March 25, 2012
A floating market in Ratchaburi, Thailand
photo courtesy of www.britannica.com
Our first week of outreach is coming to an end. It’s been
a great week!
We have arrived our first ministry location, Ratchaburi,
two hours west of Bangkok. We are staying at a YWAM office here. We have
western toilets, showers, fans, and mattresses. So we are very blessed!
Yesterday we went to a Buddhist funeral. That was very
interesting and different from what we are used to back in Norway. We got to
sing two songs with a Christian message for the congregation.
While here, we’re doing a lot of kids ministry–and we’ve
already begun! We’re a part of loving the kids, telling them stories from the
Bible, and having fun with them. These kids are Burmese refugees and the
poorest kids in this area.
Today we went for a 1 hour drive to the border of Burma, where visited a
hilltribe – the Karen. We got to be a part of praying for a new church they
want to build in the small village. The Karen tribe has been Christian before,
but is getting more and more involved with buddism. They have already bought
the land where they want to build the church, but they need $10,000 for the
project. As of right now, there are no buddhist temples in this area, and to
see a church rise up where the people can pray and worship Jesus would be
amazing!
Until the church is built, they have house church. We
prayed and worshiped together with the people in the village, and it was a
powerful time. We could feel God’s excitement for this place. He has some big
plans for his children here! Later during our stay here, we will go there and
stay with them for 3 days.
Our team is doing great. We are all diving into the
culture with positive attitudes. We have already tasted some nice Thai snack:
Fried grasshoppers! Of course, we are sweating in 35 Celsius and it is very
humid, but we’re getting more and more used to it.
This coming week we will do kids ministry in a Burmese
refuge in our village. We are looking forward to get to know the kids more and
invest in them.
Blessings from us in Thailand
April 10, 2012
Our last week here in Ratchaburi, Thailand was great.
Four days of the week we got to spend with the Rice Seeds kids, the
Burmese refugee kid here in the village, teaching them English. For each
day we had different themes: animals, family and food. This was a
great opportunity for the students on the team to try teaching, and it was
lot of fun! We also had songs, competitions, workshops, games as
well as dances. Yes, we got to learn Thai dancing! We also taught the
kids how to buy ice cream from the local store, focusing on
the conversation with the shop owner. They really enjoyed it, and so
did we. Ending each day with a prayer, we also showed them how to pray.
This week we had a lot of quality time together as a team
and with our contacts. We went to bat cave, which is a place to see
millions of bats coming out of their cave to get food during the night. I
must say, it was a cool view. On Saturday we went to the beach,
relaxing, tanning, and eating a lot of ice cream and fruits, and of
course, go for a banana boat ride. I tell you, that was a crazy banana! On Sunday
we were leading most of the service, sharing some (special, like they say
here) songs, giving a sermon, a testimony and last, but not least, sharing
The Gospel drama. Fun, fun, fun. We also led the Sunday school for the kids,
sharing a Bible story, and having some games. During the service two came
to the front and wanted to receive Christ!
We will send a new update from this week soon! We have
been a part of great things here =)
April 12, 2012
Sawadii!
Our fourth week of outreach is passing by, and the
last two weeks have been great! We have now adjusted to the heat and are more
familiar with our part of God’s work in Ratchaburi,Thailand. We gain more
confidence every day as we are stepping into ministry and embracing the
opportunities the Lord has stored for us.
Our relationships with each other become stronger as we
grow together as a family. We have had quality time together visiting a
floating market and celebrating Easter with Norwegian chocolate, German gummy
bears (gummibären) and American Skittles. Still our very finest moments are the
times we worship God and encounter Him together. On Easter day we went up to
our rooftop before dawn to meet the Lord as the sunrise came up in the horizon,
singing songs to His glory!
In recent weeks, we have been working with Burmese kids,
“Rice Seeds”. We have mainly been teaching them English, but this week we
wanted to do something for the whole Burmese village. We arranged water olympics
for the children and prepared dinner for everyone in the village. We realized
that “Food is a love language everyone understands!” The smiles on
their faces clearly indicated that this was a way they like to be blessed. We
could see how much the local Burmese are trusting our contact person (Pi Noiy)
and the ministry. It is very motivating for us knowing that our efforts are
part of a long term mission.
April 23, 2012
Wow! Time really flies when you are on outreach.
After three weeks of amazing ministry and so many good moments, our time
in Ratchaburi is now at an end. After one night on a comfortable bus, we
arrived in Thailand’s Northern metropolis: Chiang Mai. We knew that these days
were the last days of Songkran, the Thai New Year’s celebration. Still, most of
us were not prepared for what we would soon experience. Basically, the whole
city was one big water fight that includes every person outdoors, willing or not.
