Well, here I am. The same Tassie girl living the dream but in another location. I arrived in Bangkok Thailand two weeks ago today. I cannot even begin to explain those two weeks except for God is continuing to blow my mind, beyond any expectation or previous encounter.
We spent a few days in Bangkok for orientation before taking another flight to the eastern side of the country to Ubon Ratchathani.
For those of you that do not know, the Thai people believe that to "be Thai is to be Buddhist." The country is only 1% Christian, which means that the region of Ubon that I am in with my team is only about 0.18% Christian. The challenging part is that a lot of the people here have grown up being Buddhist, they are rooted deep in following and serving a false god. How do you tell someone that your God is greater, your God is stronger and your God is higher than any other? At the beginning of our time here God was calling our team to be a house of prayer and I believe this is one of the main ways that we can make an impact. Staying in close relation to our God and always drawing near to him.
We are here in Ubon working alongside the YWAM base. I absolutely love it! The people, the ministries and especially the food! The base is involved in so many different ministries and are even focused on pioneering new ministries. We have been going to the Juvenile detention centre three mornings a week, teaching English to girls and boys, sharing testimonies and playing games. We have been visiting villages, listening to the locals stories and prayer walking. As we walked around one of the villages we prayed for some beautiful Grandmother's, one was deaf, one was blind and the other was wanting continued good health. Most of them were saying that if they are to recieve healing then they will believe in Jesus. If anything I have been learning just how important prayer really is and through that we can actually have an impact. I have been reminded of the parable of the mustard seed - all it takes is a small amount of faith, imagine what can happen with a lot!
Last week was one of my favourite days as we got to visit the women's prison. It was so overwhelming just thinking about each individual life, how precious that life is to God and thinking that some of these woman may never make it out. My heart broke for them as I thought of this, how much more would the Fathers heart be breaking for them?
Tears welled up in my eyes as 70 woman put their hand up to receive Christ!! Praise the Lord! We got to pray over them individually and clothe them in love. What a privilege! But the fight has only just started. Can you imagine starting your journey with Christ in prison? We need to stand and fight for these woman in prayer that they will be a light to others.
This photo above is one of my favourite memories from our last week in Sri Lanka. We were able to visit the YWAM base in Kandy on our way to the airport. It is literally in the middle of the jungle and I love it! They are surrounded by bush and mountains. The base is mostly self sufficient as they make a profit off the tea and cinnamon they grow around them. Their vision is to reach and train the Sinhalese people as Sri Lanka is the only country with this people group. God has called them specifically to these people and it is by far an easy task. They have trained and equipped so many already and they are believing for many more to come through their doors even though they do not advertise or promote DTS online in anyway due to the closed nation that they are reaching. God's faithfulness always prevails.
God has been teaching me so much while I have been away. I am so excited to share more with all of you. As my time overseas draws to an end (just over a week left in Thailand!) God has been growing my heart for my own country and breaking it for those that are still lost. I specifically feel called back to Australia for a period of time - whatever that looks like, I am not totally sure yet but I'll definitely keep you posted on that. I will be returning home in December for summer and seeking the Lord on what my next steps will be.
Prayer points:
- continuing to have an 'all in' attitude
- good communication and good attitudes within my team as out time draws to an end
- our focus to remain on Thailand while we are still here even though it is easy to think of home and worry about what our next steps are
I cannot thank you enough for all of your support and prayers!!
Much love,
Laura xo
