Seriously, no matter what, God came through! In every obstacle, in every trial, If we gave it all up to him and placed it in his hands, he brought glory out of it! Even if I had thought I let God down by setting expectations so high for myself, I really couldn't disappoint God. All he asks is that we listen to his voice and be obedient to it. It's that simple! No matter what, God is going to get things done, whether it's through me, or someone else. Sometimes we can only sit back and watch him work. We're just in it for the ride... ultimately, he's the one operating everything. We have no control. We just have to let go, and let God. That is the biggest thing I have learned since being in Thailand. God has great plans for us guys, plans not to harm us, but to give us a bright future. That statement is so powerful! He cares sooooo much for us that he wants us to exceed at anything and everything that we do! It is so great that we serve a God that loves us even more than we could possibly love ourselves.
One particular story that sticks out in my head from outreach is when I went on my first treasure hunt... if you don't know what treasure hunting is, it originated out of Bethel Church in Redding, CA. It's simply praying to God for answers, and receiving them :) You ask God for a description, emotion, location, etc. of a person that God wants to speak to/ show love to. That's really it! The rest of the work is all about finding the person. So it went like this...
We were at a night market in Chiang Rai, Thailand. There was quite a crowd. It was right next to a university, so there were plenty of students that went to the market at night to hang out and get some food. I sat down at a table with a friend of mine, just pressed into God, and within twenty minutes or so, I was positive that I had an exact description of the girl I was supposed to talk to, and I wrote a letter to her all the things I felt God was telling me she needed to hear. It was pretty specific too. She was wearing a black skirt, high heels, a white shirt, and she had a pink purse. I wrote a letter based off of the feeling that she was lonely and was having a hard time getting along with her family. I set out and was determined to find this girl, regardless or my fear of being rejected, or not being able to translate what I had written. Within five minutes, I bumped into two Thai friends of mine. One of them was a guy nick-named "Fountain" that I had met in the market a couple of days ago, and he showed up to hang out with us whatever we were doing. I was his closest American friend, and we had a lot in common, so I was really just building a relationship with him, and hoping that some Jesus love would rub off on him :) I also ran into a Thai that spoke fluent Thai, German, and English. That was an answer to prayer! If I ran into the girl now, I could get the letter translated!
They were following me around for no less than two minutes, and I. Saw. The. Girl. No kidding. It was like the exact picture and description that I had visualized in my head. It shocked me so much that I just kind of stood there for a second; stunned. Then I was like, "okay, I totally gotta go give this letter to her!" But then Fountain asked me a question, and I felt obligated to answer it. I took my attention away from the girl for about ten seconds, looked back, and she was gone. Disappeared. No trace in sight. It didn't make sense to me... there was no way she could've vanished without fighting her way through the crowd for awhile, but she had completely disappeared. It didn't add up. Instantly, panic set in, and I started feeling disappointed in myself for letting her slip away, or had she? I jogged through the frantic mess of people in the market for nearly an hour and a half. The whole time, feeling terrible that I had lost her, but still clinging to the inch of hope that I had, that I would find her again. I was thinking, "God, please just make this happen so that Fountain could believe in you. Do it for him! This would completely change his life if he saw this girl that I had never met before and witnessed it all." Unfortunately, I never found the girl. So I dismissed them both, because they were following me the whole time and felt bad that I drug them through this chase without success. It all felt in vain.
So I went over to a bench in the market, and started throwing a pity party. Wondering why God would put me through all of that without something... something that would bring him glory. I had set an expectation, even though I shouldn't have. I was mad at myself for not reacting instantly upon seeing the girl, and approaching her. All these thoughts were rushing through my head, when Fountain comes over to me and sits down. He kind of startled me for a second, but I recognized him and asked him "what's up?" He replies by asking what we were just doing. I realized after a short while that explaining treasure hunting to a non-christian, let alone a christian seemed silly. However, he was so intrigued, and wanted to know more. Before you know it, I was explaining who God is, and what he's done in my life. He was asking all the questions.... I just had to sit back and watch God do all the work :) We talked for about an hour or so, and then a team member came over to me and told me it was time to go. Curse you time restraints!!! Haha! Anyway, I asked him if I could pray for him, and he said yes. He even let me lay hands on him!!!
God did so much work that night it was crazzzzyyyyy :) But what blew my mind, was that the treasure hunt itself wasn't even the whole purpose of the treasure hunt! It was the aftermath, that's when God provided. WHAAA???!!?!?! Isn't that amazing? We would have all the pre-conceptions in the world, and God would still flip them upside down! He is such a mystery, but that's why serving him is such an awesome adventure! We can simply do everything we can, and trust that he will come through with the provision. That's all that matters :D
Thailand was soooooo amazing. We went to prisons, universities, high schools, and markets. God made us a very talented team, so we were able to perform as a band, a dance team, and we did some dramas. It was great that God could use our creative art-edness to gather crowds so that we could share testimonies and deliver sermons and alter calls. We saw over 100+ salvations!!!! WOOHOOO!!!! God is moving in Thailand, and he's not done yet ;) There are a plethra of other stories that I could share with you, and if you want to know more, ask me sometime... let's have coffee :) But God wants to give you your own story! Try treasure hunting sometime, ask God to get a word or prophesy for someone, listen to God and ask him about his plans for you... but ALWAYS thank him. "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, his steadfast love endures forever." Amen!
