Agape
A ministry filled with so much love and so much joy.
I am now in Malaysia but before I post about life and ministry here, I wanted to wrap up my time in Thailand!
I worked at a orphanage for half my time in Thailand. As a squad leader I bounce between primarily two teams and I am hands on at ministry with them! One of the ministries was Agape!
AGAPE is an orphanage for babies through teenagers who have HIV and AIDS. These kids are usually kicked out of the surrounding orphanages or are the kids no one wants or will take.
The caretakers at the orphanage work hard and love so well. It’s a Christian based orphanage and every Tuesday they set aside time in their day to praise and worship together. These women have sacrificed so much to work in this orphanage and give their lives for these little kiddos.
At the orphanage most of our work consisted of helping to maintain the grounds and do service projects that wouldn’t get done if volunteers weren’t willing to help out. We sanded, mowed the lawn, trimmed hedges, and even got to paint and refurbish a clinic that will be up and running soon! While doing these mild manual labor tasks we challenged ourselves to be interceding for each building we were working in and interceding for all the people at the orphanage. We spent a good amount in prayer constantly and sought to fight in prayer as we were doing these tasks.
Most of our afternoons consisted of us getting to love on and help care for the kiddos! We played with them, taught them lessons, fed them, prayed over them, and hugged them (probably way too much)! We got to get an inside look into the babies who will get adopted soon and we got to pray for the babies who haven’t gotten adopted yet so that they can be adopted soon!
Some teenagers have been there their whole lives and will most likely never get adopted. It’s a sad cycle that I know happens all over the world, even back in the states. My heart was burdened by the thought of these kiddos never experiencing a true version of a family or never experiencing what a blessing it is to have people to love and care for you in a parental way. As my heart was burdened by this thought, the Lord reminded me that he is our Heavenly Father and he will always fill every gap this world creates in us. He sees these kiddos and he loves these kiddos more than I will ever know or understand. I get to rest in the fact that I know he hears my prayers for them and he cares deeply for their little hearts!
The Lord calls us his own and the Lord calls us to look to him as our father. He will not leave them or forsake them! He will not leave you or forsake you!
Getting to watch this team jump in and get their hands dirty at ministry these past two months was one of the sweetest things to watch. They became good friends with the other volunteers that came through, they befriended the teenagers at the orphanage, they sought to love our host super super well, they were vulnerable in letting the Lord use their stories at ministry with the girls, they were willing to do the hard work even when it didn’t make sense, they fought in prayer hard for those kiddos and for the future of the orphanage, they had open hearts and willing attitudes, they chose into positivity, they loved hard and loved deeply, they never seized to slow down and only love deeper and deeper, and they embodied their team name fully… ARISE!!!
I will miss this ministry and I will miss the time I spent there! One of my off days I actually traveled back to ministry because I just couldn’t stay away! The Lord taught me so much about his heavenly family he creates for us and how he always makes beauty out of brokenness. These babies lives have started on a rough note, but the Lord knows them and sees them and will write a beautiful story no matter where they started or came from. They are chosen, and so am I!
I am also very surprised I didn’t adopt one of those babies. My biggest dream in life (alongside ministering wherever the Lord places me) is to be a Wife and a Mom! So getting to fully open up my heart and just love and pray over those kiddos and their futures was a JOYYYYYY and a blessing. They are loved more than they know and they now have an army praying for them!
God,
I pray right now in your abundant grace and mercy you send your love onto the Kiddos at AGAPE. I pray for the ones who are getting adopted soon and that you will orchestrate a life filled with your goodness and filled with your blessings. I pray you makes these kiddos into fighters for your name and vessels for your glory! I pray for the kiddos who haven’t gotten adopted yet and they you write a beautiful story for them. In your timing I pray a miracle and I pray a MIGHTY prayer of peace over them. I pray love into their hearts and healing in your name! I pray you heal all of them of their sickness and you declare your truth into their hearts! I pray you bless the caretakers and you send blessings into the orphanage to continue to set a solid foundation for the kiddos who will be coming soon. I pray over the volunteers who will continue to come and that you will give them a heart for the kiddos too. You are a good good God and I pray all over Agape in your name!!
AMEN!
