Greetings from Georgia!
Spring is quickly passing and things are speeding up at
Adventures in Missions (as well as heating up) as summer approaches. The past few weeks have been spent communicating
with teams currently on the field and recruiting and mobilizing leaders for the
numerous college and high school mission trips planned for the summer. We will have over 15 teams launching to as
many locations around the world during the summer months, taking the love of
Christ and lots of bug repellant with them.
The impact these young people are making is beyond
measure. Speaking with teams currently
on the field serves as a constant reminder of the power of God to work through
people and bless the nations through hands that are willing. Here’s a short excerpt from one of our girls
on the ground in Thailand. The team is
working in the Red Light district in Phuket, ministering to women in the bars
on Bangla Road.
It has been raining on
Bangla Road. It’s been one of the wettest ‘dry seasons,’ Patong has experienced.
As a physical expression of the Spiritual climate, rain has poured every
night that my team has walked on Bangla Road for the past few weeks.
“The Lord will hold you in His hand for all to see- a splendid crown in the
hand of God. Never again will you be called ‘The Forsaken City’ or ‘The
Desolate Land.’ Your new name will be ‘The City of God’s Delight’ and
‘The Bride of God,’ for the Lord delights in you and will claim you as His
bride.” Isaiah 62:3-4
God is
mourning the wayward heart of His bride on Bangla Road, but He is beginning to
wash her clean once more. More and more girls are confessing their
disdain for their work on Bangla. They feel fettered to an
obligation. They carry the weight of providing for their families.
As I sat
with Dee last week on a day date, she expressed disgust for her work.
When I met Dee at her bar, she was wearing a flashing pin- advertising
her price to potential customers. She sells her body in a humiliating
guise, so that each month she can send a check home.
As she
clings to her compulsion to provide, God is sending a great deluge. Jesus
is washing away the ashes in her hands and forcing her to let go of her
unnecessary burden. In the newly empty space between her fingertips and
wrists, Jesus is placing his nail-scarred hands.
I have been to this area of Thailand and remember first-hand
how difficult it is to minister in this spiritual and physical climate. There is so much oppression and very little
positive response to all the effort it requires. It stirs my passion to talk with this team
each week and encourage them as they press on in faith. I feel honored to be able to speak into their
lives and join with them as they continue on this journey; to pray with them, mourn
with them, and celebrate every tiny victory over the ever-pressing
darkness.
encouragement, and financial support it has taken to get me to this place. It’s a mission that involves people serving
in every capacity and it’s exciting to be a part of the movement. If you’d like to receive email updates, send me an email at [email protected]. I am currently at 30% of my fundraising goal,
so if you would like to join with me financially you can give online by clicking on the “Support Me” button to the left of this page and make sure to select ‘staff support’ in the Program box. Checks can be made
payable to Adventures in Missions and sent to Adventures In Missions PO Box
534470 Atlanta, GA 30353-4470, just specify ‘Courtney Buckner support’ on the
memo line.
all my prayer warriors out there, I would love your prayers and petitions for
wisdom and discernment as I walk with current team leaders through the
adversity and ventures on the field and as we begin to place participants and
leaders for summer trips.
To read more from the Passport team in Thailand, visit http://thailand.adventures.org
