Last month, 850 students attended our team’s Christmas outreach at the local high school in our Thai community. One of the teens, Manao, had received Christ two years ago at the one we held at our church. Now in eleventh grade, she asked if we could host a similar Christmas event at her school.
As far as Manao knew, she was still the only student who publicly proclaimed her commitment to Jesus—though she has continued to actively share her faith with her classmates.
Confusion
We drafted a proposal, emphasizing our desire to present the real meaning of Christmas. Then we began to pray for favor with the school administration.
When we met with the school’s director, he said, “Oh good—we were just planning our Christmas Day program. I’ll give this to the committee. They’ll contact you.” (Although December 25 is just another school day in Thailand, many schools plan Santa-type activities for the holiday.)
Several weeks passed with no word. When we followed up with the school, we learned there had been some confusion, and the committee was unaware of our proposal. We showed the teacher who was coordinating the Christmas Day events a copy of our program and the letter we had presented to the director. She said she would talk to her committee.
God Provides
We prayed. Later that day, the teacher called to confirm that we could host our event in the morning before the school’s regular Christmas programs.
On the day of the outreach, I dropped off my husband, Ed, at the school, along with boxes of gift packets for the students and teachers that included gospel literature. After I had returned home for the second load, I heard a hissing sound. Two of our neighbors drove by, telling me I had a flat.
One of them—who has a pickup truck—agreed to transport me and the remaining gifts to the school. This neighbor had been away for weeks but “just happened” to be home then. I didn’t have my cell phone at the time, so I wouldn’t have been able to call for help.
The rest of our 20-plus team arrived without incident. Despite a sound system malfunction at one point, things went smoothly. It was amazing to look out at the vast audience of high school students sitting on the floor of the gym. Now, more than four years after Ed and I started praying over this school, we were inside sharing the gospel.
The teenagers—from 7th through 12th grade—listened attentively to our teammate’s powerful gospel presentation. When the invitation was given to accept Christ as Savior, we saw many hands go up, albeit partially. Our church’s Facebook page received many “likes” that afternoon. God is on the move!
Pray for us as we follow up with those who are interested in learning more about Jesus. We hope the school will allow us to come once a week during the lunch hour to host small group meetings with those students. Pray for continued favor with the school administration and that the teens will truly pursue a relationship with Jesus.
by Sue, an Alliance international worker serving in Thailand