Written December 26th, 2011
This Christmas was definitely a Christmas to remember.
Thailand is 95% Buddhist. They don’t really celebrate
Christmas even in the pagan since of the word with gifts and food and
celebration and all. So, this is a great time for ministry to happen because we
go into areas bringing much needed gifts and supplies and get to throw a little
“Christmas Party” for the people singing songs and telling them about Jesus
Christ before we give out the gifts.
Packing Gifts for the Party
Since arriving in Khon Kaen we have been doing ministry. On
December 23rd we went to our contacts home village and threw a
Christmas party. Our team, along with a Korean team and the Thai YWAM group
sang songs and performed dances and skits. Then, our contact, Man, gave a
message about Jesus Christ and the real reason for this holiday season. That
night, several people accepted Christ!
The road in the Village we walked down to invite people to the party.
The Gathering of people
Handing out Snacks
Handing out Clothes
The on December 24th we went to another area and partnered with a church to throw another Christmas party. This one was huge, like over 1000 people showed up! There was tons of free food and gifts and Samaritan’s Purse was there handing out Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes! This time we sang “What child is this” and were asked to dance. However, with no real dancing experience or the ability to makeup a dance on the fly we decided to pull out the only thing we knew, Miley Cyrus’ “Hoedown Throwdown”! Yup, you read that right. WE danced in front of 1000 people to Miley Cyrus on Christmas Eve. HILARIOUS in every sense of the word. The most awesome thing though…several and I mean like 50-100 people gave their lives to Christ that night! Praise the Lord!
Children arriving for the Christmas Party
Skit Performed by Thai Team
People of accepted Christ
On Christmas Day we went to church with our contact and then
spent the afternoon singing Christmas Carols at a huge mega mall. This was
probably the hardest day for me as it was Christmas and I just wanted something
familiar. The only thing I ended up getting familiar was Swiss Miss, Starbucks J and a stocking thanks
to my team and Qatar airlines for the socks. Dinner consisted of a Roasted Duck
and Dumpling soup. Not exactly my grandma’s apple pie but it did the trick.
Christmas Caroling in the Mall
Christmas Dinner-Roasted Duck and dumpling soup
Christmas stockings and snow flakes
The day after Christmas we spent throwing another Christmas
party for an area that was flooded. We stocked up on gifts again and sang songs
while the Korean and Thai teams performed skits and a Thai man gave a message.
27 people accepted Christ that night!
Inviting People to Christmas Party
Sunset: the picture doesn’t do it justice
People receiving bibles
Singing “Lord I lift your name on High”
I have never seen so many people accept Christ in only 4
days! It was truly an awesome experience to watch people come to Christ. Praise
the Lord!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Support Update: I am currently about $4000 short of being fully funded. If you’d like to support me and help continue the work of God through me please donate by clicking here. If I am not fully funded by February 1, 2012 I will be sent home. Thanks for your support!
