Ministry
This month I am working for a ministry in Thailand called Step Ahead. It is a micro-financing business designed to help women get out of poverty and prostitution by making high end leather purses. It is remarkable the designs they produce and the quality of their hand-made bags. My team and I live upstairs from the factory. In the mornings we worship with them and share our testimonies. They are hard workers and are pressing in to discover God and his unique provision for their lives. Visit their website…. www.stepaheadmed.org
Pattaya Night Life:
Two nights ago we met in the middle of the city with a group of missionaries that live in Thailand and we joined them at their prayer house called PHOP – Pattaya House Of Prayer. It was beautiful and the spirit of the Lord fell upon that place. What I didn’t know is that I would be walking through rows and rows of women prostituting themselves. I felt like I was walking through a movie. You know what though? I was surprised by my emotion. I wasn’t hysterical with sadness…I wasn’t angry…I wasn’t overwhelmed with any emotion other than awareness. I was aware of what was really going on. Aware of the root issues behind these women’s choices, the pain that they experience on a daily basis, the numbness they harbor in their heart, the childhood they lived or didn’t get to live, the reality of their lack of wanting a better life for themselves, the laziness some have, the desire to want to be in prostitution….
You see, we walked through open bars where women CHOOSE to be in prostitution because it’s “easy money”. They get paid a lot by working for a short amount of time. THEY WANT TO BE THERE. These aren’t brothels or sex trafficked women who are forced beyond their will. MAYBE some are there because they aren’t able to get a job elsewhere, but most are by choice.
So, that leaves me to wonder…WHY? Why do they have little respect for themselves? Why do they not care? How did they learn that they have no self-worth? What do they know about God’s love? What’s the root here? What will get them to listen?
Did you know that 1.6% of the people in Pattaya, Thailand are Christians?
Step Ahead is a great name for the ministry we work with. It’s empowering them to take their life and “Step Ahead” into greater opportunities.
My Life:
I feel like the name “Step Ahead” is really applicable for my life too. The Lord is teaching me to step out of some old patterns of not trusting him and step into more trust and identity in him. As many of you know, Africa left me with a few illnesses: Tyhpoid (healed), Entamoeba Coli (Finished the meds…so…Healed? haha), Gastritis (active but in the process of being healed by God :D) and common colds here and there from a less-than-stable immune system because of Typhoid. The gastritis is really the only lingering thing I am trying to work through. At least that I am aware of.
I am the type of person that gets scared from unknowns easily. Unfortunately, it takes a short amount of time of being nervous about my health for me to start doubting God’s ability to heal me. You see…the root here is not illness…it’s my lack of trust in God. That’s a HUGE ROOT! I know God’s healing is a debatable topic for some people, but for me, my mind and heart know it’s true. I’ve read about it in the Bible, heard about it from personal accounts and have seen it in my own life. But, there is still something inside of me that keeps me from believing it 100% in the moment when I am hurting.
Here’s the thing: I believe that the Lord wants to bring me into more authority and trust in His divine healing. It’s so abstract and out there that I have to take a leap of faith to get there. I want to learn. I want to be a radical believer and see God do miracles daily. I just have to get past my trust issues and fear! So here’s what I say to all of this..
SICKNESS YOU HAVE NO HOLD ON ME!
TYPHOID YOU ARE DEFEATED IN JESUS NAME!
GASTRITIS YOU ARE DEFEATED IN JESUS NAME!
ENTAMOEBA COLI YOU ARE DEFEATED IN JESUS NAME!
COMMON COLD YOU ARE DEFEATED IN JESUS NAME!
Any other illness I am unaware of…YOU ARE DEFEATED IN JESUS NAME!
Doubt, fear, anxiety YOU ARE DEFEATED IN JESUS NAME!
I am a Daughter of the King that trusts 100% in her Heavenly Father. I am an heir of His throne and therefore, I have authority to see Heavenly things reign on earth. My body in Heaven is whole and healthy, therefore it will be on earth too! I am fully healed of all my illnesses and I have radical faith in the Father’s ability to do so. I am perfectly loved by God. He is my protector, provider and healer. Amen!
You see…sometimes it takes just being crazy! To see change in myself I gotta shout it out, live it, make my actions become apart of my hearts desires even if I sound crazy. I have to start with myself so that the love of God can pour out to others.
Prostitution is not a big battle for God. He can heal all things physical and emotional. So let’s call into existence what God can and will do, not so that he listens to us, but so that we can believe in his power and provision!
Love you all!
