Head ‘em Up, Move ‘em Out at The Phil Files

Head ‘em Up, Move ‘em Out

Let's Head Out!

We have just gotten back from a major act of faith! What was hoped to be 30 people going off for a retreat in the mountains above Chiang Mai turned into a great, exhausting, exhilarating, and emotional 26 hours with 50 people.

My LST Roomie, Kent, Sampling Roasted Corn on the Cob in One of the least likely places you would expect it.

We made a couple of stops along the way up the mountain. We sampled cuisine from the road side stands and we also went to visit an Asian Hilltribe Village. These were both welcome bits of relief from the crowded trucks and also gave us a good experience with the cultural issues those who follow Jesus face

Three of My Readers at the Hilltribe Village

We went to “The Shack” for the retreat. It’s part of a national park, and to say the conditions were a bit rustic is an understatement, but actually nicer than what we had been told!

Like so many things we’ve experienced, you mix Thai, Chinese, American, Australian, Japanese, people with those from Singapore and Malaysia and you have an opportunity only the Holy Spirit can fill.

Unloading at the Top of the Mountain #1

We climbed steep roads in trucks very overloaded by Western standards and ascended into the beauty and the blessed cool of the mountain above Chiang Mai.

We played games. We sang cultural songs, fun songs, popular songs, and we worshiped. We saw folks jump in and cook and clean and help. We played games all over the countryside in groups.

What was amazing to me was that this was all planned and pulled off by several of the Thai young men in the congregation — they even did a lot of the cooking, although the Chinese young ladies often pitched in.

We were situated in a coffee orchard and the view was breathtaking

Retreat Site

… almost as breathtaking as this incredible group of people that our LST team believes God put together for us to experience and influence.

And to be quite frank, our personal experience, our glimpse of the scene talked about Revelation 7:9-12 — where there are more people than anyone can count from every nation, tribe, people, and language, worshiping the Lamb of God in the throne room of heaven — was moving beyond words.

So rather than trying to drone on and on about what happened, let me share some pictures with you with some brief description of what’s happening.

Fun.