we were privalaged to go to the same church as last week :)! Praise the Lord how links between faces and people are becoming clearer as the days go by. Out has been about a week now since our out reach in CR started, and it has been amazing to see the different style of challenges we have faced. But God is faithful and multiplies what we have when we offer him the things we have been entrusted which. One key thing I have been learning is that God does not need. He does not need. He asks from us not because he needs, but because we need. We need many things. But first thing is first, the heart. For us to enjoy his love and outpouring Grace, we have to surrender what we have. My friend E explained this to me the other night... If we always get what we want and we never have to forgo something, it cripples us. Thus, to grow, there needs to be a cost; for things to be cherished there needs to be a price, even if it is minuscule, costing something is important for growth.
It is amazing to see our reactions in different Cultures. Once you become expectant, Joy is easily sapped from the gift. We loose motivation to work, or value of things. God creates and places value in things. Think about people. Each has a value and a purpose. If you miss the purpose and skip over to a problem, though you are tying to help, it may not be helping. Instead it may lead to embarrassment, diminished sense of dignity and even at times reliance. But to empower some one creates the opposite. It creates a motivation to work-which remember... Is one of the mandates given to humankind! Sweet eh? :) God bless. He is an amazingly deep God!
Dare to think deeper!
Ps. Need prayer 250 for the students are needed before they come back. We are preparing the dorms and cleaning up the damages. But we need these mattresses for the students who are coming near and far; from normal Thai to the Hill Tribes that have their own language. I think there are 6 different ones. Thanks for all the prayers. It really makes a difference.
~rachel
Sunday, April 26, 2015
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Redemptions call- April 21
the harder topics are the ones which we avoid. This morning was my turn to lead Intersession. While preparing trying to see what was the topic or verses for our group. James 3 continued to resign ate on my heart. I felt a strong block. For some reason verses and direction did not flow as I had expected or usually feel. Leading is a bit tricky. Especially when asking a God who I not limited by human standards. More than I can understand. Who am I to understand or ask God how to interpret or speak about His words.
I fell asleep unexpectedly and dreamt long, as I woke up I was super nervous. Though I feel like God was asking me to rely on him and letting his words flow, I wanted to be clear and know before hand. as I was washing my clothes in out Hotel bathroom (we are staying at the ymca), I kept asking God to k ow what he would have me speak about. Again just hearing that it would be about James 3.
Closer to our devotion and worship time, I began getting impatient and nervous, feeling still unprepared to lead. During worship, Star led and opened with a song about repentance and being humble before God. It was amazing to see how the Holy Spirit prepares the way for things to follow. It proceeded to getting to a song about cleansing, and redemption. One sister prayed and encouraged us that God wants us to look past our current situation and hold on to the Hope of God's bigger plan. We ended singing God of this City by Chris Tomlin. So cool right!
Next it was my turn. Beginning with a bit of silence, and opening in prayer by one of our brothers, nervously I asked for a few volunteers to take turns reading the passage. Later, when it was my turn to read two versus, a heavy weight fell on my heart as I finished up to verse 12.
There was an intense burning in my heart and weight to the things that came out of my mouth. One of the sisters yesterday mentioned that it is the little things that build up and make an impact. The little things that build and make up our character. Just like the little things which leave an impression on others, so are words. It can take one word to build up or even one to tear down. But how much do we say unintentionally to break? Yet like accidentally forgetting the small amount of yeast in a bread recipe, it can change the entire outcome. When representing God's kingdom, we need to be rooted in His word and be mindful of the things we say and do. We are free peoples! We are also harvesters, and for this time here given the task to harvest. I know to be called there would be a need that is expressed. Hearts cry to the Lord for people to help with the harvest, and that is when He provides. Build one another up and carry each others burdens.
Later...
In the afternoon, Mr.John came to speak to us about culture and the ministry here in Chiang Rai. It was so cool to see how many echoes of the things we talked about and heard in the morning were confirmed. The Holy Spirit uses God's word to pave the way, then affirms the message later--when no one knew what the other person would talk about. Even with such an overwhelming task, it is the little things that count. You do not have to do much. But many workers doing something little creates a unified change. So is the Message of the Gospel. It starts with something so little. Hope. Faith. An act of love. The ripple effect is what is so amazing to see. But it can change.
Right now just to serve as a servant to servants. :)
What is so cool is no matter what field you are called in, what venue you use, you only have this time. Use it! People say all the time You only live life once (YOLO),--which can be taken in many ways-- which way will you live if you know you only have today? It starts with the small things.
<3 all="" along="" and="" are="" be="" but="" celebrate="" could="" doing="" enjoy="" every="" given="" glory="" god="" guys="" hearts.="" here="" i="" in="" industry="" is="" laugh="" many="" may="" meet="" minds="" miss="" nation="" of="" or="" over="" p="" peace="" sector="" side="" silly="" so="" talk="" that="" the="" there="" time="" to="" together="" tribe="" we="" wish="" with="" work="" world="" you.="" you="" your="">
Verses:
James 3:1-12
1 John 4:4;11-14
~Rachel
I fell asleep unexpectedly and dreamt long, as I woke up I was super nervous. Though I feel like God was asking me to rely on him and letting his words flow, I wanted to be clear and know before hand. as I was washing my clothes in out Hotel bathroom (we are staying at the ymca), I kept asking God to k ow what he would have me speak about. Again just hearing that it would be about James 3.
