A Life Time of Mercy

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Last Friday we went to work with Mercy Ministries. A
children’s shelter here in Pattaya. They started 5 years ago and have seen over
50 children through their doors. they currently have 24 children living in the
house. It is a shelter and not an orphanage because their primary goal is to
help the children get back into their families once the parent(s) is capable of
providing a stable home for them. we spent the majority of the day doing odd
jobs around the house like, cleaning all the fans, cleaning the air con.
filters, organizing the storage room, sorting clothes to go out to other
ministries in Cambodia and Burma, and constructing gift cards. It really was an
honor to serve this ministry even if only for such a short period of time.

I had the chance to sit with the husband of the couple who
started the shelter, his name is Fred. He told me how Mercy Ministries began,
it wasn’t their plan at all. They came to Thailand to plant a church, that was
until a Thai Lady began to ask them to do something about the “at risk” and
abandoned children of a certain village, quickly and miraculously God provided
all they needed to begin and this was their confirmation for God’s will. He
shared with me some of the children’s stories and what it has been like for him
to be immersed in such a heart wrenching ministry. I couldn’t help but be moved
to tears as we talked about the depth of the Fathers compassion for these kids.
I began to imagine what the cost to my life would be if I were to care for the
orphaned too. It would be huge, and more than I could even possibly understand
right now… and yet completely worth it. I have noticed that it’s the orphan
work that gets the inner gears of my being to move and start connecting and
thinking. I pray that God will continue to share His vision with me for the
orphaned and needy children, and birth within me a strategy to go in and make a
refuge, wherever it is that He takes me someday.

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In the meantime I am still focused on the present
ministries. This past week we were able to join forces with Patricia King’s
Extreme Prophetic conference and head out together for the bar ministry. We had
over 150 people go out to share the Kingdom among some heavy darkness. My team
was able to sit with three women who we just loved! The thai people are just
naturally friendly, warm, and inviting so to sit with these ladies is like
sitting with an old friend. Most of the women do not speak a lot of english and
we have few translators to go around so sometimes the ministry is more like laughing
and being silly with the ladies and just showing them how much we love them.
Usually they understand the name Jesus and know that we come representing Him.
But if we have a translator we can get into deeper conversations about life and
spiritual matters. We often give the girls the opportunity to leave the bar and
come to Tamar’s house for women. Last week 3 girls left the bars for refuge
with Tamar! Others have been taking us
up on our offer for free english lessons, which is another opportunity to speak
into their lives and love them.