New Year's Eve Service

On New Year's Eve morning, we had a church service here at Stephen & Mary's. It was a service to thank God for all of the blessings of the past year and to look ahead to the New Year. There were around 100 people that came from Chiang Mai & different villages. There were four languages spoken during this service! This always amazes me when different people groups come together as the body of Christ to praise & worship Him! Even more amazing is that even though we can't understand each other, God understands & knows every language & every heart!

Seating in the outdoor classroom...

...and under the carport!

This little girl started the service with a special song - so cute!

In addition to the hymns that we sang together throughout the service, there were many songs sung by each different village that came, in their respective language.

A song sung in Lahu

A song sung in Thai

A song sung in Lisu

Another song sung in Thai

Chris, a man from Australia, preached the sermon with Stephen translating into Thai. (After the sermon, a man translated the whole message into Lahu, then another translated it into Lisu.) His message pretty much summed up everything that I had been thinking about & reflecting on the previous week! I LOVE when God does that. :) He talked about reflecting on where we are with Jesus - looking back to see where we've come & where we now stand, but not stopping there, growing deeper in our relationship with Him & looking ahead to where Jesus will take us. A great place to be going into the New Year!

Chris preaching & Stephen translating

After the service was over, we all enjoyed lunch together. There was A LOT of food! (Sorry, I didn't take any pictures of that.) After lunch, everyone slowly left to go back to their homes. I had a small clinic and saw six people.

It was a great day thanksgiving, praise & worship, reflection, & looking ahead! 

May God bless each of you in 2012!
Alicia