I LOVE bars! I love the chaos, the loud music and bouncing around to it, the games, the people, the intensity. In Thailand, they play Jenga, Connect Four, pool, and other games.
Although I love it, it’s a hard ministry. Spending time in such a dark place makes spiritual warfare more evident. Battling against the enemy is an intense battle but I’m thankful for an almighty God and the angels who fight the battle. But it’s important to have the awareness of the battle. Also, this ministry requires resilience. It requires God’s resilience in someone to not be discouraged easily. Bar ministry reminds me of a ministry at home I’m passionate about. It reminds me of a high school outreach called Young Life.
Haha….I just compared Young Life to bar ministry in Thailand…well yeah!
Bar ministry is relational. Young Life is relational.
In bar ministry, we go out to the bars 2 or 3 times a week at night to meet people working at the bars. In Young Life we go to the high school lunchroom to meet kids. Walking into a high school lunchroom of kids you don’t know or who don’t want to talk to the awkward college kid is synonymous to walking into a lion’s den. Joking but seriously… Walking into a chaotic bar and trying to make friends with prostitutes and lady boys who are focused on finding a male customer to go home with that night, doesn’t make the young girl who orders a diet coke a prime target.
In Young Life, an important aspect of ministry is contact work where you hang out with kids to build relationships. Which means you go to where they are at athletic events and other school hangouts to get to know them. In bar ministry, we spend time in the afternoons going to the bars to make connections with the women and ladyboys while they aren’t distracted by work.
I could go on and on but…
I love bar ministry. I love Young Life. They are one in the same to me with a few (minor) differences. We go out in 2's and 3's making friends and while having such a fun time.
God has prepared me this month to stay faithful despite the lack of fruit I may see. But He also wants me to pray for big things because He is a God with infinite power and He likes to do big things.
God continues to teach me the importance of prayer in this ministry. We prayer walk in the mornings around bar street, afternoons, and evenings when another group goes out.
Only God can uproot the deep-rooted ideas within the hearts and minds of these Thai people. Roots of Buddhism, roots of false religions, roots of obscene childhoods, roots of negative images of God, roots of insecurity, roots of homosexuality. Only after God gets down and dirty gardening to uproot these things can the soil be ready for the seeds to be laid.
But He can and He will…I can’t wait to see what He’s going to do…
Cheers to Connect 4, getting good at pool, intense prayer, and gardening,
Jen
Check out this amazing song by United Pursuit…I’ve spent many hours listening to their newest album Endless Years to prepare, sustain, and excite me.
