We have much to thank God for today, without Him our plans would be pretty much ruined. When we were going to start the evangelistic concert at the Inburi Rice Mill today, the sky was pretty much overcast and grey. We definitely thought that it was going to rain. Okay, that’s exaggerating it abit.
As a city kids we are pretty sure some were totally oblivious, but the aunties there were commenting that it would rain. And they are usually correct. So we had to pray against rain.
Photo : Open heavens at Inburi
After all, God ever stopped the sun in the sky, so why not the rain right?
The rain actually did not start until, as Shaun would emphasize, when he packed up the last mat on the ground. It was pretty cool considering when we turned to our left, we could see lightning bolts streaking across the sky and when we turned to our right, we could also see flashes of lightning. But our area was totally protected. Cool huh.
In addition, the distractions that happened during our evangelistic concert did not affect the response to our concert much. There were cars driving through our “stage” and two kids on bikes who, in my opinion, should never ever be let within touching distance of anything that can move faster than 1 km/h. It was almost as if we were filming the “Stop and Stare” MV. We are thankful that many responded during our call for ministry.
We also are very thankful for the ministry time. We went there as ministers, but ended up as the ministered. A grandmother shared that her kidney was miraculously healed after the doctor told her that she has no chance of living, and that her wayward daughter appeared the morning after the remaining family were painfully crying out to God the night before; their faithfulness of the Thai people really blew us away and definitely humbled us. We seem to be reaping the harvest where others already seeded. Hmm this sounds strange, we’re definitely not any good with agricultural metaphors considering that we have never ever done anything like that before, but we really hope you get what we are saying. This is when we are again reminded that this is not accomplished by our own power, but by God’s grace. And that we definitely should not boast in our own works, but if we should boast, we should boast of the salvation of God. Haha, don’t have bible now, so quoting it from memory. Please forgive if it’s not word for word.
We met Air, a middle-aged man who is a faithful member of the church. Air had suffered an accident 20 years ago, resulting in back pain. The pain recurred recently when he exerted his back while working. Daryl, Vanessa, Keith, Peilin and Eunice prayed for him, twice because the pain lifted the first time but did not completely dissipate. During the second round of prayer, the team members felt various manifestations of the Spirit - heat, warmness, a breeze - but we were all sure that the Spirit's presence was strong. Later, Air himself told us that he felt a heat on his back, and he knew that the Spirit was filling him. However, there was still residual pain. Eunice felt the Lord say that He wanted to heal him completely there and then, so we continued to pray for the residual pain when the opportunity arose. After one simple prayer, his back was completely healed and the pain totally gone. We were very encouraged, not just by the healing, but by the knowledge that the Spirit was so tangible and present, aiding us in ministry. Yet we were reminded that it was not by our strength that Air was healed; he himself had rock-solid faith that God was going to heal him and had been praying and requesting prayer for healing. God has brought us the harvest and we are merely his workers who reap in joy.
Lastly, we are thankful for the unity that God has granted us. We have been working really well in different capacities to bring about a single goal, as we have mentioned earlier. Again it was demonstrated at the children’s club at Inburi Rice Mill, where we had the main session,
a side football session for the older teenage boys, and a … running about session for the very young. This is where we see the flexibility of trippers to take on initiatives they were not briefed about, and also, that football is a universal language. Not maths nor music.
Oh yea, not forgetting, “Aachan” Henry is way better! Yay! Please continue praying for complete recovery. And we are also thankful for the wonderful beef ball noodles we had today! And chendol! And big bags of coke that appear whenever we feel exceptionally hot and thirsty. And the mosquitoes have been quite unsuccessful so far J
Okay, prayer requests:
- Energy and recovery for the next day. It may seem we are eating loads to keep our energy up, but honestly speaking, many seem to be pretty fatigued physically.
- God to work mightily, and that we would be humble yet powerful servants for him
- Whatever you have been praying, it is working haha, so continue please =)
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