Thailand - Part 2

This was already feeling like the most amazing trip so far and I felt so privileged to be part of the team.  The country of Thailand and it’s people are so beautiful that I almost forgot the reason we went, and the darkness and sin that we witnessed in Bangkok.  I can hardly get over how greatly God has blessed the team and how He sustained us through the long travels and lack of sleep.

After we left the conference we headed back to Home of Blessing just long enough to drop off our luggage and to give a laptop to one of the Pastors from Chiang Mai who will be able to use it to project words for his music ministry at his home church.  We were treated in the city to cappuccino’s and massages ($4 USD for a head to toe massage!).  When we went back to rest, I was able to get a couple hours sleep before dinner, then we spent some time meeting the girls and helping them with their English homework.

 

On Thursday, November 4^th, we woke at 4:45 and Karin led the devotions based on salvation.  Breakfast was wonderful where we had a Thai/American spread with Chinese doughnuts, sticky rice & eggs and fruit.  After breakfast we were invited to visit the girls school (Faikwang Wittayakham Secondary School).   When we arrived all the students were lined up in perfect rows out on the field saying their pledge as they raised the flag.  Then they all turned (almost in military fashion) to the left side of the field where those who were Buddhist said prayers to Buddha.  We were told that the Christians just stand silently with their hands down and are not forced to pray.  Then they brought our team up onto the platform so we could introduce ourselves to the students.

 We spent the morning going into different classrooms where we thought we would be able to observe, but instead the teachers handed over the classrooms to us to teach!  We had a lot of fun doing English vocabulary with them, singing songs and teaching them signing!  A very unexpected blessing!

 

In the afternoon we prepared for Kids Camp and practiced our skit.  Pastor Pat threw in a last minute song in place of a game and asked Jordan & Jennifer to come up with some actions for the song.  It was a real stretch for them but the outcome was amazing! 

Thursday evening we had Kids Camp – Day 1 “Salvation”

Wow!  I am so amazed at how the first night of Kids Camp ministry went!  The song that Jordan and Jennifer did, Jordan’s testimony, and the human video (The Cure) were all powerful!  Pastor Pat’s teaching was awesome as usual and I believe the girls really connected with the message.  At the end they were invited up for prayer and we had no idea how they would respond.  The entire room of girls came up for prayer!  God’s presence was evident and there were tears, new salvations, rededications and girls being healed.  This indeed is what it is all about!

Friday, November 5^th started out in a very interesting way.  After our 5:30 devotions, before we even had breakfast, we went to the street market where vendors would come and set up their stands as early as midnight so they could get the best spot to sell their foods and wares.  We saw all kinds of strange foods, from pig heads on a hook, tables of raw meat in pans, live fish being dumped out of a pail and clubbed to death on the spot, turtles trying to climb out of bowls, to fried crickets and meal worms!  It didn’t ruin my appetite for a hot Chinese doughnut, fresh pineapple or cappuccino though! 

After breakfast we went to the Primary school to meet and teach the students there.  It was so amazing to us that the teachers would just step out of the way and let us take over! On the way back to HOB, we stopped by Pastor Berm’s (our interpreter) Gecko farm.  He raises and sells them to help supplement his income.  He plans to expand by selling crickets and coffee beans too.  We were treated to a real luncheon experience at a shrimp farm.  (At least that’s what they called them!)  They would scoop the shrimp (or prawns/crawfish) out of the pond, put them in a grilling basket and right over the coals.  The Thai’s would eat the entire shrimp – head, shell and all – nothing got wasted!  Of course the Americans spent more time breaking off just the tails, peeling and de-veining them before eating!  

Friday evening we had Kids Camp – Day 2 “Heartbroken”

The ministry this night penetrated many hearts.  We took them further into surrendering their hearts to the Lord.  The teaching was very good and I shared this night about my experience with loss and heartbreak.  I believe many of the girls were touched.  Prayer time followed and once again many of the girls were healed letting God separate the pain from the memories.

Saturday, Nov. 6^th, after devotions and breakfast, the girls were divided into four separate groups and they rotated from one station to another throughout the day.  The four areas were Games: Velcro Tag, water balloon volleyball, etc. headed by Pastor Pat and Jennifer; Sign Language/Song: Kathy taught the girls two songs along with signing; Crafts: headed by Karin where they did beads and rubber band bracelets; and Unity Activities: run by Liz & Jordan doing Human Knots, Blind Square, tower building, etc.  It was so fun watching the girls use their creative ideas to make their activity work. 

It was also a challenging day physically. It was non-stop and very hot.

The ministry at night was centered on ‘Forgiveness’ and our Human video was called “Signs of Forgiveness”.  Karin gave her testimony and the message was taught out of Matthew 18:23-25.  At the end, all the girls were given pieces of paper and instructed to find a private spot in the room where they could write down the names of the people they needed to forgive.  After some time, they were instructed to bring their papers up to the front and tear them into tiny pieces before placing them in the buckets.  This proved to be very freeing for the girls.

In the Sunday morning service, some of the girls lined up to give testimony of how God set them free  through the ministry of the camp.  Many said they were able to forgive the people who had hurt them, and in the evening we concluded camp with a message on "hope".  

During the day on Sunday, we traveled to a park in Chiang Rai where about a dozen of the girls were baptized in the river.  What a beautiful time in the Lord!

