March is manistry for H-squad which means all the men on the squad form one big team and live and minister together for the whole month and do 'manly things' if you will. They are currently in Phuket and working for SHE ministries doing construction. That leaves all the lovely women on the squad to form 6 all girls teams and bring it for 1 month…hence womanistry! Five of the teams were sent to Chiang Mai, where we were beyond blessed to meet a woman named Emmi Khanthana and get right to work for her ministry Lighthouse in Action. Read about her personal story here.This amazing ministry has 3 branches, WonGen, Love Acts and Xlife.
WonGen Kafe is a super cool trendy coffee shop located directly across from Chiang Mai University in the heart of Chiang Mai. The vision of this ministry is to see college students come to know Jesus and impact the future of Thailand for His glory. WonGen is a place where students, missionaries, tourists, bar workers and families can go to eat delicious food and hang out in a safe, loving and Godly environment. Students can attend English classes, open mic nights, concerts, and even a church service. We currently have 2 of our women teams working here.
Love Acts is the Red Light District and slums outreach ministry. Teams go into the bars, massage parlors, nightclubs, and karaoke joints of Northern Thailand and build relationships with the women and lady-boys that work there. The hope is that they will see Jesus reflected in the teams and they can offer them an alternative to the life they are now living. We have 2 women teams working here (usually until very late at night) in the bars, on the streets, and in the slums this month.
XLife is the village outreach program. Villages outside the city are where the sex-brokers go to enlist the young girls for trafficking. The parents are not aware of the evils that are awaiting their children, and if they are, they view it as a means of sustainable income for the family. If the mindset can be changed, then the root of the issue of commercial sexual exploitation begins to get cut off. We have one team (MINE) working here this month.
Details on that in the next blog but for now please check out this awesome video to get a better feel for what the women of H-squad are up to this month and feel free to send up some prayer's for our teams this month as well. God is doing something BIG in Thailand and we are so honored to be a part of it!
"The spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the oppressed. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners." Isaiah 61: 1
