This was written by a missionary who has been working on the Thailand/Burma border. This is her experience in the remote villages of that region. - blog manager

I felt like I was stepping back in time. Rutted, rocky roads wound in thin dusty ribbons through the mountains and steep jungle rose on either side. After we turned off the main road and put the trucks in 4 wheel drive, there was nothing but a slow, wondrous climb into some of the most beautiful countryside I've ever seen.

Bamboo fences ran along the fields and small bamboo huts dotted the hillside. There were 50 degree areas planted in corn--the hill-tribe people use every piece of available land for farming.

This was my first journey into the hill-tribe villages. I hope it will not be my last!

A little background: last year I got to work with a delightful Australian couple, Fran and Owen, who have a passion for the unreached, and this area in particular. They have since transferred to another organization than the one I am with this year, and it was my great privilege to join them and their team on a weekend trip to several Karen villages in the mountains north of Mae Sot.

There were roughly 25 in the group--a team of Aussies from Fran and Owen's home church, several Karen/Burmese Mae Sot locals (8 students from a fabulous Christian school here, along with 3 of their teachers. They all worked as our translators and were AWESOME!), and myself. It was an amazing group of people to work with. I was so blessed with everyone's willingness to deal with heat, fatigue, sickness, and quite primitive living for a weekend. Their was a heartbeat of love for Jesus among us and I could see on the faces of those we interacted with that they had been blessed.

Together we left Friday morning and drove several hours into the mountains....taking several breaks along the way for a few among us who got a little queasy on all the curves. ;)

In the early afternoon we turned off the concrete road and traveled several kilometers into the jungle. Some of the roads were so rocky and steep that we were all clenching our teeth and gripping the seat rests white-knuckled. Thanks to our amazing drivers, we made it without incident. :)

Our team spent two nights in one village that functioned as our base camp. I loved this village--the people were so precious, so curious, and eager to welcome us. They were shy at first--especially the children. Fran and Owen have been working for several years to build a relationship that would make a trip like this possible. This was the first time they had brought a large group of Westerners to minister to the village--WOW!!! What an exciting opportunity! We felt so thankful for the doors God has opened over the years.

Friday evening we unloaded a MOUNTAIN of luggage, food, and bedding {amazing what it takes for a group to survive for 3 days;)} and got settle into the lodging the village pastor had prepared for us: an old school on stilts, divided upstairs into tiny dorm rooms with a dirt-floor kitchen, meeting area and toilet below. There is no electricity in the village, although they have wiring which is occasionally used on special occasions when a generator is brought in--in this case, by us.

At 6PM that night we held our first church service in the tiny Anglican church building in the village. Many people came. There are about 100 families in this particular Karen village, though less than 5 of them are Christian. Several of the men from our group preached and gave personal testimonies, and we closed the service with an invitation for those needing healing to come forward for prayer. We spent hours in prayer that weekend. It was probably the greatest "work" that we did--and was a hugely stretching experience for me. But such a wonderful one.

We laid hands on and prayed for so many individuals that night; they just kept coming. Some were healed of things like chronic pain, headaches, or total paralysis on one side. Some were not miraculously healed, but I treasured the opportunity to simply pray over these people. God knows what they need to believe--for some, maybe it is a miraculous healing. For others, it is something else. I'm so glad we can trust HIS wisdom!! There was a spirit of surrender and worship in the service and I felt that God was being glorified. The spiritual background of most people in this village is animism--for generations they have been in the bondage of spirit and ancestral worship. Many of them regularly see ghosts and they live in constant fear of everything. We spent a lot of time also praying against spiritual darkness and for freedom from the bondage of the demons who have such a hold on this whole village.

While the adult service was going on, others from our group held a children's service just outside the church. Wow what a JOYFUL NOISE!!!! Their laughter and sounded to me like a huge waterfall! About 70 children came, and they estimated another 150 adults watching on the perimeters!! The team sang, played, and spoke to the children and generally had a fabulous time. :)

Saturday morning we got up early and loaded up into the vehicles for a 2 hour drive to another village farther up the mountain. We drove over what seemed like 5 mountains and saw some incredibly remote, beautiful countryside. My face was plastered to the window the whole time. :) It was AMAZING!! In a way it reminded me of the Appalachian mountains back home. :) Some of the roads were the kind that made me hold my breath...like one where we traveled along a narrow stretch on the side of a cliff that looked to be made of shale. The edge was clearly crumbling off and there were signs posted at either end of a 500' stretch. We were glad we couldn't read Thai to know the real danger we were in as we said a prayer and roared across as fast as we safely could. :)

After we arrived some of the men left and picked up a group of believers from a nearby village to come and also join in the service. The day was full of interacting with the village children and winning their hearts through play and smiles and hugs when language barriers affected communication. The village people served us lunch which we bravely ate--normally I'm not bothered at all by strange foods or the thought of somtehing being dirty, but that noon meal was a stretch. :) Haha....a few got sick but I was pretty blessed---never got sick the whole weekend which was something I was specifically praying about.

Saturday was a full day.....we were all quite worn out from the hours on the road over rutted, dangerous roads, but we forged ahead, rushed back to the home base village and prepared for dinner before a second meeting in the village that night.

Sunday morning we rose with the sun and began the church service at 7AM sharp. :) This was a first for me....but it was refreshing in a way. :) The assistant pastor came out around 6:30 AM and used a gong to beat on the church "bell"--the rim of a tire. :) No sleeping through that.....

All the services were meaningful for different reasons, but one of the things that excited me the most was looking around at the faces of those attending--knowing the lies that they believe and the fear that fills their hearts and knowing that God LOVES them and longs to draw them to Himself. This was my first experience inteacting with people who are largely unreached. It was sobering--how will they know if they have not heard?! The times I spent praying over people were so moving for me....I feel that God gave me a deeper glimpse of His mercy and love. These are not just numbers or statistics or nameless faces....they are PEOPLE, each one with a story and needs and a soul that was created for God. I pray that His spirit will continue to move in their hearts. We also had the privilege of taking communion with the local believers and it excited me all over again to experience the unity that crosses all cultures and languages for those that know Jesus.

In the afternoon I did a bit of medical care for a man who had accidentally shot himself in the arm recently and wasn't healing properly. Then we ate lunch and packed up and started the trip home.

On our way, we stopped at a 4th village to spend time praying for a paraplegic. This man had become saved as a young man and 3 months later fell out of a tree, breaking his neck. He has been confined to a crude bed fo 18 years now. Some movement as been regained over the years, but his faith has not wavered. We prayed for his healing and for encouragement and peace. Seeing his sweet, serene face and hearing of his faith made me cry---there was no complaining spirit or bitterness, and yet he has coped with a devastating handicap for half his life. Would I be so faithful? It challenged and humbled me.

We came home exhausted. I felt like I'd come out of a spiritual whirlwind. So much time in prayer, doing warfare in a community where the Devil's hold is so strong is draining physically and emotionally. We came home, unpacked, and then collapsed into bed for some deep sweet sleep.

The weekend was a precious experience for me. I witnessed God's power and felt His presence in darkness in some real and meaningful ways. In the prayers for healing especially, I learned some valuable lessons about offering my faith--weak as it might be--to God and trusting Him to do what is BEST. In a discussion with some of the team members later, we were asking some of those hard questions about healing--why does God heal some but not others? Is there really a "Time to die"? Why do bad things happen? Does a lack of healing indicate a lack of belief? At the end, we concluded this simple truth:

Our faith must not be in our faith, but in God. Healing is not the goal--God's glory is.