So I’ve been in Thailand now for the past 3 weeks. We are going to leave on Tuesday next week to Malaysia. I can’t believe it’s coming to a close. So I believe I mentioned in my last blog that this month has been all squad month. So what that means is that instead of doing everyday life with 6 strangers, I am now doing it with 39 instead! Except they are now far from being strangers, but more like family.
We are partnering with an organization called Lighthouse in Action which focuses on 3 ways of serving exploited girls in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Through Love Acts-Intervention, X Life-Prevention and Zion Cafe and Hostel-Restoration. Their mission statement is as follows:
We Are A Home Of Hope, Light And Love That Faithfully And Actively Cares For The Brokenhearted By Being Jesus In Our Skin To Those Who Are Being Exploited In Northern Thailand.
To find out more about each ministry, I’d encourage you to click on the link above to see what each one involves. I am going to talk more specifically about Zion Cafe and Hostel. This is under the restoration ministry of Lighthouse in Action. Zion gives exploited women a chance to:
support and provide for the long-term vision Of Lighthouse In Action in the form of jobs and finances. In addition to creating a healthy perspective of work. We hope Zion can stand as a meeting grounds for God To be made known to locals and travelers alike through community.
My team has been assigned (but not limited to) working along side of the girls in the cafe/hostel. One of my passions is to serve alongside young women who may have come from a hopeless situation and offer them hope. The staff ranges in age and most of them have come from some type of exploited or what seemed to be a hopeless situation. The last three weeks have been spent working in Zion where we got to build relationships with these girls in helping them do their everyday duties such as washing dishes, cleaning the toilets, mopping the floors, wiping down tables and counters, greeting customers, dusting, folding laundry, so on and so forth. We are also living with them as well. So we’ve been able to do everyday life with them, eating together, praying for one another, dancing together, joking around with each other, working out, making 7eleven runs together, we give each other facials and so on and so forth. Basically doing everyday life with them while intentionally showing and verbally sharing the love of the gospel with them.
We were also asked to help with several projects to make Zion a better staple of business in the community. Some of those projects that we have completed so far was printing out stickers that have their logo on it, adding an online store to their website, painting murals in the hostel, building a financial 3 year plan for them and playing live music every night. We have a very talented squad and I have been blown away by how God has been using these talents to help give him all the glory!
God has been on the move in each of us individually as well as corporately. Living in community has a lot of lessons to be learned each day…especially in a different country with a totally different culture! Here are a few that I personally have learned:
-it’s one thing to be culturally appropriate in respecting another brother/sister in Christ, but it’s more important to be biblically appropriate instead.
-let your yes mean yes and your no mean no
-be a cheerful giver/don’t be greedy
-only share if you are choosing to care, not because you feel like you have to out of reciprocity
-pay attention to real face behind the “smile”
-it’s ok to not be ok
-Don’t coast
-learning to trust involves taking risks
-there’s no such thing as a coincidence
With all of these lessons are some awesome stories. Next blog will feature an awesome story. Grateful for you all, Thanksgiving should be celebrated everyday!
fundraising update 11/24/16: As of last week I got an anonymous donation of $1000.00?!?!!? So thank you anonymous donor for helping make the deadline! Look at God! I shouldn’t be surprised…just humbled and grateful! Please continue to pray and spread the word though…prayer works! God loves hearing from his children! Now I am only $3561.00 away from being FULLY funded!?!
