Thailand: Sex-trafficking, bars, Thai food, love, coffee shops, laughs, tears, joy.
These are things I hear what ministry in Thailand looks like. It's all about going into the bars and streets at night to build relationships with women to love on the ones who have been caught, forced, tricked in the sex trade. This is where my heart is. I used to do ministry in Los Angeles walking down the streets at 12AM with "After hours Ministry" praying for women, building relationships, giving them gifts and my heart breaks for them. This is where I am passionate.
Coming on the Race I knew I had to give up my expectations for what things looked like, where we would live, what we would eat, and what ministry we would do for the month. After about month 2, I thought about Thailand and couldn't wait to go there to do the ministry where my heart is. Then God told me to truly give Him everything. Looking at life day to day and not thinking about tomorrow became my new norm. I sort of forgot about Thailand and what I wanted to do there and focused on what was in front of me. It felt good. Then came the end of month 4 in the Philippines. That meant Thailand was up next…..
We got an e-mail that said we would be partnering with Lighthouse in Action Ministry. The girls and I on our team got really excited because we knew it involved working with sex-trafficking =) YAY!!!!!
All of us girls were so excited and could hardly wait! We were going to be separated from the guys while they did manistry month getting to be guys, and us ladies together getting to be girls for the month!
I felt like after giving up my expectations to the Lord by month 2 it was now a gift that we would be doing the ministry that I desired so badly. That was until I heard what the girls on our team was actually doing……
Rice fields, leaches, sun hats, boots, knee high socks, 3 layers of clothes in the middle of no where and mud.
I had no idea how this would be relevant to sex-trafficking and it is not what I wanted to be doing at all. I used to like making mud pies when I was young, but I don't think that's what I want to do anymore is what I thought. Right away I had to pray for joy and excitement and to get over myself with my own selfish desires.
Instead of being in the big city of Chiang Mai, where the rest of our squad of girls are, we are in the little northernmost village of Mae Ai. The families here will get caught up in selling their children for money where their daughters are then tricked into the sex-trade or child labor. Many girls are thought of as useless and even bad luck.
Why has my heart changed? I am now out in this village living with an amazing buddhist family that has a 13 year old girl that I can't imagine getting tricked into the trade. I have fallen in love with these thai people. I am saddened that they don't know Jesus. With only being here for about 6 days I am now working peeling garlic, helping cook amazing thai food, cleaning, playing with kids, cutting grass and working in the rice fields.
I now know that yes, as my heart is for the women who have been caught in the sex-trafficking, my heart is also for preventing this from happening to these young girls.
Please pray for the village of Mae Ai. For the people here, for them to experience true joy, true freedom in Jesus, that we would see our new friends the way that Christ see's them.
I can't wait to share more of our experience here. We have all fallen in love with it. More than we could have expected. =)
　
　
　
