I have been in Thailand for a week now. Granted this time last week we were sleeping in a bus station waiting to get to Chiang Mai. So I have been here for a week and we still haven’t made it to our “ministry site.” When we were given the information for this month and we were told that my newly formed team, made up of 9 girls, would be heading to the village of Chiang Dao to literally be breaking ground for a training center that was being built out there. The training center would be for women who are getting out of the sex trafficking world, to be able to go to a place outside of the city, where all they know is to work in the bars, and have a safe place to learn a trade and about Jesus. I was excited about doing this. Maybe it is because so far my team has been the ones out in villages and I am just comfortable there now, or maybe it is for other reasons, I’m not sure. But the excitement was there.
A week later: I am still in the wonderful city of Chiang Mai. Every day there is still talk of going to the village, and as of this moment I do believe we will get there eventually. But right now God is using us here. When we arrived to Thailand we knew there would be a few days of training before anyone got to start ministry, and then our off day where some of us went elephant riding and bamboo rafting. But then ministry was supposed to start. For reasons no one on my team knows, our day for leaving was pushed back from Wednesday to Thursday. When we woke up on Thursday one of our teammates was still feeling ill so we decided to not actually leave then either. But we weren’t just going to sit around all day. We were going to ask God what our ministry was for that day.
Not all of us got the same ministry calling yesterday. But we all got called. Some of my team had a unique opportunity to talk to a volunteer of a monk about Jesus and the Bible for 3 hours. (You can read their accounts here {some are not posted yet but they will be in the next few days so check back, it is an amazing story}: pamelagessler.theworldrace.org, sarashoup.theworldrace.org, anikaerikson.theworldrace.org, jayandjenndannelly.theworldrace.org) Caity wanted to do the laundry of the teams who had started working so they didn’t have to worry about it. As for me, well not to be biased, but I think God let me have the best ministry yesterday, and actually this whole month.
He is allowing me to just be me. So far my ministry this month is looking a lot like what my ministry was back home. I am getting to serve my friends in whatever they may need. Caity needs help with the laundry, I am right there to help here. One of my squad mates looks like they need someone to talk to, I can sit and chat with them for an hour and speak life over them. Sara, Jen, Pamela, and Anika want to prayer walk at the temples, I get to stay back with some worship music and intercede for them. Someone needs a second person to run an errand with, since we can go nowhere alone, I get to be person number 2.
For you this may not seem like ministry, but I have felt more engaged in this ministry than any other one so far. This type of ministry is what I was created for. So now instead of having someone tell me what my ministry is for the day I get to ask the Lord what he has next for me. I still believe we will get to the village, but now I am not rushing to get there to “start ministry.” I have started my ministry this month, and I love every minute of it! In the words of my team I am a sous chef for life!
