June 26, 2012
We arrived in Bangkok at 10.30 am on Thursday, 21 June 2012 local time and were met by some of our amazing staff. Then, we got into our vans and were taken to our hotel – The Karrnmani Palace.
Following our arrival at the hotel, and after checking into our rooms, we were given our first assignment. We were all sent out – two by two, with money – with the task of looking for lunch and observing our surroundings with our “heightened sense of awareness.” Then, we met at our orientation site, the Alliance Guest House and formally started our orientation.
The next 3½ days were filled with various activities to prepare us mentally, intellectually, culturally, physically, and spiritually for the countries and cities we would be stepping into. Every morning we would start with prayer, songs of worship, and quiet time. Then, we would listen to very Spirit-filled speakers give talks/sermons on certain bible passages. Afterwards, we would have lunch and continue with “games.” Every game carried valuable lessons of its own. Then, we would have our team times and dinner would follow. Every night as well, speakers would come and give valuable talks and advice for Trekkers.
Nearing our last day, we were also invited to surrender objects, whether physical or non-tangible, that we had brought on the Trek and felt God was calling us to give up to Him. Then, came our last night when we spent most of the night singing worship songs and receiving blessings from our Trek leaders for our trip.
I’ve been reflecting on a topic brought by one of the speakers, Ivan, on love and intimacy with Christ. For three and a half years, he had tried to get his ministry toward men involved in prostitution going. But for some reason, nothing really significant ever happened during that period of time. Ivan asked God, “Why?” And God convicted Ivan of his motivations in starting this ministry. God showed Ivan how his heart was not centered around God’s love, but more on the success of his ministry. And when you think about it, Ivan’s case is not uncommon, even for us. How often do we go into a broken situation trying to “fix” things, bring “justice,” “save” people, when truly, we don’t have the human capacity to make things right? Without God’s love, our efforts mean nothing. It is God’s love that restores, heals, and saves lives. And “fixing” and “bringing justice” was never our primary calling. Our first call was to love God with all our hearts, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. So we come into broken situations not trying to fix things, but to acknowledge and make known God’s love in every situation. So this summer, I pray that God would remind us of His undeniably amazing love for us and for people around us, and use us as outstanding vessels of His love.
By Krisna Tahija
