For the Love for God

The 7 of us did not want to attend the international church yesterday and overwhelm the small community there, so instead, we held our own service at the OMF Home. We looked into the story of Luke 5:17-26, of the friends lowering the cripple from the roof to see Jesus. We are not sure of every detail of the story; we are not even sure how much faith the cripple had. But one thing for sure is that the friends of the cripple had incredible faith. The cripple could not do anything but to let his friends lower him to Jesus – and he was saved! Can we have the faith to lower our friends to Jesus? The also echoes Ezekiel 37 that had been in my heart. The faith of the people around you may be like dry bones, but will you call out to them and let God put them back together? Have faith in the Lord, and let him plant faith in the people around us.

It was also a pleasure to have Daniel join us for service. Daniel is a missionary in Cambodia. However he is in Bangkok resting from his third bout with dengue fever. :( Dengue Fever Facts Poor Daniel, he is like skin and bones. He is so weak, and he is forced to return to Swiss one year early for his home assignment. What he shared with us touched all of our hearts. He said we are really weaker than a mosquito – a zebra striped mosquito can kill you. For Daniel, it almost killed him 3 times in two years. Yet in the Lord, you can see it in his eyes, he wants to go back out on to the field and continue God’s work. He reminded that we cannot take joy in our service and our ministry. Dengue fever, prosecution, what joy is there… but we need to that joy in the Lord. So we are here not just because we “want” to serve him, we are here because we LOVE the Lord.

During the service, we also shared among each other each of our stories. It is amazing seeing God’s plan unfold with each story. The postponement of the trip allowed Kathryn and Scott to join the group, allowed Michelle to have a successful trip to Alaska, allowed me to go back to Hong Kong first to be further equipped, and many more. It is amazing how God works! And our team chemistry is awesome. It is as though we knew each other for years. By the end of the night we were even picking food off each other’s plate. :)

For the afternoon, we took a boat cruise down the Chao Phraya River. It was a great time greeting the locals in the villages along the river. And on the way to diner, we got lost on foot and we ended up walking by the Bangkok jail. So we took the opportunity to do a pray walk at the jail and to give tracts to the jail guard so that he can pass them out to this inmates. Pray that God’s word to touch the heart of these people.

Getting our “other country’s” visa today and heading up to Lop Buri by train. Miss you all, praying for all of you.