2019 Thailand Missions - Church ≠ Building
This past Sunday, we got to experience what it is like going to church for the long term missionaries at the Centre as well as the students. Rather than going to a traditional church, we had the opportunity to go to a house church! David, one of the Centre staff, generously opens up his residence for house church on Sundays as well as Fridays. The service is similar to the service back at FCBC where we start off with greetings then go on to worship through songs of praise, offering, a message, prayer, a reflection song, and benediction. We sang pretty familiar songs: Great are You Lord, God I Look to You, and Sinking Deep. It was refreshing to hear everyone's voices along with the guitar and cajon. Even the two kids were singing! The message, which was given by David, was on 1 Corinthians 5. David gave important application points regarding the detrimental effects of sin on our lives and the church body. However, he also reminded us of God's grace and Jesus' sacrifice through verses 7 and 8: "Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new unleavened batch, as indeed you are. For Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us observe the feast, not with old leaven or with the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" (CSB). Following the message, we were given time to reflect on what we had just heard and to confess our sins to the Lord. We then closed with one more song and the benediction. Afterwards, we ate lunch provided by our hosts and had wonderful fellowship together.
Post-church, our team went back home to get some rest, debrief, and do devotions. We had an hour of free time so some of us decided to take naps, and some of us decided to go out and get some caffeine! We regrouped to have devotions led by Whitney. She creatively reminded us of how we should trust in God's vision when things don't go how we expected as well as how our epic failures in life are all part of God's plan for us and our growth. We then debriefed by sharing how God has blessed or challenged us personally, communally, and missionally. For instance, I shared how God has blessed me personally by helping me understand that I have limits to my "extrovertedness" and need to rest to regain energy. At night, our team and the Centre staff got to further enjoy the Thai culture through the Sunday Night Market! We walked past delicious food, many diverse and traditional performers, and a multitude of shop stands. We were also able to buy gifts for our supporters back at home.
 |
| Sunday Night Market! |
Prayer requests:
- The chills: Whitney and I both have the cold! We suffer from a runny nose, sore throat, and mild headaches. Pray for healing and energy for our big July 4th event tomorrow.
- More bites: These mosquito bites are extremely irritating and distracting. We have tried many things including spray repellant, aiming our AC, and anti-itch cream. Please pray that we won't get any more bites so that they won't distract us while we serve.
- July 4th event: Pray that more students would attend this event that we are hosting and that they would experience God's love through us and our testimonies! Pray that everything would go smoothly and that there won't be rain since we're having BBQ.
 |
Just a glimpse of last year's July 4th event! |
Posts
