Pastor Sydney, a Thai pastor very much involved in the work happening at Omkoi wrote the email below (with some of my revisions for clarity) just this morning.
"I came back early this morning (2 AM) from Soblan, Omkoi. We had a wonderful healing meeting in the village. We prayed for a girl whose foot got caught in a motorcycle's spoke. When I saw it, I felt sorry for her. They might have needed to amputate it because she had no feeling in it, it was swollen, and it looked hopeless. The wound was still open after a month. A doctor tried with 22 stitches to put it together but could not get her skin to heal. We prayed for over 5 and a half hours but it was worth the long prayer when we saw the healing process happen right before our eyes. Her foot became normal and all the feeling came back. Her wound was completely healed! She still skipped around with one leg but after a few more short prayers, she started walking normally. The whole village went wild!"
And I believe we all would have, had we been there. Let's praise the Lord for this wonderful miracle that is sure to transform more so the people in Omkoi. Let's pray that the Lord will move in a more powerful and greater way setting off the unprecedented hunger for God all over Thailand. Thank you.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Reunion
Starting tomorrow until Sunday, our group’s workers here and from its neighbouring countries will gather for a time of worship, teaching, and praying together. For some, it’ll be the first time in a long time that they will be in a gathering that can freely express their faith in Jesus. Consequently, this week’s gathering is looked forward to by many of its attendees. It’s the time to receive from the Lord and be refreshed spiritually, physically, and mentally.
If we could be closer to the Lord as a result of having gathered together, we would be more effective workers in whatever we’re doing. If we would love Him first and foremost as the first commandment states, it would do us so well. As Bob Sorge said, the Lord is turning us into lovers who work rather than workers who love.
Please join us in praying that this week will be an exceptionally powerful time for all of us as a fellowship. Please pray that we’ll go back to the work that we do as people very much in love, serving Him. Amen. Thank you.
If we could be closer to the Lord as a result of having gathered together, we would be more effective workers in whatever we’re doing. If we would love Him first and foremost as the first commandment states, it would do us so well. As Bob Sorge said, the Lord is turning us into lovers who work rather than workers who love.
Please join us in praying that this week will be an exceptionally powerful time for all of us as a fellowship. Please pray that we’ll go back to the work that we do as people very much in love, serving Him. Amen. Thank you.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Overheated
As stated in last week's posting, our 15+ year old car overheated on the way to Omkoi. This being a first time for me, again, I had no clue as to what to do. Thankfully, a friend who was traveling with us knew what had to be done. She pointed out the radiator (busily steaming at this point), that it had to be uncapped (but not yet!), and that lots of water had to be poured into it. I was relieved; at least someone knew what had to be done.
However, 10 minutes had already passed but the water she kept pouring on the still capped radiator just kept evaporating. How long was it going to take to cool it down? And will our 4 bottles of drinking water be enough to fill the radiator once we got it cooled down to open it?
As I thought of our predicament on the side of an uphill, deserted road, in between towns, I started to earnestly pray. And sure enough, two men in a motorcycle pulled over and offered to help us. My friend (who was also fluent in Thai!) easily translated to me what they were saying. One of the men used Ethan's spare shorts to open the cap of the still hissing radiator. He emptied his own drinking water and some of ours in it. Soon, he got our car going and we were profusely thanking him.
Just before he left, he explained that he was a Christian and didn't feel right about not stopping to help two women (our four sons were in the car asleep) that looked in trouble in the middle of nowhere. Later, as we prayed for those men who cared to stop, we had to marvel at the Lord's mighty hand. In Thailand, which has a population of 64.8 million with 95% of those being Buddhist, the Lord still managed to get one of His own (Christians being a mere .5% of the Thais) to be there to help us.
What a Lord! In the midst of my shortcomings, again He proved Himself faithful. Please join us as we praise and give Him the glory. Surely, He alone deserves it.
However, 10 minutes had already passed but the water she kept pouring on the still capped radiator just kept evaporating. How long was it going to take to cool it down? And will our 4 bottles of drinking water be enough to fill the radiator once we got it cooled down to open it?
As I thought of our predicament on the side of an uphill, deserted road, in between towns, I started to earnestly pray. And sure enough, two men in a motorcycle pulled over and offered to help us. My friend (who was also fluent in Thai!) easily translated to me what they were saying. One of the men used Ethan's spare shorts to open the cap of the still hissing radiator. He emptied his own drinking water and some of ours in it. Soon, he got our car going and we were profusely thanking him.
Just before he left, he explained that he was a Christian and didn't feel right about not stopping to help two women (our four sons were in the car asleep) that looked in trouble in the middle of nowhere. Later, as we prayed for those men who cared to stop, we had to marvel at the Lord's mighty hand. In Thailand, which has a population of 64.8 million with 95% of those being Buddhist, the Lord still managed to get one of His own (Christians being a mere .5% of the Thais) to be there to help us.
What a Lord! In the midst of my shortcomings, again He proved Himself faithful. Please join us as we praise and give Him the glory. Surely, He alone deserves it.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Omkoi Revival
Last Sunday, we had the privilege of attending the tail end of a conference at Omkoi, a town situated on the mountains approximately 3 hours away from Chiang Mai. It was quite a trek, with our 15+ year old car heating up twice on the way and once on the way back. But, since almost all the Christian Thai people I knew wanted to be in Omkoi for the week-end to attend the conference, I just felt that we had to be there too. I was excited to see what the Lord was doing there. And, He didn’t disappoint.
