Right as I finished telling the women about Jesus calming the storm – illustrating it with how he calmed the storm in me and healed my reproductive system – a young woman fell over in a convulsive seizure. We gathered around her. I held her head. Ana and Prang (Sean’s new wife) held the rest of her and we cried and prayed. The village women cried and prayed. We sailed into the storm with her. Jesus calmed her that night and over the next several days, every time we saw her, we prayed for her. One evening a small group of us, including my sons, spent 2 1/2 hours with her as the Holy Spirit shook through her and brought her into a place of peace and lightness she had never felt before.

An old man hobbled up to me one day, reaching out his stiff hands. I understood that he couldn’t close them, which meant he was unable to pick up his rice to eat. I got my sons and some other men to pray with us and I held his left hand. As we prayed, the bones in his hand started popping. And he began smiling. The next day he came back again and I took his right hand. As we prayed, the muscles from his elbow down contracted and rolled, wave after wave, all the way to his fingertips. When we were done, his smile had become a grin. Two nights later he stood in front of the village, opening and closing his hands and with great animation told how Jesu healed his hands so that he no longer had to eat like a dog, but could now eat like a man.

Another man came to me, shuffling along with the help of a crutch. I thought the reason he had come was the bloody bandage wrapped around the machete wound on his foot. So I unwrapped it, cleaned it, prayed for it and re wrapped it. He sat politely through this kind deed and then began flinging his hands around his head and upper body. It was clear he wasn’t going anywhere until I prayed about something else.

The main problem I faced in praying for the village people was the obvious language barrier. The only interpreter we had was in the throes of her wedding preparations. But no one seemed to care that I didn’t know what I was praying for. I did a lot of questioning of God and crying out to Jesus, where are you? These people are hurting and they are crying out to you for help. Where are you? And then I would cry and they would cry and they would see the love of God in my eyes and I would see the power of God moving through their bodies. It was all so very simple and real.

So I prayed for this gentleman 3 times. I saw some men praying for him once. I couldn’t understand anyone’s Karen, but it was clear that this man couldn’t even open his mouth to speak. Each time he came to me, I noticed he was a bit lighter on his feet and that something like words were coming out of his mouth. It was cool, but I still didn’t know what was going on. The last night we were there, he, too, got up in front of the village and gave testimony to what Jesu had done. It was then that I learned that he was the former head shaman. 6 months ago he cried out to Jesu because the animistic spirits had such control over him that he could no longer speak or move his legs. Immediately, Jesus began loosening their hold. But a few months ago the improvements stopped, until the wedding party came to town. There was great rejoicing as he told his story, with a wide mouth and loud voice.

I think about the verse, “…let your light so shine before men, that they may see the good works of your Father in heaven.” I think of it in the context of we who have so much and how it seems to be an exhortation for us to aggressively do something in participation with the Father, so that His kindness will be made known to the world. But I saw it happen in the faces of these village people. They cried out in need. He came to them and a light was lit inside of them. It hadn’t been there and then it just was. It sparkled in their eyes and radiated from their smiles. Their skin even glowed. What joy it was to see the good works of their Father in heaven.

The Karen farm rice paddies and grow vegetables. Some raise and sell cattle, water buffalo, chickens and pigs. They are the peasants of Thailand, an ethnic population that has moved into Thailand from Myanmar over the past 200 years, because of political conflicts. Sean and his new wife are hoping to move into her family’s village to help Jesus help them.

The women are phenomenal weavers. With a few sticks and some spools of thread, they weave clothing and bags distinct to their tribe. We have decided to help the women of this village by selling the beautiful bags that they make. I strongly encourage you to check out our website or give me a call to buy some. Both men and women in Karen villages use these bags. It’s not uncommon to see one of these colorful pieces of art hanging from our son’s shoulders too.

It was such a joy going to Thailand with Jesus. Thank you for letting me share my story with you.

Patti

 

A NOTE from Ken:
As I mentioned in my last newsletter, I was scheduled to spend September in Brazil. I was to speak at various conferences to introduce my books, which have recently been translated into Brazilian Portuguese. I was also going to do my usual teaching and training of church planters and missionaries. Most of these meetings were planned for Sao Paulo. This turns out to be a problem. Sao Paulo is the largest city in South America. You may have seen in the news that there is a shooting war going on between the police and the drug gangs. The gangs are also targeting buses and trains in an attempt to bring the city to a halt.

Since the people who planned to attend my meetings rely on public transportation, the folks there postponed my visit. I love the Brazilians, so I am disappointed. However, I have lectures at seminaries and church conferences here in America this fall, so having more time to prepare is good.

My next overseas trip is to India. I will keep you posted.

Thank you for your prayers and support.

Peace and all good,

Ken

Thailand 2006

Sawat dee ka!

Good News to the Poor went to Thailand in July, only this time Ken stayed home. It was my turn (Patti’s) to pack three weeks into one bag, fold into 5 different planes, digest unknown foods, teach the gospel, hug the broken hearted and pray for the sick. And I want to go back!

You all know the kind of gifts Ken brings a community: truth, theological reflection, and a variety of tools that equip the saints. Most of you also know I’ve stayed home and happily given our kids a stable environment and home school education while he’s traveled the world. I will continue to do so, but as the song goes, “...the times, they are a’changing”. My baby is 11 years old now and there are only 3 kids left in my home school. So as the responsibilities at home begin to pare down, it’s appropriate that doors are beginning to open for the kind of gifts I bring a community.

One of the things I bring to a community is kids. As mentioned in the last letter, several of our kids were in Thailand at the same time. Emmet (who is still there) preached and ministered in several hill tribe villages in northern Thailand. Wayland worked in an orphanage in Chaing Mai and continued to work on his Thai language skills. Kallee had already been there a month before Ana and I got there. She worked with orphans and helped Sean with construction work around the orphanage. Sean, the newest member of our family through Spiritual Adoption, lives there. And Ana was my faithful traveling companion, prayer partner, and friend. Family is hugely important to the Karen, the hill tribe Sean married into. It was a wonderful blessing to see the freedoms and welcome I received just because they saw so many of my children gathered around me.

Another thing I bring to a community is the willingness to just do whatever needs to be done. In Chaing Mai, I counseled and gave parenting training to a young couple who went to Thailand to start an orphanage, but found God leading them to start a Family and Home, rather than an institution. In Bangkok, I listened to and gave personal and family respite to a couple who work with UN refugees. They too, are desirous of the kind of parenting skills I impart and I have begun a sort of online parenting seminar with/for them. In the village, Sean and I team preached and I spoke at a women’s meeting. I slept on straw mats and smashed garlic with a mortar and pestal and climbed up and down bamboo ladders to get in and out of people’s homes without doing face plants in the mud.

But the best thing I got to be a part of, was the love of Jesus for the village people. The village consisted of about 40 households. Ten of which have come to Jesus. He saves them from the spirits of Animism. The whole village, Animist and Christian alike, knew that one of their daughters was marrying a foreigner. And none of them were especially happy about it. Lineage is traced through maternal lines, so whoever your mom is is really important. It was an unbelievable honor to represent both Sean and his God to these people. And it was one of my greatest joys to be so happily received by them.

I told them I would pray to the God of love for anyone, whenever they wanted. From then on a steady stream of villagers trickled into the house, stood outside the door or waited by the road for the big, smiling, white haired lady.