Pattaya, God’s Favorite City

God opened up a door for our Thailand team to finish up our outreach in Pattaya, a city built around sex trafficking.

The Red Light District in Chiang Mai is nothing compared to what we saw in Pattaya.

Pattaya is beautiful and has been known for its beaches…yet in the midst of that, there is so much brokenness, sin and darkness. Walking street is where we came face to face with it.

My team and I prayer walked the street the first night and was so overwhelmed by everything that was going on. All we could do was weep.

After scouting out the street, we returned the next day  to do evangelism in which a few divine encounters came about. Just a quick testimony, my friend Ellie and I got to pray for a girl who was working at a dancing club. We prayed that God would give her a new job and literally that night, she lost her job.  She called us the next day to meet up with us, right before we left Pattaya. We encouraged her, comforted her, prayed for and connected her to a ministry that would be able to help her with a new job.

I came to Pattaya thinking that this city is dark, dirty and broken, but God thought differently.

As I was worshipping one morning at a church in Pattaya, God showed me His heart for this city. He said “Amy, I dwell here.” I started weeping as I looked around at the members of this church. Many of them came out of that lifestyle and is now being raised up as mighty women of God, worshipers of their Creator.

This was totally confirmed after we met Jessica, a faithful servant of God who has been overseeing the Pattaya House of Prayer. She told our team “Pattaya is God’s favorite city!”

I totally agree with her and my heart and life will forever be changed by this city.

There is a song that is coming forth from Pattaya, a song sung by His redeemed.

Pattaya is God’s favorite city and now its mine too.

Finishing Well & Passing on the Baton

Sawat di Ka!

Although it can be easy to check out and prepare to go back to America, The Lord has been reminding us to press through and finish well. We want to finish well and pass on the baton.

About 2 weeks ago, the Director of Every Home for Christ-Thailand, Dr. Buakab told us during our EHC staff meeting that our work in Thailand was not in vain. That our prayer meetings and faithfulness is not unseen and forgotten.  She then announced that EHC was on board with everything we were doing and they shared with us the vision for the house of prayer in Chiang Mai that will start once we leave with Every Home for Christ.  Our team got so excited when we saw the vision and plan laid out before us and Every Home for Christ. They are serious about keeping prayer going that God may find a dwelling place in Thailand…that this house of prayer will potentially serve the whole region and all churches/ministries. Not only that, it will be a training center to raise up people.

Just last week, we held our last prayer seminar in Chiang Mai which was 80% youth & young adults and it was such a memorable seminar. We did a harp & bowl clinic that got extended into hours of switching singers, musicians and prayer leaders. At the end of the night, we saw an all Thai worship band leading an intercession set. It brought tears to our eyes…tears of joy from proud mamas and papas.

The Thai people had so much fun and they did it so well. We held our last prayer meeting at The Creator’s Church and that night, we passed on the baton to the Thai church. We are stoked to see/hear what God will do in the next couple of tears and what will unfold as the Thai Church cultivate a culture of prayer here in this nation. What can/will happen when God establishes His house of prayer?

The Last Few Weeks

Sawat di Ka!

I apologize for the late post but life has been pretty busy here in Chiang Mai these past few weeks with prison ministries, prayer seminars, Floating Festival, Red Light District, Bless Chiang Mai and Thanksgiving.

Here are the Highlights

Chiang Mai’s Annual Floating Festival –In 3 days,  our team passed out 300 goodie bags for Thai people and foreigners which included The Father’s letter, candy, and coffee/milo, 2 young men surrendered their lives to Jesus, a curious Italian man (covered in tattoos) chased down Alanna asking if the Father’s letter was really true and many spiritual conversations with people.

Bless Chiang Mai- 4000 Thai people gathered in downtown Chiang Mai at Thapae Gate to worship and pray for Thailand. God is truly raising up an army here in this nation.

At the end of the event, out team got to dance like crazy with the Thai youth to One way Jesus. It was glorious.

Thai/America Thanksgiving:  Our outreach couldn’t have been a better time…it was perfect that we got to spend Thanksgiving with our new Thai family. Yes, our group of 10 has now increased to who knows how much…

Instead of having an all American thanksgiving which was impossible to do, we decided to mix the two. The ACTS team cooked green bean casserole, broccoli casserole, mashed potatoes, creamed corn, cookies, and peach cobbler while the Thai people cooked the meat including pig brains that looked like egg with spices. The Thai people loved the American dishes…praise God.

The most memorable moment that night was when we all went around and gave thanks. Many of the young girls from the Peace Home said they were thankful for our team and prayer, how they’ve grown so much in The Lord from coming to our prayer meetings. They’ve also shared about the love and closeness they’ve felt from our team…never underestimate a hug or a smile.

Pra Yesu Rak Khun! (God loves you)

Roses in the Red Light & A Kiss from The Lord

Sawat di Ka!

Amy here.

So just wanted to let you all know about the ministry we’ve been doing here in Chiang Mai. Our weekly routine and strategy is that every Sunday evening, our team would hit the streets near the Thapae Gate to prayer walk and do evangelism.

After stumbling upon the Red light District with our friend Tanner Peake from Every Home for Christ, we made it our mission to saturate that street with prayer and evangelism.

During our prayer meetings, we would cry out for laborers to be raised up and sent into the red light district. But little did we know, God was raising us up and sending us in as laborers…into a place that is hard and dark. We became the very answer to our prayers.

After prayer walking one night, our small team of 6 saw roses and decided to buy them and passed them out to the women.We included the roses with some Thai tracks about “true happiness in God.” We trusted God and His word as we made our way through the street.

That night was the beginning of a series of divine encounters and open doors including the Rabbit Bar in which God highlighted and we had prayed over during our prayer walk.

Just last week, Darius, Eric and I visited The Rabbit Bar again to visit our new friends and got a kiss from The Lord. As we walked into the bar, I noticed a new face sitting in the corner. I made my way over to her and introduced myself. Da was her name, spoke very little English and I spoke very little Thai. We sat down at a table near the front of the bar and with very few Thai and English in our pockets, we made conversations. After about 45 mins of getting to know each other, I found out, she had only started working there for 3 days, had a teenage daughter and was very unhappy with her job.

I asked if I could pray for her and handed her a track I found in my bag. She opened up the track, read one line and started weeping right before me. I immediately grabbed her hand and started praying for her. God’s presence and love was so tangible in that place…Da kept crying and so I came over and held her whispering “God loves you so much” in Thai. After a few minutes, she left to go upstairs to her room and I didn’t see her for another 30 mins. I got to see one more time before we left Chiang Mai which I will post about later. In that moment, I saw God break into a language barrier and touched a heart with His love and mercy.

As Darius, Eric and I made our way out to head home, the lead barista handed me a beautiful white rose and said “this is for the rose you gave me that one night.” That rose was a kiss from The Lord…that as out team passed out red roses that symbolized His love and redemption, we received a white rose as a promise that He was restoring purity, holiness and innocence to the women.