Sunday!!!! Which means church day! Church in Asia has been interesting to say the least. Let me break it down for you…
India: Loud. No one claps on beat. Plastic chairs/floor. No translator. 2 hours. Asked to preach.
Nepal: Loud. Lots of music and dancing. Plastic chairs. No translator. 2 hours. Asked to sing and preach.
Vietnam: Pews. Headphone translator that only worked half of the time. 1 hour. More normal. Asked to sing.
Cambodia: Plastic chairs. More normal. In a college. Translator. 1.5 hours. Asked to sing.
Thailand: Well let me tell you…
Our Sunday started off normal as we headed off to church in the back of our trusty van/tuk tuk. We were informed we would not being returning to the church we had attended last week (which was a little sad because they had sung songs we actually knew and the translation was great and understandable!)
Our host said that the church was a 45-minute drive and we would be going to help lead the service because they had recently lost their pastor and had not found a replacement for him yet. When we had arrived, we were welcomed so warmly with many “swasdi” (hello in Thai). We sat through the worship and the service…with no translation. We sat in a room that had three walls, on plastic chairs, with only fans to cool us in the 90-degree weather. I spent the service catching up on my Bible reading and memorizing Scripture. After the sermon, we were asked to sing and give a testimony.
Jessica sharing her testimony with our host as translator
Then it was time for lunch! Honestly, I don’t really know much of what we ate. I know we had rice for sure…but obviously, we’re still in Asia. The men in my pictures are the sweet YWAMers (see previous blog). The older ones are basically like our uncles and take such good care of us. We love to sing with them and play games with them and just hang out! There is also one Brazilian man named Roger (pictured in the back left of the second photo) who we can speak with the best since he knows the most English.
After dessert was served (shaved ice, beans, condensed milk, and clear jelly cubes – a Korean dish as I was informed) we were told we would be headed to another church service. No problem, as we are very flexible! We never usually know what’s coming our way so “flexible” is basically the best word for us.
We all pile in the back of the tuk tuk again. It was amazing as we were driving because we would take turns singing praise songs in all our different languages: the YWAMers sang in Thai, we sang in English, and Roger along with Sara S. sang in Spanish! How beautiful it is that in one vehicle we can worship our God in so many languages. I know He was smiling from all the praises being lifted to Him.
The next place we went for church was even deeper into the “villages” of Thailand. It reminded me of India! This church took place at 3 in the afternoon at a house because they did not yet have an actual church building. Our host informed us we would need to sing and do a testimony again. Perfect, we could just do the same ones we had just done that morning. Not five minutes later and our host told us that actually we should do a song with actions and we should perform a skit as well. We killed it by singing “Every Move I Make” and doing a skit about the Good Samaritan. After our part was finished, we sat through another worship session and sermon that were not in English. Some more good Bible reading and memorizing time.
Hanging out before the service started
“Everywhere I look, I see your face..”
I think both of the services lasted 1.5 hours each. After the second one we headed home. But that drive took an hour and fifteen minutes and included a stop to 7/11 (which are EVERYWHERE here in Thailand) and Harley Davidson so Jessica could buy a t-shirt for her dad. Also, three of our girls get car sick and had to sit up front and Sara S. ended up throwing up at Harley Davidson.
Once we returned “home” we had an hour until dinner and then “family time” with the YWAMers. We had no idea what we were walking into. We discovered that family time meant playing games that all included throwing baby powder on each other and trying to memorize everyone’s names. Easier said than done when everyone has a name that sounds like “Nung”. My team won one of the games (thanks to me) and we got to put baby powder all over the other team’s faces. Sweet victory.
Sarah putting baby powder on our friend’s face
And THEN…we had another worship service which was not in English. And watermelon for a snack at the end.
Ah the Race! Sometimes I forget what it is like to have church in my own language. I do miss it, but at the same time I know how amazing it is to be with fellow believers in Christ around the world.
In America, you know that there are other Christians around the world, but until you see them and meet them, it’s almost too difficult to imagine. It shouldn’t be, but when you have never traveled outside of America, you don’t have a context for what worshipping God would look like in Thailand or Nepal.
Thank you, Jesus, for allowing me the privilege of meeting my brothers and sisters around the world! I have also realized that they are just the same as us! We pray, they pray. We worship, they worship. It’s incredible that God’s love is available to every tribe, tongue, and nation. God is so good! If you ever get the opportunity to travel, I encourage you to visit a church service during that time so you can experience how similar the body of Christ truly is around the world.
