It has been a busy couple of weeks for everyone at the school and for most people around the area as November is the harvest time for the rice farms here in Northern Thailand. The weather is turning cooler (sometimes) and has been fairly dry since we arrived which is perfect for harvesting. Over the past couple of weeks we have seen many people out in the fields gathering, or spreading their grain out in the sun, or gathering it back up to sell. The school also has fields and last week there were many thankful prayers for the good season and weather which meant that they were able to have such a good harvest.
The harvest time here reminds me of how much we hear about the harvest in the bible. In Matthew 9:37 Jesus says to his disciples “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few”. I find it quite ironic that in a season of such good rice harvest I look around and see that here in a country of 1% Christianity there is this school where there are so many kids able to hear of Gods love and salvation but yet such a lack of workers/teaching staff. Indeed the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. And not just in this school but all around the world!
I think that being here I can see Gods work is truly plenteous no matter where we are. It is so important we take up our tools and help him gather the grain wherever he may direct us. The fields are many and we may not have the same role as the next person so if we study his word and listen closely for his will we will be able to do the work he sets out for us to do.
Aside from my reflections on the harvest we have continued to be busy preparing classes and teaching and last Saturday we had a 3 hours workshop run by a pastor who was visiting from Canada. It was given in English and translated to Thai for all the teachers to hear. It talked about drawing closer to God through learning about Gods word and Gods heart. It was very good and presented quite a practical way of getting deeper into the scriptures. Following the workshop we were invited to attend a harvest first fruits celebration lunch where we ate fresh rice that was just harvested last week. The rice was delicious.
We then visited a family of a girl who was not well mentally since a recent event with a snake and no-one knew what was wrong, she had been to the hospital without any explanation. One of the major things I noticed both this trip and last is the spiritual bondage here in this nation, there is a lot of spiritual worship, sorcery and witchcraft that does go on in the general population. So it would be appreciated if everyone can pray for this young girl and her family that they will turn to the one true God for help. The teachers were able to comfort her family, minister to them and pray for them and they will follow up with her over the next few weeks to see how she is doing.
Well time really is flying past here. We have now been away for 4 months and have only 2 to go.