We’re headed out tonight – in just a few hours. We’re taking a bus for 8-10 hours to Ranong in Southern Thailand where we’ll then stock up on supplies and find a boat to take us to a remote island to visit a particular group of “”chao leh”” or sea gypsies as they’re often called. During the Asian Tsunami of last year, half of the men from this small group of people were killed. Many of the boats were destroyed – which provided their only regular food source – fish.
Since the devastation of the tsunami however, God has done an incredible work with this small group of people. In this small village of 80 or 100 people, perhaps as many as half of them have become believers in Christ during the last year! We’re headed down there to see them and to support the new church there that God has established. I don’t know many more details than that at this point, but I do know how exciting it is to think about going to visit a people who have just received the gospel into their midst for the first time in their history! How awesome it will be to see Christianity in it’s rawest, purest form – without the intrusion of years and years of customary ways of doing things, politics, and traditions – to simply see a new people group worshipping our God in spirit and truth. It’s gonna be fun.
I’ll write a full report after we get back.