Thailand recap

My blog timeline can't be right, can it? Has it been more than a month since my last post?! Apparently so. I can hardly believe that October begins in just a few days!

We've spent the last few weeks talking about and reflecting on our time in Thailand and relishing every moment with our little dude. Two weeks away wasn't an eternity by any means, but I missed my little wonder. I think I returned even more thankful for him, although I didn't know that could be possible. We've had to work through a bit of toddler separation anxiety, but as Grammy and Grandy took excellent care of him, we came home to a happy little ball of fire, which is just how we left him.

It just isn't possible to put into words how meaningful and adventurous and fun our time in Thailand was this summer. There are so many stories to tell! And while a brief recap below won't do them justice, it will hopefully convey that this trip was life-changing.

A few of the trip highlights:

- Two ladies on our team ventured out for a shopping trip during a few hours of down time on our second day in-country. Ducking out of the rain, they stepped into the shop of an Indian Muslim man… who used to live in Norman… who does business in Norman… and who wanted to know about Jesus. WHOA. They spent considerable time with him, answering his questions, praying for him, and inviting him to church - because he'll be back here later this fall! This story was so much fun.

- Gib stepped into a woman's house, and the woman's mother excitedly relayed that she had recently had a dream that a group of foreigners came to her house, and that Gib was one of them. How fun is that!

- Two members of our team spent time with a very new believer, who, after realizing that her idols to Buddha in her home needed to go, took down every idol in her house and sent them with the ladies to dispose of.

- An elderly Thai man's arthritic hands were healed after two girls on our team, as well as a translator from the local church, prayed with him and shared the gospel. He was incredulous that he could suddenly bend his hands in ways he previously hadn't been able to and accepted the gospel of Jesus.

- The ladies on our team spent several nights out in the Red Light area of our city, building relationships with sex workers in two different bars. Each night with them allowed us to go deeper with them and just show them love in ways they weren't used to. I hope to do a more in-depth post on this experience. On our last night with them, we had translators from the local church (who were both new believers themselves), who told them about the love of Jesus for them. In one bar, three of the sex workers said they wanted to meet again with their translator to know more. In the second bar, a group of workers asked to go to church, surprised that they would be allowed in such a place.

- Gib and I marveled in the kindness and faithfulness and power of God each and every day. We watched as each member of our team had incredible breakthrough in an individual, and often unexpected, way. Some team members' hearts broke for the refugee children and AIDS orphans; some experienced the power of the Holy Spirit when they were asked to speak with little or no warning; some overcame physical obstacles; some who had never before spoken to a prostitute left with a deep love and compassion for the prostitutes in the city. We experienced a group of nine people functioning as the Body of Christ. It was amazing and unlike anything we'd ever known before. Our faith is stirred. Wow. Thank you, God.

These are just a few of the stories from our trip! I'll do a separate post with lots of photos. Thank you so much to each and every one of you who encouraged us, supported us, prayed for us, rejoiced with us and helped us get to/from Thailand.