You
may be wondering what exactly my team is doing in Chiang Mai,
Thailand this month. Our main focus is going to the red light
district every night and hanging out in bars. Doesn’t sound like
much of a ministry, does it? Well, what if I tell you we are in the
bars to become friends with the prostitutes and lady boys? Sounding
more like a ministry than just fun? Don’t get me wrong, we are
having fun; but our eyes are being opened, our hearts are being
broken, and we are being challenged.
Six
nights a week we head down to Loi Khor Road; a street lined with
numerous bars. The evening starts around 8; we debrief/feedback team
issues, followed by prayer and worship, to prepare ourselves for the
evening. We leave the house around 9:30, get back at maybe 12:30am,
then debrief about the night.
Every
night is different. The people we meet. The God moments we have.
The thoughts about what we are learning.
Since
last Friday Loi Kratong/Lantern Festival had been taking place in
Chiang Mai. Part of the festival included people launching hot-air,
paper lanterns into the sky; locals believe that their troubles are
taken up with the lantern. So last night I was prayer
walking/sitting, instead of going in the bars. At one point I was
sitting and looking at all the lanterns in the sky, when I had this
thought about what the lanterns symbolize to me. All of the lanterns
floating above the city are like the prayers we pray for this city, the praise we have to the Lord, the love we are trying to bring, being released over the city. When they fall, they fall all
over the city, like our prayers spreading throughout Chiang Mai. I
don’t know if that makes any sense, but maybe a picture of the
lantern filled sky will help:
on
Sunday night we bought a lantern, wrote prayers on it, then
released it into the night air
Please be in prayer for this city.
much
love!
