Oh man where do I begin? I am so overcome with gratefulness. The last two weeks have been some of the most amazing weeks of my life. I have already experienced so much that its impossible to put it into words accurately. After a 40 hour travel day, we finally got to Bangkok at around 1 pm on Friday. The second I got off the plane I was hit with a huge culture shock. We spent two days in Bangkok where we got a culture orientation and had a few meetings on ministry details. Also, nine of us made the journey into downtown Bangkok, by bus and train! It was a crazy city and I was blown away by it.
On Sunday we took a 2 hour van ride to our new home for the next three months! Ratchaburi Thailand! This place is unbelievably beautiful. It is a pretty large city, with a population of a about 800,000 people, and only 1,200 claiming to be Christian. It is surrounded by mountains on all sides and has the most beautiful rivers everywhere. It is mind blowing. Their are markets everywhere where you can get the best food you have ever had for 30 baht- less than one dollar! We are staying at a YWAM mini base here and it is a huge blessing to have a toilet, shower, and stove! I am very grateful for that and our two hosts, Mongkohn and Kai. They don’t speak any english but are teaching us Thai and we are learning very quickly! Our original hosts wife, Brownwynn is very sick, so please please pray for her and her family, that God would heal her and comfort their family.
We have spent the first week teaching english in the local schools here. It has been one of the most amazing experiences and I have found a huge passion for teaching. The schools all are buddhist and have giant buddha statues in the front of them but that hasn’t stopped us one bit. We cleverly used the bible and story of how God created the earth to teach english. We started off simple and then would elaborate. We explained the family dynamic and then tied God the Father and Jesus the Son into it! We also got the opportunity to pray over each class we taught everyday! It was awesome and playing soccer with the kids after class was the coolest thing ever! On Friday we also got the chance to be featured on the local radio station and share our testimonies to the city of Ratchaburi.It was super interesting to see a thai radio station and actually be featured on one. We have also been volunteering in this day care system for young children to come, play games, eat and here a message about God! It is radical! . My absolute favorite thing of the trip thus far has been meeting a man named Chen. He just got out of spending eight years in prison and has decided to give his life to Christ. Meeting him and getting to spend the day with him, talking, praying, and encouraging one another was by far one of the greatest days of my life.
We have already been on a couple of crazy off-day adventures thus far, including a visit to monkey mountain, a mountain where thousand of monkeys will come right up to you and take corn out of your hand! And we also summited the tallest mountain in Ratchaburi and prayed over the city and its people. But none of that compares to the Kingdom Work we have gotten the privilege to take part in thus far. My heart is so on fire for God right now and I’m witnessing Him move more than I ever have. Next week we are spending the week in the juvenile prison, preaching and hanging out with young men and women who need to know that there is ultimate forgiveness in the name of Jesus Christ. And Im also getting to preach at the local church this Sunday, so prayers would be greatly appreciated! God is so Good and I’m beyond thankful that He is using our team to spread The Good News that Jesus is Lord!
