Miracles and Hidden Treasures

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

8:58 am

            Another office day yesterday. Not much happened... until the end of the day. I got invited to join Pastor Doug and another Thai pastor to visit a couple from one of the church plants. As the Thai pastor (who's name escapes me right now) drove, he told us the story of how he became a Christian. He smoked more than one pack a day and drank every day, before he came to know Christ. He was invited to an SDA church and started attending regularly (mostly for the women). One day he was talking to an SDA friend of his and told her that if God could help him stop smoking, he would believe in God and become a Christian. They prayed, and he still couldn't stop smoking. Some time later, he was driving his motorcycle under the influence and was in a bad accident. He woke up in the hospital and had 70 stitches and many broken bones. He was in the hospital for a long time and never got to smoke. When he got out, the doctor told him not to drink alcohol until his body was healed. After all that time, he got used to not smoking or drinking and was released from his addictions. He later became a Christian and went to school to become a pastor.

            We arrived at the place where the couple lived and searched for a place to park. There was one small spot where we would have to parallel park. A man saw us struggling to fit into the space and went over to the car in front of us and pushed it forward. I couldn't believe what I was seeing until Pastor Doug told me that everyone leaves their cars in neutral so they can be moved for others to fit into the small parking area.

            We got out of the car and walked into the apartment building. There was graffiti everywhere and it looked like all eight or ten stories could come crashing down at any minute. Had I been location scouting for a film project, I would have been in heaven. It looked a lot like the abandoned YMCA building we shot Chris Stiles' freshman project in (except people actually lived there). We got to the apartment and the couple opened the door for us. I couldn't believe what I saw! I took off my shoes and stepped onto a floor so clean, I felt I should have washed my feet as well. The apartment was just one room (probably about 25 square feet) with a bathroom and another room for a small kitchen. It was absolutely beautiful! None of the furniture was incredibly fancy, but it was all so clean! The couple was very nice. The woman's name translates to "Sweetie". We sat with them and worshiped for about an hour and a half. It was great to experience such a special worship that truly felt genuine!