There is so much to process from this trip. It had to be the most experiential mission trip I have ever been on!  I was concerned at first that we would not have much of an impact with only being able to spend 2 evenings and 2 full days with the girls doing camp, but God greatly blessed the time and ministry.

Having to leave is always the hardest!  We told the girls not to say "good-bye", but "see you soon" instead, as it had already been decided by leadership that we would come back.  We bonded with so many of the girls, and there are always a couple that we each feel a special place in our hearts for.  They are most precious! We prayed with them before they went off to school.  Some made us cards and gave us gifts. We got lots of hugs and pictures. This will just have to hold us until we get to see them again!

  

Thailand - Part 1

A little bit about our trip to Thailand.  

 

After many hours of travel (31 hours altogether), we arrived in Bangkok, Thailand.  Having said that, the travel went very smoothly; going by planes...

...train...
...and automobile (yes, we used the Air train in Bangkok);

Saturday, October 31st was our first full day in Thailand where we went out to the streets & to the malls to do some shopping.  This was our “free day”.   The sites and sounds did not disappoint.  We took the Airtrain to the ‘Market Mall’ (which was like our Gilbralter Trade Center on steroids - to coin a phrase!). We went from there to a ‘real’ Mall that dwarfed any mall I had been to at home with seven floors of stores including an auto gallery with Bentley’s and Lamborghini’s!

The food court took up an entire floor and we were given an allowance to eat anywhere we wanted within the court.   No, you guessed wrong!  I chose a hamburger and fries! :)

Afterwards, we headed back to the Guest House to rest a while before dinner and a walk through the “red light district”.  To say that it was heart-breaking would be an understatement.  There were men (and some women) who would stand out in front of the bars and brothels with menus that listed the sex acts the young girls (and some boys) would perform for a price.  As we would pass and look into the open doorways of the bars, we saw one after another where girls were pole dancing in bikinis strategically placed so passersby could get a glimpse.  It was so sad to know that we were only seeing the small fraction of what was actually going on there.

This experience was necessary so we could understand the magnitude of the darkness within the country, and be more prepared to minister when the time came.

Sunday, November 1^st, we left early to fly up to Chiang Rai where the Pastor from Home of Blessing and his son greeted us at the airport presenting each team member with a fresh, handmade lei.  From there we drove straight to the river port where we took Long-tail boats upriver to the Elephant Park.  Once there, we all got the experience of a lifetime riding the elephants through the entire village and down into the river.  Afterwards, we had cappuccinos in their café and bought elephant food to feed them.

We went from there to Home of Blessing to meet the Pastor's wife and some of the girls.  We settled in and then were treated to Pad Thai for dinner. We got to hear a little bit of history on HOB, then the girls did a “welcome” song for us.  Afterwards, each one came up and gave us flowers and they all did a dance for us.  Precious!

On Monday, November 2^nd, Pastor invited us to have devotions and prayer with the girls at 5:30 am.  I was asked to lead devotions. After a breakfast of sticky rice and mango, we got a tour of the grounds then packed to head out for the next couple days to minister at the Pastor's Conference.

Pastors and their wives from near and far were registered to come and be ministered to.  Some traveled in the back of pickup trucks for 7-10 hours and could only afford to sleep in tents that were provided by the resort.   

We settled in to our rooms, did some visiting and had dinner.  We were warned to avoid the soup with the red chili’s in it but nobody told me the chunks of meat were full of bones!  That evening we had worship led by Pastor Ali & Jampee (his wife) who were leaders in their home church.  They also own a bakery to earn income their church can’t afford to pay them.  One of the really cool parts is that most of the songs they know and play are ones we are familiar with only in the Thai language.  It was such a blessing to see that we had similar beliefs and kindred spirits.  We later found that many of the trials and challenges they face there are no different than the ones we face at home.  Some were even asked to leave their churches because they were spirit-filled and their churches don’t accept them.   The message was given by Pastor Terry and followed by the American team laying hands on and praying for the Pastor’s and their wives.

On Tuesday, November 3^rd, I woke at 5am for devotions and prayer.  We gathered for breakfast at 7.30 where we were served fried rice, fried eggs, bananas and cucumbers.  We started worship at 8:30 followed by a special song based on Psalm 23 written and sung by Pastor Ali & Jampee.  Then one of the Thai Pastors, Bun Pan (an evangelist) and his wife Am Porn shared about their life and struggles in ministry.  She was the children’s pastor at her church and all was well until she got filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.  Then they were no longer welcome at their church.  She later found work with Compassion International.

The message was brought by Pastor Mike and was titled “The Power to Serve”.  We were given opportunity to pray again with them after the message. 

After lunch we broke off into separate groups of men with men and women with women.  This gave the wives opportunity apart from their husbands to talk freely about their struggles.  Pastor Pat gave a teaching from the book of Ruth and we encouraged them in the Lord.  We prayed with each one individually afterwards.  God was giving insight & discernment to the team as we prayed. 

There was one particular woman who, as I was praying, I literally felt the “hand of God” holding my right hand as I had my left hand on her shoulder.  The anointing was very strong and I knew that God was doing a work.  Later on in the evening when Pastor Sayan gave them time to share testimony’s, this woman confirmed that God had lifted a heavy burden off of her and she felt joy in her heart and a freedom. 

We ended the evening with a final teaching from Pastor Mike, more prayer, and then some fellowship.  It was such a blessing to see how they all warmed up to the team & everyone had their cameras and phones out taking group pictures.  It was such a wonderful couple of days!