We had been in Thailand for only 4 days when I began writing this post. After all 48 hours of non-stop travel by plane and bus, it was wonderful just to stop moving and be still. Now that’ll preach, but more on that in a later post. This is the first of many posts backlogged because we suspended internet use during training where God moved crazily. I will post about them as I can. Enjoy!
While in the city of Chiang Mai we have been staying at a hostel named Zion Cafe, owned and operated by a local Christian Thai woman named Emmy. Emmy is a small, wiry, feisty, and funny woman with a heart for her country and for God. With Thailand being 95% to 98% Buddhist, this makes her somewhat of an enigma. The doors and walls of Zion are lovingly painted with scripture, inspiring murals, and positive words like peace, love, kindness and hope. These are not words that are foreign to the Thai culture, which is heavily defined by Buddhism; so much so that the Thai people have a saying which is “To be Thai is to be Buddhist”. Emmy believes that her culture can be redeemed through Jesus without destroying it, and I happen to agree. While managing the hostel and cafe, she has a huge heart for sex workers and does bar ministry, connecting the workers from the local bars to better jobs and telling about God’s love for them. She has also set up a center for discipleship for new believers often dealing with identity crises after accepting Jesus into their lives. Zion is her headquarters and it has been a blessing being here with her and seeing her heart for the community, for God, and laying it on the line for God’s Kingdom.
From Zion, we went out into a rural area to a ranch owned by David Eubank. David and his family, composed of a wife and 3 children aged around 8 to 13 (2 girls, one boy), run a rescue ministry which trains local Burmese people to rescue others which are being periodically attacked and massacred by the Burmese government. This ministry is called “Free Burma Rangers” ( www.freeburmarangers.org ). Burma, these days called Myanmar, is on the border of Thailand, and while David and his family live in Thailand, they spend much of the year traveling to training sites to train leaders which will scout into war zones to rescue people in need. As this man spoke to us about his calling, I got chills! How awesome a life to live! It was a direct example of the life of Christ, sending his love in the form of disciples into the nations, to war zones where most of them perished to deliver that truth. Because of their sacrifice, many have come to know the love of God for mankind corporately, and individually. David and his family are exceptional in that they have dedicated their lives to being mobile, available, and active for the Kingdom of God; able to go into places where most are fleeing, to help those who need it most. I encourage you all to take a look at the FBR website and see what they are all about. Here is a snapshot from the website.
The Free Burma Ranger’s (FBR) mission is to provide hope, help and love to internally displaced people inside Burma, regardless of ethnicity or religion. Using a network of indigenous field teams, FBR reports on human rights abuses, casualties and the humanitarian needs of people who are under the oppression of the Burma Army.FBR provides medical, spiritual and educational resources for IDP communities ad they struggle to survive Burmese military attacks.
– See more at: http://www.freeburmarangers.org/
Just seeing the faithfulness of people like David and Emmy, my heart has been inspired to live the truth of the gospel which is that love is the most important thing; God’s love for mankind, and for me, displayed through my willingness to be used by Him to be the hands that bind the broken, and the feet which deliver this message of peace and goodwill to all mankind. These are examples of lives wholly surrendered to God to use as He sees fit., and their fruit is bountiful. I have been so blessed to hear them speak and be in fellowship with them. It has fanned to flame an ember in my heart which has been only smoking for years. There has been an awakening for deeper love and deeper service to mankind in Jesus name, coupled with a deeper anointing and equipping to fulfill my purpose. I will speak on this in my next blog post. There is just so much I have to say about these past 2 weeks, I will need to break these posts up into pieces as to not overwhelm you. My next post goes into more detail on what God has been doing inside my own heart. It’s something you wont want to miss, on my honor.
As always, if you would like to support my work here in Thailand, you can use the links above and to the left which say “Support Me”. I am not able to remain here for the full 11 months if I cannot get fully funded. At some point I run out of money and have to fly back; it’s just the nature of the beast. My heart is in this for the full 11 months, and I trust and believe it will all come in due time. As of now I am 48% funded, and if you feel led to take me to 49%, well then I wont hold it against you. Be blessed my friends!
