Month 9. I ran toward my parents in the airport in Chiang Mai, Thailand. It had been 8 long months I was so excited. Not just to see my parents again but to be back with Lighthouse in Action(without a doubt my favorite ministry we have worked with on the race). They had no idea what was about to hit them. We got them back to the guesthouse to begin unpacking and settling in. The next five days would be my most exhausting days on the race. Honestly.
One of my favorite moments of the week. My mom and I were sitting in a bar in the Red Light District ordering water and Lei sat down with us. She was 37 and like so many of the other girls in the bars she didn’t believe she was beautiful….she is gorgeous. She had two children, her ex-husband left her and with no laws about child support she was left to raise them and support them. She worked in a sewing factory for six years but it just didn’t cut it…she couldn’t make ends meet. So she became a prostitute in the Red Light District of Chiang Mai. What does she do with the money? She sends her kids to private school where they learn three languages, she wants to break the cycle she doesn’t want this for her daughter. This story wasn’t new to me I had heard it countless times from different woman. But for my mom it was the first time she was hearing it and in a moment Lei went from a prostitute to a mom just like her. My Mom saw her like she saw every other mom picking up their kids from school, baking cookies for bake sales, and checking her kids homework. The best part I had a moment almost identical three months earlier when my squad was in Chiang Mai doing bar ministry. The difference. The girl I saw was my age and as I walked into the bar in the middle of the afternoon while they were setting up she was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, she had curly hair and was smiling. She easily could have been one of my friends from college…she easily could have been me. She dressed like a college student, she acted like a college student. In that moment I realized she was just a young woman doing the only thing she thought she could.
As the week continued, we prayer walked the Red Light District and temples, we talked with Monks and girls in the bars, we went on a River Boat Cruise, we spent an afternoon hanging out with kids at Remember Nhu a children’s home from kids at risk of being trafficked, we painted and cleaned, we ate Pad Thai, I helped my Dad with finance ministry(this was especially cool as this was a big part of my race as a Team Treasurer for 5 months of the race this is one of the biggest ways I served my team) my parents got to met Emmi the founder of Lighthouse in Action and hear her amazing story, I was reminded why I came on the race, I watched my parents love on kids that were deeply seeking the love of parents, I washed my parents feet, they got to hear the testimonies of so many racers and what God has done in our lives so far on the race, my mom shared with the whole group the symbolism behind washing feet, but mostly I got to hang out with my parents and allow them to experience what my life has been like for the last 9 months. It was a crazy amazing week, it was beautiful, it was full, it was hard, it was exhausting, and it was my favorite week on the race. God continued to do amazing work in my heart, in their hearts and in our relationship.
God always knew I was going to spend a week with my parents in Thailand, they would see me where God had called me, they would watch me see me give hope to woman in the Red Light District of Chiang Mai, they would experience life on the field. It was all in God’s timing and planning. I never questioned if I was supposed to invite them and I’m so glad I did. So future racers: pray about it, but know that God calls specific people to parents week. There were 42 people on P-Squad and there are twice as many parents but God called 11 racers and 14 parents for this week plus some awesome staff. (Shout out to Joe Lynch and Pat and Gordon Burrows and Amy Duncan you made our week!) The Lord had speficic things for every person who was there. I know why God called me there, my Dad knows why God called him there, and my Mom knows why God called her there.
Malachi 4:6 says “He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents” and God did just that.
(Selfie. Taken at the airport in Chiangmai after first seeing my parents…we were so excited we went running towards our parents)
(Tiger Kingdom with my Mom petting baby tigers)
(Boarding boat for River Boat Cruise)
(Watching my parents interact with these awesome kids was another highlight of the week…many of these kids are starving for a Mom and a Dad and I was happy to share mine for the day)
Lighthouse in Action seeks to eradicate the commercial sex trade in Chiang Mai, and see the Thai people choose abundant life through Jesus, as we show them His truth and love. This ministry has touched my heart, her ministry is amazing to read her story, or to learn more about her ministry or to donate visit Lighthouseinaction.org
