Building?

Thailand is really the most beautiful place I have ever seen, especially the islands at Phuket. It felt like we climbed in a postcard, white sand and blue water. The snorkelling is one of the best places I have ever snorkelled, the see is so calm and the visibility is very good.

Before all of this we started with a challenge in Thailand. The moment we got off the plane in
Bangkok the Challenge started, we didn’t sleep anything on the plane and another two days of almost no sleep on the challenge made things very difficult. But we made it threw and we also won the challenge.
In the challenge God really taught me allot on how to give everything over to Him and trust Him and not to give up on Him when things get very difficult. For example at one stage we haven’t really slept for three days and had very little to eat and were stuck in a town almost 800km from our destination in Phuket for half a day standing next to the road asking for a lift. We were already too late to get to Phuket in time before the challenge close. We were at a point of taking our personal money and take a train to Phuket.
Then we all decided to keep on trusting God that He will provide for us and that we just have to push through.
Literally twenty seconds later a car that I have asked previously for a lift, stop in front of us and asked us if he can give us a lift…
And many more things happened on the challenge were I could just see God’s provision, but all of them came at place after surrendering completely to Him.

After arriving in Phuket and spending some time together as a Northbound team, we split up again. We started working at a school in Thalang with Tobie Basson (a global challenge 2008 participant that started ministering in Phuket), again painting was the work to be done.

I used to be in the construction business, and I did alot of building work. While I was busy painting the schoolbuilding I thought about the time I was building on my own career and my own kingdom and my own glory. I was so into doing everything for myself... until I met Jesus Christ...
and as I was painting that building, I thought to myself that I am actualy still in the construction business, but this time I am not building my own kingdom I am helping building God's kingdom. And that gave me so much peace, because this time I am not struggling and trying to control my own life. My life is dead and now I am living for God and He is in control of everything, I can't make a mess of this one.
In my time with Global Challenge I learned alot of giving al the glory to God, and God is working so much in my life.

After the painting work in Phuket we went to a town 200km north of Phuket called Takoa Pa where we met up with Pastor Wassan. What a great man.
He builds houses for the Tsunami victims and sea gypsies. He heard about Jesus Christ when he was 16 years old when someone handed him a tract.

So now at the moment we are busy helping him in any way we can.
I am looking forward to the rest of the week and our last bit of time here in Thailand.