Preparing the Way!

 

This was the scene that greeted us as we arrived at our new home to begin the setting up process: lots of noise, clouds of dust, hot tarmac, a steamroller levelling the surface and lorries charging constantly up and down busy laying the new road. The verse ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight in the desert a highway for our God’ (Isaiah 40:3) came to mind. In 43 degree heat it certainly felt as hot as the Sahara.

So this is what we’ve been up to for the past three weeks – preparing the way, in a practical sense, for a Christian presence to be in the village of Ban Wang Daeng. This has involved numerous trips back and forth from Phrae to Uttaradit, staying in a cheap local hotel in the city, sourcing furniture, electrical goods, workmen and the like, as well as doing lots of cleaning, in order to turn our dusty shell of a house into a home.

Spiritually speaking, of course, we believe the Lord has already gone ahead of us, preparing hearts to receive the good news. So far we have been warmly welcomed by our neighbours and they seem genuinely pleased that we have chosen to move into the area. Part of this enthusiasm may be due to the fact that most have children, or grandchildren, who are keen to study English. But aside from this it seems to be a friendly neighbourhood to live in.

That doesn’t mean that it has been all easy-going so far. Thailand is currently going through a time of serious drought and unprecedentedly high temperatures. All the waiting around in the intense heat has been very physically draining. And there have been other problems too such as electrical appliances not working and having to be replaced and delivery men getting lost, or turning up hours after the appointed time.

During a conversation with a neighbour we discovered that most of the people in the village belong to one of four big families and everyone seems to be interrelated. We had a moment of panic – ‘giants in the land’ – but we reasoned that, following our earlier ‘five stones’ analogy, that if we chose a stone then we should expect to come across some giants! And, as was the case for David, we have no need to fear.

We had a second moment of alarm when we noticed the prevalence of spirit-houses in the neighbourhood and in particular the one outside the front of our house. After contacting several of our supporters regarding this, we received a lot of scriptures, encouragement and advice as well as assurances of prayer, which put our minds at rest. We have now prayed over each room of the house, dedicating it to God and to His service. We’ve also prayed over the spirit-house and have removed all the objects and offerings. Our neighbours are probably expecting us to keel over at any moment, but we hope they will see that there is nothing to fear – our protection comes from a higher source.

So our house is now beginning to take shape and will be ready – both physically and spiritually – for us to move into on the 19^th May.

Home Sweet Home!