Traveling God's Highways - Part 2

There we were at the bus station in Nakhon Sawan with 3 tickets to Mae Sot and money to spare.  We were overjoyed, but that still didn’t solve another problem… we have not had a wash in almost 2 days and in the humidity of Thailand, well, you would not want to sit next to us on that bus.

Luckily in this part of the world they do not use western toilets.  They have those “gat-in-die-grond” toilets with a bucket with water and a scoop next to it.  We each picked a cubicle and our bodies soaked up the fresh, cool water.  I would not say I was CLEAN after that as we had no soap and clean clothes, but as far as Luke 10 goes, we were brand spanking new.  We even brushed our teeth.

With three hours left before our bus left, we dropped down on the floor of the bus station for some much needed shut eye.  If you read the above you might have thought to yourself that the people you see doing things like these are the ones that you look at with contempt.  “Why do they wash in the bathrooms at the rest stop or sleep on the floors wherever they are?”  I know, I’ve had these thought before traveling through South Africa.  May we not be so quick to judge next time, but rather offer a helping hand in the name of Jesus Christ.

Half past one in the morning we jumped on our bus only to find that there were no seats for us.  That was fine by me as the aisle sleep better than a seat anyway.  Sometime during the drive I woke up and saw the rain pouring down from the night sky onto the bus windows.  I thanked God that we weren’t hitch hiking.

Just like the previous morning, we arrived in Mae Sot at dawn and it was still pouring.  It had apparently been raining for about 2 weeks non-stop.  Our moods were as grey and dull as the sky above.  We were tired, hungry, dirty and had no idea where to go.  It’s very humbling to look at all the people at the bus station going their own way, doing their things and we are just yearning for one of them to come over and ask if they can help us in some way or another.  You feel so helpless.  It is in times like these that you have to know the Word of God and its promises.

Before our Luke 10 God gave me this from Ps 34 vs 9-10: 9Fear the Lord, you His godly people, for those who fear Him will have all they need.  10Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry, but those who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing.  Verse 19 also says: The righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time.  Not sometimes, each time!  We could then stand on the truth of these words and knew that God would come through for us.

So we prayed and asked the Lord to give us direction.  Soon after this as we were still praying, I saw a nun walk into the station with a big red cross on her chest.  I just had this feeling of the salvation of the cross and I went up to her to ask if she could help.  We explained a bit of what we were doing and because her English was not so good, but her heart was in the right place, she took us to the nearby Catholic school.  We arrived just in time for morning mass and it felt good to sit in a church pew again although we couldn’t understand the rituals being performed in Thai.  I think it was just the familiarity of a church building and the feeling of being in my daddy’s home that comforted us.

After mass the priest spoke to us and after telling him that we feel called to refugees, he referred us to the UN offices in town.  They gave us a lift to the outskirts of town from where we walked to the UN.  Down the long road with its markets, right at the police station, through the slight bend in the road to the general hospital and then right to the UN offices.  It was quite a walk.  On our way there we bought 15 bananas from a street vendor for only B10.  What a blessing.

The UN people explained that you needed to be qualified in specific field for voluntary work with them.  Also, 6 days was way too short.  We understood and we left with some contact numbers to try.  That did not work as my phone would not make the calls.  God?  

We then walked another couple of kilometers to find a school we thought might be able to help us.  When we couldn’t find it I was done.  I got the guys to sit down next to the road as we thought the situation through.  I was at the end of my strength physically and emotionally.  We prayed for God to show us something, anything!  Yet again God reminded me of scripture He gave me before our journey.  For the honour of your name, O Lord, forgive my many, many sins.  Who are those who fear the Lord?& nbsp; He will show them the path they should choose. – Ps 25:11 – 12.  It was time to confess our sins.

After a session where we confessed sins, prayed for forgiveness and then prayed to bless and encourage each other, Angelo felt that our mission should be to just pray.  Forget about the rest, just pray, so that was what we did.  We walked down the road praying for and about everything we saw and could think of.  Immediately our spirits were lifted and we didn’t care about food and accommodation anymore.  It was all for the glory of God.

As we passed the hospital we felt that we should go and pray for the sick, so we went in and asked around if we could go to the wards and pray.  Yet again language was a barrier, but we eventually we could go into a surgical ward to pray for the people there.  There we met this man, his daughter and sons who could speak a bit of English and they were Christians!   We prayed for the operation that he would undergo the next day and just for a deeper relationship with God.  We also met sister Bernadetta who pointed us to the Mae Tao Clinic.

On our way to the clinic we again passed the lady with the bananas and wanted to buy 15 more.  She couldn’t understand English and put all three her last bunches of bananas into the bag and handed it to us.  With waving hands we told her that we only wanted one bunch.  We couldn’t afford 3.  In the end she wouldn’t budge and we did, so we handed her B30 of our last B40.  To our amazement she gave us change.  In the end we paid B14 for 3 bunches, that is more than 40 bananas.  Another  miracle!

We hitched a ride to the clinic which is in the outskirts of town or the slums if you will.  Walking onto the clinic grounds I was greeted with a familiar sight.  Many people, sick or injured walking around, waiting for the clinicians to tend to them.  Hurt, pain, trauma, suffering and a big need.

The lady at the offices listened to our story and couldn’t fathom why anyone would do what we are doing.  She was a Christian and could speak good English and just said that her faith is not that big.  Our faith is on a next level she said.  I personally think that it is not our faith, but our willingness to change and obey God’s every word that makes us able to do this.  Faith grows as you walk this road.

Within 10 minutes, we had a job volunteering at the clinic.  The staff accommodation was full, so she arranged for us to stay at, get this… a house with about 7 Karen guys who live in refugee camps in Thailand and are boarding here for 3 months to study as medics.  God provides in our every need and keeps all his promises.  We came to work with refugees from Burma and here we are living with them and working with them, just like God showed us.

Remember, it was never our own desire to come here and work with them.  We didn’t even know about them, but God gave us word to come here and as we believed in the promises and walked in faith, our desire to work with them grew.  We wanted so much to see and help these people and also to see God’s word come true.  This way we made God’s desires for us, our own and it gives us joy to reach our dreams and do God’s will at the same time.  That is what Jesus meant when he said “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and the rest will be added onto you.” – Matt 6:33.   

This concludes our travels to Mae Sot.  Tomorrow (hopefully we have internet) we will tell you more about the clinic and the people.

May God bless you.

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