GOOD NEWS BEING TOLD ON GOOD FRIDAY
We were able to Skype with Betsie in Thailand for about an hour yesterday. It was so wonderful to see her sweet face and hear how God is already using her in that nation. Upon arrival in Chiang Rai on Wednesday, about an hour was allotted for unpacking then it was onto orientation, helping out in English class (yes, the first day there!), and attending prayer meeting at the church that night. On Thursday, they rode three hours up into the mountains and lunched with a pastor who leads a congregation of thirty. They then came back to Chiang Rai and attended the night market before they Skyped us.
When we talked about the ministry she was doing, two things stood out. One, she was already working one-on-one with young Thai woman that God was already stirring up love for in Betsie's heart and she asked us to pray for that young woman. Betsie would love her to personally know the life-changing love of Jesus.
The second thing she was excited about was that on Good Friday, the church would be holding a Coffee House outreach and she'd have the chance to share the resurrection story. Surprisingly, she said she was not nervous at all. Now you gotta understand, Betsie comes across as very bubbly and at ease when she has to speak publicly in front of people, but if you know her well, you'll know that she is almost always very, very nervous and sometimes gets downright sick on her stomach due to related anxiety. But not this time. She was just so excited that she was going to get to share the powerful story of what Jesus did for us in front of a group that would have some in it who would never have heard the Easter story.
Since Thailand is 12 hours ahead of us, I woke up on our Good Friday morning to find photos from the event waiting for me at facebook. The joy and enthusiasm I saw on her face blessed this mama's heart. I haven't heard her account of the night yet, but I can only imagine how wonderful it was. Betsie is truly walking in the realization of how important and urgent it is to be a strong witness for the Lord in a very dark place.
We were able to Skype with Betsie in Thailand for about an hour yesterday. It was so wonderful to see her sweet face and hear how God is already using her in that nation. Upon arrival in Chiang Rai on Wednesday, about an hour was allotted for unpacking then it was onto orientation, helping out in English class (yes, the first day there!), and attending prayer meeting at the church that night. On Thursday, they rode three hours up into the mountains and lunched with a pastor who leads a congregation of thirty. They then came back to Chiang Rai and attended the night market before they Skyped us.When we talked about the ministry she was doing, two things stood out. One, she was already working one-on-one with young Thai woman that God was already stirring up love for in Betsie's heart and she asked us to pray for that young woman. Betsie would love her to personally know the life-changing love of Jesus.
The second thing she was excited about was that on Good Friday, the church would be holding a Coffee House outreach and she'd have the chance to share the resurrection story. Surprisingly, she said she was not nervous at all. Now you gotta understand, Betsie comes across as very bubbly and at ease when she has to speak publicly in front of people, but if you know her well, you'll know that she is almost always very, very nervous and sometimes gets downright sick on her stomach due to related anxiety. But not this time. She was just so excited that she was going to get to share the powerful story of what Jesus did for us in front of a group that would have some in it who would never have heard the Easter story.
Since Thailand is 12 hours ahead of us, I woke up on our Good Friday morning to find photos from the event waiting for me at facebook. The joy and enthusiasm I saw on her face blessed this mama's heart. I haven't heard her account of the night yet, but I can only imagine how wonderful it was. Betsie is truly walking in the realization of how important and urgent it is to be a strong witness for the Lord in a very dark place.
Here is a blog post she wrote from Thailand expounding on this:
As I weaved through the crowds of jet-lagged Thais Tuesday night, I remembered what Mrs. Chrissy and Wikipedia had told me: Ninety-five percent of of the Thai population is Buddhist, four percent Muslim, less than one percent tribal religions, and the other less than one percent Christian. Everyone around me was Buddhist, possibly Muslim. Maybe one Christian for every one hundred, two hundred non-Christians. I couldn't have gotten farther away from the South, the "Bible belt", if I wanted to. Even if they aren't acting like it,--basically--anyone in the South, if asked, would profess to be a follower of Christ. (And get a little un-Christianly mad if you didn't believe them, just sayin'.) Almost no one here would.
However daunting that is, it surprisingly doesn't intimidate me. Breaks my heart, yes, but not intimidating. Rather, I feel courageous, and honored. When you are a one who makes up less than one percent of something, it immediately makes you feel more noticed, set apart. I feel that with so much darkness around me, the light that was already inside of me because the love the Lord has for me, has been made brighter, been given more strength by being here. This is silly, but I feel like I have access to more of a straight up God because I'm no longer surrounded by hundreds of people all proclaiming to worship the same God, but each actually following a very watered down version.
All this made me realize something else as well: here, my actions, words, do represent who I am. And everything I do could have the potential to impact someone.
"In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good." -Ecclesiastes 11:6
In a country in which nearly everyone around you -- the smiling college girls working at McDonald's (McThai) in the airport, the shuttle bus driver, the young children playing at Gate A --is missing out having an eternal life spent with their Creator (and they don't even know it!), that verse takes on such a different meaning.
Please continue to pray for Betsie as she sows seeds for the Lord, seeds of good news that will bear much fruit.
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