Six years ago, I moved to New York City and began working at Starbucks, learning the ins and outs of coffee, customer service, and store management…
Three and a half years ago I traveled the world doing any kind of ministry we could find, and God began laying an idea on my heart: a coffee shop in a third world country that partners with local ministries and pours into the community…
Three months ago, a friend working at a local coffee shop in Charlotte asked me to come to work with her to help out over the busy holiday time…
And now, in Chiang Mai, Thailand, I am getting to work – you guessed it – at a coffee shop.
One of the many ministries our 2 teams are partnering with this month is a coffee shop called WonGen Kafe (wongenkafe.com) that seeks to be a meeting place for missionaries to meet up with Thai friends, and hosts conversational English groups, musical events, etc. I’m not sure what my time there will look like, whether its being a part of planning events or working behind the counter, but I am confident that it was the Lord that led me (and three other girls from our 2 teams) to be picked to focus on this ministry, and I am beyond excited for what preparations this may bring for my future!
The other six girls from our team will be working at a drop-in center on “bar street” that reaches out to children from the streets and the slums to provide recreation, English lessons, and Bible study.
At night, our teams are switching every other night going to the bars. But instead of going out to party like most of the other “farangs” (foreigners) in Chiang Mai, we are building relationships with the girls and ladyboys who work in the bars, and the johns that frequent them. I’ve only gone out one night since we arrived, and I spent another night praying over the team that was out at the bars, but I know God is already moving mightily on Loi Kohr Road. Like a mighty flood bring the Living Water, I get to be part of His work – watering the seeds that were planting by the teams before us, bringing light to the darkness in the multitude of the bars.
Thank you for your prayers so far for this trip – please pray hard for our next three weeks of ministering here in Chiang Mai!
