I’m Emily Werness and in just three short days L squad will be departing for Vietnam – a trek that will take about 40 hours by two buses and two borders before reaching our final destination of Ho Chi Minh City. It is so hard to believe that soon we will be leaving Zion. I do not look forward to our goodbyes.
If you have been following my blog or keeping up with me on Facebook, you can’t help but notice this month in Thailand has been one full of many adventures – tigers, bungy jumping, elephants, and waterfalls (oh my!) and I can’t forget my dream coming true – being a part of the Lantern Festival here! It might make you think, wow that all looks great Werness, but I thought you were supposed to be doing ministry…are you even working?
What Instagram and that Facebook album don’t capture are all the quiet moments, tears, inner battles against strongholds (look for a blog on that in the near future), laughter, deepening intimacy with the Father, my team and squad, and the ladies here at Zion. Ministry this month has not always been the most exciting or glamorous. In fact, we spend a lot of time sweeping, doing dishes, wiping tables, and mopping. We are serving in a café after all! But, it is in these most ordinary and mundane tasks that God has made His presence known. Standing side by side with these women just chopping veggies or frying eggs, exchanging smiles and laughter when they see how bad we are at something is the joy of the Lord! I count it such a privilege and blessing to work alongside these women – just getting to know them more and more each shift! One of the sweetest moments this month was when Ohm, Dokmai, and Ba Pong came with us to the Lantern Festival and we released lanterns together; arms raised under the glow of the flame as sisters.
How can I capture that moment with a picture?
Here’s the real question: how can a picture even begin to capture that moment?
Pictures are great, but they can be so disruptive. A camera is a man-made lens that can document sweet moments of our lives – faces and places, but what about our God-given lens? Our eyes. For me, this month has been one of mental pictures – living and breathing moments instead of being so concerned with documenting them with the push of a button. (Which often distracts and causes me to miss what God is doing in the first place.)
A picture cannot capture the beauty of the tears that glistened behind Ohm’s hopeful eyes as I reminded her of how she was chosen – she is beautiful, precious, and worthy. Her Father wants the very best for his daughter!
A picture cannot capture the touch of Mai’s hand reaching for mine and just holding on during a slow moment of shift.
A picture cannot capture the love and friendship I feel when Dokmai holds onto a hug longer than necessary and rests her head on my shoulder.
A picture has no hope of capturing the contagious, joyful laughter of Ba Pong or her wicked dance moves.
In essence, a picture cannot capture the dreams, demeanor, humor, and total and complete beauty of Christ that I see in these women who work at Zion Café. They are some of the hardest working, sweet, servant-hearted women I have ever met. It is just hitting me now as I write this that I have to say goodbye in just a few days – a picture cannot explain how much I have grown to love these sisters of mine and just how much I will miss doing life with them each day.
I’m Emily Werness and I don’t want my Race or my life to be defined by what pictures make it in the end. They only tell part of a much grander story in which the ending has already been written – one I trust the Author to reveal chapter by chapter, page by page, word by word.
