What a month Thailand was! There were so many things that happened last month and I had so many experiences it feels like I was in the Philippines months ago! It was a very unusual month since we were involved in several ministries instead of one. The very first ministry my team was involved in was bar ministry.
For me bar ministry was the most taxing even though I never went out at night. A gap year world race squad was there our first week for their parent vision trip so they went out at night and we prayed for them. Even though I never experienced the night time bar ministry, I was able to form connections with several women (thanks to Annie and Dani). During the day we went on several prayer walks. Something I learned this month that I have never done before is listening prayer. Honestly, I thought it was very weird, and I wasn’t sure how to handle it at first. The Lord definitely grew me last month and opened my heart to receive Him and hear his voice. I unmistakably heard his voice last month during listening prayer and followed and turned to him for guidance more often as a result. In the afternoon we would have another prayer walk. This one was more relational and many of the racers got to know the women working at the bar. In the evening we did intercessory prayer for the people doing bar ministry until 10:30 p.m. Doing bar ministry was an exhausting day but very important and beneficial.
The next ministry my team was involved in was intercession for the squad. We also led worship for the squad, which Kelsey, Lydia, Isaac, and Derek did very well. All we did all week was pray for the team, squad, ministry, the city, and whatever else we felt called to pray for. Also, this week several of my team members, including myself, were involved in a different ministry. On Monday and Tuesday of that week Josh, Kelsey, Derek, and I had a unique opportunity presented to us. One of the ministries our squad participated in was monk chat, which is where you go sit and talk to monks at the Chedi Luang Temple to learn more about them and their beliefs while helping them practice speaking English. During one of the monk chats a policeman had approached one of my squad mates. Through this interaction they found out about the world race and asked Emmi (our host), if she could send some people to teach English at the police academy! It was an amazing experience! What is even more amazing was that we got to go back the following week and my whole team was able to join. It was my first time ever teaching English to anyone! I never thought that I would be teaching English especially to Thai policemen! It was an experience I will never forget, and I made some lifelong friends.
The final week we were involved in monk chat and slum ministries. This was the ministry I was most excited about. Every day I spoke with a monk who had better English than the last. This allowed our conversations to be much more in–depth, and I was able to speak more about my faith. They were always eager to hear more about Christianity. Speaking to a monk that could actually understand what I am saying to them made the experience much more enjoyable and worthwhile. Monks with good English made ministering much easier. I also greatly enjoyed going to the slums and playing soccer with the boys. The first day was a bit rough and none of the children wanted to play with us. Once we established a better relationship with them we were able to interact more with them.
Hope everyone enjoyed reading a summary of the ministry I was involved in Thailand. My next blog will be more about my personal experiences so stay tuned!
