Ministry Day

Grace International School offers a neat ending to their spiritual emphasis week. The 7th through 12th graders are involved in what is called Ministry Day. Each class prepares to do ministry somewhere in Chaing Mai or a surrounding village. The 8th grade actually went on a 3 day 2 night ministry weekend. I chose to tag with the Seniors. We rode in Songtows(phonetically spelled:) and there were about 10 of us in the vehicle. They chose to serve at a village (Mooban) school about 45 minutes outside of Chaing Mai. I still have no idea how to pronounce the village or school name. (If you read Thai, have at it!) The children greeted us with a traditional Buddhist dance for boys and girls when we first arrived. This was a traditional Buddist school for preschool through 5th grade. We played games, made art, taught Christian songs and loved on the kids. This was only the second time a "white" Christian group was allowed to come into the community to do this kind of service. We observed their culture by following the leaders of the village on a walking tour of the Mooban and Wat(temple). When we returned from the walking tour we played with the children a little while longer. We were suppose to help clean up the area and do some physical work but it was very wet and rainy therefore the weather didn't allow us to do that. At the end of our time there, one of the students from GIS asked if we could pray for the school and students. The principal allowed several of the students to pray for everyone. What a break through!

Wrapping it up

The last few days in Thailand showed me that the Lord really used our ministry and I was suppose to go. I now look back and laugh at the fear I had of traveling to Thailand. I really laugh at the comment I made a few months ago that I would rather go to Nigeria than Thailand. I'm pretty sure the fear I was facing was spiritual.

So the last day that I spoke was on Thursday afternoon. I taught the kids about another lie Satan throws our way called the Blame Game. After recapping the previous lessons and ending the Blame Game talk, I was pretty sad it was over. I felt like I could have spent another few sessions delving in even deeper. That evening, the students had a bonfire on the grounds. Unfortunately, it started raining, but that didn't make a difference to these kids! It was one of the neatest worship times I have been involved in. The students were so passionate and real about their faith. After singing several songs, students came up to the open mic and began giving testimonies about how God spoke to them this week. It was so encouraging to me to hear how the Lord used my words and spoke into individuals.