The Surprise We Get When God Moves
When I first moved to Thailand fourteen years ago (Sept 1st), we spent a significant amount of time taking our kids in our then school of 40++ around our village of Wang Pha in small groups to pray. We went out in small groups to visit moms and babies, widows, the weak, hungry, and those needing encouragement. We prayed for and hung out with people... played with their babies and listened to their stories. We did this for several years. In all this time we had a lot of small wins but no “victories,” except for one Thai woman becoming a Christian...
Or so we thought...
This year, for ten weeks, we had a visiting team come to stay in our new visitor center here at GAP. They came from the Antioch Church movement out of Boston. Their ministry focus was anti-human trafficking efforts in partnership with Acts of Mercy International (the mercy arm of their church), and all partnering with our GAP team. We had them visiting schools, teaching English, training young people in digital safety and ministering in villages.
The thing that struck me as having the most significant impact was their prayer and ministry within our local village. They did prayer walks, the same as we had done all those years ago in our old village of Wang Pha. After a few weeks, they started seeing fruit from these walks—there were several families they met that were Christian, that had been longing to attend a church, and so they began to come to ours. To say I was excited is true, but to say I was nervous is also true. What happens when the team leaves? Do we continue to visit families in the village? Can we sustain new members in our church?
One Sunday, one of the team members came up to me after service with a word of encouragement about being like embers of a fire. Faithful servants, faithful to God, and faithful to prayer. Our church had these embers that weren't dying out.
A few days later, the Lord spoke to me further about this word. He showed me that although we were like embers, He wanted us to be like a flame. He showed me the scripture in Revelation about the church in Ephesus. It was encouraging and confronting at the same time:
To the Church in Ephesus:
I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.
Revelation 2:2-5 (NIV)
This hit deep. I realized we could choose to remain like warm embers—loving God, knowing Him, and showing the children in our midst the heart of the Father. Or we could allow the Holy Spirit to blow fresh wind onto those embers and let the Word of God be fuel to the fire—so that we become a blazing flame. Not just warming ourselves, but spreading warmth and light to our village and beyond.
My heart has become more passionate than it’s been in a long time—to feel and know His heart for the widowed, the lowly, and the lost.
So now, as a team, we’ve started going on prayer walks and treasure hunts every Friday after staff meetings.
What's a Treasure Hunt?
First, we pray and worship together. Then we sit quietly and ask God to speak—asking Him who He wants us to visit or what signs or images we should be looking for while we’re out walking or driving around.
The testimonies from just this past month have been so beautiful. God has been so faithful to “surprise” us by helping us find the treasure. The years we spent in prayer in our old village actually have shown to be fruitful, villagers have recognized us and welcomed us back openly to visit them.
Just last week, we collectively received a vision through a dream and a picture: an old man with grey/white hair, beautiful trees, and a few other details. I had nearly given up finding this “treasure” when we drove down a narrow path I was about to turn back from due to the mud.
Then—suddenly—an older man with white hair popped up behind a fence. He opened the gate and led us in. That led us into a Chinese garden where he is the caretaker—complete with a beautiful orchard of fruit-bearing trees.
This man and his family allowed us to walk through the garden, pray for him, and minister healing words over his arm and his mother’s injured arm.
Sometimes all we have to do is:
- Be willing to partner with God
- Listen to what He is speaking
- Be obedient
- Praise Him for allowing us to be a part of it
My encouragement to you is this:
Ask God to show you who He wants you to bless today...
Then let Him surprise you with His treasures.
