Bangkok, Thailand
I'd like to introduce you to the people I've met this month.
Meet Chompoo.
As I previously mentioned, she was first person placed in our path. What I love about Chompoo is that she will literally outdo you in showing honor to you. That's a funky sentence I know. In the book of Romans, in the twelfth chapter, it says that we ought to outdo one another in showing honor. I've been reading this verse for the entire race. Chompoo does this. She will outdo you, she must. There are many examples of this, but the most recent would be when we tried to take Chompoo out for dinner to show our appreciation…we had fast hands for the check, but hers were faster. She literally did a ninja move and snatched it out of our hands. If you want to serve this woman, you will literally have to be faster, smarter, and a better ninja.
Meet Celeste.
Celeste is a beautiful woman, who took herself out of the good old state of Oklahoma and placed herself right in the middle of the Red Light District. What I love about Celeste is her ability to love people just as they are. If ever you were confused about how Jesus actually feels about people… this is the woman to meet. Celeste loves, and does it well, with passion and gentleness. Celeste's heart became burdened for the ladyboys of Thailand after hearing that there was no ministry reaching out to them yet (what is a ladyboy? Often these are little boys who are raised as girls because their family didn't have any girls. The girls often move out of their village and to a bigger city like Bangkok, where a lot of them end up in the sex industry. The women are to provide for their family that are in the village.) When Celeste heard of this.. it broke her heart. She now has coffee business that gets people out of the sex industry by providing alternative jobs. My favorite moment with Celeste was watching her lead a bible study with all the people that are considered outcasts in this society. She doesn't require people to meet a certain standard to be in her presence, she just sits and prays and loves.
http://www.dtonnaam.org/AboutUs.php
Celeste l listening prayer before night ministry.
Meet Kay and Michael Killar.
Kay is from Thailand, Michael is from Pennsylvania. This couple is fantastic. What I love about them is their faith. They actually have it. Their passion is to get women out of the bars and show them their worth. They started their ministry before they even had a ministry location. Yes, they knew what God told them to do, but they had no idea how it was going to happen. They had twelve women who wanted to get out of the bar… so they got them out, and prayed for God to provide not only a living space, but everything else ( an alternative job, food, etc.). God provided. Mike and Kay now have a ministry space called Samaritan Creations, based off of Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well (which is actually my favorite passage, makes me cry every time, John 4.. Check it out..worth your time). They teach women how to sew, make dolls, and jewelry. The couple continues to brainstorm different ways they can train women in other things to make a living.
Mike and Kay challenge me to keep walking even when I can only hear what God is saying; to obey because He is faithful.
The most beautiful thing about Thailand is that the people of God are working together as one body. On Wednesday nights all the ministries in Bangkok meet to pray for their city. Big organizations and unsung heroes gather in Celeste's coffee shop to battle for the people of Thailand. Each week they speak of all that God has done and each week beg God for more. They are believing that injustices will cease to be tolerated because revival is coming.
Nana, a hotspot for sex tourists.
