Dignity Schools. It has seemed like such a distant ethereal dream for so many years. It was like water in my open hands.
I’ve pitched my mission and vision statements to people across the globe. “I want to start a non-profit organization that builds schools that cater to students who have special emotional and behavioral needs. Christian-based therapeutic schooling for those who battle mental illness.”
I’ve said it so many times, attempting to speak it into existence. Hoping that someday someone will be crazy enough to join me. The people who are closest to me could probably quote me word for word.
When I arrived in Thailand, something in me came alive. I felt like I could make things happen here but I couldn’t quite put my finger on why.
I had this inkling that I could build I school here. I almost felt like I NEEDED to build a school here.
Everything and everyone I have met in this country screams all different kinds of beauty. When I close my eyes, I feel an insane amount of power and strength flowing in every direction.
God is here.
God is moving.
These people are resilient. When they believe, they believe even if their faith leaves them feeling like nothing.
That’s something.
Something awesome was about to happen. I could feel it with every fiber of my being.
The Lord confirmed my feeling when He sent 2 messengers to tell me…
“I feel like the Lord is saying that you are going into a season filled with divine appointments.”
I was about to see God move. Maybe this would be the time Dignity Schools would finally take off!
I talked to a few Western missionaries about mental health and education in Thailand.
Everyone seemed to think Dignity Schools would be an extremely new concept to this side of the globe. I was sure I was pioneering this idea entirely. It sounded like it would be more of a challenge than I thought.
I felt the water pass through my fingers again. My ideas were slipping farther away.
On the contrary, God had something else to show me…
Day 1 at Christian Outreach Center (COC) school… “Hey, so you’re going on the field trip tomorrow, right?”
I had no idea what they were talking about but that’s exactly what I did the very next day…
Day 2 at COC school… I’m climbing into the bed of a truck with 10 students and 1 other teacher. Only a slight idea of what exactly I’m doing. The students hardly know my name and I hardly know theirs.
We arrived at the hilltribe festival. I helped take the children to the restroom. I sat down next to another Western-looking woman who seemed to be there by herself.
“So what brings you to Thailand? Are you a teacher at the school?” Asked the blonde-haired stranger sitting next to me.
“Actually, I’m just helping out this week…” I began to tell her about the World Race and what it was. Then, I turned the question around to her.
“My family and I live in India but we’re here doing some Christian counseling,” she had no idea what that casual statement meant to me.
COUNSELING? YOU MEAN THERE IS A CHRISTIAN COUNSELING CENTER IN THAILAND?!
I kept my cool on the outside but inside I was falling right off that sturdy bench. My new mission for this field trip was to get all the information I could about this thing. THERE IS HOPE FOR DIGNITY SCHOOLS TO EXIST HERE!
Not only did she tell me of 2 different Christian mental health counseling centers in Thailand but she also gave me information for 1 in India as well as her e-mail address in case I had any more questions.
How does that happen?
Suddenly, this idea that kept slipping through my hands felt like it might become something solid and tangible after all.
There are 3 places in this world outside of the United States that I would live in, in a heartbeat… India, China and Thailand. Everything keeps pointing back to those 3 places.
She told me a little bit of her story and it turns out that her family has been going through some tough things. I pray that one day God will help her to see the big picture.
If bad things hadn’t happened, she would not have been in Chiang Mai at that hilltribe festival on a whim.
If bad things hadn’t happened, I would never have known that the places she described existed.
If bad things hadn’t happened, she would not have been a part of re-kindling a flame in me. I would still be thinking that my dream was tenuous and unreal.
That’s what I call a divine appointment.
I am confident that God is going to continue to blow my mind with moments like these soon.
God’s got my dreams. God’s got your dreams.
He is a God who loves to do impossible things. Keeping dreaming big no matter how discouraged you feel.
If it’s on your heart, there’s more out there. You just haven’t heard of it yet.
