My first night here was a crazy blast filled with impenetrable language barriers, angry immigration officers, lost motorcycle taxi drivers, and this simple and often repeated prayer, "Jesus, get me where I need to be." Every time something seemingly went wrong, I was filled with peace and joy at the craziness of this adventure. The more bumps in the road, the more fun of a ride! Half the time I didn't know if I would ever make it to a hotel, but I knew wherever I ended up that night, even if I had to pull an all nighter and wander the streets of Laos, God would take care of me. The more "stressful" the situation got, the more fun I thought it was! I knew I didn't need to worry because I knew God would protect me, no matter where I ended up. What incredible freedom comes with trusting Him with every detail of our lives! And eventually I did make it to a hotel.
Since my 30 day stamp I got in the Bangkok airport expired on Friday, I had to leave the country, but the embassy isn't open on the weekends so I got a full two days with nothing to do but explore Laos before I could get my visa. Before I came here on Friday, the friends I'm staying with in the northern Thai village thought that I would be able to get a visa at the immigration office in Khon Kaen. So, not thinking I would have to leave the country, I went to Khon Kaen without a backpack. When we got to the immigration office, I found out I actually would have to leave the country, so within in a few hours I was on a bus to a five day trip in a foreign land with nothing but the contents of my purse and the clothes on my back. Hallelujah for simplicity! It's a lot easier to find your way around a new place without a big heavy backpack so that really turned out to be a blessing. Most things tend to be better when we keep them simple: traveling, love, the gospel. God loves speaking to me even through little things like me wearing the same outfit for four nights and five days in a row!
On Saturday, my first full day here, after a few errands like finding the hostel I'd be staying in the rest of the trip and getting passport photos, I had nothing to do but wander around the city. I was stoked about it! One of the first places my wandering took me to was a Buddhist temple that's a two minute walk from my hostel. I went in and began walking around and praying and worshipping Jesus. What a privilege to get to shine His light even in a temple built for idols! I get to go into Buddhist temples as a temple myself, a temple of the Holy Spirit, and let my praises rise like incense to my God who is not dead, but surely alive! I really believe that things like this are so powerful, even if the affects can't be seen in the natural. But I don't go in looking for a spiritual throw down, I just go in and release the Kingdom and I go in with such love for the people who built these idols and alters and brought the offerings. I really do love them so much. Jesus loves them so much!
As I walked around, I saw a group of young monks walk by and my heart swelled with love for them. I can't even explain the love God has given me for monks. And I know it's only a tiny hint of the huge love that He feels when He looks at them, and that blows my mind. What a God I serve! I get to worship Love Himself!
Saturday (yesterday) was so fun that I woke up this morning with great expectations for the day. And those expectations were exceeded! Once again I had a day free of plans, so after wandering around checking out bookshops and walking down new streets, I ended up going back to the nearby temple. I didn't go in with any agenda, I just walked in, sat on a bench, and began journaling. After a few minutes, some young monks walked by and sat on a bench near me. They didn't know a lot of English, but I think they were excited to practice what little they knew with me, so they said hello. Our conversation started by them asking simple questions like my name and where I was from. We continued talking with a little help from google translate, and after a while we were laughing and talking together like good friends. It started with just two guys, young monks named Bang and Daw, but after a while, a small group of their friends accumulated. After just talking for a while, it turned into them teaching me how to speak Laos! It was such a blast getting to hang out with these beautiful people and getting to learn from them and show them love just by talking with them. The temple constantly has tourists walking through, so I can only imagine that it sometimes makes them feel that they're being looked at as a part of the scenery rather than real people. So it was so nice to get to relate to these guys and see them as people rather than just another orange robe. They were such funny, lovable boys!
It's been crazy to me how connected I feel to this country after only a few days, but God has been doing so many cool things since I got here. He's teaching me things and showing me things and putting people on my path for His beautiful purposes. What originally seemed like an inconvenient trip has turned into such an amazing blessing that is so dear to my heart! Every moment is bursting with opportunities for God's love to breakthrough, and I want to be a good steward of each moment I'm given.
Please join me in praying for this nation and all the people I've met since I got here. Jesus loves monks, Jesus loves travelers, Jesus loves Laos!
No comments:
Post a Comment