Psalm 34
While in Thailand, the Lord was showing me the importance of a safe place, a refuge. We all crave safety, protection and love. We crave it in the physical but more importantly, we crave it in the spiritual. I think this is something the Lord does often, he allows desires in our flesh to reflect the deeper and more important desire within our souls. We desire protection and safety in the physical because our spirits are desiring to be and feel protected and loved by our heavenly Father.
In Thailand, we were working with Sila Home Ministries, a home that was designed to be a safe place, a refuge for the children of Thailand. At Sila home, there were 43 kids and only a handful of adults in authority over them, but the leadership at Sila Home do a better job at raising these kids than I can describe. They taught them discipline through chores and homework, brought them to school every morning, feed them meals and taught them that Jesus loved them. They are family to the kids. Most of the children come from families that can't afford school or live too far in the mountains for the kids to go to school, a few of the children are orphans. At Sila home, the children were cared for in the physical and nurtured in the spiritual.
During our month in Thailand, our two World Race teams (Salt and Light and Earth Like Heaven) worked to make the home a safer refuge for the kids. We did this by hoeing out fields of grass, taking away ground cover for snakes to hide in, reducing the chances of one of the kids getting bit. It was physical demanding, hot and sweaty work, but totally worth it. It was worth it, because even if we didn't always feel like we were making a huge difference, to the kids we were.
The whole month, the Lord kept pulling me back to psalm after psalm that spoke about the Lord being our shelter, our refuge, our rock and firm place to stand. Almost every day as I hoed, and got blisters on my hands from doing so, I was reminded of the blessing of safety I have with my Lord. That He is my rock, my shelter, my firm foundation. I'm so thankful for our month in Thailand and that we got to assist Sila Homes in providing physical safety for those beloved kids. I'm even more thankful that we got to speak into the kids lives, sharing life and having fun together. It was a blessed month, surrounded with reminders that the Lord is my rock and safety, my ever present help in time of need. My prayer for Sila Home is that the Lord would bless and multiply their ministry, because they do such and amazing job of loving on those kids!
If you would like to learn more about their ministry, I would highly encourage you to visit silahome.com and back this amazing ministry with prayer. They really are offering the children of Thailand a place of safety and refuge in the Lord and that is a ministry that is worth supporting and covering in prayer!
"Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy. Let me dwell in your tent forever! Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings!
For you, O God, have heard my vows; you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name." Psalm 61:1-5
