The following is from a letter I had sent to my supporters last week. A short update on what last month in China looked like and a little bit about our ministry this month! Many thanks to all of those who have been supporting me financially and through prayer!
Greetings Supporters!
I just want to start off by saying that our God is so good! Month one of my race was absolutely incredible. I want to extend another thank you, as this wouldn’t have been possible without your faithful support! Even more so than financially, your prayers have made all of the difference while on the field. We have encountered many faces and have created relationships that will last a lifetime as well as all of eternity!
Our time in China consisted of our seven teams splitting up throughout the city of Harbin, China. The ministry contact that World Race put us with was a pastor from the States. He is working on building a Christian network in this city to connect his church with other churches and other believers. I loved that it wasn’t a mindset of which church can have more members and had more social events. His goal was to have the family of believers take Harbin by storm (1 Corinthians 12:12-31). Harbin is full of universities, so we all had a college to go and minister to. We met people by going to “English Corner” put on by a University recognized group called New Horizons. This was a place where students went to practice their English, and guess what… we spoke English! It was the perfect way to start friendships and share why we were doing this yearlong trip. From there, deeper relationships formed and we were able to pour into them throughout the month.
My team made several good contacts through the English corner. Throughout this time two young guys from the church and a girl who we befriended translated for us (You can read a little bit more about them on my blog post Rice to Meet You). After a few days, I realized that this was a big reason why God had us there. We were able to pour into these new believers during the time we were together. Like I had mentioned, God confirmed our time with these students when one who is studying to become a pastor said that because we spent time with him, he now has a better understanding of what it means to live a life following Christ. It filled my heart to know that God used us to fill up someone who would be proclaiming Christ’s name to more people than we could ever reach in China.
Long story short, I was very blessed during my time in China. Now I am so excited to see what God will do during my second month on the race in Thailand!
Our ministry this month is Lighthouse in Action. There are three teams staying at the Lighthouse in Action dorm above the coffee shop (which is the main source of income alongside a church that supports them). Lighthouse in Action has one main mission: “To eradicate the commercial sex trade in Chiang Mai, and see the Thai people choose abundant life through Jesus, as we show them His truth and love through our actions. We want to see them spread this Truth like a wildfire across the nation, and beyond.” The three ways we are serving this ministry is by working in the coffee shop and loving on the girls working here (this is what my team has been assigned), going to the slums to make sure parents know that their children are valuable and shouldn’t be sold, and going to the bars at night to talk with the girls. Although my team is assigned to the coffee shop, we are able to go with other teams to the slums and bars.
The hardest part about the red light ministry is seeing all of the white middle-aged men and knowing exactly why they are here. I’m working on separating the person and the sin, and in turn loving the person and hating the sin.
“Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives.” –Jude 1:23
Lighthouse in Action is truly a light shining in a dark place. I expect God to do big things through this ministry. I am excited about building relationships with the girls here in the coffee shop, and other teams are already forming friendships with girls in the bars!
I would be grateful if you could join me in prayer for these things: for our team and the people we will encounter this month, that our team stays strong in the Lord in this dark place, health for our team (the showers are super slippery here.. Laura haha), and finances so that my squad would be fully funded. Thank you again for reading and I will keep you posted on my journey!
Much love,
Addison
P.S. To learn more about Lighthouse in Action, click on the following link!
http://www.lighthouseinaction.org/about-us/vision-mission/
