Thanksgiving Day for God’s Healing

The main event on Wednesday is the thanksgiving gathering in church to give thanks to God for healing Pastor Zhang from the mental disorder of bipolar. It is the first time I have seen him dress up so formally in the traditional Akha cloth with silver ornaments on his chest and a red headpiece on his head.

Villagers from other churches, former coworkers and friends, and other missionaries have come together to Ba Wo village to attend the great celebration. By this chance, we are able to see Pastor Lee — he is from Korea with his wife. He has four daughters, and three of them are grown up and

have gone back to Korea for college. Pastor Lee previously supported teaching Mandarin in a Chinese school and preaches once a month in the church where Pastor Zhang ministers. We also see Charles, James, John and their sisters, and the two sweet little daughters, Ya Mei and You Mei, of John and Mei Qin.

The celebration starts and is filled with worship songs in Akha and dances. The sisters and brothers are so talented in singing. We hear some worship songs with familiar rhythms that we also sing in our church.

PY gives a message using the verse John 9:1–4, referencing the conversation between Jesus’ disciples and Jesus about the man born blind whom Jesus heals. Interestingly, it is the same Bible story we learned in YSF in Seattle just last Sunday. PY used the message to encourage the congregation to understand that the

difficulties their pastor has gone through are not because of the sins of his parents or himself. On the contrary, it is to display God’s glory through this, even in cases where the disease is not healed. “As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me.”

Sisters and brothers lined up at the end to chat with Pastor Zhang. Many of them teared up. May God bless the church, the pastors here, and the congregation as they continue growing in the days we have left to work, for those days are few.

Please pray for Thursday, that the coworker couples will be more open when sharing about their marriages. We started the retreat training on Wednesday evening. This year, the coworker retreat focuses on marriage.