Wow, I can’t believe I’m already entering into my last month in Asia! It’s crazy how quickly this time has flown by…I’ve loved ALMOST every minute of it. This month though- challenging, stretching, and by far my favorite despite it being hard.
My team and I spent the month building a home that will serve as an underground church. This is the first month I actually got to see the progress of my work. While evangelizing is great, you don’t always see the end result. Working with your hands, however, you may see the completion of your project. And I did.
When I first heard the words “manual labor,” I was pretty excited. Back home I’ve helped my dad with building fences, our shed, and working on our atv. I love working with my hands and I’m not afraid to get a little dirty.
Our first day on the job consisted of transferring 2,000 bricks up to the second level- I was so sore and could barely walk the next day!
From that day on we mixed cement and laid bricks. The first few days were discouraging…the men helping us would always come over and adjust my bricks in some way, but after about a week of laying bricks, I had very few corrections.
I enjoyed every minute of building that church. I loved getting to know the family who lived there. I loved getting pad Thai every day for lunch. I loved coming home with cement in my hair every night (okay, maybe not so much there…) I loved being one of the few from my team that would climb up a sketchy, wobbly ladder to finish the top portions of the wall.
I grew to love the soreness I felt at night. I knew it meant I worked hard, and I gave my all for the kingdom.
Most of all, I loved that we finished the building.
They just have to put plaster up and tile down, and they have a church. How amazing is that? In 3 weeks time, 7 girls helped build a church that’s hidden from the government’s knowledge. In 3 weeks, 7 girls shook things up for the kingdom and tore down spiritual walls while building physical walls.
The devil came at us full force this month. Dark thoughts that I thought I’d conquered came back to haunt me. Some girls wanted to quit and just go home. We all struggled in one way or another, and soon enough realized why.
We were making changes, and the evil one wasn’t a fan.
Well guess what? We don’t care. We stuck it out. We got up every morning, put a smile on our face, and walked out the door and prayed over the building and our hands before we laid a single brick.
The Lord showed up this month. His grace came through.
Unfortunately this monthly update is a little different than my previous ones. With Laos being a closed country, I’ve decided to not post any pictures. Christians and churches face persecution and abuse and I’d hate to show anything that would get someone “caught.”
Thank you for understanding, and thank you for reading!
I love y’all!
Brandi
