Mercy

On one of the days of our trip our team visited a hill tribe village in Northern Thailand. We were quite close to the Burma border and this village was made up of Burmese refugees who have been living in Thailand for nearly 30 years. Like the vast majority of the hill tribes people in Thailand, these villagers do not have Thai citizenship which means they have little access to health care, quality education, or a means to move beyond their current level of poverty.

Many people were sick in this village and Charles, the missionary who was with us and our spur-of-the-moment divinely appointed prayer coach, felt a strong sense that that we needed to pray for everyone who was sick. So we gathered around the people, put our hands on them and prayed.

Of all the people in the village, one little boy captured our hearts the most. His name was Garrun, which we were told meant "mercy." He was about two years old, the age of my son, and his eyes were crossed. His father had abandoned him and his mother when she was 6 months pregnant with him. His face was so sweet and so serious.

A couple of the dads in our group spent time holding him and playing with him. We pulled out some bubbles and began blowing them to the kids. We held the wand in front of Garrun's mouth and he blew out a strong breath that puffed his cheeks out (the same way my son does). He blew bubbles over and over again, sometimes pinching the wand with his thumb and index finger. On three occasions when he blew a particularly large batch of bubbles, we cheered for him and he cracked the tiniest of smiles. I think one person caught his tiny smile on film. He was precious.

Later that night when our team met to debrief the day and pray, God spoke to our friend Steve and he said, "You guys, it just hit me...our team verse (that we all memorized before leaving)... Micah 6:8, 'What does the Lord require of you? To do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.' We loved Mercy today."

It was a total God-moment.

A day or two later, God spoke to one of the teachers on our team whose own son had been born cross-eyed. She said God told her that she couldn't help everyone she met in Thailand, but she could help this little boy. So she and her family will be praying for and paying for a doctor to help this precious child.

God could heal this child instantly, but instead he chose to use this teacher and her family to heal and bless Garrun. I'm guessing there's going to be healing and blessing for her family too. What a God!