Salvation in a Rusty Truck

There are some weeks of my life that I can remember nearly every detail of every day. This was one of them. Our team of 7 were living in an old wooden church on the outskirts of Chanthaburi, Thailand. We were sleeping on a wooden floor, covered by mosquito nets and woken up at 5am every morning by the rooster living underneath us. We washed our clothes and ourselves in the river and our toilet was a hole in the ground with a lovely recycled ceramic...seat?

Each day we would climb in a rusty old truck and travel two hours to visit a different school. Some days we brought the kids food and medical supplies, and everyday we gave them English lessons and told them stories from the Bible and our own lives. Stories that showed them how much they were loved, so much so, that Jesus had died for them.

At the end of the week, we planned to play a Thai-dubbed version of the Jesus Video in a tiny milkbar-type of store. It appeared to be the local hangout and people were soon gathering. We set up the video player and...nothing happened. No power. We prayed and the power came on. As the video progressed, the weather suddenly took a turn and it began raining. The rain pelted down so loudly on the tin roof that nothing could be heard. We prayed and the rain stopped.

At the end of the video, I noticed our translator/local contact was in tears. She had been sold as a prostitute by her parents at a young age and had returned to this village from her life in Pattaya. That night she realised the truth in all our stories throughout the week. That night, a beautiful woman realised that Jesus had died for her. He had died for her. That night she was introduced to her Saviour. Salvation had come not only to her, but consequently to an entire network of communities. It’s amazing what can get delivered in an old rusty truck.