Thai Update: May 22nd 2009 - Andy

How do you summarize three weeks of mission in a paragraph or two? That question will remain as I share my pre-flight thoughts. We are just a few hours away from leaving this tropical southern Asian land formerly known as Siam.



Our experience has been rich, exciting, stretching, informative, and troubling. The need is great and the workers are so few. Thailand is 99.3% pagan- the .7% Christian population is a beautiful mix of tribes, languages and subcultures. We have engaged two different peoples who's first language is not Thai (Sea Gypsies, and the Morgans) both of which have been deeply touched by the power of God.



As I stand on Kata Beach, the outline of the giant Buddha on top of the mountain overlooking the city tells much of the story.



How does this image represent the people? There is a great parallel between this created image and the faith of the people who live under it's gaze. Visibility is the first parallel- everywhere you look people are expressing their faith or rather their superstition and fear.



Spirit houses adorn every property as a way of appeasing the displaced spirits who lived on the property first. They believe that a house must be built for the spirits to live in and that these spirits must be offered gifts each day- in this way they appease the spirits and they remain passive. So as you drive through the cities and countryside you will see these elaborate or simple houses covered in hanging tributes and fresh fruits, baked goods and even fresh flowers. This is the true foundation of their faith. The people are more "spiritists" that Buddhists. In fact Pastor Brian from PCC says that in his experiences, true Buddhism does not exists outside of North American Universities.



The bright aspect of this visibility is that if prayers of faith are offered to Jesus and blessings follow, people turn to Christ. That is what we witnessed here in our short time. We saw the native church leaders engaging people with the question "can I pray a blessing over you?"



One example of this was the guest house we stayed at while visiting Karaburi. Wanlapa (65 year old evangelist) began to talk to the guest house proprietors and asked if we could pray for them. Knowing that we would return a week later she said to them- "when we return you will be Christians." A week later when our team returned for a second visit the proprietors welcomed us warmly and told us the story of an expensive bicycle that had been stolen sometime ago and after our prayers was promptly returned. This was evidence of the reality of God through Jesus to them and just as Wanlapa had prophesied they chose to follow Christ and are now being discipled weekly.

Visibility, respect, and reservation...

Many more thoughts to come- time to catch my plane, I miss my wife and kids- I am on my way home Lisa, Hannah and Zach. Can't wait to see you!

Written by: Andy Moore Labels: ,