Day 2 in Laos

Travelled on the back of a truck to the border where we took a bus across to Laos. Arriving at the Laos immigration checkpoint, we were greeted warmly by Ps. E and O. The key leaders of the LFF, the Laos underground church. (Even initials have been changed for protection as it is still highly dangerous there at the moment.)

Uncle J said that where we were going would be pretty nearby. After just nearly ten hours, we reached an underground church where we were to spend the night. Along the way, we picked up barking deer and hornbill for dinner. We passed on the squirrel and civet cat. Thank God.

Boys are roughing it out in a van and us girls travel in a suv thing they specially got for us. They have so little yet they are unbelievably generous and loving.

Unknown to us, the boys (together with Ps E and Uncle J) had stopped along the way to pray for a demon-possessed lady.

When we got there we were blown away. Hundreds of people gathered at a field for service. Mind you, this is in the dead of winter. Except for the "stage", everywhere else was pitch black. Children and youths ran and shone torches at our faces to see what we looked like.

Their service lasted thru the night with prayer, worship and sharing. We went to bed shortly after midnight, after our dinner of barking deer and hornbill. Which, by the way, tastes like duck, just with super tough skin that metal forks were unable to pierce through. Even in the freezing cold when we woke at 5.30am, there were still members of the audience sitting around small fires keeping warm and listening to the pastors. A kind lady took us to a water pump beside her house a short walk away where we could wash our faces and brush our teeth. The toilet was the great wilderness. Chicken, pigs, goats ran all around. It was like we had travelled back in time.

It reminded me how we take so many things for granted. How we have service in a nice church then complain about the aircon or chairs, or compare church buildings, etc, when over here, they meet in an open field in the freezing wind. Decor is a simple banner with the name of the church hung as a backdrop and a few balloons held up on clothing lines. Back home, we fuss over poster designs, christmas trees, confetti and baubles.

Joke of the day was one of the girls pointing at a huge boar running around, then asking, "Is it raw?". I don't think anyone answered.

This morning we were given the chance to sing for them. Then devotion was led by G and we were reminded of how we should abide by God in every aspect of our lives, not just while we were here. that we should listen to the Holy Spirit and build up our relationship with our personal Jesus.

Day 1 in Laos

Really sorry, I know they are way overdue and I haven't really blogged coherently in quite a while.

NOTE: These are excerpts from my daily email updates to home while I was away on a nine-day mission trip last year to Laos and Ubon(Thailand). Many a time we go away on mission trips thinking that we are going to bless the less fortunate, but return as the ones who have been blessed.


We're sitting at the back of a truck now, en route to the border Thailand shares with Vietnam, with the warm sunshine on our backs and the chilly wind blowing enthusiastically past us. Its not the most luxurious ride, nor the most comfortable, but with the sense of team spirit and God's presence with us, its an extraordinary blessing to be here.

I learnt today that we aren't just here to encourage and minister to others, but also to receive. The ones who were are reaching out too will also be used by Him to minister to us. It is a time of spiritual growth for us individually, and also as a team.

Yet the devil lurks on the outskirts waiting to trip us.

Without a doubt, this will be a life-changing experience for each and everyone of us. I personally don't know what to expect in Laos. We're been warned that there will most likely be no toilets, no electricity. It is the most un-me type trip ever and yet I find myself excited in a positive way. (Though I will probably be squemish about doing no. 2 behind a bush).

Isaiah 40:29-31 has really stuck with me for this trip and everytime I feel like its starting to become overwhelming I hold onto that piece of His Word and recite it in my head.

In the dark

Jesus said, "What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight" (Matt 10:27 NIV).

1. It's in your worst moments that God gives you some of your best insights.
2. People will listen to you because you've 'earned the right to speak'. So sit tight and let God teach you things which can only be learned in the dark.

God, speak to me, now that I am in the dark.

God help me

In an old Peanuts cartoon, Charles Schulz shows Charlie Brown at the beach building a magnificent sandcastle. It's a work of art. As he stands back to admire it, suddenly it's destroyed by a big wave. In the last frame he says, "There must be a lesson here, but for the life of me I don't know what it is."

Jesus and my Titanic

"In Mark 4:39 when Jesus "ordered the wind and waves to be quiet" the Bible says "everything was calm" (CEV). In the midst of the storm, ask Him to come and stand in the bow of your boat, and to speak peace to the things that are upsetting you. He'll do it!"

- extract from The Word for Today, Rhema Broadcasting Group

Faithfulness of the angry

This is a particularly hard week.

Continued faithfulness and obedience while I was seething with a cold silent anger, was so difficult, my insides churned. I tried to see His hand in it, tried to bring glory to Him through what I did, how I reacted, the words I said. I tried my darnest and it was still a poor attempt.

It like being in my own head, but not understanding how all the gears worked. My anger was ferocious, white hot, and vulgar; built up in layers of debt, expectations, bitterness and discontentment.

Be still my heart. Be still and know that He is God.

Honesty

I was just reading someone's blog and "honesty" popped up in my head.

Have I been honest with myself?
Have I been honest with the people in my life?
Have I been honest with God?

No. Not enough.