- We arrived in Phuket, a beautiful town on the coast, on February 13th. We had no connections and no big plan so we decided we would go out the next day to celebrate Valentine’s Day by giving roses and handwritten notes to the people God would lead us to. We got to share the message of the Father’s love with locals and tourists alike and the responses were so encouraging. Valentine’s Day has never been my favorite holiday. Even though I love chocolate (of course) and my boyfriend sees to it that I am made to feel extraordinarily special on this day (and every day), I’ve always thought the holiday to be a little tacky, and I’ve always felt for the people left feeling lonely and unwanted because of a pressure put on a random day in February. This particular Valentine’s Day, however, opened my eyes to the weight that is in how we choose to portray this day – what we prioritize and how we act. And isn’t this the same about every day? We can choose to lavish love upon our neighbors every day, to share the sweet, sweet love of Jesus that has radically affected us through flowers, notes, conversations, patience, understanding, smiles, a listening ear… the list goes on. We can extend an invitation to all we meet to come join us at our Father’s table where we can share the biggest feast, a dinner imbued with love more than the best Valentine’s date we could ever imagine.
- One day, we got off at the wrong metro stop. It came as a surprise to us as we had our plan all prepared and the map led us right there, but we realized that it was true – we were very far away from our desired destination. Trusting that God had something in store for us, we confidently headed off to a nearby park, only to find…not much, really. There were a few people milling about but hardly anyone interested in talking. We went home to our hostel that evening feeling a bit dejected and wondering what we had accomplished that day. It wasn’t until days later that we heard from a man whom we had contacted because of a sign boasting of English classes that had been hung up in a recreation center in the park that day. He told us he could use our help so we headed off to something we knew very little about. Whatever expectations we had were far exceeded by the well-run class and the relational students who were so interested in our lives and the message we had to share. (I even got a pen pal, which is a childhood dream of mine come true!) We walked out of class that day in high spirits and ran into a woman who invited us into a room to watch her sing a song. This may sound strange to you, but this is just the sort of thing that happens to us all the time. We followed the woman into a room and saw it was filled with elderly men and women singing Thai karaoke up on a stage. They were ecstatic to have us join them; they ran over to us with childlike glee and welcomed us with open arms, hugging us, guiding us this way and that, taking selfies, and teaching us traditional dances. As they performed, singing songs pulled up by a Hello Kitty computer, standing beneath a giant portrait of the king, we cheered them on, and they beamed with joy. In their presence, I felt so clearly that this was where we were meant to be. We continued to return to our English and karaoke classes and develop relationships with our new friends, and we even had the opportunity to share our faith. It humbles me to contemplate how it can all be traced back to our sovereign God and a missed metro stop.
- As a squad leader, some days my ministry is composed more of pouring into my squadmates than the locals around us. This opportunity arose one day as I shared conversations with my sweet friend, Emily Ann, while we sat in a swan boat in a lake in a park in the city of Bangkok in Thailand in Southesast Asia, and I marveled at how beautiful life was. This particular day was precisely one year after I had publicly announced to the world that I would be going on the World Race. I can’t even begin to describe to you the anxiety I felt on that day as I hit the “post” button and held my breath, wondering what people would think. Why? – because this isn’t normal, this isn’t what people do, it doesn’t make sense. It was a surreal moment looking back on that time and seeing how far I have come. God has shaped me and stretched me and grown me immensely, and oh what a relief it is to be free of fear and immersed in who he says I am and what he chooses to do with my life. “I said yes and because of that, I am changed,” I thought, “and because of that, I am sharing a conversation about things that really matter with a person I care greatly about in a place I never thought I would be”. I am so glad I said yes.
- Deep in the heart of Bangkok is a dimly-lit store filled with trinkets dubbed treasures – brass rings that jingle with the smallest flourish of a hand, finely-painted bowls made of clay, giant statues of tigers that seem as though they would be out of place no matter where they make their home, bangles promised to last a lifetime without tarnish, and henna hair dye galore. And in the midst of her treasures is a treasure herself, a woman named Krishna, who stands in the store she inherited from her mother and beams with pride as her items are admired, dragging potential purchases under a specially-placed, glistening light and egging customers on with her prods of, “There’s more upstairs!”. It is only by the leading of the Holy Spirit that we ended up in “Krishna’s Asian Treasures” one day and only by the Holy Spirit moving that Ashton Paige and I both thought to ourselves, when told of her health problems, that this Hindu woman would be healed. She complained of backaches and stomach pains and allowed us to pray for her right there, in the midst of golden figurines representing a multitude of lifeless gods; we prayed for her healing to the one true God who heals. We didn’t get to see any physical changes that day or in the other days where we went back to visit, but I fully believe that God is working, and I continue to pray for her healing – a beautiful restoration of health wherein God reveals himself to her.
- During our time in Bangkok, we originally planned to work with an organization called “Night Light”. Because of schedules getting rearranged, we were unable to partner with them, but we did visit their ministry site to see what they were all about and to learn more about the culture we would be encountering. Their ministry works to get women out of human trafficking and into vocational training. Their staff form relationships with women working in the bars (most are poor, young girls from rural regions of Thailand who come to the city to make money for their families through what they are told are ordinary jobs, such as waitressing) and offer them the sanctuary of safe employment in their coffee shop, jewelry store, or other sectors of their business. The goal of Night Light is to teach the women and then empower them to move on with the skills they need to support themselves and their families. Night Light provides these women with that which they are deprived of – choices; they are given the opportunity out of the hell they are trapped in. Fighting to stop human trafficking is something I am very passionate about. Thailand is one of the top countries proliferated by this atrocity, but it is taking place globally, even in the United States, robbing girls and boys of their freedom, dignity, and so much more in what is truly modern-day slavery. Although I was disappointed that I didn’t have the opportunity to take part in their ministry, I was happy to learn more about how they operate and see the difference that they are making in their community, truly as a light in the dark night.
