Last week, we introduced you to our Unsung Heroes Campaign. Every month, one World Race team per squad spends their time looking for ordinary people doing extraordinary ministry within their own countries. And to say that Cassie Wilson, of the January 2013 N Squad, and her team are seeing God working in Thailand is quite the understatement. She tells us her story here:
This month my team and I are working in the Unsung Heroes Campaign. We are on a mission to find Unsung Heroes in Bangkok; the people who are doing great work for the Kingdom and need to get their stories out so others know and can help them or encourage them.
Even before we arrived in Bangkok, we had potential ministry partners that were being lined up for us. We had squadmates, friends and family members all giving us the name of organizations to contact.
Within 24 hours, the sweetest lady I have met, Champoo, told us she had a place for us to stay and the opportunity to get involved with her church.
At 10 a.m. the next morning, Champoo arrived with a neighborhood girl and one of her church elders. We load into the giant van with all of our packs and begin the hour-long trek across the southern limits of Bangkok. We learned more about Champoo, their church and the culture in the hour-long drive than we had in the week that we spent on the island of Koh Chang previously.
On our first day with Champoo, we rested a little in our new apartments-with comfortable beds!- before heading “into” town (two blocks away) to attend the singing and English classes that their church, First Presbyterian Church of Bangkok, hosted in the outreach building they also owned.
We left feeling very loved and blessed.
We have been redirected to the same two ministries multiple times and are thinking God wants us to get involved there! A woman, Celeste, is bending over backwards- which is ironic because she threw out her back- to get us cheap accommodations in the heart of downtown and more people to contact.
Her organization brought tears to my eyes when I watched their supporter update video. She works with lady-boys and is trying to get them off the streets and out of bars to teach them they are valuable, especially in God’s eyes. They work at her coffee shop and bakery, making money and learning life skills, and have the opportunity to go to school and paint. She sells their artwork in gallery shows and in the coffee shop to remind them that they are creative and their work holds value. The pieces are purchased for about 300 baht ($10), which is more than they would make selling themselves on the street.
So far, we’ve interacted directly with Champoo and Celeste.
They are doing beautiful work for the Kingdom.
They are Unsung Heroes in Bangkok.
They are Jesus to this city.
Cassie and her team are witnessing Jesus move mightily in Bangkok, but that’s not the only place where he’s doing amazing things. Subscribe to our updates page to read more stories next week!
