As I look to the remaining weeks of my Race and seek what things lie beyond it, I want to reflect on all I’ve walked through which has led me to this point. During these last 11 weeks of my Race, I’m focusing on sharing big lessons I’ve learned through small moments in each of the countries I’ve ventured to.
Week Two: Reflecting on Month Two – Thailand.
From the moment I first entered Thailand, literally, as the plane I sat in approached landing, I felt a spiritual heaviness unlike anything I’d ever experienced prior. I knew then and there that I would need to rely more deeply on the Spirit of God than I ever had in my life. I needed to depend fully on Him to be my strength and my joy. I just couldn’t muster it up on my own. Not only did the atmosphere of the nation weigh on my heart, but also our ministry in the city of Chiang Mai – building relationships with women working in bars where, along with beverages, they could be purchased – opened my eyes to devastating brokenness. Our bar ministry was twofold: When some team members went out to make connections with the women, the rest stayed back and interceded for their interactions and for their safety. This month solidified my understanding of prayer as a dialogue. Not only do we speak out our requests to the Lord but we also wait and listen, perceiving what His heart wants to speak to ours.
From my journal on October 12, 2013:
“Prayer time 7 – 10:30 pm. Sitting in the quiet waiting for God to speak, only the ambient sound of fans punctuate the silence. The Lord speaks to me through that – just as fans do not create air, but only stir up and circulate the air already in the atmosphere, so do we, with out intercession, stir up the Spirit of God already resident in the streets of Chiang Mai and the nation of Thailand. I will fan, and I commit to continue fanning, the Spirit of God wherever I am. Yes and amen.”
Big lessons from small moments.
From my heart,
Erika Venese
