Deep in Lao via Motorbike

Posted by on Nov 6, 2010 in Missions | 4 comments

VIDEOS COMING SOON
(when we have decent internet)

A night after we were blessed to be a part of a small outreach to the kids of our current city (click here to read about it), Nick was hit with a very high fever. We prayed and the fever subsided, only to return the next day. On day three we sent Nick to the hospital for a blood test. The diagnosis: typhoid. Nick was given some antibiotics and sent back to his room.

The next morning the team met.

“Guys, this really puts a strain on our time. We have a specific follow mission here in Laos, but time is ticking. We need to pray. Ask the Lord how we should proceed.”

The team took the matter to prayer for the day. By the days end I understood that some of the team would be led to stay and care for Nick, while Darlene and I (Dustan), Stephen & Mandy would head into the mountains for our Gospel outreach.

The next morning we met again.

“We feel God telling us to stay and care for Nick,” said Wesley and Ashley.

It bore witness.

“Okay. Stephen, Mandy, your coming with us. But now we have to pray about how to get there. Let’s take a few minutes and seek the Lord.”

We bowed our heads again. Suddenly, in my mind’s eye I saw two motorbikes making trails on the mountain roads. I laughed aloud. Once we said Amen, I shared what I had seen. The Lord was leading us to push down, not wait two more days for a truck rental, but to go on motorcycle.

“When Lord?”

In my heart I felt, ‘Today.’

“Let’s rent some motorbikes.”

So, we packed two small bags and attached two larger ones to the back of our motos. These were filled with misquote nets, candy for kids, rice mats, and malaria meds to give away along the road. Wesley and Ashley would stay with Nick and us four would complete our mission and return. Three hours later we left, too late (as the drive was at a minimum of six hours – dark is around 6pm here).

What you should know about the road we were set to be traveling on for the next four days, is that it is destroyed every year. Being Southeast Asia, one of the main seasons is called Rainy. The road snakes it’s way through the mountains and the runoff from those mountains makes trench in trench in trench. The first hour was smooth paved road. The last 10 or so were insane. We bounced and twisted and walked through mud pits for hours.

Finally the sun dropped. We found a village that would take us and bunked with a very nice Lao family. They fed us and listened to us as we tried to share a bit about the gospel in terrible broken Lao.

We slept the night on two wooden tables and awoke to a gang of crowing roosters. This family was poor as we don’t know, but they took us in. They had no misquote nets before we came. Praise God they had some before we left. Malaria is a killer here.

The next day we made our way deeper and deeper into the mountains, crossing streams and more destroyed roads. Stephen has been driving a motorcycle for years so his experience was invaluable. Darlene and I fell at least three times in the roughest parts. Here’s the key, don’t put your feet down unless it is unavoidable.

Five or six hours later we approached the village. Immediately I recognized the surrounding mountains. I know this place. This is where I saw God do some amazing miracles two years ago. Darlene and I had approached from a different direction by boat. The result was new friendships and a few great healing to go with the Gospel being planted new ground.

Then we had a flat.

We Got it fixed on the side of the road, and headed into town. We climbed off of the bikes and found a place to sleep.

The next morning it was time to get busy. We packed up our things, contacted a friend from our first journey, and hit the road to some surrounding villages. We met the kids, delivered more misquote nets, and blessed three more poor families with some much needed supplies.

Our host was very gracious to take us and translate everywhere we went. Besides a short run in with a very young uptight police officer, the outreach, although different than we suspected, was a success. Yet, the Lord was pulling on me. It seems he was saying to my heart (not a voice), ‘You are here for your host.’ We sat down and started a conversation. By the end Darlene and I had shared the Gospel. He listened intently. He seemed interested in the idea that one could not be born a Christian.

We talked for a while then headed back for the night. We were going to buy, kill, and eat a few chickens.

That was interesting.

The next morning we crawled out from under our misquote nets and sat down for a glass of hot water before we hit the road.

“Please my friend, think about what I have told you about Yesu. He is the way. God loves you and will show you that what I said is true.”

He nodded.

The drive back took half the time as the drive in. The reason was my new experience with the motorcycle. Areas that were so hard to navigate before I zoomed through. We arrived way earlier than expected to find Nick still in bed.

“Come on Nick. Let’s go back to the hospital,” I said.

Thirty minutes later we found out that Nick had been misdiagnosed. It was Dengue. He was admitted to the ghost-town of a hospital and put on drip. He was to be there for two to three days. That would add almost another week before we were able to travel south. This would put too much of a time crutch on our Cambodia mission before we were due back in Thailand for a Christmas outreach. We would have to reschedule, head back to the city, and get Nick fully well there. He’s recovering. Dengue sucks, it’s extremly-rarely deadly, but it sucks for sure.

So today we booked tickets to our next city, our gateway back to Thailand.

Here’s the truth. No matter how hard the road, the great commission is worth it all. No matter if we fall a few times, we get up and keep going. People need God. They get God through Jesus. There should be no limit to what we would do to bring this message to the Un-reached. God spared not even his own son. Jesus endured the cross and death.

Please pray for us as we head back to Thailand and begin the planning for our Christmas outreaches. We will be remodeling our base in Thailand while we are there. As for now our Cambodian mission is postponed to January. We want weeks to spend in the homes of the unreached.

Thank you for your prayers and financial partnerships. Ministry is never independent. Without you this ministry would be limited. But together, we can do the works Jesus did and even greater works.

If you wish to give towards our Thailand base, Christmas outreach, or Cambodian mission, click HERE. All gifts given between now and January will be going toward those projects. We are in need of a new camera as MiniDV tapes are getting more and more difficult to find on the road. The camera we are believing for is the Canon 550d EOS (The American Version capable of 30 frames/per second).

Our monthly budget need for ministry, salary, and travel is currently $5,000 / month. You can make a monthy pledge to RLI via our secure online donation system (powered by Paypal) HERE. Please consider doing so. No gift is too small. Now, more than ever, we desire to go deeper, harder, and do more for the great commission. We can not do this without you.

Until next time, blessings, and continue…

living the Revolutionary Life,

Dustan & Darlene

SEE MORE PICTURES FROM OUR JOURNEY HERE