Walking to Love

Its a Thursday afternoon and we have been in Mae Hong Son, Thailand for five days now. The landscape is now familiar and we have learned our way around town. The morning air is surprisingly crisp this morning and the cloud cover is keeping it somewhat cool, which is a nice break from the day to day hot mugginess, as I walk from the hotel to the restaurant for breakfast. We had pancakes today which is a rare treat for us and a pleasant break from the rice and veggie norm. After breakfast I head off to the poolside where i seek shelter from the now hot sun beating away the cloud cover and begin my Quiet time (Personal Bible study and prayer time to start the day) today I choose to continue reading through the books of 2 Timothy and 1 John. It was now 8am and time to leave for some door to door evangelism in the city.

My Ministry Group or MIG as we called it had decided to walk to our pick up location this time rather than take the taxi to the lake. We did this because we had visited some people on the outskirts of the city near our hotel the previous day and wanted to stop by to pray with them again and continue building the relationship we had started with them. Our trek began as we walked towards the city we stopped along the way to visit those we had met earlier that week. The air was no longer cool as it had been earlier that day and had become very humid. So we stopped at a 7-11 and got some water and ice cream to cool off and keep hydrated. I also bought some dragon fruit which quickly became one of my favorite fruits while in Asia. We sat and took a break for approximately a half hour worn out from all the walking. Refreshed and renewed we set off down the road again heading into the main part of town where upon arriving took another short rest in the shade and bought some more water. While resting Olivia, one of the girls in my MIG, spotted a blender in a store across the road and suggested we should go over there and buy it because the one in the restaurant wasn't working right and kept getting jammed. When we got to the store and saw the price we decided to all pitch in and buy it for the restaurant. It was getting late now and nearing the time to go to the lake and meet the others from our group to take the taxi back to the hotel for lunch. With this in mind we headed off to the lake to meet up with the others.

We arrived about ten minutes early so we decided to walk around the lake and pray. Halfway around we came to a man who was in a wheelchair and decided to stop and pray for him while we waited for the other MIG's to arrive. We tried to talk with him through who we found out was his mother and a Thai English dictionary. We learned his name was Thai and that he was 30 years old, he had never walked and we were guessing he had cerebral palsy. After having talked to them for a little while we looked over and saw the other MIG getting into the taxi so we got up about to walk over and meet them then the taxi took off. At first we thought they were coming around to pick us up since we were on the other side of the lake but they just kept driving toward the hotel and left us there. Having no way to Get back other than walk now we decided to spend some more time praying for Thai and it was then that I felt God tell me to pick him up and let him walk. The rest of the group was ready to leave at this point and worried about what to do since we missed the taxi. It was in this environment I announced to them that we needed to pick this man up and help him walk for the first time in his life. This statement was greeted by a group of puzzled faces that just wanted to leave and find a way back to the hotel to eat lunch as it was now about 12:30pm we were all hungry and worn out from all the walking in the heat. At first every last one of them were resistant but despite suggesting the most daring thing I have ever done in my life and receiving a response of we need to go from the team I insisted we do it. My insistence paid off because Olivia decided OK ill help you lets do this. After about 5 minutes of attempted explanation to the mother and asking permission, by Christina's awesome dictionary Thai speaking skills, we thought she agreed and with that we picked him up. The first steps were a moment I will remember for a lifetime. As he stood and walked with our help for the first time in his life he got a smile on his face that can not be described in words other than absolute peace and joy. After about a minute he was exhausted as this was probably one of the most physically exhaustive things he has done in his life if not the most. With that we carried him back to his wheelchair and said our goodies for the day praying for him one last time and then leaving to try and get back to the restaurant before all the food was gone.

Our trek back became a surprisingly fast journey because as we were walking toward the hotel we stopped for a second at a cafe so we could use the restrooms and get some water, Stephanie came ridding around the corner on her moto. When she saw us standing there she stopped to see what was up and we let her know our taxi left without us to which she put her cell phone to good use and got us a ride back to the hotel saving us the vast couple mile long walk back. This served as a huge relief and some of the stress that had built up was relieved as our taxi arrived to pick us up. On our way back we stopped at the hospital to pick up our translator Jasmine, who had gotten malaria during our time in Mae Hong Son, before returning to the hotel to rest and get ready for the night ahead.

I may not have seen Thai physically healed but i know without a doubt that the time we spent with him planted a seed of light in his life. There were many barriers that prevented us from reaching him weather it be the lack of a translator, his inability to speak due to his physical condition, or the stress of the situation. Yet a miracle took place during that time in the fact that we took the time to overcome these obstacles through the power of love, and share Jesus with him and his mother through our actions.

"It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching."
~St. Francis of Assisi~

"Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words."
~Francis of Assisi~

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth."
~3 John 1:4 ~

Me and Olivia helping Thai walk

My MIG with Thai and his mother
L to R: Christina, Thia's Mom, David, Emily
Olivia, Thai, Me