.good friday

Good Friday

Good Friday at around 9:00 P.M. Team Blinkvah walked out to the covered pavilion of this small Thai church. Straw mats were spread out across the floor as we sat down and prepared for the next 6 hours. Mum had told us that Good Friday would begin with an all night prayer session, in Thai. Slightly worried about keeping our eyes open, we chugged a glass of coke and buckled down for the long haul.

I’ve never gone to an all night prayer service before, and here I was in the middle of nowhere Thailand, with 30 of my Christian brothers and sisters, praying for believers around the world.

I started to get drowsy, so in need of a serious caffeine dose, I ran off to grab a coke. Upon my return I took a step back to admire the true beauty of this little gathering.

Surrounding me on these woven mats were sponsored children from Compassion International, my American teammates, a ministry team of university students from Bangkok, and villagers from the leper colony.

I was sitting on a mat, in Selaphum, Thailand seeking my Father’s solace with orphans and lepers. There weren’t even words. Not wanting to miss any of it, I prayed for strength and successfully stayed awake all night long.

Then the panic hit…in approximately 45 minutes, I was supposed to share my testimony. I’m sorry…can we pause and reflect on this idea for a moment? What the heck could I have to offer the orphans and lepers in this room? Wow. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. But let’s review those called, shall we?

Moses, the deliverer, had a stutter.

Paul, the great missionary, slaughtered Christians.

David, the man after God’s own heart, was a squirt.

Peter asked too many questions.

Not super great track records.

So, I gave my testimony…nervous that my story would seem pathetic to people struggling with leprosy, children without families, or to Thai people who were rejected by their Buddhist families. I should’ve known better. God’s work is never without purpose and regardless of how insecure I was to share, God was sure to get the glory from the works He has done in my life. He is so good.

 

 

BLOG ENDS HERE…FOR MORE DETAIL ON THE ENTERTAINING PART OF THE EVENING>>>KEEP READING 🙂

     After each game we played to stay awake, the people that lost would have to be “punished.” Can I just say that watching Liz do the “squattie” dance was the most hysterical thing I could have ever imagined? ((**sidenote: squatties are those lovely little hole-in-the-ground toilets that they use in Asia. Those are the ONLY bathrooms that we have on location. NO TOLIETS.)) Well, there is a dance to show children how to use the squattie where you act out going to the bathroom. It’s quite popular here apparently and they made the losers dance. I think I choked on my gum laughing. I wish we had it on video so the world could share in our amusement.