Reality of the Unreached

On this Valentines Day we are celebrating His love for us, and the amazing ways He demonstrates this eternal love. I think our whole group is shouting praises to Him for His mighty hand and the work that He is doing while in Thailand.  Last night, we had the opportunity to go on a house visit to a compound inside an orange farm.  It was a place that the team wasn't able to go to until now, because the owner of the orange farm had forbid it.  We went and visited the parents of two school children.  They welcomed us into their 2 room home with lots of smiles and sticky rice!

We started talking to them, telling what Jesus had done in our own lives. We started with creation, how God created the whole world, the man and the woman, and that when they disobeyed God, sin entered the world. We then went to Jesus, and how sin separated us from God, so He sent His one and only son, Jesus, to stand in the gap so that we may be reunited with our Heavenly Father.  We were so excited, so on fire, and then we were like "Oh yeah, have they ever heard of Jesus before?"  Ee-Ee, our translator, told us that No, they had never heard of Jesus, they had no idea who He was.  We were sitting their with our mouths gaping open, but I think because of hearing that our fire grew more intense, the love we had for these people spread in our hearts like a forest fire.  We kept going, sharing the love of Jesus Christ, we read John 3:16-17, and then after we shared and shared and shared what God laid on our hearts, I got a second of boldness and said "Can you ask if they want to accept Jesus??" and we waited, and waited, as Ee-Ee translated and then they spoke and then Ee-Ee spoke some more and finally, the moment of truth... "Yes!" she said, "They want to accept Jesus as their Savior."  

We made sure they understood what we had said, and they knew what they were saying yes to, and then we lead them in a prayer of accepting Jesus Christ into their lives, as Lord and as Savior, repenting of their sins and asking for God's mercy and forgiveness.  What a beautiful moment, a time of rejoicing in Heaven, all of us were grinning from ear to ear, welcoming them into the family of Christ! 

That's a great story, and an incredible moment, but it doesn't end there.  A neighbor lady came in half way through and sat there listening, and she said she wanted to hear more about Jesus, and then outside there were 4-5 people listening the whole time, because they were to shy to come in.  AND THEN!! As we were leaving, the husband of the neighbor lady called to Theo, and told him that he had been listening the whole time and that he wanted us to bring the whole team and come back next week to tell him more about Jesus!!

It was such an incredible, amazing, blessing, and privilege to be a part of welcoming two more Shan refugees into the Kingdom.  I know that the angels are rejoicing and that there is a party in heaven.  God's hand is at work here in Fang, in Thailand, in the World, and I am filled with gratitude when I think God is able to use me, a sinner, an average american, that He can speak through me to bring the gospel to the unreached. Please pray for the two who came to Christ tonight, Boe and her husband Lang, as well as for the seeds that were planted, pray that they would grow and that we would be able to reap the harvest!

All for the Glory of His name, 

Eliana