My Delight is in Her
Isaiah 62:4 You [Zion] shall no more be termed Forsaken {Azubah}, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate {Shemamah}, but you shall be called My Delight Is In Her {Hephzibah} and your land Married {Beulah}.
Live and work at a coffee shop? And its ministry? Yes, please! Our month in Thailand was just that. Amazing. Perfect. Eye opening. Friendships. Love.
Lighthouse ministries is an organization in Chaing Mai, Thailand started by a woman named Emmi Khanthana that has 3 parts: Wongen Kafe, X-Life, and Love Acts. Our team was at Wongen Kafe serving coffee and building relationships with the staff and with people coming into the café. X-Life is a village outreach and prevention ministry where volunteers work alongside the villagers in fields and in their homes, building relationships with them. Love Acts is the part of the organization that goes into the red-light district and the bars to build relationships with the women and ladyboys; that they may see that there is hope in Jesus and seek an alternative lifestyle. Also under the Love Acts umbrella is slums outreach. This Lighthouse organization has been running for 5 years and countless lives have been touched and transformed.
Shortly before we arrived, Emmi was donated a 3 acre plot of land in one of the villages to build a place of worship for the Lord there, somewhere to rest, refresh, and be redeemed in safety. A place called Zion. The Zion building will be used primarily for discipleship and job training for those coming out of the sex trafficking industry and streets. Zion will also be used in the spring for college students to escape city life and engage in discipleship training. In the summer, Zion will have more discipleship training, as well as CHANGE training for the women and ladyboys rescued from prostitution in the Red Light District. In the winter and fall, Zion will be a sanctuary for other visitors, missionaries, and staff to relax, spend time in God’s presence, and be renewed.
After nearly 2 weeks of us working in the café, a man answered thousands of prayers and allowed Emmi to set up her café and ministry in a new building twice the size 2 blocks from the red-light district. This was a miracle in itself. God had given Emmi a vision years ago and is now fulfilling His promise. Emmi told us she had faced many challenges and attacks from satan the last few months and had been scared to hope. Now with land to build the retreat center and a building big enough for the ministry, the doors were now wide open for Zion.
photo by: Julia Waterman
We spent the next week packing up Wongen Kafe along with the staff quarters and dorms and began moving everything to the new café, now called Zion, across Chiang Mai to near the red-light district. If I were to imagine how one would move a coffee shop, I would picture it involving professionals and maybe a semi-truck. Emmi had us, a bunch of girls (albeit girls who don't back down from a task), and a small pickup truck (and Jesus of course). Five to six loads per day, 4 days later, the cafe was moved. There was so much joy, so much life as we were moving. We were all just as excited as Emmi about the new building.
photo by: Zion Cafe
photo by: Emmi
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photo by: Emmi
We dedicated the new building to the Lord as soon as we moved in with 24 hours straight of prayer and worship. Emmi named the new café, Zion, with a renewed hope and vision of bringing hope, joy, love, life to those who have not dared to hope. There is still much construction cost for Zion in the mountains and Zion Café. Please follow this link to learn more about Zion and consider partnering with Emmi as she brings Light to such a dark area.
http://www.lighthouseinaction.org
Isaiah 51:3 For the Lord comforts Zion; He comforts all her waste places and makes her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song.
