I am officially done with month two of my race. Time is flying by and now that my third month is about to begin all of my memories of Thailand are flooding my mind begging to be written down. The only thing I knew about Thailand before arriving was that you could release floating lanterns into the night sky. It’s true, you can, but there is so much more to Thailand than floating lanterns, especially in Chiang Mai where my whole squad did ministry that month. On a physical level, the best way to describe Chiang Mai is touristy. There were a lot of restaurants catered towards Americans and Europeans and too many 7 Elevens to count. Yes, there were night markets covering the streets that had just about every knickknack you can think of and people drove around on scooters (which I don’t recommend renting unless you have experience driving a two wheeled vehicle with an engine), but I never truly felt like I was in a foreign country. On a spiritual level, the best way to describe Chiang Mai is heavy.
For our second month my squad partnered with Lighthouse in Action which is an umbrella for multiple ministries. My first week in Thailand my team did bar ministry. We would go out on prayer walks every morning and afternoon praying for the city and the people we would encounter and pray for those who went out to the bars at night to build relationships with the women who were being sex trafficked as well as the men, also known as Johns, who would seek the women out for pleasure. Unfortunately, my team didn’t get a chance to go out and do night bar ministry because another world race team was staying at the same hostel at the same time, but I did get to tag along with another team one night the next week to see what night bar was like. I was in a boxing arena that was lined with tons of bars on the side and played Jenga and pool, pretty poorly, with some of the women. Our host told us at the beginning of the month not to go into this type of ministry thinking about saving everyone. Instead, just try to make one friend and spend time loving these men and women and maybe by the end of the month the women could be introduced to her to see if they would like to work at her café.
During my bar ministry week I did make a friend named Sinee and she is one of the sweetest people I will ever have the pleasure of knowing. She had been working in the Kitty Cat Bar for about a month to make more money to send back home to her boyfriend and her 6 year old daughter. The day before Valentine’s Day she told me she broke up with her boyfriend because he was cheating on her so my team and I tried to comfort her as best we could. I even made a lunch date with her for the next week but she cancelled the date because she decided to move back home to the mountains. Although I was really sad I only had a short time with her, I trusted that God put me in her life for a reason and I played the part I was supposed to play. He told me He had everything under control and I know in my heart that she will come to know the Lord someday. One of my passions in ministry is working with anti sex trafficking organizations so I’m so glad I got a chance to be a part of Lighthouse for the time I was in Thailand.
After my first week I didn’t really expect any other ministry to be able to measure up, but I was wrong. During my last week in Thailand I spent two days teaching English to some police academy students that would be joining the tourist police after graduating. The students were great and the police officers that were our hosts for those two days will always have a special place in my heart. Pi Oie, Pi Jimmy, and Pi Lucky were always quick to serve my team and make our stay as enjoyable as possible. When it was time to say our goodbyes they even asked us to pray to our God for them because they felt the power in our God. This is huge because they all believe in Buddhism so I could really see God working in them when they asked that of us and it was the perfect way to end our time together.
For the remainder of my last week my team did Monk Chat. This is where you go to a temple to spend a couple hours with the monks to ask them questions and learn more about Buddhism. It was all very interesting and I’m glad I got the chance to learn more about what they believe and why they believe what they do. We even had one monk who was very curious about Christianity and I loved that my team and I could spend time answering his questions. I could see God moving in this young man and I am so glad I got to be a part of that.
Thailand was a very busy month for me. I was physically exhausted and spiritually exhausted. I heard God the clearest I have ever heard Him in my entire life and I’m excited to see what else He has to show me and tell me during the rest of my race and beyond. But with growing intimacy with God the devil is quick to attack. My team and my squad struggled with a lot of sickness and pain and a lot of things that have held us back bubbled up to the surface during our month in Thailand. For me, I have dealt with feelings of abandonment and feelings of unworthiness and the devil wasted no time in whispering in my ear all of my past hurts. But I won out because I have faith in God and I know that my team and my squad can really do something great. We already are doing something great and God is using us and stretching us. Watch out world because N Squad is strong and team D.O.R.A. isn’t backing down!
