So way back in April when we were in Thailand, I experienced one of my favorite days of the entire Race. I actually wrote this entire blog in April but for some reason never posted it. But I am now! And this day of the Race has actually helped me understand my passions more deeply and has made me think of ways I can use those at home. But more to come on my plans for home in my upcoming blogs! For now, back to April in Thailand!
I’m pretty sure I had one of the best days on my World Race this last week, and because it was so good, I have to tell you. I just can’t help it because it was too good. So I woke up and was spending time with the Lord and it was just so good. I don’t often feel the presence of the Lord in a tangible way, but I definitely was feeling it that morning. I was just overcome with so much joy and felt like I couldn’t contain it fully. But that was really just the beginning.
My team had been looking up churches to go to and happened across one called Life Pointe. We all decided to give it a try, and I don’t think one of us has regretted that decision for even a split second. Guys. Oh my word, it was so good. I felt so loved by God through that church I thought I might explode.
We arrived a little too early because the service started at 10:30 but we thought it started at 10. We were immediately welcomed by the pastor (an American who moved to Bangkok about 5 months ago), and we talked to a few more people. They were so welcoming and kind, and it just made me instantly pumped about being there. A coffee shop was attached to the church, and let me tell you about how good and cheap their peanut butter smoothies are. THEY ARE SO GOOD AND CHEAP!
Okay, quickly moving on to the next wonderful part. There was a bookshelf in the coffee shop, and there were multiple books I’ve read or seen before back home, but one in particular stood out to me. It was a book called “What Would Jesus Do?” My grandma gave me that book when I was a kid, and I used to read it out loud at her house all the time. I am a person who clings to memories. If there was something I LOVED as a child, and I see that thing as an adult, it just gives me joy and makes me really excited. So when we got to sing all the songs I sang as a child in Ghana, I was pumped and joyful and excited. It brought me back to a happy place. Seeing this book made me feel such joy that I actually had a tear or two roll down my cheek because I was so happy to be in this church.
Then the service started. We sang 4-5 worship songs, and I knew most of them. The first verse and chorus of most songs would be sung in Thai and then the rest of the song in English, yet people were singing in Thai and English throughout the whole song – SO COOL. And as we were singing “Jesus Paid it All”, I again felt the presence of the Lord and was so overcome, I couldn’t even sing. I just had tears rolling down my cheeks the entire song. Ummmm, I love to sing, especially if I know the song, so for me not to sing is not a common occurrence. The sermon was great too, but the goodness wasn’t over with the service ending.
After church, we got a free meal, and we even had choices! Ummmmm, I LOVE free meals. I love food. I was quite pleased. Then we got to eat and hang out with people from the church. I had some really awesome conversations and then ended up talking to a Thai woman named Tuk Tuk. She shared her story about becoming a Christian with me, and it was so beautiful. I was so encouraged by her story and her willingness and excitement to share it. As we were preparing to leave, I started talking to someone else from the church. He was asking me what I was passionate about, and I said a lot of the reason I was on the World Race was to find out and be exposed to different types of ministry. But I also shared how I am really passionate about people who call themselves Christians and pretend to be Christians but don’t understand their faith at all and feel like they can’t tell anyone about it because they don’t want their Christian family and friends to think badly of them. I’m passionate about those people because I was that person for much of my life. And as I was talking to him about this, he asked me why I was so passionate and wanted me to share my story with him. I didn’t think we really had time, but he insisted and was so eager to listen to me. So I shared with him my story and how it took me many years and a lot of questioning to feel like following Jesus actually clicked and made sense.
Honestly, it was just SO AMAZING to see how the people at this church are living out their faith and showing love. I felt so loved and so seen while I was there. People genuinely wanted to hear my story and wanted to share theirs. It was such a beautiful picture of the body of Christ, and I am SO GLAD I got to go to this church and meet these wonderful people and worship God together.
Wow, I just loved it SO MUCH. Okay, I have been gushing about it for a while now, but I just had to. Thank you for reading. This is now the end of my blog. Thank you. Bye 🙂
