This Day in Thailand

Sunday, September 25, 2011

On the border

This is the day that the Lord has made.  I will rejoice and be glad in it.

So far we have spent four 12 hour days working on the building.  Work is going slower than expected but still at a fast pace.  We’ve taken on an incredible task, but I am convinced that the Lord wants this work to be done, so it will be done.  We’ll have to extend the working part of the trip a bit longer, but that was a great decision to make because of what we were able to do today - honor the Sabbath.

The Sabbath was given as a day of rest for us.  (If you want some good Scripture to study, go to Genesis 2:2-3, Exodus 20:8-11, Mark 2:23-28).  It’s interesting that when the Lord gives the Ten Commandments, He spends the most time discussing the Sabbath.  Most other commandments are one-liners but the Sabbath gets an entire dialogue complete with explanations and methods for application.  It’s almost like God understands how difficult it can be to keep the Sabbath holy.  That was the dilemma our team was at yesterday as we surveyed the work that still needs to be done.  Thoughts of working a half day on Sunday began to circulate.  Thankfully it was resolved not to work on Sunday and instead stay an extra two days.  God definitely had His hand in that because He had some great things to show us today on our Sabbath day.

Local transportation

Today after starting with a service of prayer, reading, and worship, the team headed out for the Thailand-Burma border.  We hired a boat and headed up the river to a refugee camp inside Burma.  I’m not sure how things work politically, but this particular camp which is home to 7,000 refugees remains marginally safe from attack from the Burmese army because it is a public enough and large enough place to cause a huge uproar in the world opinion if the Burma army attacks and destroys it.  That could change at the drop of a hat though, but these people remain in the camp because they aren’t allowed to register for refugee status in Thailand (weird gap in the bureaucratic system).  Once inside the camp, we walked around and met the people.  We couldn’t talk much but had a good time playing with a volleyball and random stuff.  It was really just a great opportunity to step foot into the realm of the conflict and see some faces of the people living under the threat.  I’ve been praying that God would give me a heart for His people worldwide, especially those who are oppressed and suffer.  God is good and these people have a light and life that God gives freely all over the world.

Karen school with Scripture on the board

As we were heading back ‘home’ God placed it on my heart that there are great opportunities to share the gospel even with some people on the team.  There are two people who I believe have yet to experience the light and life that only Jesus gives.  God spoke a lot of things to me today, but as I was reflecting on some Scripture out of 2 Corinthians 3-4 here are some phrases that stuck out to me.

“Such is the confidence that we have in Christ toward God.  Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant.”

“Since we have such a hope, we are very bold... But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.”

“Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.  But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways.  We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.”

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not us.”

This is the day that the Lord has made.  I will rejoice and be glad in it.