Hat Yai Discipleship Trip

Our group with the students we worked with during a 4 day English camp

Like last year, I had the privileged of spending a week in a Muslim village in southern Thailand (outside the city of Hat Yai) with a group of teens from our youth group April 2-10.  With the youth pastor being on furlough, I had more responsibilities as one of the leaders and not just a chaperone, which made it quite a different experience for me.  I was incredibly proud of the way the students handled themselves in the village and stepped up in the English classes they were teaching.

One of the highlights for me this year, took place during our debriefing time at the end of the trip.  We spent 2 nights and one full day at a beach hotel.  After the debrief session our first night, one of the guys asked to borrow my beach mat so they could go out to play worship music on the beach.  I joined them, not knowing that it would end up being only the male students out there.

As the one guy played guitar, most joined in singing different praise songs he played.  Others milled around or chatted quietly or prayed with each other.  At one point, two guys were standing by the water's edge with their arms around each others' back.  Slowly the other guys began to join them until they were all standing in a line looking out over the ocean.  They sang together then circled up - obviously praying together.  Of course they ended their circle time with a primal warrior cry before coming back to where the other leader and I were sitting.

They picked up where they left off - continuing with their worship, prayers, and encouraging conversations. At this point the other leader (Dave) got up from where we were sitting and walked to the water's edge.  It just so happened that he was leaving Thailand for a number of months a few days after we returned from this trip.  Our guys love and respect him so much.  It didn't take long for one of the guys to suggest that they go pray for him, and he was swarmed.  After praying for him, people slowly started heading back to their rooms for the night.

In seeing the guys in this special context, I felt as though I am more fully able to understand their relationship with each other and with Dave. Apparently, the guys thought it was cool that joined them.  I was relieved to hear this, as I did feel like I was intruding on their time and space to some extent, even though I feel so blessed that the guys allowed me to intrude and witness them in this almost intimate context.

With Mike and now Dave gone, I feel a huge amount of responsibility not just for the youth group, but also for these guys in closing out the year well (as many of them are graduating this year). I was thankful for this experience to help open up another way for me to connect with these guys.