Weapons of a Nation

Children are the future and hope of a nation. When children are empowered and learn that they have a voice, the nations tremble. Children bring an innocence and hope that quenches the darkness. The praises of children silence the enemy. That is why he hates them so much. That is why he seeks to thrwart their destinies through wicked schemes. He has no mercy. He wants only to destroy. Children are the weapon of a nation and either they can be used and manipulated or valued and honored. Here in Bangkok, my heart cries out on behalf of the children. During the clashes in May, they were being used in the camps of the red shirts, being propped up onto tires that blockade a street, becoming human shields, weapons of war. The weapons of war that God calls these children to be are weapons of justice and mercy. These past 6 months here in Bangkok, I have had the amazing opportunity to work with the children at Nightlight. There is a bright hope and future for these children. Their mothers are making decisions of hope and life and these children are going to reap a great inheritance and become the leaders of their nation. When these children grasp the truth of who they are as children of the most High God, they become dangerous. They start asking for things that human reason says can't happen. They ask for the impossible.

A few days ago, before leaving for our kids center, I was thinking about the kids and this desire, this ache rose up within me and all I could do was pray, "God, pour out your Spirit on these children." "You have got to do it...I can't. I want them to see You." That morning, when I got to the room where the kids were, I saw there were only 3 older children and a few babies. One of them was a girl I will call Min. She is 5 years old. This little girl has the gift of dance. As soon as I walked in, she and another girl Gi were insistently asking if I could turn on the Thai children's worship music so they could dance. Soon they were twirling around with streamers in hand. It was beautiful. Afterwards I pulled out a Bible story book, sat cross legged on the ground, with the three kids sitting around me. After just a short time it was just me and Min. She was enthralled with the stories of Jesus. In my broken Thai I was telling her about the boy who didn't want to live with his dad but go away to party, about the men who were in the lake and they didn't get any fish until Jesus wanted to use their boat and sit and talk to the people and then their boats were full of fish, to the final story of the little boy who gave Jesus 5 pieces of bread and 2 fish. After reading the story about how there weren't enough fish and bread but when Jesus prayed, God made enough for everyone, Min asked me if she could ask Jesus for clothes, and shoes and a purse and makeup and God would give them to her too? I smiled and at the same time my mind was thinking that that is not exactly how it works but then again...He says ask, doesn't He? :) She was laying across my lap at this point and after closing her eyes she said, "Jesus, I want ...." naming each thing. And then she turned to me and asked,

"When is He going to give me those things?"

"I don't know, why don't you ask Him."

(Closing her eyes..."day 18, what day is today?"

"Today is the 14th."

(She counted on her fingers.)

She then closed her eyes again and I asked her to ask Jesus to take her somewhere. She said something about water and swimming. :) "Can you see Jesus?" I asked. She shook her head in a negative. So I just waited...every now and then she would open her eyes and look at me and tell me what she was talking with Jesus about, there was more about the clothes and makeup.

After a lil while I led her in asking, "Jesus, can you take me to heaven."

I was just holding her, and praying quietly over her. Suddenly she opened her eyes and a big giddy smile had crossed her face. "I saw Jesus." she said. "And what did He say?" I asked. "I am a good girl," she said. :) I can't tell you how much joy this brought me. It was her who made the connection between the five loaves and fishes and her own life and the Holy Spirit did the rest. I love how much faith children have. I love the life that they carry. I love that they ask for the impossible. Will you? Today, many children are being exploited and used and yet God is raising up an army of worshipers, an army of children of faith. They are in every nation. When I was in Cambodia I saw this sign that read, "Please protect our national treasures." Children are treasures. Let us do all we can, wherever we are, to value and give voice to the children of our nation. They really are powerful in bringing the Kingdom of God.

Psalm 8:1-2 "O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouths of babes and infants, You have established strength because of Your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger." (ESV)

Thank you Katie for the photo of the worshipping children. :)

National Treasures

A poster on the main road through Poipet, Cambodia

"See how the precious children of Jerusalem (Poipet, Bangkok, Pattaya, Kitale, LA, etc.) worth their weight in gold, are now treated like pots of clay."

Lamentations 4:2

Who will stand up to speak out for justice?

Touch...the language of love

Journal entry:

Your heart is one with Me. You feel My passions and My aches. Your touch is My touch. You carry purity. I want to take you into the heavenly places and reveal mysteries to you yet to be seen. I am your Lover. I always will be. Do not be afraid. My Kingdom is here. The time is now. Come, come, come higher...you were made to fly.

Something I have been thinking about is how being a believer in Jesus Christ, I carry the very presence of God wherever I go. When I realize that I am in Him and He is in me, the places that I go, the people that I touch are impacted directly by Him because I bear the mark and anointing from heaven. It is not anything that I deserve, it is His gift and it brings Him joy. I love feeling the love of God flow through me and those times when it seems the darkest and most sad are the times when I get to experience even more of this beauty. This little girl's mom is dying of HIV at a hospice in Poipet, Cambodia. Three weeks ago, a friend of mine, Malina, and I went there to visit ministries and it was amazing to see what God did. We knew God was up to something. Getting across the border was an experience all in itself. First we got dropped off and had to take a tuk tuk which tried to take us to a special place where they could do our visa for us :/ which we rejected, had a drunk Cambodian border policeman issue us a visa while he "flirted" with Malina and then we crossed the border within 15 min of it closing. Quite the night! The next day I was in awe of God's power in this incredibly loud thunder storm and I enjoyed watching all the street kids bathe fully clothed in the rain. :) All three days that we were there, we went to this HIV hospice and got to pray with and love on the women there. I met this one woman named "Mom" who was laying on this mat on a bed, too weak to sit up. I don't even know if her family knew where she was staying at this point but she had a beautiful smile that lit up her face and the last day I saw her, she was feeling a little better and I got to see that smile. :) What was really neat is that I was able to use my Thai there as many of them either spoke or understood it. The first night, God spoke His love deep into my spirit and I realized that in being in this land, a dream inside me was being fulfilled.

