When we learned that our ministry (along with Angie’s team) for the month was XLife, a sex trafficking prevention effort of Lighthouse in Action (LIA) based on building relationships in the villages, the reactions of the team were so diverse. You see, Racers have this hopeful anticipation of doing bar ministry in Thailand and rescuing girls from the sex trade. I dealt with that here, so I was ready for anything God had for us. My team leader, Sara, pitched it as an opportunity to spare the villagers from ever having to experience the horrors of the sex industry, an opportunity to give freedom. We’d also be breaking ground for a training center for rescued girls. This got me SO excited for working in the village of Chiang Dao. However, most of the team really struggled because they felt called to bar ministry and that wasn’t what the Lord had for our team at this time. They just didn’t understand.
Fast forward a week, we’re at LIA in Chiang Mai with all of the teams working with XLife and Love Acts, a sex trafficking rescue effort. We’re having in-depth orientation to the culture, Buddhism, Chiang Mai, LIA and the language all while recovering from jet lag. Emmi approached the two team leaders of the XLife teams with a dilemma. The chief of the village is worried that 16 girls will be too loud for their quiet, serene lifestyle and 8pm bedtimes. She presented three options:
1) The two teams go to her father’s village, Mae Ai, together to work in the rice fields and build relationships
2) One team goes to Mae Ai and the other goes to Chiang Dao
3) If both teams felt led to Chiang Dao, each team could spend 10 days in Chiang Dao and 10 days in Chiang Mai working alongside the Love Acts teams in the slums, the coffee shop, college ministry and bar ministry
WHAT?!?! You mean we have the option to do ALL the ministries we’re all so passionate about? Most of the team had now embraced the idea of the village and were content with the purpose God had for us there, but this was like a second chance for bar ministry. I was reminded of the story of Abraham being asked to sacrifice Isaac. Of course he didn’t want to sacrifice his son, but he regarded and trusted God more and just when he was about to slay his son, the angel of the Lord spoke and God provided a ram. Was the Lord testing us just as He had Abraham? Was He seeing if we trusted Him more than our own desires? Was He giving us the desires of our hearts because we had become content and willing to do what He was calling us to in that moment? Is this our ram?
Our team spent time in prayer and discussion to see where everyone was. I kept going back to something I heard from the Lord when Manistry was first introduced. Our squad leader, Joel, asked us to pray about how much we wanted to see each other during the month to determine our locations. When I asked the Lord how often I was to see Jay, I just kept hearing “go to the city and the village.” I got frustrated with God because that’s not what I had asked! I didn’t know which location was tied to me seeing him X amount of times. When I heard we had nearly a week of orientation in Chiang Mai, I thought that fulfilled “go to the city.” Now, it seemed so crystal clear that He was talking about option 3. However, our team was split. Some felt strongly about one village or the other, some were so befuddled that bar ministry was being reintroduced as an option, some felt like our team just needed to be alone to minimize distractions and some just needed to verbally process their emotions about it all. We entrusted Sara to take our input, consult the Lord, Angie and Emmi and make a prayerful decision.
The next day, the verdict came. Angie’s team felt strongly called to Mae Ai, so we were going to Chiang Dao. We’d leave the next day. Then it was pushed back another day for transportation reasons. The next day, my teammate was still too sick to travel, so we pushed it back another day. So here we are, supposed to leave today…but something glorious happened yesterday.
We went to breakfast as a team and talked about our plans for the day. Some of us were feeling stir crazy, me being one of them. We hadn’t done “ministry” since before debrief. That was more than 2 weeks ago! Granted, there were like 5 debrief days, 4 travel days and 3 orientation days thrown in the mix so we haven’t exactly been lazy bums, but my gifting is in serving! I’m a doer. I just wanted to get back to ministry. The Lord just keeps convicting me that ministry isn’t a place I go or a set schedule I’m given by a contact. Ministry is being intentional with those around me wherever I’m at. Yesterday, my ministry was to my team, my squad, a Buddhist temple volunteer and a homeless man on the street.
I’m also learning that the Lord is going to take me wherever He wants…which is why I’m STILL in Chiang Mai…and that God has a sense of humor. The day after I compared our situation to Isaac and the ram, He took me to a hospital called Chiang Mai RAM. I can’t make this stuff up.
Jenn Dannelley
