One day when we were in Thailand, some of my squad members and I went hiking into the mountains on our weekend off. We decided we’d camp for the night as well. It was amazing!! and even though it was overcast and drizzly, the views were breathtaking, majesty and glory present! I enjoyed it all but as we were preparing for the night in our tents, I told one of my teammates, “I love it here but I just want to go home and sleep in my bed at home…”
Now, when I said “home” you’re probably thinking I was referring to my home in Minnesota. Actually, I was referring to where we were staying during our time of ministry in Thailand; our ministry host’s (Pat) farm.
I then thought, “hmm, interesting. Home. What is home?”
It’s really not a “big” topic but one that kept coming to mind. I recently got my answer. Home is where God resides, where the Holy Spirit dwells and moves…
At the beginning of our time in Thaliand, we got together with three other WorldRace squads that happened to be in Thailand for ministry at the same time that my squad was there. We had spent four days together pressing deeper into God’s Word and were poured into. There God spoke to me… I had been really homesick (especially during our time in Cambodia previous to Thailand). I was wanting to be home, I was missing home and all the comforts and what God spoke to me is this, “I am your home.”
Our time spent partnering with Pat and his ministry was absolutely incredible. As one of my teammates described him, “he’s a cross between John the Baptist and Apostle Paul.” We went into prisons and juvenile detention centers spreading the love of God. He took us out to evangelize. We taught English and the Word of God in schools. Built a bamboo and straw home for a homeless man who’s wife left him and left him with nothing but a few belongings. Visited the hospital. Restored a home for an ex-con so that he could get back on his feet and start a business…
There’s so much more to all the above though. Pat has such a humble “Yes!” for God in his heart. Whether it made sense in the physical or not. When God speaks or moves, he follows His lead. He wants Gods name to be glorified and if it’s what God wants, that’s what he will do. Every time he talked, we wanted to have our voice-memo recorder on. We learned so much from his walk in life. To tell you all the stories of our time there, would take quite some time! He has quite a life testimony himself!
To summarize; the gospel. What does it teach? Take strangers into your home… wait what?! ..yeah! Feed the hungry, take care of the orphan and the widow. Heal the sick. Spread the Word of God. Love! These are just a few things…
Matthew 25:40 Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of my brethren you did it to me.
Hebrews 13: 1 Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.
Matthew 25: 35 I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.
James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
Isaiah 58:7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
On Pats farm, he has men living with him, his wife and daughters, that once used to be in prison… for many reasons; human trafficking (for organs or for sex trade), drug dealing, murder… these men came to know Christ because of the visits Pat would make to the prison. Once they come out of prison, if they choose, Pats family takes them into their home and Pat disciples them 24/7, helps them get back on their feet and start a new life rooted in Jesus Christ and free from their past!! They learn life skills, they get sent out to work once they’re ready and he even sometimes sends them off to college! …all from his own pocket. Is his family possibly at risk of safety? Possibly but their faith and trust in God is so great that He will keep them safe, sustain them and bless them with what’s needed. When we left Thailand, they had 7 ex-cons and an orphan living with them.
Pat sustains his family and these men from his own farm. Fish from the pond on their farm… they grow food and sell at the markets. Have pigs, chickens and water buffalo. Sometimes they even share their food with neighbors who may not have food! We got to help out on the farm as well, nothing goes to waste there! We learned agriculture there as well!
The government has given him access to every prison in the country!! and God keeps opening doors in Buddhist schools for him to come into and teach the Word of God! His heart for going into the schools is to reach these children before they end up in streets finding themselves caught up in activities that can cause them to end up in prison.
I’ve grown so much in my boldness to approach the lost, the sick and the hurting just in the short time spent partnering with his ministry. Every one of us have been impacted and shifted so much… we are Gods vessels to be such blessings to the lost, the stranger, the orphan, widows, hurting, sick…
…what will you do from this day forth? How will you be the hands, feet and heart of God?
I pray I can one day walk in the courage, faith and persistence as I have observed through Pat and his family. This man is an ordinary man, like you and I, simply living out the gospel. Not just portions of the gospel that fit his lifestyle.
Now, how does this tie in with “home”… simply because the presence of God and the move of the Holy Spirit is heavily present in Pats home. We found peace, comfort and rest there… just as God is a peace, comfort and rest for us when we allow God to dwell in us and move through us.
”One of the worst things you can do as a Christian is to just sit within the walls of a church.” – Pat
