A little while ago, many Christians had been focused on the amazing outpuring of God's favour and presence that had been taking place in Florida, USA. This had been watched from around the world and streamed over the internet through the medium of "godtv".
But what does revival look like in a remote village in Thailand? I had the chance to find out!
A small Lahu community has a church which is supported by Chiang Mai City Gate Fellowship. Our friends Simon and Jill Bird work with this Church and travel out to the village from time to time to encourage them. Previously, this church was one of the least "alive" of the 4 village churches that they help. So what has happened to change all that?
Apparently, the Pastor and some of the members felt to meet together regularly to pray and ask God to "revive" their village. After some months, their prayers have been answered. God has made His presence known to this group of people in such a strong way that the whole village is now in the church. They meet daily each evening in the Church and that is where we joined them.
Everybody including small children were there. They were queueing up to share their experiences. I couldn't understand everything but picked up a little. Many had seen visions of white light and had heard God speak to them. One lady said that all the stresses and strains that she had felt in her life had gone. Another lady had never been to school and couldn't read. She has now been given the ability to read and is able to read the Bible. This lady also fasted for a 2 month period. She said that she didn't feel hungry, she just felt full of God.
A marked feature was the desire of the people to go out and share with other villages, but they had no money or means to travel. It was arranged that the City Gate church would help transport them to another village.
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I didn't like to seem too much like a spectator and so I only took one photo as we were leaving. At about 10pm the villagers prayed for the "visitors" for about half an hour. Then we set off for the 1.5 hr drive back to Chiang Mai. They were going to continue worshipping and praying in the church until 2-3am as they have been doing each night. |
When our friend Julia visited recently, our friend, Dr Jill Bird, arranged a medical outreach and was going to take Julia to that village. They sent the message that there was no need for a medical outreach as everyone had been healed through prayer!
| We have heard that the revival that started over a year ago in the mountain village of Om Koi is continuing. There the people saw a "pillar of fire" come into the village and a voice spoke to them saying that the blood of Jesus would cleanse them from their sins. Women and children have been fasting and praying all night and still going to school or work the next day. Heather Thompson and I had the privilege to visit that place in January. |  |
Few people will be aware of or get the chance to witness these outpurings in remote villages, but fortunately God doesn't rely on a world wide audience in order to impact lives where there is an openness and hunger for Him.
