Arms Wide Open

We arrived ready.
Ready for what the Lord has.

My arms are open wide for ALL that the Lord has planned for myself and our entire squad. This month is MAN-istry and WOMAN-istry. All the men on our squad left this morning for a month of brotherhood and ministry together. They will be doing manual labor, evangelism, goat herding, preaching, and more. As for the women we are splitting into 3 different cities. My team will be with 4 others teams in Phuket, Thailand working with SHE (Self Help and Empowerment) Ministries.

SHE started in 2006, and is a
Christian organization committed to helping women and children at risk in
Thailand, many of whom are trapped in the commercial sex trade. SHE is
dedicated to providing employment, vocational training and counseling
for women who want to help themselves out of this industry. They help the women find employment, community,
friendship, restoration, and above all restoration of their own value.

Please pray for us as we enter a city whose main industry is sex trafficking. An industry that brings between $22-27 billion dollars a year to this country. An industry that has affected the country and has led to 1 in 100 Thai people having HIV/AIDS and is now the leading cause of death here. An industry that breeds in the darkness of night and leads women empty and helpless. But an industry that God is present in. An industry that God is bringing restoration to. An industry that is not overlooked. I have been on my knees many nights this week weeping for these women and the brokenness and void that fills their insides. My heart breaks. It aches. But at the same time it rejoices in the glory that God receives when change occurs, when His light shines. It leaps thinking about the women who have chosen out and for the women who now know His love. I find myself sitting in the tension but loving feeling my Dad’s heart in it all.

Pray for our conversations and relationships this month. Pray for joy and that the Lord would radiate from us. And pray for my discipline and time with the Lord. We are going to have many opportunities this month and the ability to fill our schedule from day to night. Pray that I would keep my priority on my time with the Lord and that I would have time with him everyday. He is my strength and portion and I cannot do this month (or any day) without Him.