Well, going to a city in Thailand after three months in non-cities in Africa is crazy/dream-like. All of a sudden I found myself in a land of paved roads with clearly marked lanes, where cows don't freely roam the streets, McDonald's, Starbucks, Subway, Burger King, Dairy Queen, etc… are all easily accessible, there's indoor plumbing, refrigeration, running water, microwaves, lights, real showers, an endless variety of foods, people no longer stop & stare or yell "mzungu!"… This is a totally different world, and I found myself so grateful for so many things I used to take for granted back home.
This month I am in Chiang Mai, Thailand…well, only for a couple more days now. Anyone who knows me fairly well could tell you that I never really had any strong inclination to travel to southeast Asia during my lifetime – no particular reason why not, it's just never seemed appealing. So naturally when I signed up for the WR, I felt like God wanted me to pick this route that includes 4 months in southeast Asia. The ways in which He's stretched me on this trip and broadened my horizons just seem to never end. And now that I'm actually here in Thailand, I obviously love it and could easily continue living here forever…except for maybe the heat & humidity drawback.
I'm currently on a team with 10 other girls for the month. The men are all on a team together for a month of "manistry" – which apparently means manual labor on a goat farm & whatever manly deeds are involved with that. In the mean time, I'm very thankful to be here in this lovely city where us ladies are working with a ministry associated with YWAM called "Love In Action," which does outreach to children living in slums and to the women and ladyboys in the bars. It's crazy how unlike-anything-I've-ever-done-before this ministry is…and so awesome to look back and see and what God has done in me and through this ministry in the past few weeks here.
I came into this month feeling a little unsure about ministry, knowing that it would primarily be ministering to people in the bars. But one day I came to this conclusion: I have been praying for God to use me beyond my expectations & to help me see others as He sees them & break my heart for them. And that was all fine & dandy…until the time came to actually act on those prayers when God answered them. It reminded me of a story from one of those semi-recent Christian inspirational living books (this is a very brief, loosely-based version). Anyways, a pastor who prays for the lost people to come to know Christ has a dream that one Sunday his church is full of some of the "worst" sinners: there are people in the seats who are hungover, stoned, dressed very promiscuously, cursing up a storm, etc… And the pastor is outraged and can't believe those people would dare enter a church. Then God reminds him that's exactly what he prayed for: to reach out to the lost that they might know Christ. Can you imagine if that were to happen in real life? What would happen if you went to church and a newcomer smelled of alcohol or they were not wearing appropriate "church attire"? Or worse, what if such a person was sitting in your usual seat that no one else has sat in for the past 9 Sundays? Would you greet them with a genuine smile, hoping that they might catch a glimmer of the love of Jesus in you and thanking God that of all the places they could be they ended up in His house? Jesus said that He didn't come for the righteous or to heal the healthy, but He came for the sinners and the sick. Somehow that mentality doesn't always sink in to our ways of thinking.
So back to me…I wasn't praying for God to bring the lost people to church, but I was praying to go out & be like Jesus to them. Then God gave me the opportunity. But to me, ministry & bars just didn't belong together…ever. Especially when so many awful things go on in the bars in this region that it's just so much easier to ignore it & pass it off as terrible men ruining the lives of these women…something tragic that just gets pushed under the rug. But God's heart breaks for this area, for these women, and for these men. And he selected me to go and be His light in this very dark place. Who am I to pass judgment on any of these men and women & withhold from them the love that God is continuously pouring into me? So on the first night I went out with my team to the bar street, I asked God just to break my heart for the people I encountered, to let me see them with His eyes. And He did.
The purpose of this ministry isn't to go stand in the middle of a bar and proclaim condemnation on everyone, neither is it to shove the gospel down anyone's throat, nor to necessarily say anything about Jesus (yep, that's right)…it's just about loving well. Building relationships. Smiling. You know, the Bible says that they will know we are Christians by our love. Somehow that mentality doesn't always sink in to our ways of thinking either. We're so quick to offer words, but generally not so great at the walking-the-talk part. Ministry this month has helped me come back to that. It's amazing how much a smile or a listening ear or simply acknowledging someone's presence can do to brighten a person's day. I met so many sweet, precious women who are so hopeless, desperate, and in need of love. And guess what? Those terrible men who go to the bars with awful intentions & are so easily hated…turns out they're also hopeless, desperate, and in need of love. Everywhere I went that night, I saw people who were so broken and desperately seeking their Father's love, but they were looking in all the wrong places. And that's when my heart broke for them.
It's been an incredible month of getting to know some amazing men and women, and hearing their stories that brought them to this place. This month has blown away my expectations of "ministry," reminded me of God's great love for me personally, and brought me back to the simple truth that as humans, we're all broken. We've all been hurt and felt alone. But we never are alone. God, our Savior, Creator, and Daddy is always with us. Whether we realize it or not. And He brings us hope, He mends our brokenness, and He takes away our pain…all through love. Not through debating theology, not through pointing out all of our flaws, not through judging us for what we've done…just love. And that's what we're called to do as followers of Christ…to love as He loves. Endlessly. Without bias. Genuinely. Without restraint. Selflessly. No hidden agendas.
Check out the video about this ministry…this is love in actions, folks!
