December has brought many new and challenging times on the race. I’ve traveled from Central America to Thailand and I am on a new team. Check them out on the left hand side of my blog! I was asked at the start of the month to step down from my team leader position and assume a new position on a different squad. My squad leaders assured me the change was not due to any failure on my part but the felt that for the time being my season of designated leadership was over. I am loving my new team and I now have 6 as opposed to 4 teammates which is awesome! I also have two male teammates which is double what I had on my previous team! Due to a classic Greg Whoopsie doopsie my bag with the majority of my belongings made a delayed arrival to Thailand. It is now in Bangkok (4 hours away) and I have been living life just fine thanks to some generous and loving squad mates lending me some clothing and odds and ends.
Ministry has been great and a typical day includes
6am: Wake up and do insanity work out
7am: Shower and eat delicious brekfast
8am-4pm: Teach English to awesome Thai studends
6-9pm: Perform drama and sing songs, eat more yummy food at Christmas Parties around the city.
We are in central Thailand ministering to people who have never heard of Jesus Christ. Collectively only around 1% of Thailand is Christian. My team clearly has a purpose here and is fired up every time we set out for the day. I have seen my new team pray unceasingly as power outages, crazy people, and death threats (not voiced to any World Racers I will add) try to foil the Holy Spirit manifesting itself in Thailand. We share the gospel at schools with Buddah shrines and monuments to their monarchy.
The saying goes “to be Thai is to be Buddhist”.
The battle here in Thailand is very real. My team has spent most of our efforts spreading the gospel and Jesus as the reason for our Christmas cheer. Although the Holy Spirit is progressing in different areas in Thailand than it is in America there is much to be learned. We both have idols..
They have Buddhism, we have a divided Christian coalition
They have “The 4 Noble Truths”, we are more present on Facebook than we are on Sunday morning.
They have “The eight fold path”, we tweet more than we pray.
They have “Prohibitions”, we prioritize earning over serving.
They have “Monastic rules”, we have watered down the gospel
Here are a few examples and food for thought of how even though we don’t have buddhist statues we have idolatry in America.
If you’d like a sermon discussing idolatry further I would recommend Mark Driscoll’s: Ten Commandment’s #2 Have No Idols
