Laos was never a country on my list. I honestly don’t think that I ever heard anything about it before I signed up for the race, but this is the first place it’s hard to say goodbye to. This is why.
My team and I were what the race calls ATL (ask the Lord) this month. Basically that means, they drop us off in Laos gave us a food/lodging/transport budget and said live your life, don’t go over budget, and ask the Lord how He wants you to serve everyday. ATL has never been as appealing to me as it has been to a lot of my team/squadmates. In fact my team was the last team on the squad to have an ATL month and many of our conversations leading up to this month were about how much people wanted an ATL month. I on the other hand have loved nearly every second of my race and have had a ministry host every month. In fact the month where we had what I like to call hosted ATL, had been my least favorite ministry month. I had finished the month feeling disappointed with myself and ready to have scheduled work to do for the kingdom. That type of ministry is comfortable and easy for me. Therefore going into this month of ATL, in a closed country to boot, made me nervous.
To start the month we, as a team, took a Sabbath day and God had pressed it on my heart that we don’t discuss what the Lord was telling us until the next day. On Sabbath I felt like God was asking me to stay at the hostel and press into his word instead of going out searching for ministry opportunities. The next day we met as a team, spent some time in the word together, then opened up about what we had heard/learned the day before. All 8 of us (we had two SQLs with us) had heard something along the lines of staying on the island that we had been dropped off on, instead of heading North to the city like the rest of the squad. I left that room feeling a beautiful sense of comfort knowing that God had already ordained every step we were going to take here on the island and in this country. I was also able to understand why God asked me to stay still and seek Him instead of exploring the island. While I was sitting in the hostel restaurant and preparing my heart/mind for the month ahead, He had lead my teammates to a local guesthouse/restaurant that we ended up living in (under budget) and taking turns working the breakfast and lunch shifts. He also opened doors at the local elementary school where we spent an hour a day teaching english, dancing, and helping them see that they are strong, smart, loved and beautiful.
Lastly He gave us the opportunity to love on a single mother of a 5 year old boy who ran a travel booth on the main street. I would go everyday to pick up the boy to take him to school then walk him back after. Those 20 minutes of walking with him was always the highlight of my day, watching him skip and jump off rocks, all while he babbled on and on about everything from the animals we were passing to the what adventure he and his friends had gone that day to random facts about made up superheros. My heart grew every time he reached for my hand or turned around to see if I was still listening. I spent hours praying for God to fill me with as much unconditional joy that he has, also praying that the world wouldn’t rob him of that joy and that he would come to understand the how immensely loved he is by his heavenly Father. Towards the end of our time on the island we felt God pushing us to ask his mom if she knew Jesus. We were scared because it would defiantly going against cultural norms and potentially have consequences for not only us but her and her son as well. But we had decided to boldly embrace what ATL is and when we asked the Lord, He told us to share. Our fearless leader Autum plucked up the courage one evening before dinner and we learned that she had been raised a Christian and since leaving her family had been craving community! So to end our month we were able to pour into her spiritually and have beautiful conversations about OUR God. While I’d love to say that I left my mark on the island, that would be a lie. The truth is that the island left it’s mark on me. All because we asked the Lord what He wanted from us each day and didn’t come with our own agendas. I now leave you with the same challenge, ask the Lord what He wants you to do today, then just do it.
