It’s been quite a month. Northwest Thailand is beautiful. We have covered many miles and seen many people. We have gazed upon many mountainsides, and felt many waters. We have eaten much rice, and wished for much chocolate cake.
In my experience, when you get a bunch of guys together, you can never guess what might happen. Over the past month, me, and all of my male companions on World Race H-squad, have driven to the tops of mountains to share Jesus’ love, painted a church, driven through a river for two hours to reach a youth camp in a remote village, hiked mountains, waterfalls, and caves, swam some sweet rapids, jumped off high things, listened to geckos chirping us to sleep, passed into another country and worshiped the Living God with all our hearts in a place where churches are bulldozed, and discussed what it really means to be a man (and what that means on the World Race). We’ve seen the Holy Spirit move in new ways, and felt that movement in ourselves, showing us new things about ourselves. There’s much more, but it does not come to mind.
I’m not sure what to say about the past month. I could talk about the many laughs we’ve shared, the times spent in worship (which have been very unifying), the adventures, the realizations and convictions, the struggles, the dreams, or the hope. I could talk about faith. I could talk about love.
Much of our month was spent driving from place to place, and village to village. Most of the places we went we were ministering to a people known as the Ka//ren. The live in Northwest Thailand and also in Bu/ rma, where there is intense persecution. The government opposes the Ka//ren, and the Ka//ren, because they are being eliminated, fight back. There are opportunities for them to flee to neighboring countries and live in camps there, but that does not guarantee safety. Even seeking refuge in cities or towns in Thailand is not safe. The government of Bu//rma has strict policies regarding what foreigners can see and do in their country, and it is near impossible to go more than 5 kilometers within the borders. The country has the largest child army. There is a lot of struggle within B/ur//ma and surrounding it. There is a lot of struggle for the Ka//ren people. While floating down the Salawin River, with Thailand on our left, and Bu//rma on our right, we were struck by the barrenness of the land. There was nothing moving, no life other than vegetation in the hills and mountains. It seemed like a place without hope.
As we sat and talked about our day that day, one of my teammates this month on Team Man, Zack Trute, pointed out that while the country seemed hopeless, he could see the hope in our eyes as we talked and prayed. I could hear it in our voices as we worshipped there a week before. We have hope in Jesus Christ. We know that the love of God can revolutionize a place, by setting people free in their hearts. Our ladies are praying for this very thing here in Thailand, as they work with women in prostitution. We will be praying this prayer of hope for Haiti in the years to come, for Thailand, for Bu//rma, and surely for countries we haven’t even seen yet; countries like Swaziland, racked with AIDS, countries like South Africa, torn apart by racial conflict, and war torn countries in Eastern Europe. We will pray it for the Ka/ren people, we will pray it for the B/u//rmese government, and we will pray it for the armies fighting in that country.
