We’ve been going to the Longsod Festival the past few
nights. It’s a big festival in Uttaradit that comes every year around this
time. Longsod is the fruit Uttaradit is known for, “special to Uttaradit� as
our pastor says in his broken English.
There is lots of food, games, and cheap shopping. It’s so
much like fairs we have at home. I was so excited to go, especially because the
students came with us!
I had lots of popcorn, a hotdog wrapped in a green crepe, a
layered fried ball with a hot dog in the middle, cotton candy ice cream with
gummies inside topped with chocolate syrup and sprinkles, chicken on a stick,
sticky rice, fish on a stick, and coke. There was also some crickets and worms,
but we already had those in Bangkok and decided not to get them again…
Please know that all of these things weren’t eaten all in
one night. It was a mixture between the days we went.
We enjoyed walking around looking at all the cheap clothes, fake
Ray Bands, nick-knacks, and so much more. There were so many people there, we
even ran into two groups of Americans. It was exciting for them because they
were teachers and didn’t know other white people were in the area.
We have only one more day of ministry left before we begin
our journey to the beach for a few days before Malaysia.
I look back on what God has been doing this month and one
big thing sticks out. “Yes.�
Saying ‘yes’ to Jesus. It’s not something that will just be
for this month. It’s not something that is just for me, but my team and my
squad. We are all diving in. We are all giving everything up, we want to drink
deeper and go farther to obey him.
Movies have been deleted from hard drives that weren’t
bought. Music that was borrowed or stolen has been deleted. Clothes and stuff
have been given away freely. Awkward conversations and emails were sent. Piercings
were taken out. God reigned supreme over this month. He reigns supreme over
this squad.
Something else God has shown my team this month, the fruit
of our labor. God has provided us with people to invest in. We have been going
to campus every day eating lunch and then inviting them over to our house in
the evening. He has given us students who are attracted to his spirit inside of
us, who want to know more of what we have, and who have ears that are
attentively listening.
We enjoyed investing and pouring into their lives, sharing
the gospel, and sharing the story of Jesus throughout our lives. I enjoyed
helping with homework, writing essays with them, and teaching them correct
English.
God is bringing a ministry here. The pastor moved here two
months ago because he said ‘yes’ to God. Now he is seeing the fruit of his
labor and preparation. God has planted a core group of students here and we got
to be a part of it.
