Going into this trip I had little expectation of what was going to happen. But thankful for an amazing God who allows people to enter my life at just the right time. It has been a challenging few months considering all of the things going on in America for my family and I. But that hasn’t stopped me from pursuing and trusting God through all of it. Before leaving Bangkok I prayed to God that I would impact someone’s life at the new ministry we would be heading to. God had great plans for me and I am truly blessed by that.
I have spent about 40 days here at Sending Hope International, which has been a true blessing in itself. I formed some really great relationships with a few of the girls. My faith and trust for God grew a lot. I learned how to be more vulnerable. Because I was able to be vulnerable I was able to form friendships with some of the staff and girls that will last a long time..
I asked God to allow me to impact someone’s life.. But not only could I do that.. One person impacted my life so much. The person who impacted my life a lot was a girl by the name of Tawan. Her real name is “Naew”, she is 17 years old. It took a lot for her to tell me her story. Once she found out about mine then she began to open up to me. She had a lot of the same qualities as my sister. But she also reminded me so much of myself. She is strong and has not let her past define who she is. Tawan is funny. Tawan is love. Tawan is a child of God. Tawan is not her past. We were able to joke with one another. We were able to argue about who was going to wash dishes. She even tried to convince me that her favorite ice cream was lemon ice cream.. (In Thailand that is not a real flavor, well if it is.. It isn’t from the area we are at).. Despite the language difference and the fact she would act like she did not know english. We formed a friendship. Through our friendship she taught me to be selfless. Tawan taught me to always smile even on the hard days. But most importantly she taught me to love deeply.
Thankful for Tawan and even more thankful for God and how he works in crazy ways.
