MONTH 1
Thailand was a month in which we all lived together as a squad. Never knew how magical and difficult living with 49 other people would be. I tried not to set any expectations for the month, but knew that God would show up and show me what to do.
Within the first week, we received more training on vulnerability, listening to God and cultural sensitivity training. It was so great to have this extra training. I know that it really helped me feel a little more prepared when it was done. AND even more important, it helped me make sure I knew what NOT to do so I would not insult any local by mistake.
THEN… the big day, we received our assignment as a team. We were to teach English at a local university. The only catch, we did not have a contact established there. So the first night before we were to begin, we took a prayer walk around the building and the block as a team but subdivided in twos or threes. We prayed for guidance and a next step. It was during this time, that I saw a vision of me talking to an administrator and asking permission to enter. We gathered as a team and we shared what God had shown us.
The next day we entered into the school. I felt like a criminal coming into the school grounds without permission. Nobody spoke English and we did not speak enough Thai to communicate more than “HELLO” to any of the students.
The guys and a couple of the girls began to play Frisbee in one of the courtyards while Marina and I went and sat down in another one. The guys were told that they could not play because this was an educational institution so they joined us shortly after.
I remembered what I had heard, so I went into the office without consulting my team and tried to talk to an administrator, and the man at the front desk did NOT speak any English. We all walked disappointed, but not defeated.
We knew that God had given us the green light about being in the school and I knew what I had seen. So we went back to Emmi’s and regrouped. Patrick and Marina spoke to some of the girls from the “Passport” group which had been there a couple of months already. They said that they had found it a difficult ministry because they did not have a contact, but that some of them had finally met with an English teacher. We had an idea!!!
So the next day, Patrick, our team leader sent Marina and myself to talk to an administrator and ask her to let us talk to one of her English teachers, while the rest of the team stayed outside praying for us.
We walked into the office and started talking to a lady who spoke pretty decent English, and she happened to be the director of the school. I remained calm on the outside, but on the inside, I was elated!
She gave us the name Ms. Kanika and then had her assistant lead us to the teacher lounge to speak to her. After a short conversation; WE WERE IN!!!
She pulled out her calendar and gave us 5 days’ worth of teaching two classes a day. We were so excited to have broken through and established a connection for our team and for future groups assigned to teach at the college.
ONE OF THE CLASSES THAT WE TAUGHT EVERY DAY.
At the end of our time in Thailand, we took Emmi, our contact to the college to meet with Ms Kanika and the director as well. She was able to talk to her in Thai and solidify the contact for the ministry. God had answered the prayer not only of our team, but that of Emmi and all previous teams that had been assigned that part of the ministry.
God showed Himself a God of the breakthrough through Team Breakthrough and this is just MONTH 1.
