This month in Thailand, my team has been fortunate enough to meet with some awesome missionaries and ministries. These are people who are doing amazing things for the Kingdom, but often go overlooked or unrecognized – Adventures in Missions calls them “Unsung Heroes”.
Unsung Heroes duty in Thailand hasn’t been easy, but it has definitely been rewarding. We met a couple, Ivan and Kashmira, who moved to Bangkok and has been faithfully serving/ministering/shining light in the same community for over 6 years. We got to serve with an awesome organization in Pattaya called Thrive Rescue Home. Thrive Rescue is committed to ending sex trafficking and restoring the lives of girls who have been trapped in sex slavery – one life at a time. We were extremely blessed by the love and generosity shown to us by Pastor Jum and her church members at House of the Lord Church in Khok Kloi. While in Khok Kloi we got the opportunity to assist a missionary team from Singapore who were giving up their Christmas holiday to do a 5 day outreach in Khok Kloi and Phang Nga with school children, Burmese refugees and construction workers, and people in the community.
Each of these contacts are beautiful servants of the Lord and deserve to be recognized. God showed his abundant favor on us through the extremely gracious hosts that we were able to meet! As I reflect on them and the wonderful things that they are doing in the cities that God has called them to, I can’t help but think about the Greatest Unsung Heroes that I’ve been blessed to know: Ken and Faye Smith – AKA my parents.
For the past 29 years, you two have been my Unsung Heroes. You have dedicated your life to God, given of yourself for the sake of your 6 children and raising us to know & love the Lord, and once we became adults you continued to serve God’s Kingdom by sacricificing everything you knew and worked to acquire for the purpose of planting a church in Bryan, TX (a city foreign to you both) – New Direction Worship Center. Thinking back on the stories and testimonies that I heard this month from all of the missionaries in Thailand, my eyes are now opened to the reality that I’ve known this type of person my entire life.
Dad, it’s because of you that I am strong and courageous. Mom, it’s because of you that I am loving and merciful (sometimes merciful – I’m still working on that, lol). All of your children are fruit of your labor, dedication, and obedience. You were the example that I leaned on when choosing to sacrifice a year of my life for the World Race; and if there is anything in me that you are proud of, know that you are the cause of that as well. I am favored and abundantly blessed because of your unrelenting prayers and constant display of God’s love. You are my heroes, my guardian angels; and after a month of Unsung Heroes Duty in Thailand, I’ve concluded that you are the GREATEST UNSUNG HEROES ever!!! I LOVE & MISS YOU GUYS!
“Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!” – Hebrews 13:2
