This is a follow up to A day in the Life: Showers, Bars, and English in Thailand. Click to Check it out :0)
The work here at Wongen One man plants, another waters, and still another harvests…but the Lord causes the plants to Grow. In all his toil, the farmer cannot cause the seed to take in nutrients and process them. He cannot cause the cells to divide and multiply.
One of our teams was told they would be doing Trafficking Prevention in the villages. Upon arrival, they found themselves farming soybeans and rice. Confused, and some of the frustrated, they choose to press into the task at hand, and find joy in persevering….each day, returning from the fields covered in manure and mud. They came to Wongen for debriefing only to learn that KT (not her real name) had been sending teams to this region for 3 years. The challenge in the area is that rice is only grown during 1 season of the year. This leaves farmers and their families without income for over half of the year. During the dry times, traffickers prey on poor families, buying their children, or promising their children work that will send money back home. In these pressing times, many families give in to the pressures and promises… ignorant, in denial, or disinterested in the fact that in that brief moment…a handshake, or a nod of the head… their child is now a sex slave.
KT is very intelligent and business savvy, but completely disrespected by the farmers because she is ‘just a woman’ and ‘knows nothing about farming’. Her idea for year-round farming has been disregarded for years. She proposes that the farmers can harvest other crops when rice is not in season. Ridiculous! Enter L-Squad. Coming in on the backs of 3 years of various teams serving faithfully with no visible result, often unsure how shoveling poo stops sex slavery…this time, the seeds are starting to grow!
The Farmer contacted KT announcing that after watching a team of women (thank you ‘Womanistry month’…no men on the team) work faithfully, and diligently all month….he has decided to start planting other crops all year round! This small step will hopefully inspire other farmers to follow suit, thus greatly increasing the families annual income and decreasing the need to sell their children.
It may be many more years before there is a tangible correlation between poo and freedom, but every team has played a part! The hard work put in by the teams before was vital in the result this team saw in 1 changed heart. The teams that come after will have more hard work ahead until one day, a team will look and see a great harvest in their hands. A harvest measured by men and women of the young adult age being present in the village. Right now, there are children, and the elderly….anyone in-between is ‘working’ in the city. In the future…teams will be working in the fields alongside 20somthings, shoveling poo together….FREE!
This kind of long-term result is common here. Thailand is a place where there is no paradigm for the gospel. It takes many relationships, conversations, questions, and time for the seeds planted to yield a harvest.
Read Divine Appointment: A’s Story to hear how I am blessed to see a harvest that is not mine to claim, and how I am trusting Jesus that the young seeds I planted may one day be a harvest.
