The sun is setting.
We are trying to make it to Pattaya Beach for the sunset.
We arrive to the blues of the cloud-filled sky meeting the blues of the wave-tossed Gulf of Thailand.
The sunset is not lighting up the sky with a multitude of colors,
but
through the blues and grays of the sky and water,
a small ball of light shines.
A single burst of light.
The sun with its golden, orange, and pink rays peeking through.
A light filled with irony and beauty.
The decision is made to take a team picture –
The Golden Girls.
A Chinese man is asked.
Our picture is taken.
More pictures are taken as we settle into this sandy spot.
We are ready.
Ready to worship.
Ready to lift praises to our God.
Ready to sing to our Lord.
Ready to invite people to join us.
Ready to be obedient.
Holy Spirit bring people to us.
People who hear sweet songs of praise and draw near.
People who need to hear the name of JESUS.
People who need to hear that Jesus LOVES them.
Earlier that morning we asked God what is on His heart for the day.
Worship is what we heard.
Worshiping on the beach is the vision we received.
We desire people to hear.
With obedience rooted in faith, we step out.
Listening to God, we start to worship.
We do not know what will happen.
The music begins.
I step to the side to take a quick video of the sky.
“Cary!”
The voices of my teammates meet my ears.
“Cary!”
I stop filming and walk back to my team.
“Look Cary. They are deaf! You should go talk to them.”
“Yes, Cary. Go talk to them.”
“Yeh Cary, go.”
Curious, I step towards them,
but then I pause.
Looking around, I see hands flying.
I am hesitant.
I know there will be a language barrier.
One of my teammates looks at me and asks if I am feeling pressured by my team.
Are you making this choice for them?
In my pause,
I pray.
Holy Spirit, I need you now.
I know a big language barrier will exist.
How am I suppose to communicate?
I don’t know Chinese Sign Language.
I only know ASL.
And is my ASL really that great?
How am I even going to speak Your name, yet alone share the truths of Gospel?
I will not be able to communicate clearly to them.
I will not be able to do this well.
Are you sure I am suppose to go?
YES. GO.
I am able. You’re right. You can’t communicate with them, but I’ll flow through you. I’m able. I’ll be the power. Do you think I need your skill set? It’s my power that accomplishes my will, not your power. Your role is obedience rooted in faith, and then I’ll unleash my power.
Okay Lord
I am making this choice to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading.
Obedience Rooted In Faith.
Let’s go.
I listen to God.
I look to my teammate and say,
“I just need a minute to see what is happening.”
I stand.
I observe.
I pray some more.
I proceed.
I approach the large group from China and offer to take their picture.
With American Sign Language, I try to communicate.
Holy Spirit speak for me.
Help me show them and tell them how much You love them Jesus!
What proceeds is beautiful.
The picture is taken.
The conversion continues.
We use American Sign Language (ASL), Chinese Sign Language, English, two different Chinese dialects, French (maybe), a little Portuguese (maybe), another language, Google Translate, an iPhone, and Holy Spirit.
We communicate.
We laugh.
We smile.
We take several photos.
Love abounds.
They are ready.
Even though they cannot hear –
cannot hear the sweet songs of praise.
They are people who need to hear the name of JESUS.
People who need to hear that Jesus LOVES them.
As we stand on this sandy ground,
I take the phone and type.
‘I was sent here to tell you
JESUS LOVES YOU.’
I sign in ASL.
JESUS LOVES YOU.
The message is met with smiles.
I pray.
Holy Spirit speak to each and every heart in this group.
With You,
The deaf hear.
Seeds are planted.
There is LOVE.
YOU ARE LOVE.
Let them hear tonight.
My teammates worship.
The music is playing.
Songs of praises rise.
I look to the sky.
The sky is BEAUTIFUL!
Blue, Purple, Pink, and Orange
The sky is lit up.
Full of light and very bright.
A light filled with irony and beauty.
On this night in Pattaya, Thailand.
The Holy Spirit brings a large group of deaf individuals from China together with a girl from Colorado who knows American Sign Language for a message of LOVE and the name of JESUS to be shared.
Praise God!
Side Note:
Since the beginning of May, my teammates and I have been studying the Book of Exodus. We have been using the Exodus sermon series from The Village Church in Texas as a resource to help guide our study. During one of our morning studies, Matt Chandler, pastor at The Village Church, discusses how God is able to do more than we can ever imagine as is seen in Exodus. God is able. This is His character. It is who He is. Matt connects this to what the Lord wants for us.
Obedience Rooted In Faith.
In discussing how God’s omnipotence connects to obedience rooted in faith, Matt looked at Exodus 4:10-11.
It states, “But Moses said to the Lord, ‘Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.’ Then the Lord said to him, ‘Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.”
In this passage, Moses cries out Adonai {Lord}. He uses the word Adonai. He says, “Oh my Adonai,” which translates to Lord, sovereign Master. That’s what the Lord used here means.
~ You are Lord. You are sovereign. You can do whatever You want. You can accomplish anything You will. You are Almighty. You are my Master. I am your servant. ~
Moses declares these things, but there is irony. The irony…Moses makes his own inadequacies trump the power of God.
Do you see the irony?
I see it in Moses. I see it in myself. We cry out similar to Moses.
“Lord, there is nothing that You can’t do, yet my brokenness, my inadequacies, my understanding supersedes Your omnipotence.”
I wrestled with this irony on Pattaya Beach.
I had a Moses moment.
But God
reminded me of
Obedience Rooted In Faith.
I was reminded of what Matt Chandler had stated,
”It is His power that matters, not our lack of it. It is His might that accomplishes His purposes and will, not ours.”
Obedience rooted in faith includes stepping out of what is known, what is safe, what is secure, what is understood, and stepping into some risk, not because we are able but because He is able.
This happened for me on Pattaya Beach.
I have no idea if my friends understood that Jesus loves them,
But God is able.
I trust in Him.
I trust that
when we (I) listen to God,
everyone HEARS!
We cry out to You, Adonai.
Help us live like we believe it –
step-by-step, moment-by-moment.
LoVe,
Cary
A Journey of Love
Thank You to My Golden Girls, Matt Chandler (The Village Church), my deaf friends, and Holy Spirit for all that you are teaching me and all of the ways you contributed to this story.
