Ministry this month looks different.
This month, my team is at an AIM base in Chiang Mai, Thailand. We are doing ATL(ask the Lord), which means we get to initiate and actively pursue ministry ourselves. Everyday has looked different. At the beginning of the month, we were able to go to a monk chat where we spoke to Buddhist monks at a temple in town. We have been led to go on prayer walks, intercede for others, hold a revelation bible study, and make/hand out encouraging notes. I’ve been able to baby sit twins that are three months old! <my heart literally melting> And I’ve also gotten to walk to a pigeon park to see if anyone would like to talk.
Another WR squad is staying at the AIM base, and they have invited my team to partner in some of their ministries. One of those new squad friends likes to walk to the park, feed the pigeons, and wait with a note reading, “we would love to talk to you,” sitting beside her.
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At the beginning of the day, I didn’t know what my ministry was going to look like exactly, but that’s kind of what ATL is, seeing an opportunity and taking it. So I went with her and some others to this pigeon park. My expectation was already low because it was a cloudy day and was already raining/misting as we walked to the park.
“Would anyone want to linger at a park with this weather? Would anyone even be able to speak English… let alone be able to read the sign??”
But that’s why we have hope right? Hope in Jesus to provide the divine encounters, not us. So there I was, afraid of all these pigeons flying at my hand full of corn seed.
“Why did I put feed in my hands??”
“The pigeons hurt! They’re scraping my hand! Ohhh it tickles”
All the things. I don’t know if I like pigeons. -A bird has pooped on me before and this could be a risk-
We walk over to a sitting area and pull out the note. I’m waiting in anticipation, who will look and see the sign?!
I decide to sit on the ground because I’m feeling bold and want to pet a pigeon.
A man rides his bike and stops to talk to one of the people in my group.
Birds land on my legs, shoulders, and hands, as I watch this older man proceed to have a conversation with more of my team.
“Hey, that bird has string on its’ feet, grab him!”
I look down. Grab the pigeon. Wait. What did I just do!? Well I got him!
I hold him on his back as my friend begins to patiently unravel string twisted around this poor birds feet, cutting off its circulation.
It won’t all come off.
Someone else goes and runs to three nearby stores searching for nail clippers.
I’m thinking to myself, “wow, I was afraid of these birds and now sitting here holding this pigeon trying to untie some string. What is my life?”
Someone comes back with nail clippers.
More patience and more untwisting. As we try to cut away the tightly wound string holding his feet in bondage, the bird fights against the pain. He pulls away. We are just trying to help you little bird!
Hmm, isn’t that the truth about what God does when he cuts away the strings holding us in bondage, the deeper attachments we have in life? It may hurt now, but it is literally for our good. It’s to bring blood back into our limbs and life back into our body. To be whole from head to toe.
I look over and see some of my group praying with the man on the bike. I think, that could have been me…
Yet I’m needed here to help this little bird. To learn a lesson. To hopefully not get rabies or some bird disease. God wants us to care for the little creatures, and hopefully share the little lessons learned.
