Our ministry this month is unreal. Everything about this month is going to radically change me as a person and the way I view the Gospel. We are living with Pat and his family on a self-sustainable farm outside of Chiang Mai, Thailand. Not only will Pat never have to worry about feeding his family, but his farm also supports surrounding neighbors and community members. He keeps telling us, “I’m not a farmer. I’m just a simple guy doing simple things and it works, because of Jesus.” Nothing Pat does is singular or with selfish intent. His heart is boldly for Jesus first and he doesn’t do anything outside of that. He teases his wife that he loves Jesus more than her and tells us girls to marry a man that loves Jesus more than us. They giggle at one another and you can see love in their eyes. Pat will look at us in those moments and say, “See, it’s simple. Following Jesus isn’t always easy, but it’s simple.”
The farm doesn’t just house Pat and his family (wife, two daughters and grandma) but it also houses around 8 boys. These boys have been living with Pat since leaving the juvenile detention center. Pat has a heart for helping boys who are lost. Since his testimony is so similar, it makes sense that he is drawn to kids who are going down the wrong path. He learns about their passions and helps them to achieve their dreams. They work on the farm and learn to be sustainable while living in community and in the meantime Pat helps them to develop their passions and later will find them a job.
Yesterday we went to a detention center and met in a room with the “troublemakers”. They asked us a million questions while Pat lounged back in his chair bantering and laughing with them. One of the boys will be living on the farm soon and Pat will get him Thai boxing lessons, so that maybe someday he can open his own gym.
Pat has this relaxed saunter about him and very straight forward attitude. It reminds me a little of my dad and I wonder if it’s the farmer in them both. We were working on the farm one morning and Pat just laughs at us as we are getting sunburnt and says, “Yep, it’s hot.” Or after leaving a hospital for a visitation we were all super tired and he looked at us and said, “Oh, you’re tired? Sorry. You’ll get use to it.” Haha this man never rests! But ahh it’s awesome!
Living at Pat’s has been crazy and it’s only been a few days. My whole perception of the world is changing. My view of the Gospel is changing – and I like it!!
Everything is simple. The gospel is simple. Jesus is simple.
We don’t have to get all tied up in theology or semantics, but live simply in God’s Truth. God calls us to love people, and to love them how Jesus loved. Jesus wasn’t this religious critic telling everyone what they have to do or not to do, giving more laws for people to follow. No. Jesus came to free us from the law! Jesus was leisurely, he just chilled out at people’s homes and relaxed. He drank wine and reclined (he was always reclining!) with people who were outcast from their society. He just simply hung out with people who were unwanted. He didn’t enter their homes and have some religious debate. He went in their home, looked in their eyes and said, “I see you. And I LOVE you. Just the way you are.” That’s it. Jesus’ evangelistic plan was so SIMPLE. He just loved others. He saw them, went to them and loved them in their brokenness. That’s what we are called to do!! It’s simple. We don’t have to continuously complicate things or create unneeded distractions in our lives, but see people as people and take a simple second to look at them and SERVE them.. take a second to love them! Think about how much the world could change if we all just stopped being so quick to have a plan or be busy and just looked around us through a lens of who can I see? Who can I serve? Who can I love today?
Every day at Pat’s we work together as a team, as a community, as a family. We tease each other and bear fruit together. We have communal dinners on the floor of their house, and after read a chapter from the Bible. It’s real freedom in Christ. It’s simple. Every minute of our time here is filled with purpose and filled with love. I hope by the end of the month I can live simply like Pat and his family – like Jesus.
