**Okay, so I wrote this last month, but at least it’s here — & there’s several more I’m working on, so hang in there — they’re coming!**
Hi friends! Welcome to the land of Thai! Month 3 has begun & we are crazy about all God’s allowed us to see & experience even in the first week. This month already proves to be an extremely humbling one as we are being exposed to some really harsh realities.
This month finds us in Pattaya, a city primarily known for its booming sex industry & high occurrence of human trafficking. There are more opportunities to serve here than we initially expected & we will do everything they let us do with hopes to glean so much from those here full time & to help bring hope & light to the people we come into contact with. We are already falling in love with the people here & have so much hope for what is to come.
The ministries we get to be a part of range from an amazing children’s ministry that actually prevents children from being trafficked, to outreach in the bars where the women are owned by the bar, to teaching English to the bar workers so that they have better chances, to helping in places where women have actually been rescued from their lives stuck in prostitution & are now learning a new way to make a living. The latter type of ministry is part of a human or sex trafficking recovery program, & one of the best examples of how this type of program works is Shear Love International.
Shear Love is a place where both women & men coming out of prostitution, exploitation, or other difficult circumstances have the chance to learn how to be hairdressers or barbers. Each student there is sponsored, giving them not only the education, but also the ability to support themselves & their family while they go to school. These students have already been through so much, so this beautiful opportunity takes pressure off the individual & allows them to actually learn and better themselves.
In the morning, the students learn useful life skills like how to make a budget. They also take English classes. They have a Bible study, lunch, & then hair school.
It was our honor to meet the precious students of Shear Love & they were just so sweet! Each of us had the opportunity to lead a Bible study & have our hair done, giving them the opportunity to practice on more than manikin heads.
Day 1 Alyssa had her hair washed & styled while the rest of us got trims, mine including my bangs getting cut since they’ve kinda grown out. We were all pretty pleased with the results 🙂
My particular student had quite a time. She was so stressed out about my hair. Since on the race, I have washed my hair a lot less than usual — typically now every 4-5 days. This day might have been day 5 because I had waited to wash it, knowing a trim meant they’d do it for me. Something else I haven’t really done is brush my hair. So that combination has lead to one thing — massive amounts of hair loss when I do brush or wash my hair — & she did both to me!
The poor dear called over the translator because she was so stressed out. A teacher had to come assure her it was okay — this was normal. But I saw her anxiety & I had to assure her I was fine. What a sweetheart. But. That reaction was actually really helpful the next day when I gave my devotional.
Unlike in my own country, so many of these students had never heard of Jesus. They know nothing of Him or the Bible, so we have to start with basic truths. So to me, that starts with love. But to introduce that…
I thought it was important to establish that God cares for us individually on such a personal level. In Luke 12:6&24 the Bible talks about how even the birds & what happens to them are on God’s radar — so how much more does He care for & love us?
I got to talk about how God loves us like a good father should. He isn’t fallible like our own dads — no, He is a perfect Provider & a Safe Place to hide no matter the trouble. An Encourager that always sees the best in us & cheers us on to be better. His patience is outstanding & His love is without bounds. He is slow to anger & full of compassion. He sees our deepest needs & meets us right where we are. He forgives completely & never gives up on us — He never turns us away. He truly “sees” us for us & loves us so uniquely, endlessly, & unequivocally.
And He even knows how many hairs are on our heads! We laughed a bit at that as my student & I shared a smile & I explained how she was so worried about my loss of hair. & yet Luke 12:7 shows that God knows & cares about even that…even how many hairs are on my head — or in my case — came out of my head. 🙂 Incredible.
This is a few of our women with their Thai Bibles open during devotions.
It was such an honor to be able to bring these truths about our God to these precious women. They were sweet & interactive, but I really loved hearing them read God’s Word in their own language. To know that His character & promises are the same no matter our background or what country we’re from. It was a privilege I will not soon forget.
Later that week one of my teammates got to give her devotional & then some of us had our hair colored by the students. This is me & my girl Caley Bass with blue & purple streaks in our hair. We’ve decided the only appropriate thing to do when you have this kinda hair is to form a band, so look out, world! “Your Mom” is gonna rock your socks off!
Incidentally, we will be holding auditions to join “Your Mom” since neither of us are terribly musical, so comment below if you’re interested 😉
Shear love is a special ministry that offers such a practical way to help those trying to change their lives to actually have a chance at maintaining their new beginnings & turning their lives around. Please understand this immense opportunity truly allows men & women to make a better life for themselves after they’ve been through much. You may feel helpless in the face of the overwhelming amount of sex trafficking, abuse, & exploitation there is in the world, but you CAN do something about it. Go to www.shearloveinternational.org & you will be able to learn more & see the levels of sponsorship that can impact the lives of those who are being given these much needed educations.
For the respect & safety of the students, faces cannot be shown. But here are some of the students we had the privilege of spending time with.
We got to meet a few of the former students & experience how this opportunity has shaped their lives. Two of them have beautiful books about how their lives have been transformed & their joy just radiates from them when you see their faces. There is no denying the beauty & efficacy of this program.
This last picture is of my team with the founder of Shear Love, Dianna Bautista. She was leaving to return to the States for a month of serious fund raising. It was our privilege to not only meet her & hear her heart for the students, but also to pray for her on the way back home to raise awareness.
We’re excited for the future of Shear Love & all its beautiful people, overjoyed for their new opportunities & for the hope this program brings their future. But we’re also ecstatic that they will get to hear about the one true God of the Bible & how He cares for them & their deepest needs. How even when it comes to the hair on their heads, He knows the number.
