Waste Deep in Who Knows What

 
            This month we are in Beautiful Phuket Thailand!! Its called Manistry month which means that all of the men from our squad are together for the month doing some much needed manual labor, construction, and man talks. You may have thought that we were 12-year-old boys when we 1^st started Manistry because we were so giddy that we got to have a month of a “no girls allowed” club. And we are still Giddy.
            The ministry that we are working with is called SHE Thailand, and they help women who have been rescued from the sex trafficking industry and get to live on the compound, learn skills like making jewelry, baking and clothes making, all while starting a new life away from their old one
            What we have doing since we have been here are things like shoveling a huge mound of dirt into wheel barrels and taking it 100 feet away and flattening it down, weed-whacking, mowing, as well as building relationships with the people in the community like Mr. Ohm who owns the restaurant that we eat dinner at every night.

            There is one other thing that we have had the pleasure of doing as well, and that is cleaning what we like to call “The Swamp”. With hundreds of Lilly pads, catfish, murky water and all kinds of animals that you would never hope to see, it’s our job to clean it out.
Now the water may only be about a foot deep, but as soon as you step into it, you literally sink up to your waste in mud. If this kind of work doesn’t define Manistry, then I don’t know what will. Every step takes so much effort as we trudge through to grab Lilly pads by the roots, and throw them onto shore. At the end of the day, we are covered in black mud, sunburns, and sweat.
The work is hard, but it’s worth it. The lake is used for fishing for the family that lives there, as well as meals for when they catch some fish. Great conversations are had, hard work is done, and a sense of accomplishment is felt.
The swamp that is actually a pond is so dirty; and after days and days of pulling our roots and mud, it’s difficult to see our progress. Mark, our contact says it looks really good and that he can see a huge difference, which makes us, feels a little better.
My hope is that I am always willing to do the dirty jobs, to be the 1^st to volunteer for the things that nobody wants to do. My hope that my pride doesn’t get in the way and allows me to think I’m too good to do something. My hope is that I am willing to get waste deep in mud and know that I am not working for myself, but I’m working with a heart that is glorifying the Lord with every shovel of mud, or every lily pad root I pull up.
 
Galatians 6:9 says “let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

            I love The Swamp, and I love my God even more, so you will see me waste deep in who knows what tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day.