THAILAND 2011 - Trip To The Mountains

Kanchanaburi, Thailand
Thursday, March 3, 2011
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Trip To The Mountains

Got up this morning and read from earlier in Luke's gospel about John the Baptist. What struck me was his message of repentance and that he was literally preparing the way for Jesus to make His entrance as Savior of the world. I so much feel that Thailand's need is for true repentance from idolatry. Only then will Jesus make His entrance as their Savior. I had a vision yesterday that I shared during our team's time of prayer and worship. It was a vision of a river bed that was cracked and dried up. No water was visible to the eye, yet I knew that underneath this dry riverbed there was water. Then I was our team walking along this dry riverbed. Everywhere we stepped we stomped through the dry and sracked soil and water began to collect in each one of our footprints from underneath the soil. As this happened, people came from all over to drink from the water that had collected in our footprints. I understood that the dry riverbed is Thailand and that everywhere that our team set foot in Thailand would bring the refreshing water of the Holy Spirit. I also understood that it was both Thai people AND ministries that were coming to drink of the water of the Holy Spirit that had collected in our footprints.

This morning seven of our team members left for the mountains of Kanchanaburi, about a four hour van ride to the northwest of Bangkok. Jesse, Tanya, Zoe, Carrie, Irene, Katherine and I all packed into a van that we hired to take us to the small YWAM base in Kanchanaburi. Our hope was to be able to show the Jesus film to the villagers in this mountainous area. When we arrived we were greeted by Arun, Pang (Arun's wife) and Pang's parents who are the base leaders here. We found out that YWAM had distibuted the Jesus film around the entire area a while back. Buddhism is so strong in Thailand, yet YWAM saw 30 people forsake Buddhism and follow Christ within that first year of their evangelism efforts. Now about half of that group form a small fellowship here at the YWAM base. Arun said we could still show the Jesus film later in the evening if anyone was passing by the base at that time. He said the night before a terrible storm swept through the area destroying some of the roofing at the YWAM base. Upon our arrival we saw four tents set up for us to sleep in so we were hoping that another storm wouldn't hit and wash us away.

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The mountians here in Kanchanaburi are gorgeous. Such a vast difference to the view from the city of Bangkok. Arun took us to a goat farm where he has learned to raise them in order to generate income as well as to bless the poor people of this area. We then proceeded to a place where we were able to ride elephants. What an adventure! As we sat in the back of the pickup truck we worshiped and interceded for Thailand for almost an hour. It was an amazing time.

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From our elephant riding escapade we headed to the Bridge over the River Kwai, which is a very historic site. We all ate spicy Thai food together on a restaurant that floats on the River Kwai. Then we cruised back to the YWAM base. As the wind blew through my hair in the back of that pickup truck, I took in all of the sights and smells of Thailand and counted myself blessed to be a part of this team.

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Christian Young