Hello hello
Y’ALL! Chiang Mai has been full of so much good. The people are as nice as they come and the food is off of the charts. I honestly don’t feel that out of place here. We aren’t looked at like weird Americans which is super refreshing. Chiang Mai or Thailand in general is such a popular tourist spot so it’s been cool to meet people from all around the world and hear their stories.
For ministry this month, my team, along with two others, are helping rebuild a Christian school. Their mission is to provide affordable, quality, Christ-centered education for the children of Christian families in Thailand. They are hoping to have this school completely finished and ready to go by January which is a STRETCH, but we all have full faith that it will happen.
Their motto is:
STRIVE – BELIEVE – ACHIEVE
Strive for all excellence in life, believe that God can make up what we lack and achieve something of eternal significance in our lives for His glory.
I absolutely love it. This past week we got to see the kids who will be attending this school. They are currently cramming into the local church until all of the renovations are done.
Now, when I first got to the school, I was super excited to help out and serve. However, after a couple of days of sanding walls, painting, digging up rocks/weeds, etc. I started to feel a little discouraged for some reason. I started to feel like I wasn’t truly doing ministry. Even though I knew how much of a long lasting impact this was going to make I felt like I wasn’t doing anything for God’s kingdom.
I quickly realized that ministry can be as simple as sanding a wall or painting. It doesn’t have to be the ‘normal’ stuff like leading bible studies or evangelizing. It can be that simple. This school is about to help children grow in their faith and spread God’s love. This school is going to grow the Gods kingdom in Thailand and I am so thankful God thought it was a good idea to have me be apart of it.
Sure, the days can be long and super hot, but knowing that one day little feet will be walking the hallways I’m cleaning out or playing on the playground we are digging rocks from makes it all the more worth it. This school will be around for years upon years. I hope one day I get to come back and see the wall I helped paint.
Ministry doesn’t have to be a huge heroic act all the time. It can be simple. It can be fun. It can be something we enjoy. God wants us to have fun with it! He is just excited we are willing to be in on all the good He has planned.
God is doing big things here in Thailand and he will keep doing big things.
xx,
Mace
