While in Chiang Mai, we had the opportunity to help with an overnight sports camp run by Billy Crompton's mission, Ambassadors in Football (a local installment of an international organization), which we will partner with for the rest of our time here. This camp was the first of its kind that Billy has run here, and we had about 30 kids show up for the weekend camp (Friday through Sunday)--a great turnout, according to Billy, in a culture unfamiliar with the idea.
We stayed in a campground called "Eden," full of ground cover roamed throughout the weekend by frogs, dogs, snakes and the occasional Americans (us). The camp also marked our first experience as a team with the infamous Thai "squatty potties." More importantly, our main job during the camp was to serve as the "energy source" for the kids and other volunteers.
Billy emphasized his excitement about the camp repeatedly, explaining that for some members of the church, it was their first opportunity to volunteer in a capacity at the church. A few women from the church served as camp cooks, providing us with an abundance of rice, green curry, rice, coagulated blood and noodles, rice, vegetables with squid and hot dogs, and more rice (in case you didn't pick up on that) for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We've learned that all meals are equally appropriate for spice and rice in Thai eyes.
The camp included children approximately ages six to fourteen, who had heard of it from one of two sources: 1) regular weekly Ambassadors soccer practices and games or 2) English classes hosted at Billy's church. Some of those children, mainly those children who attend the church and/or the soccer camp, were Christians. Many of the children were not Christians but Buddhists; some of the children had never interacted with the Ambassadors sports missions before the camp.
The weekend was packed with sports and the Gospel. The camp followed an "Olympic Games" set-up, composed of four countries: Thailand, USA, Japan, and Brazil--the home countries of all of the Ambassadors volunteers. Three of us served as the coaches of each team, along with a Thai translator.
On Saturday, after our opening ceremonies, the "cha-cha slide" led by our team, from 9 in the morning until 7 at night on Saturday, with a brief break for lunch and a mini-sermon from Billy, we played and coached sports. Baseball, badminton, handball, track and field...and, of course, international football.
Sports break down language barriers in incredible ways. Dribbling, passing, sprinting, throwing, shooting, and scoring are universal, international actions. The thrill of a perfectly placed badminton birdie is the same on the face of a Thai child as on the face of an American. The satisfying crack of a baseball bat on a plastic wiffle ball is no different halfway around the world.
And the language comes quickly. Thai children learn to yell "foul" when the ball crosses the line after a hit; we learn to say "Mai pen rai" after a soccer mistake. Thai or American, we stretch the word "OK" to its full potential.
There are many differences between us. I am not living in a Buddhist culture, a culture that tells me to control my emotions. These children are not living in an American culture that tells them they should follow their heart beyond reason. I am not living in hunger. They are not living in waste. I do not attend a school that I must clean before classes start. They do not participate in an entitled society.
But we share much with the Thai children we have met. They have rice fields; we have corn fields. They smile; we smile. They play sports; we play sports.
But above all, we are all broken and in need of our Savior. We need the love of Jesus Christ in order to be reconciled with God and experience eternal life.
On Saturday night, after Billy finished his final bookend of his presentation of the Gospel, we broke into small groups, our teams, to share our personal testimonies. Billy suggested that we reiterate the Gospel in those groups and ask if any children wanted to accept Christ, because large group altar calls often guilt children into following the rest of the pack and making a commitment they do not intend.
I shared my testimony, my story of finding an identity and joy in Christ, and not my sport. Our translator explained my story to our five-child "Team USA," wide-eyed and characteristically stoic.
Near the end of my story, as I asked the children if they were interested in accepting Christ's gift of salvation, I noticed that across the circle from me, one little girl had a single tear welling up in her eye.
I could feel my eyes narrowing in on the tear drop, even though I tried not to stare. The little girl had been painfully shy all weekend. She barely spoke a word for our first few games and stood near me. During our last two games of the day, she began shouting "Su su USA!" (Go USA!) for our older players, but I still did not understand her personality or interests at all.
One thing I did understand for sure: this little girl was beginning to cry, and Thai children do not cry.
I began to pray that the Holy Spirit would work in her heart, as I looked around the circle and realized that no child had expressed interest in accepting Christ.
I felt helpless, and for good reason. I am nothing without Christ, and the point of this trip is not our number of saves or mountaintop moments. It's about our extravagantly loving God, who transforms hearts and lives. So I sat back with my teammates and listened to the translators, reiterating my story and driving home the Gospel in Thai in a way that I could not. And I prayed.
In the midst of awkward silence, my fellow Team USA "coach," Nolan, asked if anyone had any questions. The little girl burst into tears and said something in Thai. The translator explained: "She wants to know if she is allowed to believe in Jesus."
Allowed to believe in Jesus? I had never considered that question. I take and take and take and assume that I am allowed to do so. Somehow I knew that my conception is very American, and life is not so simple for Thai children.
But how wonderful it felt to nod and say yes and then hear my yes again in emphatic Thai syllables I cannot pronounce. How wonderful it was to see that little girl, quiet and utterly broken, just as I am, before God, praying for a Savior. In that moment, she walked into eternal life and recognized her identity as a beloved child of God. I asked one translator to tell the little girl that in Heaven, the angels were celebrating. The translator explained that the other translator was already doing that.
Christ's love transcends all boundaries.
Later that night as we debriefed, Billy described the little girl's acceptance as miraculous. "For centuries upon centuries, books about global missions have a few pages on Thailand, the same sort of short paragraphs," he explained. "They all end, 'And the people of Thailand did not believe.'"
As it turns out, the little girl comes from a devoutly Buddhist home, and her acceptance of Christ will likely rock her household to its foundations. The pastor of the church will have to explain her conversion to her parents and ask if she may attend Christian church.
I have been rocked to my foundations too. We all have been. Prayers are being answered. Hearts are being saved in this country known as the "Land of Smiles"--a façade that hides much brokenness and need for God that we all have.
I am hopeful today. I am hopeful for the day when all is restored as it should be and when I will see many again. The little girl from camp. Our Thai brothers and sisters. Our American brothers and sisters. Someday we will all be together in a land of pure JOY that comes from Christ.
We got brief glimpses of that joy this weekend, when we sang praise songs in English and Thai at the same time. We got brief glimpses of it as children stood on our medal podium during the camp closing ceremonies and their proud teammates chanted their names. It is beautiful.
Thank you for your love and prayers for our team over these past few days. Physical exhaustion is real, given all of our physical activity, but spiritual exhaustion is an equally real threat that prayer can protect us from.
Things to continue praying for in the days to come:
1) The hearts of the kids from camp. Some know Christ already, some just made a commitment to Christ, and some do not know Christ. Please pray that any planted seeds of faith will grow in those who do not believe in our Savior, and please pray that those who have committed to life with Christ will grow roots and bear fruit in faith.
2) The hearts of the kids at the schools we will visit in the week to come.
3) Energy and joy for us--pray that, though we are broken vessels, we will exude Christ.
4) Pray for our friends, Colby and Kayty, Messiah alums working in Chiang Mai. Just today, the day after we went walking in the red light district together, Colby was on his motorcycle and hit by a truck. We got to visit him at the hospital today. Pray for complete healing for Colby and for peace for Kayty.
5) Pray for Billy Crompton and Ambassadors Football, as well as Billy's church, as they continue to do good work in Chiang Mai.
Thank you so much. We love you.
--Katie Wingert
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