Shalom All,
“Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me, for in you I take refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed”, Psalm 57 verse 1.
The flood situation in Bangkok is getting critical by the day, with relentless pressure of floods from the northern and northeastern provinces of Thailand above Bangkok.
Below are two pictures showing how floods in central, northern and northeastern of Thailand look like.
Last Friday, my wife Jenny had a vision from God about floods in Bangkok. She told me that we need to get out of Bangkok immediately on Monday, that is yesterday. But I felt that there was no urgency to leave Bangkok after listening to the news from government sources that Bangkok would remain safe, with little likelihood of floods.
Therefore I just ignored her urging.
Yesterday evening, Jenny spoke to her friend who works as a university lecturer. Her friend shared her flood experience in the Nonthaburi (the province to the west of Bangkok). She narrated that flood water came into her house within 3 hours from ground level to the chest level just a few days ago.
We also contacted a church elder of the Jaisamarn Full Gospel Bang Pa-In Church who lives on a higher ground of the Bang Pa-In area that has never before experienced floods. But late on last Saturday evening just before they were about to retire for the night, suddenly flood water came rushing into their house and within 2 hours, the water reached the level of their neck. They rushed out just in time to get back to the safety of their hometown, some distance away.
This afternoon, we also contacted another Christian brother. He told us that the flood water has already got into their home. This happened on Sunday late evening and the flood water level reached the chest level within an hour. They did not have enough time to save their car in time and so it is now submerged under the floods.
Radio and TV news from Bangkok are now getting more pessimistic. They broadcast news that the water barricade in Navanakorn District has been breached. Thus the situation is getting more serious and flood water may soon endanger the people in Bangkok and its surrounding.
With all this happening, I believe there is good evidence in Jenny’s vision. So we decided to pack our bags and rush to the Don Mueang Airport to catch a flight to Chiang Mai ... if we are able to get 2 tickets, by God's grace. While we were on the plane, Jenny took a few pictures from the air flying over Bangkok ... clearly, large tracts of land and many, many places near Bangkok are already being flooded. There is nothing much we can do now but wait for the floods to be over and then we will return to help the people to re-build their place.
On October 12, 2011, a tornado hit Ayutthaya for two hours. Last week, there was an earthquake of 3.2 magnitude in Tak (below ChiangMai) and this quake shook the biggest dam of Thailand. Dozens of crocodiles have escaped from a farm in Ayutthaya's Bang Ban district after it was inundated by months of severe flooding and heavy rain.
Believe it or not, this is what we are told:
- Rojana Industrial Estate (Ayutthaya) has maintained that it has built the strongest embankment wall of 6m high ... yet this place is now under water.
- High-Tech Industrial Estate (Ayutthaya) also claims that its walls/embankments are made of solid soil capable of stopping rushing floods ... now this place sinks under water.
- Bang Pa-In Industrial Estate (Ayutthaya) also claims that it has protected itself with the strongest double layer sand bags ... now it is submerged by flood water.
- Navanakorn Industrial Estate also claims to be secure against any impending flood, because it has built a 5 m high wall, yet now it, too, is under water.
- Bangkok confidently says it has prepared for a worse scenario by making an embankment wall 50cm higher than all previous recorded flood water levels ... but could Bangkok save itself?
- Properties near Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok are also at risk, although the airport itself is said to be well protected. Let us wait and see.
What will turn up next for Thailand in the following days is entirely in God's hands.
We earnestly pray for His mercy upon this country, and that peace and serenity will return quickly to this land and its people by the grace of God.
Blessings,
Rev. Steve Peter H S Kok
