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 1st, 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!
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 3rd, 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!
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