Thailand is known as the land of smiles. A smile can mean many different things. It can be a greeting, a forgiveness of a small act, or a covering for what you are really feeling.
Our official ministry this month is teaching english and cultural exchange as well as preaching and worship in the church. It doesn’t stop there though. That is just the smile. Though important, these things are only part of our ministry.
We have new friends through the church. One is from Africa, one from India, some from the Philippines, one from China, and some from Thailand of course. Many are seeking God or are new believers in Jesus. God is using us to help them grow and speak English. Many are teachers in the schools we visit.
We go to schools ranging from the young elementary kids to college aged men and women. We teach some English, play some games, and sing some songs. I am getting very comfortable with speaking in front of people. The first day of ministry we introduced ourselves in front of 2,000 students!
I had the wonderful opportunity to preach a message last sunday. It was on the subject of love. Loving your neighbor. Loving out of God’s love. Afterwards my teammate Richelle told a bit about storing our treasure in heaven. While I gave the message in church, my other teammate Danielle gave a similar message to mine. After Richelle spoke a military pastor gave a message that tied all of these together. The crazy awesome part of this? We didn’t know what each other was speaking on. God had something to say.
Yesterday my team went to a primary school to do an English camp. It was really fun. We played games and sang and did The Good Samaritan skit. This school, like many in Thailand, is a Buddhist Temple school. There was one little boy who was a Buddhist monk in our camp. Monks are not allowed to touch or be touched by a female. A girl must hand something to a man to give to the monk if she wants to give him something. She cannot sit next to a monk. My team felt our hearts break for this little boy of around 10 to 12 years of age. We played some games and such and he didn’t join at first. Later he started to play and was actually very good! We hand out books after each day to the students that talk about Jesus and he was reading it with great interest! I heard he had never taken one before. It gives me great hope that Jesus will one day lay claim to his heart!
We gave away stuffed animals to some kids later that day. We all watched him take an interest in a teddy bear that we had brought and decided to give it to him. He was very excited! I hope and pray that he will one day be excited about recieving the gift of salvation!
I will be praying for him and I hope you will too.
In order for me to stay on the race and keep pouring out love onto these people, I need your support! I am still in need of about $2,000 by the end of this month to meet my next deadline. I know God will provide it, but I would love to see Him do so through you. This journey is not just for me. It is for you too.
Will you store your treasure in heaven? Or will you store it on earth for moth to destroy? It is your choice, and I cast no judgement on it. I just want God’s fullest for you.
Much love,
Saraya
