Wow. I don’t even know where to begin with this month. It has been a wild one and the most exhausting month so far. I was so eager to get here having left my heart here for the past year but it has definitely been a rough one. The spiritual climate here is just exhausting. I have been so blessed to have grown up in such an amazing spiritual climate. I have truly never had to feel such heaviness just living somewhere. My chest feels heavy just walking around here. Coming in, I had asked God to just create divine appointments for me and put the people He sent me here to meet- right in front of me. He hand-selected me and flew me all the way across the world for one or two specific people in Thailand. I wanted to make sure that I focused on those specific individuals that he sent me here to meet. Every day I would walk to that street and stop to pray before going on that street. I would pray that he put those divine appointments in front of my face and truly show me why I was here and guide me in what he wanted me to do. I met plenty of awesome girls and people for that matter. It was the time of my life playing board games and getting to know these girls every night. These people are beautiful children of God. They could definitely teach all of us a lot. After a few nights of ministry, I found myself at a little place called Tahiti bar. Let’s just call it the bar that would change my life forever. My divine appointment was not a person but a place this month. I fell in love with the place and every single person in it. Night after night, I would go visit my heart. It dwelled there this month. I loved each and every one of them. They would run towards us when they saw us coming and hug the life out of us. Their smiles are forever embedded in my mind and also in their tears. They could beat me at any board game and hammer a nail in a piece of wood with a pointed hammer faster than any construction worker could ever imagine. They were Jesus. They were exactly what He looks like and I could see them through His eyes. He had a definition for each one of them: beautiful, gentle, beloved, awesome, strong, warrior, princess and joy. He delights in them. They make him smile and belt out laughter. He loves them and created each one of them to his likeness. He is fighting for them and protecting them each and every night. He sends his people in to comfort them each and every night as he watches over them. He has his eye on each and every one of them and he is redeeming them every step of the way. He cries out for them and cannot wait for them to choose him. He will fight for them until the very end.
We had 24-hours of prayer our last week of ministry on Bangla Road. I spent my time in prayer for her. I prayed for all the girls at Tahiti Bar. I prayed specific prayers as I wrote out each and every one of their names. I went to see them that night but God had different plans for me that night-I had to come back to Starbucks and pray for people back home. After that night, we had two more nights of ministry left. I was eager to get back out there and spend some more time with God’s beautiful daughters. We had more girls with us that night, so we were really able to get in some good conversations with them individually and hear their hearts. The specific one he sent me there for was finally there. She was ready to talk. She told us everything there was to know about her and wanted to know all about us. She knew we only had two more nights left and she made us promise we would be back the next night . On our last night we walked slow toward Tahiti. We were dreading the goodbyes and already starting to miss our new friends before the night was over. It was hard to trust in that God has a plan for them and he will take care of them long after we are gone. He won’t ever stop fighting for them. We have nothing to worry about. We walked into Tahiti and she was not there. All the girls were busy. We were determined to stay there all night in order to say goodbye to each and every one of them. She finally came and she ran towards us with excitement. She brought her camera so she could take pictures with her new friends before we left. She gave us her e-mail and wanted to keep in touch and share pictures. I was able to tell her who Jesus was and how much her creator loves her. She just smiled. I opened my journal to write down all of the girls’ names with the correct spelling. She asked to look through my journal. I tried to explain to her that I was documenting my experiences here in Thailand and wrote out my prayers for Phuket. She said she didn’t understand but she continued looking through it. She came to the page from the 24-hour prayer with her name on it. She ran her fingers across the page and asked me what it said. I told her I was praying for her. The page read, “Show me who she is this week. Protect her. Carry her straight out of this and show her your precious face.” As she ran her fingers across the first line, all I could do was laugh. “God, you seriously blow my mind every time.” He said “Just wanted to remind you that I gave you what you asked for tonight.”
There is power in your prayers. He had given me exactly what I asked for and he even had her be the one to point it out to me. My boss is one heck of a guy. He is a mighty mighty God and he is so good. He is more than enough and he is good all of the time. I was able to walk away from that place for the last time with a smile on my face. God keeps ridiculously blessing me over and over this year. I definitely don’t deserve all the blessings he keeps throwing at me but he just continues to reveal himself day after day. I am elated with the relationship he desires with me. I am awe struck and blown away by my beautiful father and creator more and more every single day.