Closer to our devotion and worship time, I began getting impatient and nervous, feeling still unprepared to lead. During worship, Star led and opened with a song about repentance and being humble before God. It was amazing to see how the Holy Spirit prepares the way for things to follow. It proceeded to getting to a song about cleansing, and redemption. One sister prayed and encouraged us that God wants us to look past our current situation and hold on to the Hope of God's bigger plan. We ended singing God of this City by Chris Tomlin. So cool right!
Next it was my turn. Beginning with a bit of silence, and opening in prayer by one of our brothers, nervously I asked for a few volunteers to take turns reading the passage. Later, when it was my turn to read two versus, a heavy weight fell on my heart as I finished up to verse 12.
There was an intense burning in my heart and weight to the things that came out of my mouth. One of the sisters yesterday mentioned that it is the little things that build up and make an impact. The little things that build and make up our character. Just like the little things which leave an impression on others, so are words. It can take one word to build up or even one to tear down. But how much do we say unintentionally to break? Yet like accidentally forgetting the small amount of yeast in a bread recipe, it can change the entire outcome. When representing God's kingdom, we need to be rooted in His word and be mindful of the things we say and do. We are free peoples! We are also harvesters, and for this time here given the task to harvest. I know to be called there would be a need that is expressed. Hearts cry to the Lord for people to help with the harvest, and that is when He provides. Build one another up and carry each others burdens.
Later...
In the afternoon, Mr.John came to speak to us about culture and the ministry here in Chiang Rai. It was so cool to see how many echoes of the things we talked about and heard in the morning were confirmed. The Holy Spirit uses God's word to pave the way, then affirms the message later--when no one knew what the other person would talk about. Even with such an overwhelming task, it is the little things that count. You do not have to do much. But many workers doing something little creates a unified change. So is the Message of the Gospel. It starts with something so little. Hope. Faith. An act of love. The ripple effect is what is so amazing to see. But it can change.
Right now just to serve as a servant to servants. :)
What is so cool is no matter what field you are called in, what venue you use, you only have this time. Use it! People say all the time You only live life once (YOLO),--which can be taken in many ways-- which way will you live if you know you only have today? It starts with the small things.
<3 all="" along="" and="" are="" be="" but="" celebrate="" could="" doing="" enjoy="" every="" given="" glory="" god="" guys="" hearts.="" here="" i="" in="" industry="" is="" laugh="" many="" may="" meet="" minds="" miss="" nation="" of="" or="" over="" p="" peace="" sector="" side="" silly="" so="" talk="" that="" the="" there="" time="" to="" together="" tribe="" we="" wish="" with="" work="" world="" you.="" you="" your="">
Verses:
James 3:1-12
1 John 4:4;11-14
~Rachel
Monday, April 20, 2015
Learing then processing.
Hebrews 1:3
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
It is so cool. Thursday night, I finished watching Divergent with my girls here. It was a movie that I began to watch on a late night with Sherley from back home, but we did not get to finish it because it was so late and I had a lot of work to do. I love action movies, although it was not like a war movie's level of action, but the excitement of challenging and standing apart was food for thought as I took a night walk. The rain had just finished pouring (which was loud and powerful during the movie, adding to the suspence).
It is so cool to see the things that excite us. Somthing that I forget sometimes or even try to avoid, but God is a powerful One right:) He is just. He is truth. The movie strikes up courage to stand out if needed to do what is right, to fight against the norms. Even more, it shows the potency of judgement and objectivising people. We are NOT a problem that needs to be fixed. When ever there is something Good, there will be a potential for corruption. It does not mean the thing is bad, but it does mean that it needs to be redeemed. Just like me.
God is so good!
Movie Moment. :)
~Rachel
Thursday, April 9, 2015
Thursday Wrap Up
Hi Hi !
John 1:1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The begining of Unity starts with the core.
Things have been getting bit strange here. As we have been preparing for out reach phase, we have had more time to reflect and the group dynamics have changed a bit. The Create DTS group that has been participating with us this past week has changed our group dynamics a bit. We have been praying for unity in the Thai church, but as a DTS it has been something that has been a struggle (from my perspective). But it is funny, how different things have been bringing us together more. The spirit of unity or disunity can be powerful and subtly impact the entire product in the making. So it has been really cool to see, as well as be encouraged by their group and hearing about the differences in DTS's.
Ours has a lot more freedom, but with their structure, I think it has shown good things. But the freedom that our DTS has is something that although the fruit is taking longer to be seen, it is one that is a struggle and uses real life situations. We are free to make decisions, have conflict, make some choices, decide our bed times, etc. In a diverse group setting this can be very complicated, but the more complex and more friction that the situation has created, now we can see a sweeter fruit--giving us tools for the Real World ! (Or, at least that is my hypothesis).
