my mission trip report

background info
we went as a group of ard 150 youths (abt 30 youths fr Brighton ministry, this being a joint trip, (with COS (Bukit Timah) who does this a few times a year)). Most of the youths are between 13 – 17 yrs old. We were arranged into 4 big groups of 4 teams in each group, ard 8-10 pple per team.

We'd go together to Bangkok, then each of the 4 big groups would head off for different nearby parts of Thailand for ministry and we would all meet back together on the last 2 days to celebrate. My group went to Nongkai. Every day we’d go to a different village (500 or less families each).

ministry
In the day, we’d prayer walk, give out tracts (similar to the 4 spiritual laws) and invite the villagers to the night rally. There were interpreters and pastors fr a local church who went with us (most of us couldn’t speak Thai). At night, we’d share testimony, song, skit, a simple message, then invite the people to receive Christ and the sick to come forward for prayer. It was amazing..

God healed 98% of the people who came forward. We prayed in groups of 5-10. Sometimes we had to pray twice or even 4 or 5 times, but many times it was immediate. There were miracles everyday. (They counted more than 80 from the 5 night rallies and 4 day ministry) I’d jus mention a few. There was old man, wearing sunglasses (at night) who had blurred vision, could see clearly after we prayed for him. We were testing him, holding up fingers fr a distance. And the joy on his face is just wonderful. Another old man, after seeing his friend get healed of back pain, climbed over the knee high barrier and asked for prayer for his deaf right ear. We tested his hearing by asking him to repeat sentences while covering his good ear. Again, his eyes lit up with surprise and amazement when he realized God had healed him.

Many others, suffering from long term leg problems, backaches etc, were healed and the joy on their faces was priceless as they strutted around where they once needed assistance to walk, and flexed their hands and backs when they once winced in pain. I saw many old people who shuffled slowly to the front due to leg problems and strutted happily back and forth after they were healed, their countenance changed completely and looking years younger. There was much rejoicing. Praise God!

its just amazing how one moment the person is limping and after praying for less than 5 minutes, he can be walking around with this mixture of amazement and joy on his face. God at work is really amazing.. There was an old man, seeing others get healed, who left hurriedly with one of our interpreters and brought back his wife who could not walk properly, to the rally. His wife was healed and he was very happy. They both received Christ. There were many wonderful testimonies, people who were hunchbacked who could walk straight, a lady who was healed even as she said the sinner’s prayer to receive Christ.

reflections
As the days progressed, I realized the focus is not on the miracles, to God, it is not difficult to heal, but its God’s love for the people. He does these miracles so that they have a powerful witness and will know that Jesus is the true God. A verse that struck me, from Matthew 11:5 in response to John’s question if He was the Saviour, Jesus said” .. the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them” I believe what moves God’s heart most is that the poor have the gospel preached to them. Many of the villages we visited had never heard of Jesus. An old lady who received Christ and healing said, ‘I had never heard of Jesus before, why didn’t you come earlier..?’

We also saw many people of all ages, who, on presenting them with the gospel simply, without any prayer request for healing, laid aside their idols and Buddhist gods whom they had prayed to all their lives and received Jesus into their hearts. A group of women whom the pastor talked to one night said that they believed, but they have no church to go to. It was touching and heartbreaking at the same time.

Each time someone received Christ, the local ministers took down their names so they could follow up in future. There were many, many salvations. I know many of us realized the task ahead to follow-up for the local church is immense. And we could only continue to pray strength for them and trust in God who is bigger than the task.

For many of us, it was the first time we saw miracles (in fact many of the trippers are less than a year old Christians) first time we prayed for the sick, many of us were anxious (“what if the person was not healed etc) pastor assured us it was normal. But as the days passed, we grew in faith and prayerfulness. We were praying and interceding throughout the day and the night rallies. I realized it’s not just about praying for healing, or commanding the sickness to leave, it was more about interceding for the person’s life.

more reflections
Personally, I was very touched by many things. I was touched by the fervour of the youth I working with, each night as we prayed our heart out during the rallies for the people. We were ready at 730 am and often slept after midnight. No complains. Overall, all were ready to cooperate. Most of them may be in secondary school or jus finished ‘O’ levels, and when they play, they are gigglish and we tell lame jokes and run around together, but when it comes to the ministry or praying, they are 100 % serious about God. I have never seen such mature 14, 15, 16 year olds. many are accomplished guitarists. There was always some group singing worship songs whenever we had pockets of time.

There were times when things didn’t go well too. The first 2 night rallies we had, only a few came forward for healing, though those that did come forward were healed. Overall, there were a handful who did not receive complete healing, though they said they felt much better, there were others as well who were asymptomatic to begin with so we could not test (like thalessamia), but it was encouraging seeing the team not discouraged, but very willing to pray until the person got complete healing.

Pastor explained for some, healing would not be immediate, for various reasons of lack of faith etc, though for most it would, so we should not be lazy to use that as an excuse to not persevere to pray. I realized too for all those who came and received the blessing of God, there were also others who did not come, though they were invited.. or else they would have received healing and God in their life. Though many were blessed, many missed out too. Not all who were evangelized to received Christ, they were just not ready, or wanted to continue in their own idol worship. And though offered, some of the sick rejected prayer when they were visited in the day, or else they would be healed too. 2 lessons I learned. One is a warning/reminder to myself that God will not force me to accept His blessing.. I can miss out if I reject it. Another lesson is the sad thing of the lost being blinded and held captive by a combination of satan's lies and their own choices, and suffering needlessly.

Dental work
My team and I did 3 days of dental work. Saw 35 patients, extracted 37 teeth. At times, I did wonder if I would rather be tracting/ prayerwalking/ evangelising/ praying for the sick/ visiting schools more, in the day, like most of the others cos it sounded so exciting. But I trust that God had His purpose for the dental work, and I was comforted whenever I heard this or that patient had received Christ (cos they’d usually hang around after the dental extraction and someone could share Christ with them.) I was glad also to have the opportunity to experience being the only dentist around, in case next time I have the same situation, then will have a better idea. Thank God also it went relatively well. We even treated 2 pre-schoolers.

Personally, it encouraged me to have the chance to share with this 71 year old man after I extracted his tooth and there were no other patients. I had watched how some of the others had shared with the locals and as I spoke to him simply about how God can forgive our sin, I saw he understood. We prayed together to receive Christ, and invited him to the night rally. he came, and was healed of his leg pain, back pain and asthma. He was all smiles and hung around till the very end.

thanksgiving
The other groups in other parts of Thailand did slightly different things, some did more evangelism in schools and less night rallies, others did roughly same as my group, but all had its purpose in God's design. In the end we all met together and praised God for all He has done. And prayed for and appreciated the local church members who are going to continue the work. This trip has blown my mind and been an eye-opening experience. Am still processing. Just really thank God. And praise Him. Praise God! again and again!