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!)

Beauty

A Flinstones Resort! Yes..you get to sleep in Barney's head!

Bamboo House

Everywhere we went they were having children's camps...

Stilts in the jungle

Isn't he cute!?

Me and my new friends...

A new church!

Visiting the Karen

All hanging out in Sharon's bamboo house

Oh the children love to play!

Delicious Karen food...and you get to eat with your hands!

Fire Boys

This was my second trip to Koh Samet. The first time I saw them I was caught in the awe of the show. I saw them again on this second visit and as I stood there watching them twirl those rods high up into the air and gaze as the hoola hoop size circles ignited with fire swung around their waists, a theme started rising in my heart. Koh Samet is an island about a 2 ½ hour drive south of Bangkok. It is a resort and retreat beach where people can rent a room, jump in the clear water during the day and enjoy sitting out on the beach at the many restaurants that line the shore at night. It is a beautiful place to be. During the evenings, there are several restaurants that have “fire shows” on the sand just a few feet away from where the people are sitting. These shows are directed by one man and several of his younger apprentices. As I stood there on the beach that night and watched these young boys, some of them near 8-10 years old, I like all the other spectators was in awe at the skill and precision at which they performed. And while standing there, I started to have these thoughts and ideas. Ideas of what it means to be a carrier of fire. These boys are young yet they are skilled. They are following the lead of one man. I started thinking about how this correlates to one man, Jesus and His followers. What does it look like to be a carrier of His fire today?

This is a theme that has been playing over in my mind since I came back to Bangkok. I see God's fire as being His presence. It is something that is dangerous, powerful and awe inspiriting. It brings warmth and ignites passion inside people. More than anything else I want to be someone who is skilled at handling the presence of God. The presence of God, His Spirit is a very powerful thing. Many people today are hungry to see a manifestation of the presence of God. They want to see some miracle or sign. They want to see a healing or a deliverance. Many times these things are the outflow that comes when the presence of God comes. Before I came to Thailand, I had the opportunity even in my home church and with my friends, to experience and see the power of God through healing, deliverance and salvation. Here in Thailand I see it as well. And yet I cannot be focusing on these things. I must be focusing on God's presence. If I focus on amazing things that I see, I will only get to taste a little of what God has planned. He wants me to be a carrier of His fire, to experience His presence in such a way that I let Him decide what the manifestation of His glory will be. As I watch the boys keep an eye on their instructor, and follow his lead, I am reminded of how important it is for me to keep my eyes on Jesus. He is the Master Instructor and One who will know where and how to move, what the next steps will be and how it will all work out. So when I think about carrying God's presence I think about keeping my eyes on Jesus and I also think about passion and purity. There has got to be a love and excitement for being able to be a part of carrying such a wonderful thing as God's power. The Bible says that we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the power belongs to God and not to us. --2 Corinthians 4:7-8 A few days ago I was reading in the book of Hebrews and it talks about the Israelites and how they went to "a physical mountain to a place of flaming fire..." (Heb. 12) and it was a frightening thing and how now we as believers are called to go into heavenly places to encounter the presence of God. We encounter this "all consuming fire" as we learn to walk and encounter God in the secret place and throughout the day. It is through prayer, listening to Him, watching for Him, receiving from Him, worshipping Him, that we are ignited with His presence, His fire. Something I noticed about these boys who were carriers of fire is that they were confident and even proud in what they were doing. God has called us to be confident and glory in we are as His children. We carry His glory.

So today, as you encounter places of darkness in your own life, in the lives of others or around you, know that you, are God's child, His child of fire, and that you carry the real, tangible presence of His glory wherever you go. May God richly bless you!