When we got there, a Filipino evangelist named Jerry Ocampo delivered a powerful message that was translated in Karen and Thai. We sat on the ground with thousands of mostly Karen people. The meeting wasn’t in a church building; there wasn’t a place big enough in the small town to house 15,000 people. The conference’s meetings were held in an empty level field. The only shelter against the elements was bamboo erected poles that had green tarp attached on the top to keep the sunshine out. The speakers were on a platform with nothing but their microphones. However, for such a huge crowd, everyone (kids and adults) were attentive. Even though worship started at 6 a.m. and it was already past noon, the people still remained. We found out later that at 4 a.m., even the Karen children as young as 4 years old were already there interceding. When the time came for corporate prayers, a number of the Karen women were openly weeping. It was remarkable and worth the long hard effort it took to get us there.
Please join us as we pray this week for the Karen people of Omkoi. May the Lord continue the work that He’s started there and may it begin to spill over to the neighboring towns until the whole of Thailand is transformed. Let’s all praise the Lord. Amen!
When we got there, a Filipino evangelist named Jerry Ocampo delivered a powerful message that was translated in Karen and Thai. We sat on the ground with thousands of mostly Karen people. The meeting wasn’t in a church building; there wasn’t a place big enough in the small town to house 15,000 people. The conference’s meetings were held in an empty level field. The only shelter against the elements was bamboo erected poles that had green tarp attached on the top to keep the sunshine out. The speakers were on a platform with nothing but their microphones. However, for such a huge crowd, everyone (kids and adults) were attentive. Even though worship started at 6 a.m. and it was already past noon, the people still remained. We found out later that at 4 a.m., even the Karen children as young as 4 years old were already there interceding. When the time came for corporate prayers, a number of the Karen women were openly weeping. It was remarkable and worth the long hard effort it took to get us there.
Please join us as we pray this week for the Karen people of Omkoi. May the Lord continue the work that He’s started there and may it begin to spill over to the neighboring towns until the whole of Thailand is transformed. Let’s all praise the Lord. Amen!
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Out of Gas
Last Friday morning, just a little bit over a week after Eng left for Canada, as I was driving us to school (with 3 kids of our own and 3 from the neighbourhood), the car suddenly coughed, sputtered, and died. We were out of gas. As this unbelievable thought gloomily sank in, I realised that I've relied way too much on Eng putting gas in our car. How stupid. But, BIG BUT, even before the car slowly halted to a stop, our neighbour's van pulled up alongside ours and they asked if they could drive the kids to school. I of course very happily agreed and our car quickly cleared of its passengers. Then, as I pondered my predicament (about 1 second), another friend drove past and asked what the trouble was. I asked if she could purchase gas for me and she did come back with it in the next half hour.
Later, as I drove to school, I couldn't get over how in the midst of my messing up, the Lord showed His kindness to me. The night before, I was careening up and down the main roads at top speed and I drove past deserted lanes and seedy places. We could have stalled then and easily gotten into a fatal accident as the brake locks (meaning 'no brakes') when the engine is off, or endangered ourselves by stopping at unsafe spots where hardly anyone passed, BUT, we didn't. Instead, we stopped just 5 blocks from our house, at an intersection where we were too hard to miss by people passing by.
How the Lord orchestrates these situations is too much to comprehend. Life will always be unpredictable, gas will sometimes run out, but His grace? Never, ever, will it say, 'out of grace'. The Lord is too full of grace and so fresh and new every morning. Thank you, Lord!
Later, as I drove to school, I couldn't get over how in the midst of my messing up, the Lord showed His kindness to me. The night before, I was careening up and down the main roads at top speed and I drove past deserted lanes and seedy places. We could have stalled then and easily gotten into a fatal accident as the brake locks (meaning 'no brakes') when the engine is off, or endangered ourselves by stopping at unsafe spots where hardly anyone passed, BUT, we didn't. Instead, we stopped just 5 blocks from our house, at an intersection where we were too hard to miss by people passing by.
How the Lord orchestrates these situations is too much to comprehend. Life will always be unpredictable, gas will sometimes run out, but His grace? Never, ever, will it say, 'out of grace'. The Lord is too full of grace and so fresh and new every morning. Thank you, Lord!
Rakhines
The Rakhines are from the Lolo-Burmese affinity and number 1.9 million people. They can be found in Myanmar and Thailand. There are no known Christians in this unreached people group and no one is sharing about the Lord with them. Please join us this week as we pray for this group to know about our Lord Jesus through whatever means He sees fit (visions, dreams, revelations, etc.). Let's also pray for people to be burdened to pray for them and for workers to go. Thank you!
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Burmese Bible Dedicated
Just last Sunday, the Adoniram Burmese Bible was dedicated to the Glory of our Lord. 60,000 of these Bibles were printed and ready to be taken in to Myanmar. As our Pastor talked about the dedication, he urged us to pray that another 100,000 copies would be printed and brought in the country. With the country's population numbering over 47 million, 100,000 isn't really a whole lot!
We rejoice and praise the Lord that although we had nothing to do with the production of this project (other than praying for Burma), it has been completed. Please join us as we pray for more Bibles to be printed and distributed, 100,000, and more. Thank you.
We rejoice and praise the Lord that although we had nothing to do with the production of this project (other than praying for Burma), it has been completed. Please join us as we pray for more Bibles to be printed and distributed, 100,000, and more. Thank you.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)