You know what’s silly?
Before coming on the race, I thought the stories in the Bible were just that- stories in the Bible. Now, don’t misread me here. I knew God was still alive and active. I knew He was still working miracles in my heart, in the hearts around me, and in hearts across the planet. But, when I looked at the Bible, I didn’t realize that the same stories in the Bible were actually being lived out daily.
Fast forward three months.
I am sitting in a small room in Thailand, above the café I am serving in for the month. This café is a place for women who previously sold their bodies in the red light district here in Bangkok to get another job, have a safe place to live, and hear the good news of a God who deeply loves them.
This café is a refuge where they can trade their rags for riches, and embrace their full identity in the Father.
So here I am, crammed into a room with ten women who have been redeemed from their past life, worshiping God for all that He has done for them. And behind me is the Samaritan woman who met Jesus at the well. And she’s sharing her story, full of ugliness and full of pain, not only inflicted upon her, but that she’s inflicted upon others. And she doesn’t care about that. She is sharing that part with a strong steady voice, telling honestly of all that her past life entailed.
But then, she reaches the part where God redeemed her, and she stops talking. I turn around to see her face in her hands. She is weeping. Weeping not for all the horrible stories that her past carried, for she has been rescued from the weight of that sin. No, she is weeping for her family, her village, the girls she serves selflessly. She’s weeping as she shares how God saved all of her family and many people in her village, how God’s hand has shown up in her life.
She’s weeping not because of her past brokenness, as that no longer defines her. She’s weeping because of God’s goodness, which is now her new identity.
The love of God has not gotten old to her, even after she has been welcomed into His family for years. The message of the gospel is new to her every morning.
Be encourage by this testimony of redemption. This story is far beyond any I could ever write. It’s one far beyond my imagination, straight from the pages of the Bible, straight from the pen in the hands of God, and straight from the mouth of His precious child in that small room in Thailand.
“I am the one who received salvation from the Lord.
I used to be a sex trafficker. I would network to find Thai women and send them out of the country to marry westerners, primarily Europeans. I worked along with my friend, who lived in Germany. I had another job as well, bringing young girls to the red light district in Bangkok. I did this work for three years. I came to Bangkok for an interview to go to London, with the intentions of selling myself there. I told the embassy that I was going to London to be a nanny, but they did not believe me, so they denied my visa.
I was forced to look for a place to stay in Bangkok while I figured out my next step. A girl that I met told me that I can stay at this ministry for free and look for a job there. At that time I was confused about my life. I was depressed because I had been split up from my husband. He had my daughter, who felt unloved and left out, while I took our son, who was missing his father constantly. I came to this ministry to take a break for my soul.
While I stayed here, I joined morning devotional time where Pastor shared the good news of Jesus. His messages filled my empty heart with peace. I decided to be a follower of Jesus Christ from that day forward. Once I became a believer of Jesus, my life, my perspective, and my attitude changed drastically. My thoughts shifted from trying to make money by selling women to wanting them to be introduced to Jesus my Savior. All I could think about was how I yearned to share the gospel with the young girls I had trafficked, with my family, and my entire village. They needed to see their value in the eyes of the King, and to know His love, like I did. So I returned to my village and began to actively proclaim the good news to all of my family members- my son, my daughter, my two brothers, my mom, my neighbors. I told everybody that would listen that now I am a daughter of God. I would exclaim how my old life passed away, how I used to be a sinner but God cleansed me from my shame.
Walking in faith with Jesus wasn’t easy in my village. My brother’s son hated that I was Christian and threatened to kill me. He put a big sign in front of my house late at night. He had drawn a picture of a gun as a sign to me and to the whole village of his intentions. When I woke up and saw the sign I was filled with fear. He tried to break into my house with a gun to kill me, but the glass cut his wrist, and he lost so much blood he had to be hospitalized. By God’s grace, He spared my life. He was not finished with me yet. He had much bigger plans for me to radically change my village.
My nephew was arrested by the police for not having a license to carry a gun, and he was in jail for six months. During that time, I told my family about Christ. I talked about the transformation He had done in my life, and how I deeply desired them to come to know my Savior. They each eagerly accepted Christ into their hearts, and together we lived in peace and grew in the strength of Christ. Nothing can harm us because we have the most powerful God on our side.
God is the God Almighty. I praise Him for all the spiritual gifts that He has given me. My gift back to Him is to use my gifts of evangelism and casting out demons in His name. In my village, there are so many people who have gotten involved with black magic. Demon possession is prominent throughout my people, and it is common for people to hit themselves, beat themselves, and kill themselves. I walk around my village, praying in Jesus’s name and casting out demons. After the Holy Spirit relieves them of their demonic burdens, I sit with them and explain the good news. I transport people to church, and bring young girls to school.
I left the ministry five years ago to take care of my mother who is eighty-nine years old. I’ve opened my home as a center to the community, and people are drawn to me because of the Holy Spirit living within me. I go around the village to visit elderly people who need help and I pray for them. The Heavenly Father has brought many women into His arms through my words. My whole family has become Christian, and my mother is an especially strong advocate for God. At the age of eighty-nine, she is still praying for people, visiting people, and going to church every week.
I drive to pick up neighbors to take them to church in my village. My sister donated a 14-person van to me, so now I have enough room to take everybody where they need to go. I run a business, picking girls up from their homes and taking them to school. I charge a low rate, and I get to know each and every girl. Where I used to be transporting girls to bars in Bangkok, now I am transporting them to receive and education and to get better lives for themselves and their families. I have opened my home to them every Saturday, where we cook together, eat together, play games, and talk about the gospel. My home is a safe haven to them, where they can receive the love of Jesus. Everyday, I go out and I proclaim the gospel, for the good news of Jesus never changes.
He has redeemed me from a life of brokenness and pain, a life that is deserving of hell. He has restored me into His beautiful creation, and He has used me to be the biggest evangelist in my village. How blessed I am to be used by Him.
In the name of God, people are healed by His name. Amen.”
Then leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”
Many of the Samaritans from that town believe in him because of the woman’s testimony.
John 4:28-29, 39
2,000 years later, the Bible is still very much applicable today. 2,000 years later, villages are still being wrecked for God’s overwhelming love for them. 2,000 years later, God is the same, yesterday, today and forever.
2,000 years later, a young American girl is having her heart transformed, as she looks into the face of the Samaritan woman and sees Jesus.
Thank you for your continued prayers and support. They are changing my life, and changing the lives of the people that God has allowed me to serve day in and day out. Thank you for partnering with me to hear and do the work that God is in the midst of doing all the way across the globe.
