How deeply our Father cares for His children tucked away in the valleys of Thailand

"In Wiang Heng we have begun to see God move in some amazing ways. Wiang Heng has long been a village held in the grip of demon and ancestor worship, probably since the beginning of time. There is almost a palpable darkness that pervades this valley and even the people themselves. Recently a team of YWAM (Youth With A Mission) students did a six week outreach in Wiang Heng. After a couple of weeks of meetings and teaching in the church they began to see a spark of excitement among the small body of Christians that had not been there for quite some time. During worship one evening, I (Kathy) was sitting in the back of the church, just enjoying watching them worship and interact and listen as the Word was being taught. As I was watching and praying for them I saw in my mind a picture of Wiang Heng and in the sky overhead was a large black dome that covered over the whole valley.

Then I saw a hand reach down and tear the black dome back—ripped it off in fact—and I felt God saying, “I’m going to rip away the darkness that holds these people in bondage”.  I don’t often have these types of visual pictures but I felt sure this was a word from God for the body in Wiang Heng, so I shared it with the body and encouraged them that God had not forgotten them and He heard the cries for freedom from spiritual darkness for their village.  After the meeting we headed off to bed, well... a mat on a concrete floor, which isn’t exactly “bed” in my book.  Per usual, my night on the concrete floor was one of tossing and a few wake up calls for a trek to the outhouse (my mother has nothing over me!!).  At one point I woke in the dead of night to hear the dogs all over the village doing the “crazy bark”.   The villagers say that the demons are amuk when the dogs do the crazy bark, so I didn’t give it much thought as I’d heard it many times over the years in our villages.  So I dropped off to sleep once again.  Rick also had trouble with his concrete bed and he was also wakened not long after I was, to the sound of gun shots.  Gunfire in the middle of the night means that the villagers are out shooting off their guns to scare the demons away.  Indeed the demon world must have been having a busy night as it not only had the dogs bothered, but the villagers knew that something was up too.  Rick also rolled over for a few more z’s.  Soontawn, our host, on the other hand, when he heard the shooting decided to go outside and see what was cooking.  As he stepped outside and looked around, he looked up at the moon and could hardly believe his eyes.  There, placed at dead center, on the face of the moon was the shape of a cross.  

Soontawn's picture of the cross
on the face of the moon taken with his cell phone.

He ran back in to get his wife Noy and daughter Anna because he knew that unless they saw it for themselves they would not believe him.  And don’t you love technology... because next they pulled out their cell phones and started clicking away taking pictures of what they saw. They could hardly wait for us to roll out of bed in the morning so they could show us what they had seen.  As they related their story and we added in our pieces we all had “Holy Spirit goose bumps”.  We stopped and began to pray and thank God for His sign to the body of Christ in Wiang Heng that He is with them and will never leave them.  You should have heard the “oohs and ahhs” in church that morning (it was Sunday) as Soontawn shared the story of the moon-crossed night and passed the cell phone around through the congregation for everyone to see.  We believe that God is far from done in Wiang Heng and that He is only just beginning as He prepares the hearts of His body there for what He has planned.  As He said to Israel, so He is also is saying to the people of Wiang Heng, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in (Wiang Heng) Egypt.  I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers (demonic oppression), and I am concerned about their suffering.  So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the (demonic presences) Egyptians ...” Ex 3:7-8.  Please pray with us that the day will come soon when God will pull back the cover of spiritual darkness and pour out His Holy Spirit over all the people of this valley - and that the church there would be ready to lead them to the One who offers them freedom and redemption of sins and eternity with Him."

This story has been shared with Kathy Walden's permission.  Rick and Kathy are missionary parents of children and grandchildren who attend Grace International School.  Rick has also served on the Board of Grace over the years.  Rick's ministry was featured in last year's weekly updates and is a part of the 2013 Grace International School calendar.