“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord” (Psalm 150:6 NASB).
Destiny Rescue Night of Worship
This past Friday night in Chiang Rai, Thailand was a night to remember. About 200 Prevention & Rescue children, staff and a few other adults packed into a church pavilion area for the Destiny Rescue Night of Worship. We worshiped the Living God with all our hearts and many of the children jumped up and down shouting praise to God for what He has done in their lives. It moved me deeply knowing that many of these children have come from such horrible situations, but now have the opportunity to dream again and fulfill their God-given destinies!
Other parts of the night included playing games with the kids, watching several skits and beholding several boys as they participated in a hip hop dance off. They really did an incredible job…I was completely amazed…some were doing back flips, handstands and contorting their bodies in ways that made Gumby look anti-flexible! And while this was happening, the girls were screaming and taking pictures…yes, screaming and taking pictures! I wish each of you could have seen it!
I felt very privileged because Sakay, the Destiny Rescue Thailand country manager, asked me to speak at the event. As I prayed about what to preach on, God put a message on my heart to share titled: God Is Bigger Than The Storm You Are Facing. I explained how God brought me through a difficult storm in my life – the storm of depression. The depression was so strong that I couldn’t get out. I turned to family, friends and others for help, but nothing seemed to work. In fact, it got worse and worse. At my wits end, I cried out to God with all my might and He heard my cry. He pulled me out of the depths of despair and set my feet on the solid Rock. Later, I learned that God takes us through storms for a purpose and when it has accomplished its mission, then God calms the raging winds.
God moved in a powerful way and touched a lot of people, encouraging them to trust God when life doesn’t make sense!
In the end, it was an incredible night of fun, fellowship and communing with God!
Volunteer Work Day
The very next day, staff and children participated in a volunteer work day at Destiny Rescue’s new Prevention Property location. We cut down overgrown brush, pulled weeds, limbed up trees and hauled all of it into two huge piles on the edge of the property. Just in case you didn’t know, it’s rainy season here, which means it rains every day, sometimes all day! And it rained right before our work day started…can you say, MUD! It was everywhere, including all over me! I felt like a big kid again, stomping around in my work boots, instigating a mud war! Would I do something like that?
The new property is going to be amazing. Several buildings for children to live in, a huge open field for playing soccer and other sports and the best part of all, it has a basketball court!! It looks like I will have to teach them a thing or two about basketball! They can teach me about soccer and I’ll teach them about the game of basketball. Sounds like a fair trade to me!
I just wanted to say Thank You for your continued prayers and support and may God continue the deep work He began in you.
