Redemption in Thailand... and 2019 Video Highlights

A few weeks ago, I had to review and save our last few years of “God Stories” from around the world.

All 182 of them.

I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I was a little surprised at how encouraging it was to look back on the ways that God has moved over the last seven years.

So I decided to start 2020 with a quick (under 4 minute) video recap of our whirlwind past year for those who haven’t seen it, and one of my favorite God stories from 2019 - it's Kailah's story of hardship in victory in Pattaya, Thailand from several months ago.

And it gets me every time…

(Kailah’s Story)

It was the beginning of our third week in Asia. Exhausted and sick, I had just woken up in the hotel room I was sharing with my parents.  I was lying on an old mattress on the floor where I had propped myself up the night before at an awkward, nearly upright position in order to breathe, and I was disappointed to find that the air conditioning had broken… again.

Today was our last day in Pattaya, a coastal town in Thailand known for sex trafficking and prostitution.  In a few hours, we would drive to the venue where we had been performing for the last two nights. It was a large stage that had been set up in the courtyard of a towering mall – an island of H&M, Hilton, and brightly-lit K-pop video billboards in the the middle of the city, only blocks from the rat-infested “Walking Street” which we had been repeatedly warned to avoid.

After this final night in Pattaya, we would be heading to Bangkok, and then the small country of Brunei for another week.

This morning we had been planning to practice and pray together as a family before we left the hotel.  So that’s exactly what we did.

We met together in my sister and brother-in-law’s room (simply because they currently had air conditioning), did a quick practice, and, afterward, sat together and began to pray. Someone started us off, and, when they had finished, someone else followed. This went on until nearly every one of the five of us had prayed, and I thought that, because I was feeling so overwhelmed, maybe it would be good if I prayed too.

“Jesus. I’m so tired…” I started to say out loud, “and, to be honest, part of me just wants to go home…”

I paused and wiped my nose, and this time it wasn’t because of my cold…

“…but I know that you want to do something amazing. I know you want us to share Your love with the people here. So Jesus, please come. Use me in my brokenness to do Your will.”

And then I broke down into a snotty, emotional mess.

For a moment, the room went quiet, and then my dad rose from his chair, walked over, and sat next to me.

Without saying a word, I dropped my head onto his shoulder, hid my face, and cried.

And then something surprising happened. Even as I sobbed, creating a damp circle on my dad’s sleeve, I found myself steadied by an unexpected peace.  It was like I just REMEMBERED that my God was strong. HE was the one who brought us here – I knew that only He could do something amazing at this point… and I truly believed that He would.

I sat up, and, though still a bit tired, I felt ready to do what we had come to do.

After I had finished my long cry, we prayed for a few more minutes and headed out to soundcheck. But the whole time, something was stirring in my heart.

On the way off the stage, I pulled my dad aside and told him that I wanted to be the one to share the love of Jesus that night in our set. He immediately agreed, and we talked through when and how I would present the Gospel.

During our set that night, after we had performed a few of our songs and a good-sized crowd had gathered to hear more music, I walked through the artificial fog and the strobe lights to the front of the stage.

I explained how all of us have messed up and, by doing so, put up a wall between us and God, separating us from what we were created for. I told them the good news about how when God saw us in that situation, instead of judging us, He loved us so much that He sent His son Jesus – that Jesus lived a perfect life and died for us, paying the price we deserved to pay. I then explained how to say, “yes” to Jesus and how, by doing so, we can be reconnected with Him and forgiven of all the bad things we’ve done.

I felt power and incredible strength as I spoke into the microphone about the hope found in Jesus Christ. Right there in the courtyard of a mall in the broken city of Pattaya, I heard the love of Jesus echo off of the walls of the surrounding buildings, reaching people who may have never heard it before this day.
(Here’s what it sounded like in person – WRD’s Kailah in Pattaya, Thailand!)

God had answered my prayer. God used my weakness to bring this message of hope to many. When I was at the end of my ability, God stepped in and brought passion, strength, and peace.

“But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” – 2 Corinthians 12:9

God can use anything, even our brokenness, to show His love to people. We have seen this to be true time and time again. God is good friends.

And this is why we do what we do.

2019 was an incredible year for us - by the grace of God, we were able to share the message of Jesus with more than 100,000 people in 12 nations, and we saw tens of thousands respond to His transformational love. Here’s a quick recap of our journey:

If you're interested in partnering with us to share the love and message of Jesus around the world in 2020 with a tax-deductible monthly donation or one-time gift, simply click the link below for more information. We're deeply thankful for you, friends!

If you haven’t heard our latest CD, THROUGH IT, please check it out! You can listen on Spotify or watch our latest music video here: