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Here is a blog from my
teammate Brad talking a little bit more about our places of influence or
authority this month. God has definitely blessed us and opened up a lot of
doors for us these past couple weeks. 


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The past week has been absolutely crazy!!! God is very faithful to allow His children to sit in great places of authority. As you all know I am in northern Thailand doing work for the Kingdom of God with many men.

Our ministry looks substantially different than the first half of the month. Currently we are living in a wide open two story house with running water. Notice I did not say hot water or shower… just running water. We are growing accustom to taking bucket showers and using the “squatty potty.” I could only imagine you may be pondering within yourselves at the moment as to what that means. It would be an honor and a privileged to introduce you to the latrine.

Yes we stand over that for our business
Yes that is a wastebasket full of used T.P. 

 

How is that for the comforts of home? Anyway, we are living in a large home that is very barren! There is no furniture and we are all sleeping on the floors. Some of the men have erected their tents to create “privacy.” We are learning that music should be banned before 7:20am and lights should go out around 11:00pm. Community living is great and it creates a better you quickly…..

For the past week we have been going through different villages sharing God’s heart and love with the people (primarily children)we encounter. At the moment I am amazed with the places of authority God has allowed us to stand before and present His truth. Through God’s grace we were invited to speak at many schools. So far this week we have already been allowed to present assemblies in two schools. Keep in mind there is not really a public school system and everyone here is Buddhist. The time at the schools have been amazing! There is a huge language barrier between the children and our team… yet love transcends all language. We are having a great time making the children smile as much as possible. God has taught me that EVERY time I make a child smile I make God smile. God delights in His children and when we take time to show love to His children we give and receive God’s love. The Kingdom of God is about love… and being a child. If we can not combine those things we are missing the purpose of our existence!
 

 

Sample Assembly:

  • Free time playing with kids- We make up fun games that cause laughter. We taught one school how to do the wave! We put size 15 shoes on 6yr old boy and made him run.

  • Introduction of team members- This is absolutely hilarious! We pretend to be Ninjas and Sumo wrestlers. We have kart-wheel and hand stand contests…. Grown men acting like children…

  • Teach and play a game- We use this time to help the kids wear off some energy and just allow them to have a blast! Being a kid is great!

  • Personal testimony- in this time one person shares a five to ten minute story of how God has changed their life in a dramatic manner.

  • Sing Worship over children- This is amazing. Five or six guys get up and sing songs of praise to God over the children. Feeling God enter the room full of Buddhist children is something words cant explain.

  • Play another game- Time to get the kids up and active so they will be able to pay attention a little bit better.

  • Perform a drama- reenactment of the good Samaritan. We use the drama to remind the children that helping others is a very important facet of life!

  • Preach a short message- alternating speakers share the message of Jesus Christ to the children.

  • Pray over all of the kids and school- after the message the children line up and we extend our hands toward them and proclaim the Kingdom of God over the children. Then we shake every child’s hand and prophesy over them as they walk by.

  • Autograph time- white people are an anomaly here. Because they see so few white people we are an instant novelty… and we write funny so the children want us to write to them. I felt like a rock star! I had a circle of 10 – 15 children surrounding me forcing pens and paper in my face. I chose to prophesy over the children in my writing. I would look them in the face smiling until God gave me an unction. Then I wrote exactly what God said about each of them with a drawing to accompany the letter. Please keep in mind these were stick figures, hearts, crosses, smiley faces. I felt famous and know the Heaven rejoiced in my actions.

God is showing me that we have the availability to maximize opportunities or squander them. In Thailand, it is very easy to sit back and enjoy where we are and not press in and “sow the spirit.” However, that would defeat the purpose of our trip. It has been a great tool to know that The Kingdom of God is within us, and wherever we go the Kingdom is at hand! That means we have the ability to change the world just as much as Jesus did. Jesus proclaimed, “greater things than I have done you shall do.” So we strive toward that one baby step at a time.

All of this is amazing stuff! However, one things that has amazed me most up to this point is….. (that is a drum roll.) The places of authority God has placed us before. Since we have been here we have shared the message of Jesus with two school directors and almost 250 children. In addition, we have shared in two churches twice at both church. Churches are not the same in Thailand… they actually have non-Christians attend their services. The church we were at tonight had 30% Christians. The other 70% attend because they feel loved and accepted and are curious about the Life that exudes from the people. I would approximate that around 500 people in Thailand have been presented the gospel both in word, drama, music, and action. Pretty sweet!

 
That is cool! However, here is the kicker that sends my joy through the roof. We were invited to sit with a local government official the other day. We sat in his office for almost an hour and we all prayed within ourselves that God would grab the man and help him lead his people with Kingdom principles. The government official shared his vision for the community with our group. Part of the plan is to develop rock climbing areas in the village. One of my fellow racers has lot of knowledge on the subject and offered his insight. The official was intrigued and they spoke briefly. Before we left we asked the official how we could pray for him and if we could pray in the room. Please keep in mind he is not a Christian yet! He allowed us to pray to God in his office! I am fairly certain that is a big deal. Two nights after we met the official many of my team members went to a Mui Thai fight. When they arrived all of the seats were already taken. Luckily, God had reserved them VIP seats. They were invited ringside and given a special introduction by the announcer. While sitting in the VIP area the government official showed up and sat next to them. Turns out his boss is the equivalent of a Senator and he was at the fight as well. The senator has requested an opportunity to speak with Andy more in detail about he rock climbing….. It is so interesting how wide open doors are at the moment! Luke 21:12-13 “but before these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name’s sake. But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony.” (I made the text smaller because it is not what I am focusing on in the scripture… yet I did not want to omit so you could see the proper context.) God proclaims that if we are faithful with a little He will make us faithful over much! So we remain faithful to the opportunities He has given us on the race! Thank you for all of your prayers and support!