WHEN JOY FLOODS MY SOUL
It is Sabbath, April 12. Something so special about this Sabbath day. First of all, our little church was crowded with over 70 people! Their faces radiant and happy! The usual special music groups sang with all their hearts.
To my utter joy, BoJaw, our builder, sang a song also for the first time! He was very nervous because he had never done that before, but I’m so proud he did it. His voice was quiet, his knees shook and he said he dared not look up at anyone! But I am delighted he did it! It shows me where his heart is! Later when he sang again he wore dark glasses so he could not see anyone, thinking he wouldn’t be so nervous. He is still singing and you can tell he really means every word!
You can tell he means every word!
This song is very meaningful to him!
We first met BoJaw 10 years ago. He helped build our clinic/house in BYT! At that time, he accepted Jesus as his Saviour! He was so impressed that we lived what we preached! After he went back to Burma, he experienced a miracle. He did not know that much about the truth in God’s Word, and his family were all against it. They were Buddhist. One day he felt confused about what he should believe. Nobody around him knew God, so he knelt down by a chair and asked the Lord what is truth and what should he believe. At that very moment his Bible from the shelf above his head, fell down in front of him! Nobody had pushed it; no earthquake had shaken it. It was in a firm position on the shelf! An unseen hand had dropped it there. He had his answer!
We heard from him through the years, but God led us to him while we were looking for a builder to build a church in MeDooGlow, and a detox center in our Village, BYT. He had become a professional builder, and was working in construction south of Bangkok. He was happy to come and build for us! He had been baptized and was trying to keep his faith in God, but here he comes to church every Sabbath. It is so delightful to see his face glowing with sincerity and love for God when he sings! His cousin, PeSeeWah, who is a builder also, came with him. Sometimes he joins in our Sabbath worship, but he is clearly not interested in being a Christian. He is Buddhist. We keep praying for him.
A visitor came to our church this Sabbath. His name is Kelly. He is a Karen young man and serves as head elder in the MaeSot SDA church. During our service, BletJhaw asked him to introduce himself. I preached about Jacob’s Ladder that day, how Jesus is the ladder and that ladder reaches right where you are! After the service he said to me: “I am overwhelmed at the Holy Spirit in this church, your sermon, and the large attendance! I was so touched by the people and the atmosphere here that I could not finish introducing myself because tears filled my eyes! I must say it is not like this in MaeSot SDA church.” Prayer and total dependence upon God is the only way to reach the hearts of the people. It is 0% of us and 100% Jesus!
After church Kelly and DeMoo, BletJhaw and I took the motorbikes to MooDooKee village and held a worship service in that new little church! What a blessing! God’s presence is here! Light is encircling these villages! It is the presence of Jesus!
“Behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people, but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light” Isaiah 60:2,3