Thailand March 2019 Pt. 1

I was trying to make this short and fit it into one post but there's so many stories that I want to tell. Short just isn't working for me. (My brain just supplied me with several jokes based on height and temper.) Doesn't help that I keep getting sidetracked. (Pretty sure that particular metaphor came up because I'm currently listening to train whistles and rumblings.) Anyways, back to the task at hand of informing y'all what happened on my most recent visit to Thailand. I'll begin with the characters and setting….

Characters

The team: Crystal, Daniela, Elaine, Ian, Josh/Crumrine/JC, Tyanna/T, Vanessa, Victoria, me (interns); Jacob and Olivia Dyer, Lisa Wright, Alex Priore, Josh Smith/Master Commissioner (staff/leaders)

Hosts: Joel and Laci Hill, Anchor and Everest, Jeremy See, Kate, Olivia

Others: Gabe, Trevor, Bamm, Nak, Pastor Amnuay, Henrik

Setting

Where: mostly in Phuket (city), Phuket Island, Phuket, Thailand (In case that isn't clear enough, we spent most of our time in Phuket)

Another thing to note is that much of what you'll read below is written based off of how I've been finding myself telling people in person. Of course, I'm usually only telling one or two snippets from any given day and not trying to talk about the whole week all at once. I'll see if I can find a picture or two to include in the next post (Yes, I'm still not great at remembering to take pictures) but for now.…enjoy the first bit of the story!

Story

Thursday, March 7: Travel Day 1

With the exception of Lisa (who we wouldn't see until Sunday morning since she was taking a different route due to being on vacation prior to this trip), the team met at the church in the morning. There we loaded up in two vehicles to drive to Dulles where we would board for our 14h flight to Beijing. We stopped at a Chick-fil-a along the way. No problems at check-in or customs and we had plenty of time before boarding. About halfway through the flight, my teammates started asking me how I could do something like that on a regular basis.

Friday, March 8: Travel Day 1.5

We landed in Beijing with a 23h layover ahead of us. Being in the Beijing airport brought back memories of a 12h layover I had there in 2012. Thankfully this time our tickets had come with an overnight stay at a transit hotel. Gabe, a former Big House attendee currently living in Beijing, met us there. After putting our stuff in our rooms, we ate supper which Gabe helped us order. I wasn't feeling well so Vanessa had me take some turmeric before going to bed.

Saturday, March 9: Forbidden City

I slept as long as I could and woke up feeling much better and had to rush through breakfast to be ready for the day's activity. Because we had such a long layover, we used part of it to take a tour of the Forbidden City. Gabe also came on the tour. My favorite part was the gardens. After a delicious lunch, we went back to the airport for our 5h flight to Phuket, Thailand.

Once in Phuket, we loaded up in Joel's truck and a taxi and headed to our home for the week which was located beside a Muay Thai gym and above 5 Loaves burgers. As soon as I began seeing Thai lettering, it brought back memories from last May when I was in Thailand while on the World Race. We had another late night supper before turning in for the night. I don't remember much else other than how smothering the humid 90 degree weather felt after highs in the low 50s in both Norfolk and Beijing.

Sunday, March 10: Church and Night Market

Sunday morning we went to Freedom church. One of the first things I noticed was an announcement of a 24h burn beginning on Thursday. I got really excited because I assumed we'd be able to participate for at least part of it. Some of the songs reminded me of my time in Phang Nga. Jacob and Olivia Dyer shared on drawing from spiritual wells. Then Lisa shared two dreams she had about people needing healing followed by a ministry time where we prayed with many people and several received healing. Following the service, everyone shared a meal. When we were done eating, several of us interns jumped in to help with all the dishes. Once all the dishes were done, we went back and rested.

In the evening, Joel took us to a local night market. The Hill's have a booth set up there with signs saying free prayer, healing, and spiritual readings* in both Thai and English. Right beside the booth is a seating area and stage. Nobody else was playing that night so we took turns singing. Most of what was sung was worship songs in English. Didn't matter though. Despite most of the Thai people there probably not understanding what was being said, several of them stopped to take pictures and/or videos. At one point, about half the team went to some nearby bars and strip clubs to pray for people. There are a lot more stories from that than I know yet. And the ones I do know I don't know as well as I know my own so I'll tell you what I did. (Pretty sure that's what most of you would like to know anyways.)

After wandering around for a little bit (boy did that bring back memories, especially the smells), I bought a delicious coconut chia smoothie and some amazing potato balls. Then I helped out at the booth. For a while, nobody came so I sat there watching and praying. Eventually a couple looking for a place to sit and eat saw some empty chairs at the booth. (Can you imagine if this was fake news? COUPLE LOOKING FOR PLACE TO SIT SEES EMPTY CHAIRS BUT WHAT HAPPENED WHEN THEY SAT DOWN IS NOT WHAT THEY EXPECTED [Insert unnecessary page breaks and over the top repetition after every two poorly written, run-on sentences.] Okay. I'm done.)

Back to the couple who sat down to eat...A lady who translated for us during the week but whose name I forget, Henrik, and I began talking to them. We said we would like to pray for them and if they had any pain, Jesus would heal them. The woman said she had pain on the left side of her body. We prayed and the pain disappeared. She told us the pain was intermittent so she didn't know if she was really healed. Sometimes she went to the temple for prayer and the pain stopped for a little while then came back. She also asked us to pray for her poor blood circulation. I shared how I used to deal with that as well.

Then we asked the guy if he had any pain and he mentioned a headache. We prayed and asked him if it was better. He smiled and wasn't really answering so we said we wanted him to be honest because we didn't want to stop if he still had pain. He said it was maybe 20% better. We prayed again and I saw a snake-like creature wrapped around his chest and squeezing. I didn't say anything because I was afraid and we were praying for a headache not chest pain. His headache was healed and he shared that he was having some trouble breathing. Okay, God. I'm starting to get what you're doing here. Henrik started praying then stopped and asked what was around the guy's neck. He started to pull out an idol. Henrik explained that he had felt the power of the idol when he prayed but that was okay because Jesus was stronger and could overcome the idol's power. Then we prayed again. Most of the time, the guy had been slightly hunched over but all of a sudden, he sat up straight and said he could breathe just fine.

Now both of them wanted to know how we became Christians so Henrik and the translator lady shared their testimonies. There was a stack of Bibles nearby and the couple asked us if they could have one before saying goodbye. Later that night, I saw them sitting and reading the Bible.

Tune in next time to hear…(erm, I mean read)... ‘bout a rocket ship and flightless birds. (Not sure why songs from those shows have been stuck in my head all day but I thought I'd share the experience with others.

*The idea of prophetic words stated in a way Thai people with no previous exposure to Christianity understand.