I cannot believe that month two is over already! This month has been so insane! God has been teaching me so many new things this month. Our ministry this month was with a place called Light House In Action in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Light House in Action also runs a coffee shop called Zion Cafe, which is where we stayed all month. We spent the first week debriefing and learning about the Thai culture before we were released into the streets! We had a few different ministry opportunities this month: prayer and worship team, monk chat, playing with kids in the slums, working in cafe, and bar ministry.
The second week my team and I were assigned to prayer and worship. We got up early every morning to walk around the city of Chiang Mai for four hours everyday, praying for the people in Thailand and for our squad. Then we would plan out worship every night for our squad worship. I loved that the Father started our team off in this ministry because it was a really great start to just focus so much of our everyday lives on prayer and worship with our Creator.
Week three we continued to go on our prayer walks in the morning then we got to go to monk chat, which is exactly what it sounds like. We went into the temple and sat down with monks. These conversations could range from favorite movies to learning about the Buddhist culture. I learned a lot at monk chat, I loved it. Did you know that monks cannot accept anything out of a woman’s hand? Neither did I. In order for a woman to give something to a monk she can do one of two things; set the item down on a table then the monk can take it or hand the item to a man first then have the man hand it to the monk. Also, a woman cannot sit directly next to a monk, there most be a man to divide them.
During week three we also go to go and play with the kids in the slums. This ministry could look different each day. From playing soccer in the dirt with all the boys to playing the Thai version of Duck Duck Goose with the all the younger children. I really enjoyed this ministry. We also had the three interns from Zion Cafe come with us to monk chat and slum ministry. I loved hanging out with them and getting to know them more each day.
Week four was one of the hardest weeks for me. We were in bar ministry and we saw some really hard things. Although it was really hard to see some of the things that went on in the bars, the Father blessed me with one particular girl in the bar that I got really close with. I went to visit her everyday and the Father really showed me how to love her the way He loves us everyday. I got really close with her, it was so hard to leave. I took her a letter and a friendship bracelet before I left Chiang Mai. We both shared a lot of tears together, she didn’t want me to leave. After we finished saying our goodbyes I left the bar, I had to be on a bus to Cambodia in two hours. But she showed showed up at my hostel one hour before I had to leave and she brought me gifts and spent the last hour with me before I had to load up on the bus. Talk about a sob fest! It was so hard to leave her. But I am so grateful that the Father built such a good relationship there with her. I plan on keeping in touch with her on Facebook.
“You are altogether beautiful, my darling; there is no flaw in you.” Song of Songs 6:7
Oh, I almost forgot to mention, this month was an all squad month. Which means all 54 of us were together this month, right here in Chiang Mai. It’s been so great getting to spend time with everyone but it’s also been really draining. I’m still struggling with trying to find a balance between ministry, rest, and play. I want to do it all but I’ve really come to realize the importance of rest this month. While I may want to participate in all the fun activities available during our off time, I realized that without making time for rest I wasn’t allowing myself to be well rested for ministry. So I learned to sacrifice off days with sleeping in and naps. On two of our off days I chose to go pet tigers, ride elephants up mountains, go bamboo rafting, and go swimming in water falls! It was so amazing, getting to experience more of God’s beauty that I’d never experienced before!
So in a nut shell, this month has been a huge month of growth for me! Even though some parts of it were really hard, I feel like God really spoke to me this month through the hard things and so much through prayer. The Father has really shown me the power of prayer this month! Prayer walks are kind of amazing and thats definitely something I plan on carrying on when I return to the states. Please continue to keep Thailand in your prayers! Now off to Cambodia!
