The Call to Thailand---Part Two

One morning at church a few years ago, we watched a video clip highlighting the unreached Isaan people group in Thailand.  Keith said to me, "That is the last place I would ever want to go!"  Thailand did not figure prominently in our thoughts until last year...and then it was an inside joke between Keith and me.  When things at the business were looking bleak, we'd laugh and say, "Well, there's always Thailand!"  It occurred to me much later that God was probably laughing, too!

We knew about the exploratory trip to Thailand months before it actually happened, but it was only six weeks beforehand that God made it clear that we were supposed to join the group.  We were completely open to whatever God had for us....but we went with the understanding that we wouldn't move there unless God made it very clear.

About a week before our trip, we spent an evening with the YWAM Caribbean Director and his family.  We enjoyed the fellowship with other mission-minded folks and were eager to explore possibilities with them.  They showed us pictures from their recent trip to Guyana....but I only remember one of them.  It was a photo of an open Bible--a recently-completed translation in one of the Amerindian languages in Guyana's interior.  Of course, I couldn't read a word of it.  But in the upper left corner of the Bible, where the book's name usually is, was printed the word "Isaan."  It stood out to me as if in red ink.  Funny coincidence, I thought;  that's the name of this people group in Thailand.

On Sunday, August 7th, our plane touched down in Ubon Ratchathani.  That changed our lives.  We walked into the airport and began doing what we always do:  people-watching!  We looked into their eyes, behind their friendly smiles, and saw the emptiness.  And we loved them.

For the next three days, Keith and I pussy-footed around each other, each not wanting to influence the other's thought process.  We could picture our family living in Ubon, but it had to be more than just a general "liking."  On Wednesday evening, we met with the leader of another small mission in Ubon.  A trend we'd noticed in our other interactions with the various missionaries there continued---God had worked in their hearts the same things He'd been working in ours.  Even the phrasing was exactly the same...."salvation is more than just getting someone to pray a prayer"...."living as a community of believers"....."we have to separate the gospel from its western trappings to find the real thing."  It became very clear that God had aligned our thinking to be a great match for the kind of outreach needed in the Isaan community.

That evening, during a time of group prayer, God's Spirit fell on us in a very real way.  I saw a clear picture of a giant hand holding an equally giant stamper.  It came down on a blank piece of paper with a loud "Bang!" Stamped in red was the word "DONE."  I was puzzled.  I knew it was not a figment of my imagination, but it didn't seem to be very helpful.  "Why not 'Yes' or 'No'?" I wondered.  After prefacing it with a lot of disclaimers of "I really don't 'get' this one..." I told Keith about it.  "I get it," he replied.  Tears slipped down his cheeks as he told me about crying out to God, asking when this time of preparation would be done and we could move into whatever it is He has for us, pleading with Him to set us in the place for which He prepared us.

All the pieces we held in our hands---some broken, some seemingly-random---have suddenly come together, and a deep peace has settled into our souls.  God continues to be exceedingly gracious in confirming that "knowing."  Dreams from years ago came back, this time with the meaning of them revealed.  Prophetic words, past and present, made us say "Wow! Only God could have known!"

We know that this is the right time, the right place, and the right vision.  It has not been--and will not be--an easy journey.  Our preparation continues...and yet when we are finally on the ground in Thailand, it will not be about our talents and abilities at all, but about God spreading His glory through our lives.

I love this quote from Hudson Taylor, "I used to ask God to help me.  Then I asked if I might help Him.  I ended up by asking Him to do his work through me."