In reading the book "Dreaming with God" by Bill Johnson, he said that the word desire means "of the Father." There is something exciting and fun about discovering the dreams and desires that are inside of us. About a month ago when I had to do a visa run, I went to Poipet for only a two hour stay. Even before I had wanted to come to Thailand, it had been a desire to go to Cambodia...not exactly sure why...but I think that the poverty and exploitation stirred in me a desire to see God's power come to heal. So I went, not really knowing what to expect but as soon as I crossed that border something happened inside my heart. I felt this burden, an ache for this land I couldn't explain. From the outside looking in, the needs can seem great and hopelessly daunting. As I sat waiting while my visa was being processed, I started to think about how that is the enemy's scheme in that land, to make it seem overwhelming...but Jesus came to love...and love happens one by one. I wanted to come back.

One night, Malina and I were there, we were walking back to our motel and we noticed this cart/tuk tuk filled with little girls around the age of 7. We stopped to say hi and in talking to them, we noticed one woman there who they all said was their "mom". Obviously this wasn't true. Finally, a girl in her early teens came up and truthfully said that every day they are taken across the Thai border and every night they come back to Cambodia. Here was the very definition of trafficking right in front of our eyes. Many times the police at the border are bribed and these kids beg in the streets all day and then return home. Many have been bought to pay off a debt. Many of the little girls, when we reached out to touch them, flinched. It was so sad because it wasn't like we could just take over the tuk tuk and rescue all the girls right then and there. There have to be other options and a way paved to prevent this from taking place.

The weekend I was there in Poipet, I got to see people, beautiful Cambodian people, who were doing just that. Malina and I were taken on a private tour of the facilities and ministries of the "Cambodian Hope Organization" where they house and educate children and their families who have been affected by trafficking and to help prevent trafficking from taking place. They have also set up what is called "School on a mat" where teachers go out every day, into the rural villages, where the children have nothing to do and teach them on a plastic tarp. It was amazing to see this organization taking love and putting it to action. Love is not just a word it means dreaming and living from vision...it means getting involved in peoples' lives and when this happens...justice and mercy are revealed. God's love should inspire action in our lives. Being here at NightLight, I get to see this taking place and again in Cambodia I was reminded again to dream big, desire much and then move to bring the love of heaven to earth. It is simple...and it can even be just taking a child our arms.

**The harvest is so great, but the workers are so few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask Him to send out more workers for His fields.--Matthew 9:37b-38

There are many needs...there in Cambodia and in the ministry to the Karen people. If God is calling your name, don't resist His call.

--Picture above--

"Mom" laying on the bed, Malina to the right and the lovely woman on the left called after we got back to Bangkok to say that she was home again with her 5 month old child. Yay God!

An Unforgettable Trip

Traveling around with my friend Sharon as she ministered to the Karen people along the southwestern Thai border, was an experience I will never forget! Sharon is a woman who is passionate about seeing the Karen, who have been persecuted and forced to leave Burma, become dedicated followers of Jesus Christ. Me and my two friends, Katie and Cole met up with her in Hua Hin and from there she took us to their Karen Bible school. It was so much fun sleeping outdoors in her bamboo house and every night without fail, her family there would gather to sing, study the Bible or just hang out. The week that we ended up going was actually their vacation time so although there weren't many Bible school students there, the buildings were soon swarming with over a hundred children who had come for their kids camp. On Monday, around 12 o'clock we were asked, "Can you do some teaching for the children?" I looked at Katie and Cole a said, "Sure..." We had one hour to prepare. No problem! I was like, "God, I know You can do it." We decided to talk about fear, the authority that they have in Jesus' name and allow the kids to reenact the story of Jesus calming the storm. So as I was standing up in front of the kids telling them about how this huge storm came upon Jesus and His disciples as they were out at sea, something strange started happening. There was this commotion outside and as I looked out the windows I could see this gust of wind had swept into the camp area and it was picking up twigs and dirt and whatever else was in it's path. I was a little distracted at first until Katie said, "like this" and I got excited and wondered if God was trying to prove a point. It kept blowing until I got to the part of Jesus' saying "Peace, be still." And then it was calm. It was perfect!

While we spent this week with Sharon, I got to see how God moves powerfully through her life. Throughout the day, she would be getting phone calls from people, her Karen family who were in need. This would be her next assignment. We never knew how something was going to work out. But she knew, that if it was of God, He would pave a way and we would be able to get to the person she wanted to help and encourage. When I say that Sharon is a woman of power, I mean like dynamite. :) All of us had many good laughs together as our driver, who after receiving directions from her would say in his soft monotone voice, "Jai yen yen." (Meaning cool heart.) One of my favorite places that we went to was a handicapped children's home. We got to take a group of boys, many of them who are fighting HIV, to a river for a couple hours of swimming. It was so fun to get to just laugh and love on them and I think they too impacted me by their huge smiles and love for life. It was quite an intense trip although for Sharon I think we slowed her down, especially when all of us got constipated from eating only rice and the amazingly delicious curries that the Karen so generously provided, and spent an entire evening sitting in an air-conditioned hotel just so we could use their western toilets. lol! Yup it definitely was an unforgettable trip!

(Thanks Katie for the two photos above!)