In transition. We were interrogated today, as processes of investigation are occurring all over for visa holding foreigners. Later, we said goodbye at Connie's Home (The Orphanage my group was volunteering at). It was strange. Really fun, and we got to sing together to worship songs that our team leader and some of our groupies led. During the lesson time we made shakers and for snack our group leader Lu bought ice cream--of which we added the chocolate chip cookies that we made last night :). They really loved it! It was such a blessing today, yet so sad. Relationships that you build... yet you come to the moment when you have to say goodbye... What a blessing these kids have been, and the workers there. I want to take them home with me!
Prayers for our team:
That we will be united and bring that spirit with us when we go on out reach.
That God will provide another van (one of the vans broke during our weekend excursion).
Preparation of hearts, and healing three of the members in our team.
-one with gastritis
-one with a knee injury
-one with a skin and health condition sensitive to foods.
Personal Prayer:
Learning Thai!!!
Thank you for counting us in your prayers and for thinking of us as we are so far away. God is constantly at work, here and all over the world. May His name be Proclaimed to all the nations!! To all the class structures, and in every language. There is no place that is to far for Him to reach. We get to do the dirty work of planting, sowing!! So excited! No matter where, he continues to grow the harvest. Keep reaching out, no matter how discouraging. Seedlings take time. Let them grow.
Many Blessings from Thailand!
Please let me know of ways I can be praying for you or topics that you would like me to include in these blogs. :) Till the next. Sawatdeekha.
~Rachel
Things have been getting bit strange here. As we have been preparing for out reach phase, we have had more time to reflect and the group dynamics have changed a bit. The Create DTS group that has been participating with us this past week has changed our group dynamics a bit. We have been praying for unity in the Thai church, but as a DTS it has been something that has been a struggle (from my perspective). But it is funny, how different things have been bringing us together more. The spirit of unity or disunity can be powerful and subtly impact the entire product in the making. So it has been really cool to see, as well as be encouraged by their group and hearing about the differences in DTS's.
Ours has a lot more freedom, but with their structure, I think it has shown good things. But the freedom that our DTS has is something that although the fruit is taking longer to be seen, it is one that is a struggle and uses real life situations. We are free to make decisions, have conflict, make some choices, decide our bed times, etc. In a diverse group setting this can be very complicated, but the more complex and more friction that the situation has created, now we can see a sweeter fruit--giving us tools for the Real World ! (Or, at least that is my hypothesis).
In transition. We were interrogated today, as processes of investigation are occurring all over for visa holding foreigners. Later, we said goodbye at Connie's Home (The Orphanage my group was volunteering at). It was strange. Really fun, and we got to sing together to worship songs that our team leader and some of our groupies led. During the lesson time we made shakers and for snack our group leader Lu bought ice cream--of which we added the chocolate chip cookies that we made last night :). They really loved it! It was such a blessing today, yet so sad. Relationships that you build... yet you come to the moment when you have to say goodbye... What a blessing these kids have been, and the workers there. I want to take them home with me!
Prayers for our team:
That we will be united and bring that spirit with us when we go on out reach.
That God will provide another van (one of the vans broke during our weekend excursion).
Preparation of hearts, and healing three of the members in our team.
-one with gastritis
-one with a knee injury
-one with a skin and health condition sensitive to foods.
Personal Prayer:
Learning Thai!!!
Thank you for counting us in your prayers and for thinking of us as we are so far away. God is constantly at work, here and all over the world. May His name be Proclaimed to all the nations!! To all the class structures, and in every language. There is no place that is to far for Him to reach. We get to do the dirty work of planting, sowing!! So excited! No matter where, he continues to grow the harvest. Keep reaching out, no matter how discouraging. Seedlings take time. Let them grow.
Many Blessings from Thailand!
Please let me know of ways I can be praying for you or topics that you would like me to include in these blogs. :) Till the next. Sawatdeekha.
~Rachel
Sunday, April 5, 2015
A new start
a new starts to reclaiming the heart.
Last week, I had the privilege of turning 23 :)!!
Once again in a new place and new friends, it was difficult to explain the topic of my value of secrecy and exclusivity especially on the topic of birthdays. As I gave up on fighting I began learning the joy of eating go of my control and accepting the love and care of those around me. Though doing nothing would be okay, the fun of doing things together is richer that I have experienced in a long time. By God's grace, by learning to accept love from others, it allows for deeper friendships.
About to go on a road trip. Repost soon! Blessing and greetings from Thailand!
Last week, I had the privilege of turning 23 :)!!
Once again in a new place and new friends, it was difficult to explain the topic of my value of secrecy and exclusivity especially on the topic of birthdays. As I gave up on fighting I began learning the joy of eating go of my control and accepting the love and care of those around me. Though doing nothing would be okay, the fun of doing things together is richer that I have experienced in a long time. By God's grace, by learning to accept love from others, it allows for deeper friendships.
About to go on a road trip. Repost soon! Blessing and greetings from Thailand!
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