Just like any other day in Chang Mai: Woke up
time with Jesus and my journal
breakfast downstairs in Zion Cafe with the other 20 people I live with
random to-do list of painting/varnishing/cleaning around the building
lunch downstairs in Zion Cafe with the other 20 people I live with
team time
prayer walk around the red-light district
X Life ministry with the kiddos at our nearby village
dinner–most likely 35baht pad thai at the street stand around the corner or a raspberry/pineapple/coconut milk smoothie from Wanama’s stand
Then, at 8 every night our full group of “Love Acts” ministry team got together for worship. At 8:30 we sent out half of the group to the nearby red-light district for the night. The other half would stay behind and spend those few hours praying, interceding for the others.
When you went out to the bars your aim was to befriend the women and ladyboys. There was no Bible-thumping, no white button up shirts and black skinny ties, no tracts. In fact, we had to dress up, like you were hitting the bars with your friends…because that’s exactly what we were doing. Pull out the make up and cute outfits World Racers have somewhere in the bottom of their packing cubes. Our only intent was to go carrying something that would be evidently different,
a restorative light,
a palpable love.
As for the other half of the group, your aim was to lift up your fellow teammates/squadmates to the Lord, to bridge the gap. The others were walking into a small, dark corner of Chang Mai, Thailand carrying their large light. However, they needed guidance. So the intercession group was there to stand in the gap and ask for protection, direction, and for God’s words to be spoken instead of ours.
So this Thursday, the 12th, I was on for the intercession group. The fan in the common room didn’t feel like working that night so we escaped up the 6 flights of stairs to the rooftop for some coolness. [time out, just for your information, there is no such thing as “cool” in Thailand. In the words of Joshua Savage, “Thailand is always sweating.”]
We stepped out onto the rooftop and felt minimal random sprinkles of rain.
“Perfect! We love rain sprinkles in Thailand! It’s like an air conditioning gift!”
Shortly after we got to the roof, those sprinkles strengthened into drops. We reveled in the refreshment and decided to plug in Julie’s ipod to the speaker for some fun. Ten minutes passed and those drops turned into a steady flow of rain. Before we knew it, it was full-on down-pouring on top of us. We hadn’t seen that amount of rain so far in Chang Mai.
With every small progression of gradation that came upon us, we kept turning to each other and saying, “Eh, it’s just a little more wet,” until we found ourselves drenched. We played chicken with the clouds and the clouds definitely won.
So there I am, standing on top of a 6-story building, in the middle of downtown Chang Mai, with six people I love oh so dearly, in the middle of a monsoon. Julie propped herself in the plastic lawn chair, or what we like to call ‘the DJ booth’, with her ipod in one hand and a beach umbrella in the other. She played juke box queen while the rest of us danced…and oh man, did we dance.
We laughed, we danced, we pummeled our feet into puddles (or small lakes that had formed on the concrete ground), we danced, we sang…and we still danced. But you know why? We did all this, and more, out of an act of worship and joy. We stood together, arms outstretched, and made bold, but true, declarations about our Lord.
You are our God
‘To be Thai’ isn’t ‘to be Buddhist’
You are bigger than the darkness
We laughed in between each one that was said due to the obvious hilarity of our present setting. And I loved every minute of it.
This isn’t my favorite night in Thailand because it was fun, or because it was weird, or because it was cool. It was my favorite night in Thailand because I felt my God come meet me in that super random place. Felt Him. My God orchestrates fun, weird, cool times in our lives, and with this one we used it to praise Him. He enjoys our joy, that’s why He created that ability in us, so why not be joyful with God?
Julie 1, Julie 2, Melissa, Joey, Justin, Buff and I took full advantage of that night the Lord had orchestrated for us. I don’t think I’ll forget those hysterical couple of hours–on a roof–in Thailand.
Thank you, Lord.