One particular story that sticks out in my head from outreach is when I went on my first treasure hunt... if you don't know what treasure hunting is, it originated out of Bethel Church in Redding, CA. It's simply praying to God for answers, and receiving them :) You ask God for a description, emotion, location, etc. of a person that God wants to speak to/ show love to. That's really it! The rest of the work is all about finding the person. So it went like this...
We were at a night market in Chiang Rai, Thailand. There was quite a crowd. It was right next to a university, so there were plenty of students that went to the market at night to hang out and get some food. I sat down at a table with a friend of mine, just pressed into God, and within twenty minutes or so, I was positive that I had an exact description of the girl I was supposed to talk to, and I wrote a letter to her all the things I felt God was telling me she needed to hear. It was pretty specific too. She was wearing a black skirt, high heels, a white shirt, and she had a pink purse. I wrote a letter based off of the feeling that she was lonely and was having a hard time getting along with her family. I set out and was determined to find this girl, regardless or my fear of being rejected, or not being able to translate what I had written. Within five minutes, I bumped into two Thai friends of mine. One of them was a guy nick-named "Fountain" that I had met in the market a couple of days ago, and he showed up to hang out with us whatever we were doing. I was his closest American friend, and we had a lot in common, so I was really just building a relationship with him, and hoping that some Jesus love would rub off on him :) I also ran into a Thai that spoke fluent Thai, German, and English. That was an answer to prayer! If I ran into the girl now, I could get the letter translated!
They were following me around for no less than two minutes, and I. Saw. The. Girl. No kidding. It was like the exact picture and description that I had visualized in my head. It shocked me so much that I just kind of stood there for a second; stunned. Then I was like, "okay, I totally gotta go give this letter to her!" But then Fountain asked me a question, and I felt obligated to answer it. I took my attention away from the girl for about ten seconds, looked back, and she was gone. Disappeared. No trace in sight. It didn't make sense to me... there was no way she could've vanished without fighting her way through the crowd for awhile, but she had completely disappeared. It didn't add up. Instantly, panic set in, and I started feeling disappointed in myself for letting her slip away, or had she? I jogged through the frantic mess of people in the market for nearly an hour and a half. The whole time, feeling terrible that I had lost her, but still clinging to the inch of hope that I had, that I would find her again. I was thinking, "God, please just make this happen so that Fountain could believe in you. Do it for him! This would completely change his life if he saw this girl that I had never met before and witnessed it all." Unfortunately, I never found the girl. So I dismissed them both, because they were following me the whole time and felt bad that I drug them through this chase without success. It all felt in vain.
So I went over to a bench in the market, and started throwing a pity party. Wondering why God would put me through all of that without something... something that would bring him glory. I had set an expectation, even though I shouldn't have. I was mad at myself for not reacting instantly upon seeing the girl, and approaching her. All these thoughts were rushing through my head, when Fountain comes over to me and sits down. He kind of startled me for a second, but I recognized him and asked him "what's up?" He replies by asking what we were just doing. I realized after a short while that explaining treasure hunting to a non-christian, let alone a christian seemed silly. However, he was so intrigued, and wanted to know more. Before you know it, I was explaining who God is, and what he's done in my life. He was asking all the questions.... I just had to sit back and watch God do all the work :) We talked for about an hour or so, and then a team member came over to me and told me it was time to go. Curse you time restraints!!! Haha! Anyway, I asked him if I could pray for him, and he said yes. He even let me lay hands on him!!!
God did so much work that night it was crazzzzyyyyy :) But what blew my mind, was that the treasure hunt itself wasn't even the whole purpose of the treasure hunt! It was the aftermath, that's when God provided. WHAAA???!!?!?! Isn't that amazing? We would have all the pre-conceptions in the world, and God would still flip them upside down! He is such a mystery, but that's why serving him is such an awesome adventure! We can simply do everything we can, and trust that he will come through with the provision. That's all that matters :D
Thailand was soooooo amazing. We went to prisons, universities, high schools, and markets. God made us a very talented team, so we were able to perform as a band, a dance team, and we did some dramas. It was great that God could use our creative art-edness to gather crowds so that we could share testimonies and deliver sermons and alter calls. We saw over 100+ salvations!!!! WOOHOOO!!!! God is moving in Thailand, and he's not done yet ;) There are a plethra of other stories that I could share with you, and if you want to know more, ask me sometime... let's have coffee :) But God wants to give you your own story! Try treasure hunting sometime, ask God to get a word or prophesy for someone, listen to God and ask him about his plans for you... but ALWAYS thank him. "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, his steadfast love endures forever." Amen!
