While shopping one day with a ministry contact, World Race Alum and Thailand Passport Leader Ash Owens prayed for a stranger over the phone. Ash believed God could do the impossible, but still didn’t expect this.

A few weeks ago, a woman named Jo came to our host ministry in Bangkok, Samaritan’s Creations. She is a mighty woman with a contagious laugh, and full of the love of Christ. We bonded right away.

Together, we went on an adventure to a market, looking for material. Between wandering the stalls, picking out the perfect fabric, and sharing our stories, our afternoon together was about far more than errands.

But I had no idea just how life changing it would be.

Before leaving the market, Jo and I prayed for the vendor who sold us fabric. Not long after, Jo received a phone call from a friend in her village. “Here,” she said in a thick accent, handing me the phone, “Please pray for my sick friend.”

Not really knowing what was going on, I prayed. When I handed the phone back, I couldn’t remember what I’d said, only that I prayed believing God can heal, and concluded with, “In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Just another day in the life in Thailand.

Fast forward a few weeks later, and my team and I take an overnight train 7 hours to Krasang – Jo’s village.

In Krasang, the reality of Thai culture sunk in. Women are the breadwinners here. Males can go to the temple, be monks, and earn merit. So females not only raise babies and clean the house, but also make money. It’s a daughter’s responsibility to support her family. If a family is in debt, or just wants a bigger house, they send their daughter to the city to “wait tables” – some of them knowing exactly the kind of work their daughters will do.

We see the effects of this here – tin shanties belonging to families who do not have girls working in bars, either because they do not have daughters, or because they courageously refuse to send them. And we see mini-mansions belonging to the families who have benefited from their daughters’ labor in Bangkok.

In this village lives Jo, a woman who was saved out of prostitution and now gives her life to the very village that once ridiculed her for her faith. Her heart is to see her family and village come into the very love she has received through Jesus.

She wants to see them free.

As we walk through the village, visiting house to house, we pray for Jo’s neighbors. Everyone greets us with smiles, but their eyes hold a sadness that their faces don’t express.

They have shrines to other gods and symbols of Buddhism throughout their homes; evidence of their belief in the many gods of their community. We talk with them about Jesus, because no one knows who he is. So we sit cross-legged on their floors, sharing God’s great love with them.

Finally, it’s time for the last house. Jo seems especially persistent that we don’t leave without talking with the people who live there.

We wait under a tree in the yard, then a young woman comes and asks for me by name.

Shocked, I stand up as she walks over to me.

This woman, Noy*, explains that a when she called Jo needing prayer a few weeks before, an English woman answered, prayed for her, and immediately she was healed.

Seriously?

Noy is a Christian, one of five in this little village. As my team and I sat under a tree in her yard, we were able to encourage her, pray for her, and even worship with her. It was beautiful to see God encourage her and Jo through that small encounter. I wept as I sat in the midst of that company of women, overwhelmed by the blessing of being a small part of what God is doing in the world.

It was a reminder that God uses me, if I will just say, “yes”, even when I don’t know it what He is doing.

*Not her real name

Are you willing to say, “Yes,” even in the unknown?

Is God asking you to say, “Yes” to serving him in Thailand? Click HERE for trips for college students and HERE for adult trips to Southeast Asia.