A breaking and hope

 

 We went to do more work on the property of our main ministry we are a part of here and we had been helping with landscaping, painting, getting jewelry pieces ready for another program, and just any other work that involves having a good time in the ever changing Thai weather. I have been working to shave logs to be used in making bed frames for a men’s house and some of the landscaping. Hence the blisters from using machetes to shave the logs and they aren’t easy on the hands after a number of hours.

 

In all the work, we had ended up with a large amount of things needing to go to the dump. I expected just a simple dump run like a number of times that I would head to the dump with trash and such in my hometown. Wrong. I was so far from that. We had stopped at a small store and picked up some milk for the people we were about to see. 

 

You see, in Thailand and many places around the world, they have dumps that aren’t just dumps. For many, it is the place families call home. We rounded the corner just before the dump and found kids playing on the ground and offered them some milk and they jumped right in the bed of the truck like any other vehicle. And then we turned into the dump. And at first it wasn’t even a dump. At the entrance are homes, small wood and bamboo huts that families of whatever size live in. They had piles of garbage seperated for recyclables that they could turn in for some small amounts of money. There were kids all over the places and stray dogs. The kids continued to pile on the truck as we made our way through, ending up with 7 in the bed, directing us as to where to go. They knew this place just as well as I know my home town, because for some, this is all they have known. We made our way down dirt roads from one little cluster of huts to another little cluster of huts and then we got to the worst part. Just mountains of garbage about 20-30ft high stood over this road as we made our way in this truck full of wood shavings and garbage and most valuable of God’s children. The road under us was knee dump mud, muck, and who knows what. The smell was unbearable in this section. Then the kids dumped the trash from the truck as they made quick checks to see if there was anything of value and then we were out. On the way out, we had given the children some milks and a couple families some of the drinks we had. It was the hardest thing I have ever experienced. The most heartbroken I have ever been was seeing this place and these kids and my heart breaks again typing these things.

 

But there was still good at the end of this day. After finishing at the dump, we headed back to the property to continue on our projects and then headed home. On a joke, our team headed out in the streets of Mae Sot to explore and try naming some of the local stray dogs. But, as we walked around, we passed a building we had never seen and heard what we thought sounds like praise music, but it was all in Thai. We turn one more street and find the entrance to this building and it turned out to be a church, the Mae Sot Grace Church. We were so excited. We hadn’t seen a church in the midst of all the Buddhist temples throughout the town and country of Thailand. We slowly entered and then were quickly introduced to a man named Phillip. Phillip is the temporary pastor at this church. We sat down as the worship group was still practicing and talked to him. We talked about what we were doing in Mae Sot and Phillip had said that his whole family was Budhist. One of our team members asked how that was, him being a Christian in a Buddhist family; now begins an awesome testimony.

He told us he was a Christian when he was 16. What had happened was he had been raised Buddhist, but had gotten really sick and was in the hospital getting treatment, but still wasn’t getting better. All of his family was standing over him and he was so close to death as he had gone to nothing but skin and bone from being so sick. He, as his spirit, left his body and he headed to a river close by. Then, Jesus appeared in front of him. And being raised Buddhist in a Southeast Asia country, he has never heard of Jesus or Christianity. So Jesus asks, where is he going? He tells Jesus he is leaving cause his body is done, it is so broken and weak he couldn’t stay. Jesus tells him to return home and He will be there. He returned to his body, and immediately was able to stand up. His healing came after that and so he started to try learning about God from then on.

 

At another point later in his life, a large storm hit and caused a massive flood. Phillip was then swept away in some of the flood waters into the main river. And he didn’t know how to swim, so he was drowning. He tried frantically to stay up above the water but struggled with the raging waters. He cried out to God saying I know that you are God, and I know that you are a savior. And so if you are a savior, save me now. Now, this river had always been kept free of boats because it was such a dangerous river and Phillip was able to see 3 wrecked ships in the waters ahead. But as soon as he asked God to save him, there was a boat behind him in the river. He was saved and later went to bible school and told his family he believed in God and his whole family kicked him out of the house and family with just the clothes on his back, shunning him. But God has blessed him deeply and they have a great congregation of about 150.

 

God is incredible in the ways He works. And I know He works in all the places He has been leading us to, even the hard places like the dump. Even in the places we don’t see much changing or happening, God is in it. God is here now. And I praise Him for it all. Our God is an awesome God, in the midst of trouble and the good.

 

Romans 8:18

For I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing to the glory that is to be revealed to us.