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A Busy Weekend

June 18th, 2012 3 comments

It was a busy yet amazing weekend. On Saturday we spent some time at a local ministry. This is a ministry run by two amazing young people for street kids and at risk youth who can have a safe place to go during the day. They get a free meal there, learn about Christ, and have a bit of fun too. The YWAM team here led the time and we sang lots of kids fun/worship songs played fun games, and had lunch with the kids.

One of the neatest things was to see the children take to loving and playing with Eden, Justus, and Silas. They were helping them with the games, coloring pictures with them, and even getting them food and practically trying to spoon-feed them. What an amazing bunch, I’m really looking forward to visiting there many times over the coming weeks.

That evening we drove to the top of a ridge above the city, and saw some amazing views of Burma on one side and Thailand on the other. We were actually right on the border and could put our foot out to touch Burma!

Sunday morning we attended the local Burmese Baptist church with Brandon and Aum, along with many other missionaries who live here in Mae Sai. The had all the fathers go to the front and we were presented with gifts (a toothbrush and toothpaste). The kids were whisked away (somewhat against their will) to kids church, and I gather it was quite a cultural experience for them being all in Burmese and with them the center of attention. I’m continually amazed at how flexible they are and keeping a positive attitude even with all the strange situations they’re thrust into.

Keisha and I enjoyed the service. It was a very traditional Baptist service, with hymns, responsive reading, and a very structured service. While we are blessed to worship with our Burmese Christian family, I think it made us a little sad inside to see how culturally un-Burmese the church was, especially in light of all we’ve been learning in the Perspectives course regarding indigenous churches and contextualization of culture in worship. I think that’s worth another post coming soon. After service the whole church ate together (excellent food!), and we headed home for a nap.

In the afternoon I went with Brandon and the YWAM team to visit a local coffee shop. They were invited to and have been worshiping there for the last few weeks, building up a good relationship with the workers there. Please pray for Nit, a young women there who’s heart is very open and she seems so close to coming to the Lord. The team will be giving here a special Bible tomorrow morning before they leave, another opportunity to share with her. Also visiting there was a Burmese man named Simon who has been talking with the team much over the last few weeks. He has learned so much about the Gospel, and knows excellent English. He is also very close to trusting Christ, 80-90% according to him! He desires to do good and be a good person, he even has been doing various charity work and wants to start an NGO, but he continually struggles with Alcoholism. Pray that he would finally concede that he cannot be good on his own, but must give himself over to Christ.

Wow, what a weekend! Can’t wait to see what God does this second week in Thailand.