Finishing the 18th Hole

I would like to begin this post by explaining the title. You see, the post before this ("keeping up to par" or something of that nature) ended rather abrubtly. This post is going to "finish the game." Now that the title is established, let's begin.

I would like to start with Rachel. Let's go back to the first day of traveling. Rachel had a horribly sore throat. She bought some cough drops, but they didn't seem to help. When we actually arrived in Thailand, she really didn't complain about her throat. Everyone assumed that it was okay because she wasn't saying anything about it. Well, the day before I made my post (that would have been Wed. the 21st, I think) Rachel kind of mentioned that her throat hurt. Wed. night it got pretty bad. She complained of it hurting, but no one was really sure what to do. Thurs. morning she woke up and could barely breathe. We got her some tea, but she couldn't get it down. Our room prayed for her and then made sure Pastor Bobby knew. The group prayed for her after devotions, but we kind of thought it would get better as the day went on. Well, the day did go on. Like I said before, we did the "Christ in every home" thing and then headed back to the hotel. The end of the post was when I found out that Rachel was at the hospital. Pastor Bobby and Angie (Pastor Cory's wife) stayed with Rachel at the hospital while the rest of us had dinner and hung out at the market for a while. We then went to the hospital to see if Rachel was out of surgery. She wasn't out when we first got there, so we watched the US and Ghana in the world cup (it was kind of depressing, unless you were cheering for Ghana). Maybe half an hour later, the nurse that was going to bring Rachel in opened up the door, and her mouth dropped. Apparently she wasn't expecting sixteen people waiting for Rachel. Rachel was wheeled in, all drugged up. The surgery went very well. Thai hospitals are just as nice as American hospitals (or at least the one in Chaing Mai is). We left while Rachel and Sarah (the other girl from Little Falls) stayed at the hospital. Rachel was out of the hospital and back into the swing of things Fri. afternoon/evening. Everything worked out suprisingly well. It was pretty great. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Rachel had an absyss on her tonsil. It was so swelled that it was starting to block her throat. (I suppose it would be nice to know what was wrong with her!).

Other than that, we pretty much did what my earlier post said. We stamped and passed out Books of Hope, and got to hang out at the University some more. I loved hanging out at the university. Thai people are so much fun, or at least the ones I met were. They were just so open and inviting. It made me feel at home there. Other than Christ in Every Home and the University, we did a Sunday service. That was fun. We did the Puppet Master drama. We learned that drama (and most of our other dramas) the day before we left. The other ones were pretty simple, but Puppet Master was the only serious one we had. I think it was seriously 8-12 minutes long. All it was comprised of was doing specific actions in the right time with the music. Sat. night we must have spent at least two hours trying to get the timing with the music just right. Finally, we were all so exhausted that we decided it was good to go. When Sun. morning rolled around, they had worship and this and that (I think Luke might have given his testimony before the drama). The time came, and we all got ready for our big drama. It started out well enough, but right about the time things got confusing and you had to listen carefully to the music in order to get it right, the music shut off. There was a split second where we weren't sure if we should wait for the music to start again or just keep going. We ended up just going. I think that the music was only there for the first couple minutes of it, but after that, it was all us. The only answer I can give as to why the drama didn't completely fall apart is God. He absolutely had his hand in that drama. It all worked out fine, and everyone was together. We finished the drama and that was that. It's so cool how God works, isn't it?

There are so many more stories I could tell, but I don't think I have time. So, what I want to leave you with is this: the trip to Thailand was amazing. I knew I was supposed to go, but never imagined what a heart I would get for Thai people. God is so amazing. If anyone of you ever gets a chance to go on a mission's trip, go! Matthew 28:19 says to go into all the world. Yes, that includes your community, but don't think that you have to be "called" to go on a mission's trip. If God provides you with a way to go, then he probably wants you to go. Where in the bible does it say that only "missionaries" can minister in other countries? God doesn't play favorites. He has asked you to share his love with foreign countries just as much as Paul, or Mark Duhreen, or any other "missionary." I could probably go on forever about how we need to stop being so apprehensive and just do it, but I won't because I think you get my point. I have fallen in love with Thailand. It wasn't something that I or any other person did or could ever do. It was something that God did. I am so thankful that I got the opportunity to go half way around the world and minister to people, but I am also thankful that I get the opportunity every day to minister to people right where I am. Because when it comes to God and his word, my suggestion is just do it.
-Chel_c