A team of 6 people from the UK recently went on a trip to Thailand which was the first time that BTBAB have been to this nation. We give thanks to God for His goodness, faithfulness and journey mercies for our trip as we had no delays, no injuries, no hospital visits, and no embassy visits! Even when a metal water bottle fell from our transport when travelling at about 60 mph it rolled to the side of the road, avoiding hitting any person, car or motorbike following behind – God is good!
We spent the first evening at the YWAM base in Bangkok followed by an orientation meeting on Saturday, where we met our translator Ning who would be with us for the duration of the trip. What a blessing it was to have her on our team. We then transferred to a local church in the Samut Prakan province, led by Pastors Pietoon and Rachel, where we stayed for the next 10 days.
We ministered at the Sunday morning meetings with song, testimony and a sermon. Following a quick lunch provided by the ladies of the church, we were transported to a new church plant only 12 months old, based in the Suriburi province. The new church had about 25 members, some mature believers and the rest were new. The land had been donated by a relative and they had built a new church, purpose built building for hosting teams, and work was in progress to build a dormitory, coffee shop to provide a place for retreats, seminars, conferences with a wider focus to serve the local area and Bangkok churches.
The first Sunday was a thanksgiving service with other churches joining the meeting, where despite us not understanding a single word, the presence of the Holy Spirit was very evident and we felt very blessed. Afterwards there was a barbecue with an open mike session on an outdoor stage, where we sang a couple of songs and shared a testimony.
During the week, we had the privilege of visiting some of the church members, praying with them and blessing the ladies with a small gift bag. We also held children’s events at a couple of primary schools and at the church, where we played games with the children, shared a testimony and handed out gospel booklets, teaching them that they are very precious and made in the image of God.
We also used donations of £400 to buy food to be distributed to needy families, including an 80 year old lady, who had no relatives to take care of her, dependant on neighbour’s good will.
During the week, we had been praying for revelation regarding the group project to find a ministry which was connected to and provided ‘Rescue Care packages’ to people coming out of trafficking and it became clear that our current location was not providing any leads. So on Monday following a time of concentrated prayer and fasting to seek God’s direction, we felt that we should go to Pattaya and visit the Tamar Center – a ministry located about 3 hours journey away that offered hope, healing and a new life to the bar girls. Despite having limited time to find the recipient, we identified a new project being set up – a lady who was one of the first fruits of the work and was now stepping out on her own to set up a hair salon and a safe house called True Love; which would offer a safe refuge for new girls arriving in Pattaya looking for work at the bars, to try to persuade them not to go into the trade. And we were also able to support the existing work of the Tamar Center. God sent us just as they had finished a prayer meeting asking for Gods provision! God is good!
