Faith Trip 2

The other day a group of us went on a "faith trip." You bring nothing but water, maybe a bible and one camera for the group. The goal is to test your faith and see where it leads you. A group could find itself helping people out in the slums, striking up random conversation with strangers and telling them about the ship, or going into schools and offering help, etc. The possiblities are endless.

Before my group left we prayed to see if we felt lead anywhere in particular. For whatever reason I kept seeing an image of an airplane in my head. I'm not sure where it was coming from or what it meant. It seemed as though everyone else was having a hard time focussing because we were in the dining hall and it was quite noisy. We all agreed we should go to a quiet place perhaps to do a bible study.

We took a free bus to a busier part of town and the ticket collector was holding a sign that said "airport". Rather than going all the way to the airport we decided to get off because we had heard that it was quite far outside the city. As we walked we continued to see signs with an airplane on it we followed them. We saw a small child begging for change. Since we had no change or food to give him, we decided to go around the corner and pray for his well being and that he would be able to get off the streets. As soon as we finished we turned around and he was gone. He was walking down the street and then went into a store.

As we walked, my friend Sjoerd, said it would be cool to go up on a tower and pray for the city of Bangkok. A minute later we saw a big building with the name “ Lumpani Tower ” on it. As we walked over we realized it was a bank and insurance company. I thought for sure we wouldn’t be able get in. I entered the side of the building, walked up to the security guard and asked if the top floor was open to the public for a view of the city. It was so random and I was expecting them to tell us to leave. To my surprise they said, sure and got an employee to take us to not only the top floor, but onto the helicopter landing pad. The view was amazing. We had a complete 360 of the city and then we all split up into each side of the building to pray for each corner of Bangkok. It was a total gift that I never expected. Above the city line we had been given one of the quietest places in all of Bangkok.

From the roof we saw a big park and decided to go there next. After going down to the ground floor and thanking the security booth thoroughly we headed towards our new destination. Our time in the park was well spent as we read some scripture and prayed that we would be able to figure out what to do next. Just then, a mentally and physically handicapped man walked right up and sat down next to me. He shook my hand. He didn’t understand English but we tried to ask him if he needed any help. I reached into my bag to get a flyer from the ship but motioned as if he didn't want anything at all, not even money. I’m not sure if he understood us but we went ahead and prayed for him. And as soon as we finished he smiled, nodded then walked away. It was bizarre but really cool that of all the people in the park he chose to sit with us.

We walked for another hour in the park and eventually noticed a red man laying under a tree. It was really an odd sight and he looked exhausted. A couple of us went over to talk with him. I wasn't sure if he was a painter or what but his arms, face and legs were covered in red paint. We offered him some water and he gladly accepted. Tired and hungry we walked through the gritty slums but were unable to meet anyone. After a long day we headed back to the ship.

It was a really challenging exercise to have no money or food to push our limits and live in the moment.