Sabaai Sabaai

Hello everyone and happy new year!

I had an amamzing New Year with the students of the NRTC and the YWAM team from Kona (Bora, Corinne, Maeve, Josh, I miss your faces!) God be with them wherever they go during the rest of their outreach <3

The team and I are staying in Nong Bua Lam Phu, in the province of Isaan, which northeast Thailand. We will be in the area from Jan 3-21/22. We are in the country, far from big cities. The land here is so beautiful! It reminds me of the countryside in Guyana when I visited as a child. There is sugarcane as far as the eye can see. I think it's a big export here. Over the last few days, I've had fresh picked bananas, small pomegranates, star fruit, and there are tamarind trees, one of my favourite fruits, in the backyard of the church we are currently staying in. There is such a great sense of community here. The elders here that work at the church are like grandmas and grandpas. One lady just absolutely loves me. Gives me the biggest hugs and talk at to me in Thai, as if I understand. She also did my laundry and scrubbed my socks (I like to walk around on the dirt with my socks). The last person to scrub my socks and wash my clothes was my mom. I was 10! 

Since we arrived at Dongsawan Church, we've done a lot of practical work. We've done some gardening, the boys have been clearing out bush behind the church. The girls have been sweeping, because they don't have racks here, leaves into piles and setting them on fire! Mind my excitement, I like fire. I think it's one of the reasons why I became a chef. But I digress. At the back of the church, there are also lychee trees and all the leaves have fallen off. I assume they can't bag leaves like we do back home and there is so much that they just burn it. They also do that in the sugarcane fields once the cane has been harvested. Where the stock was cut, there is sprouts  starting for next season. The circle of life. 

The cycle of regeneration in plants amazes me sometimes. It reminds me of the story of the phoenix. The phoenix is a mythical bird that would die and was able to regenerate or be reborn. The phoneix obtains new life from the ashes from its predecessor. I like to think my story is like that. After everything I've been through, Christ came and gave me new life out of the ashes, out of my old self. Beautiful. 

We have also done many house visits to believers and non-believers in the area and surrounding villages. One man we went to was in a wheelchair because he has TB (tuberculosis). He wasn't able to stand or walk. He's was on the fence when it came to believing in God but friends from the church prayed for him and God slowly started to heal him. Wen we were there, he showed us he could stand on his own and in the mornings, he walks around the house and prays! The man has also read his bible twice...in two months! What Christian can say they've done that because they were so excited about the Word? I know I can't but I am motivated and encouraged to try.


Later that day, we went to a couple's home. The elderly woman wasn't able to walk and was bed ridden. For 6 years, she had to go to the doctor once a week. Spent thousands of baht (the currency here) on medication. The husband, who at the time was on the Buddhist temple committee, prayed to the ancestors and spirits for her recovery to no avail. Some friends from the church, the same we're at, prayed for her to walk and she was able to get up and walk! She hasn't been back to the doctor since then. The husband witnessed the Christian friends pray and watched his wife get out of bed and walk. He said to us, "it was that moment that I knew God was so real." 

In Thailand, they have a saying. "To be Thai is to be Buddhist." In this culture, when identifying as Thai, it is assumed to be a Buddhist as well. But in this area we are in, there are many Thai Christians and to the Buddhist, it makes no sense to be anything else but Budhist. Those that have converted suffer a lot of persecution. By being a Christian, you're not being Thai and it's like a betrayal to the culture. One of our translators, Pii Gift, was saying that the Thais that associate with the church and YWAM teams take a risk. But you know what? It's not going to stop the Spirit from moving in these neighbourhoods. Our presence here is to encourage those that go through the persecution from neighbours, friends, and family members.  To remind them who God is an what He has done for them. The believers here have very little but have so much faith and trust in God. We're suppose to be encouraging them but I think they've encouraged us. 

When we arrived to Nong Bua Lam Phu on Jan 3rd, God said to me "I want OI to just be you. Enjoy the people, the food, nature, and my presence." I wasn't sure what that meant at first. "Was I not doing those things?" But that's the thing, I was focused on doing and not being. 

In my journal back in Vancouver, all the students had to write what they wanted God to do for them or what they wanted to see during these 6 months. I had wrote that I wanted to understand God and His love His people. I couldn't fully do that here if I wasn't relaxing into my identity in Him (hope that made sense 'cause it did in my head). Now that I have "relaxed", I can truly say I see the Fathers love just spread across this country, from Pattaya to here. Being in His presence and love is amazing.  I feel like I'm getting the taste of what Adam and Eve had in the garden. I don't know how to describe it English. It's so "Sabaai Sabaai" - slang for "it's cool."

-Ade

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