On the Burma Border

Hello all!

It is day four here in beautiful Towbergerey (I think I spelled that correctly!). The last couple of days have been amazing! The atmosphere here is very different from that of the hill tribes where we were stationed before. Although I loved it there, it was very hard living amongst so many people deep in Buddhism. We are now working with a church and orphanage ministry; living in a beautiful church building with a bathroom that has a toilet! It’s so awesome not using a squatty-potty!

The past couple of days have been quite the adventure. Sunday we had a church service in the morning, with some of the team standing to give their testimonies and perform some dramas. The people here love when we perform for them! Every evening we have church services. It’s awesome because we are able to encourage their new walk with Jesus by telling them what God has done in our lives. I have yet to speak, but I have been scheduled to give a sermon Thursday (1/14/2010). I am nervous about it, but I know the Lord is already speaking to my heart about what I am to share. So far my talk is coming along great, so please be praying a blessing over my words to encourage them! :)

Yesterday our group went to do a kids day in a village. However, since I had the stomach flu, sadly, I had to stay back. The good news is I feel great now and I’m ready to keep going! (Please be praying for our teams’ health here. Many of us keep getting the stomach flu and it’s very painful and uncomfortable to deal with!)

Today, we had planned to have another kid’s day, but much to our surprise everything we planned was completely changed when the pastor asked us to perform some of our dramas and dances for the people. At first, I was discouraged to hear that everything would be changed, but God showed me that this is what happens sometimes on Outreach—we have our plans, but God wants us to do something else. Afterwards, people came for prayer and a woman asked us if we could walk to her neighbor’s house to pray for an old woman who is paralyzed from the waist down—she does not know Jesus and is heavily involved in evil spirits. She looked as if these were her last days on earth. As we crowded into her hut, all of us were given special prayers and a heart for this woman. Although to my knowledge she was not saved or healed, we have full faith that God will meet her where she is. We are going back tomorrow and will continue to pray for her. The fact that she was willing to throw away the charms she was wearing and those in her house, shows how much she longs for the love and hope only Jesus can bring.

Another amazing thing happened at a market by the Burma border. The pastor really felt our team (I was not there) should perform some dramas and speak. Although this is illegal to do in Thailand, they asked the border control officers if it was okay. Much to our surprise, THEY APPROVED IT! Before coming here, we were told we would never get the opportunity to do open air ministry. But Jesus decided other wise! :) Pretty awesome stuff! I heard the team drew quite the crowd!

Thank you so much for all your support, comments and prayers, they really mean the world to me and help to strengthen me when times get tough. If you want to be praying for the team and me, pray for our health, to be physically strengthened, patience with each other, and to be a blessing with our testimonies and sermons we will be giving. Pray that we would speak encouraging words into people’s lives. I sincerely want to see that old woman’s life captured by Jesus, so she will be saved and healed. That’s all I have to write for now, sorry it was so long!

I miss you all,

Love
Dana