Armed with water guns we went out, but we soon found ourselves outmatched by
pickups packed with Thais and filled buckets. So we were soaked, but we had
such a great time!
Soon though, we were back in the warm reality of an
average temperature of 37 Celsius. As I write this it is statistically the
warmest day of the year, which is quite easy to notice. Luckily we are provided
with one amazing invention: fans. We live in a building which is both a
guesthouse for teams like us, and a café run by YWAM. Our ministry is a part of
a bigger ministry called Lighthouse In Action, which focus on students,
prostitutes, and villages in the surrounding area. We, however, are mainly
focusing on the student ministry. Next to the café is an enormous university
area with around 40,000 students (10 000 due to Thai vacation). On many
days we go out there and meet the youth. Our goal is to get to know them as
friends and hopefully, connect them to the café and YWAM. As we build relations
with them we believe in a God who is mighty and loving, and who can meet these
people through us. After all, He longs for them to meet Him, much more than we
can ever do.
So God is good, fellowship is good, food is good,
temperature is almost too good, and next week will also be good (and hopefully
contain some more pictures).
April 27, 2012
Lighthouse in
Action
The beginning of this HIS-Story began already last year, when YWAM Skien
sent a team to Thailand. They worked with the project “Lighthouse in Action”, a
ministry reaching out to prostitutes in the bars, showing them love and giving
them an other opportunity to earn money. Arriving one year later at the same
place, we get to know that one of the girls we ministered to took the
step to leave the bars and enter into a new season of her life.
The following story is another girl`s testimony that we have witnessed
during our stay here. Some days ago a woman with three young boys (4,9 and 12
years old) came to the cafe we are staying at, asking for a job. She was left
by a really abusive husband, and in Thai culture the grandparents would take
care of the kids while she would work. In this case the grandparents couldn’t
continue the care for the boys because they went through their own divorce, and
their new partners wouldn’t accept the children. The “only” way to provide for
her and the children was prostituting herself to quickly get a lot of money
(around 200$ per night) and the ability to take care of them during the day.
When trying to find a job in the red-light district she came in contact
with one of the full-time staff from Lighthouse. She was offered another
option, with a paid job in the coffee shop we are currently working with. After
some time she entered the cafe and got the job. Suddenly, our team was
asked to take care of these three boys, while the mum worked from 9 to 9.
After some days of watching them we find out that all three were verbally and
physically abused by their grandfather. As the days passed, our contact tried
to find a home for the boys, while their mum tried to established a home for
them. Door after door closed, but then God showed another way.
Baan Khum Pai – Home of Refuge
“Home of Refuge” is going to be established by Lighthouse in Action to be a
half-way house for girls, women and children that just came out of the bars .
Before this actual need appeared, they were already looking for a discipling
possibility for the people that would leave the bars. With this woman
coming to WonGen Cafe, it became more urgent to find a place. Right now we are
part of taking a step of faith in establishing that branch of Lighthouse.
Here is an overview of what’s needed:
- 1 500$ within 1,5 weeks to provide the deposit
of a house, buy the house and furniture, pay school fees for the boys and their
uniforms
- Staff to disciple and help out with the kids
Please join us in prayer, and if you feel called to give a donation, visit
the following website: www.lighthouseinaction.org
and follow the descriptions.
May 7, 2012
God works! This week we have continued to give to,
and love the children at the home of refuge. The Lord has already provided a
beautiful house, furniture, clothes, a God-fearing staff to work there, and a
lot more than the 1500$ required! The greatest testimony however, are the
things we have been able to see and be a part of as we help raising and taking
care of these boys. We have witnessed the children come alive as they
start to trust and experience how it is to be safe in God’s perfect Love. My
(the oldest boy) expressed it well, when Fook (the newly arrived boy)
was anxious to go to bed one night: “You don’t need to be afraid, God is
here.”
We have been doing a lot of different things together.
But I sincerely believe that the most transformational changes come from the
connection we get by just being ourselves together with them. We gave them all
the care and encouragement we managed, and they received every bit of it. Our
experience is that when we start to share Jesus, things start to change. Change
in their life, as well in our lives. This is the beginning of something
new in our lives!
Our everyday life is good as we enjoy Thailand. We have
made some relationships with the locals in our surroundings. They have generous
hearts, and we are included to share life together as we experience the
heartbeats of Chiang Mai; movies, night markets, zoo, waterfalls, sports,
cafés, Thai food and smoothies.
We are giving out 100% to live 100%. Sometimes it can be challenging, but life
is never as good as when we can walk in our destiny, and do the tings we were
created to do: Love God and love each other! We are soon approaching the end of
our journey. And we recognize our desire to see our friends back home. Still we
continue to go firm into our last week of ministry as we are familiar with our
God who is providing us with passion, strength and love to seek him and pour
out.
