We aren’t in Africa anymore. It was culture shock at first but I’m falling more and more in love with Thailand and the people here! The amazing food and Thai Tea helps a lot! I make myself sick from drinking too much Thai Tea. I just can’t control myself; I’ve been in Africa for 3 months… don’t judge me! God is teaching us a lot here and showing us how much He loves us. My team was told in Nairobi that we would be working with The Well in Bangkok. We were so excited. This was our dream. We all have a huge heart for ministry in the red light district. We were on fire and ready to shake things up in human trafficking! The next day our squad headed to Bangkok and stayed there for a few days before we got final info on contacts and travel information. The day we knew we were traveling to the other side of Bangkok was the day we found out that in a few hours we would be on a 13 hour bus ride to Phuket, we would be working with another team for the month, not doing anything that we thought we would be doing. With this information came shock & heartbreak. The world race motto is to never expect anything. This takes it to an entire new level of not expecting anything. We have to live going with the flow. We had to get past the shock and hurt and realize that this was no surprise to God. He never had us ministering in Bangkok- He wanted us in Phuket all along. Yes I wanted to do red light district ministry – but it’s not about me. I’m not here for me. I’m here to spread the gospel, His love and I trust Him to place me where He wants me and I don’t want to be anywhere else but in His perfect will. I can either stay so focused on what was taken away from us (when really it wasn’t ours at all) or choose to grieve it, get past it and focus on seeing thing through Gods eyes. Choosing to realize my Daddy doesn’t make mistakes and He has a purpose for me here and I’m honored He is using me.
Fast forward to now. God is loving on us like crazy. We are living in a duplex right beside our contacts. We have free wi-fi, great food, perfect weather & we are a short walking distance from a beautiful beach. I feel like seeing Gods beautiful creation is a gift from Him to me. I feel Him loving on me here. We had a chance to take a boat to James Bond Island. The beauty on the way there and the beauty of the island is absolutely breathtaking. All I can think about is how God is so in love with me. Who am I to be this blessed?
Yes, ministry looks completely different from what we had planned but it’s perfect. We are working with American missionaries. They stay busy here trying to spread the gospel and share the love of Christ. It’s hard being the only American in another culture and Christians are very, very, very few. They are staying strong and I can see God moving in hearts here. God is using them to change this small fishing village and I’m honored to be a part of it. Our ministry is helping Cindy with English classes, helping Dana with street landscaping, handing out tracks and Bibles, prayer walking the streets, giving our testimony on the local radio station. Yes, I gave my testimony on a radio station in Thailand! How amazing is my life? I can’t get over how blessed I am. How blessed I am that God loves me so much. I am so overwhelmed by Him.
