to the pharmacy it was too expensive and too hard to get because of all the people there so I left and said a quick, “Jesus, I need this,” prayer. The longer I go the more of those short simple prayers come out of my mouth throughout the day. And the next day when I was packing up for our flight to Thailand, I noticed a toiletry bag lying on the free table (stuff racers are discarding) and I opened it and there I found a brand new, never been opened cream- the exact kind I had needed.
Big or small, the Lord is proving his nearness and faithfulness day after day and I have complete confidence that whatever is ahead of me, He is already there and is calling me up for what is waiting for me when this journey ends.
Isaiah 55:12-13 “You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thorn bush will grow the juniper, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.”
That is the passage the Lord gave me for this month, this season. The word for launch was “courage”, then month 1 was, “trust” month 2, “rest” month 3, “unbracing” and now month 4 is, “joy.”
Funny thing is, the day I had that word from the Lord I had a minor breakdown….
Yesterday we went on a tour of 9 Buddhist temples to prayer walk in and around them. We found a free trolley ride around to them and you would get out at each of the temples for about 10 minutes and then load back into the trolley and go to the next one.
I made it to temple number 3 before I began to be affected by what I was seeing and feeling so strongly. It was the Lord. I’m not that sensitive.
It was if He took sunglasses off of my heart and for a moment these intense rays came breaking through, sunburning my heart till it was raw from exposure.
It would have been different I think, had my team and I gone to each temple on our own, but we were on a trolley full of Thais, young and old, that bowed down, worshipped and gave money at each temple. There was a mom with a very young son, she would take him into the temples with her, bow down, put her hands together and show her son how to bow again and again and what to say as she worshipped the buddha statue in front of her.
Then there was a well dressed lady in her later years that limped and had trouble getting off and off the trolley. But she did it every time. Then she would come to a temple and climb however many stairs to the top, even though it seemed difficult and painful for her. “You’re climbing those stairs for this?” I thought. “To pour out your heart to a god that has to be dusted?” I watched her do it again and again and again.
We made it to the next temple and I didn’t even try to go in. I found a tree and just spent time there where no one could see me and wept. I spoke to the Lord then and I said, ”This is ridiculous. I don’t want to spend this whole trolley ride crying.” And He immediately said back to me, “Aren’t they worth it?” And I cried more.
Buddhism is tranquil, serene, beguiling like a wide, slow moving river and 98% of this country believes and worships this buddha. Temples are everywhere. I’ve seen more monks than I can count. Every house, every restaurant, every place has a small idol house where they make food and drink sacrifices in return for protection and favor on their homes and loved ones.
It’s everywhere.
I am a minority.
The Northeast region of Thailand has roughly half of the Thai population. Around 35 million people. Do you know the estimate of how many Christian missionaries are there now?
100.
But I found an unsung hero that’s going there now. And get fired because he’s looking for 2000 soldiers of faith to do the same.
The glory and knowledge of the Only One Who Can Save is flooding into Thailand on a mighty wave of unsung heroes.
Next blog is all about this unsung Hero and the work God’s given him to do… Stay tuned!
To all my supporters and loved ones, thank you for being here with me in spirit. I love you more and more.
With heartwarming joy,
Sarah
