By Camryn Stewart
I can’t believe we’re already back in the U.S. now! There’s been so much to unpack, literally and figuratively. Laytongku (“LAY tahng koo”) was one of the places I was truly humbled at in Thailand. We traveled there by walking close to 5 miles on a long dirt road surrounded by huge vibrant leaves and other jungle terrain. It was such a beautiful thing to experience the variety of God’s design of the Earth. The last part of our walk, we were pleasantly surprised to get the offer to ride standing up in the bed of a truck and we all gladly took up that offer! That was our main way of transportation besides walking to different places. It was such a joy traveling together as a team knowing we were on the way to spread the light of Jesus to His people! I loved meeting new people and families from different villages and being able to sing worship songs and share the depth of the simple truth of the gospel to those in darkness. I was blown away by how we were served everywhere we went, even when it felt like we didn’t deserve it. It consistently demonstrated to me the grace that God shows us even when we don’t deserve it, and He gives it abundantly, just like the people in Thailand did.
On one of the first days we got to visit a beautiful waterfall a few minutes away from where we were staying and some of the team members were baptized making it all the more special! There was a sweet little girl who tagged along, she lived near where we were staying. Her name was Ethay Pong and she immediately touched the soft part of my heart and the team really enjoyed her company during meal times. It was special being able to share Jesus’ love with her!
During our time in Laytongku we put on our biggest kid’s program yet at the school there and it was during that time I realized how amazing it was to be able to share the truth of Jesus Christ while being surrounded by statues of idols. I felt the power in God’s glory that day. I loved being able to see how He’s captured the hearts of those in the church we got to visit. The people were so full of energy and I could see an outpour of the joy of the Lord through the body of that church. I’ve noticed that joy seemed to be a big theme for me during this outreach. I saw it everywhere I went and through everyone I met and I am and forever will be thankful for the time spent in Thailand!
