Ok, so I’m officially in love with Thailand already. Warm tropical weather, lush nature all around, mountains in the distance, friendly yet shy people, amazing food…this month is going to be awesome! Yet there’s a dark side to Thailand, and one that weighs heavily on the souls of me, the rest of Fearless Unity, and Team Relentless. The sex trade is very pervasive here, even more pervasive than you can imagine. On our way to our hosts’ neighborhood, we pass by at least two brothels. When we went to the night market Sunday night, throughout the fun I had shopping and soaking in part of our city, I could feel darkness there. Every lone white man caused me to wonder what he was there for. A few times I saw a white man escorting a Thai woman around. I did a lot of praying that night.
Our ministry for the month is amazing and incredible, but part of me wishes it didn’t exist, because I wish there wasn’t such a high need for it. See, we’re working with an organization that takes in children that are at extremely high risk for being sold by their families into the sex trade. Boys and girls. Some as young as 4 years old. It sickens me, and I wish such evil was not in the world. But God is using this ministry in incredible ways!
Our team is helping to lay the foundation for a new boys’ home. Our day yesterday was spent moving gravel and pouring it into the foundation holes. It was hot, sweaty, and repetitive physical labor, and I loved it! I had some good conversations with teammates (this month I’m including Team Relentless in that definition), some great prayer time, and some time to worship God as I basked in His creation around me (my month in Harbin reiterated that fact that I am NOT a city girl!).
Then for dinner, we got to go eat at one of the current boys’ homes. I. FELL. IN. LOVE. They are SO sweet and so loving! Here they are, from desperate situations where they know what they have been rescued from. They are dealing with extremely broken family situations. Can you imagine knowing at 5 or 6 that your parent or grandparent was going to sell you? You may not, in your innocence, known exactly what that entailed, but all you know is your family doesn’t want you anymore, and that they were going to sell you. Here at the homes, each house has house parents, usually a married couple that takes care of the children and strives to make the homes a family. We all had a fantastic time playing with the boys before dinner, eating with them, and playing hand games after dinner. The two hours we were there flew by, and the thought of going back there and to the girls’ homes a few times a week makes me so happy! Seriously, Jesus is rocking my world this month!
I learned so so much in China last month, but it was hard learning…constantly seeking after God for what He wanted me to learn. This month I feel so incredibly blessed and restored. However, keep praying that I will earnestly seek the Lord this month. Even though we have way more of a schedule and task list then we did in China, I still want to ask the Lord every day what He wants done with that day. I don’t want to become complacent in this month or any month. I’m looking forward to what God is teaching me in Thailand!
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