Pass Code: WheninAsia
Note: Ministry this month had a more set schedule, vs something new every day, it was harder to split up the ministries between 1st and 2nd halves of the month. So I put it all onto one blog, but that made it kind of long. I apologize! I added pictures to help keep things interesting. 🙂
For our third month, we worked in southern Thailand with an International Church (PIF). Ministry this month looked very different than the first two months. So here is a run-down of some of the key things we got to partner with the church in. As always, if you have questions about a particular ministry or want more info, just shoot me an email at kat.kendall12 at gmail.com.
Work Visits:
Similarly to how leaders from a Western Church might visit members in their homes, a key ministry of PIF was visiting members. Unlike typical member visits, however, we visited members at their jobs instead of their homes. A majority of church members are singers or musicians in bands for restaurants, bars, and hotels across the city. Members prefer for the contacts and us to visit them at their jobs rather than their homes, so we did! We would often visit around 2 places each visiting night. We would go to the restaurant/bar/etc, watch them sing a few songs, spend time with them on their breaks between sets, then watch a few more songs before moving on to a new place. Often times they would ask us to get up on stage with their band and sing a song (or several). It was a fun way to not only get to know the church members better, but also to understand part of the culture of the city (musical entertainment is one of bigger occupations, outside of massage/beauty parlors and prostitution/bar girls.)
By Request. Singing Bohemian Rhapsody during a visit with one of the members of PIF. (Note: We were literally the only people in the restaurant at this point, besides the restaurant staff and the band!)
Bible Studies:
During the time that we were in Thailand, PIF was able to launch two new Bible Studies, one for Burmese workers, and one for Pakistani workers and refugees. Both Bible Studies are translated from English (what the contacts and River Dwellers speak) into Burmese and Urdu (A native tongue from Pakistan). Both of these studies take place starting very late at night (usually between 11:30pm and Midnight) and run till around 1 or 2 in the morning. This is because most of the participants in both studies do not get off work till around midnight. It was really cool to be a part of the birthing of a vision that our contacts at PIF had been working towards prior to us arriving. And to know that we were a part of the beginning of something that will continue to grow and spread long after we leave as more and more believers and non-believers alike are brought in to enjoy fellowship and music in their native tongues, but also hear the Gospel preached every week.
Bible Study and Fellowship at the home of some of our Burmese Friends.
Bar Ministry:
The city that we were in is one of the top tourist attractions in South East Asia. It is a favorite spot for many Europeans and Asians, though predominately tourists were from Australia and Russia. One of the biggest pulls for the area is the nightlife scene, including a “walking street” that is lined with bars, peep shows, “happy ending” massage parlors, and more. It is described as Las Vegas, without the casinos. Every night, hundreds of girls across the city go to work in the bars, dancing on the hundreds of stripper poles that are visible from the street, advertising on the curbside, and entertaining guests. One of the more unique ministries that we got to participate in was going out and showing love, light, hope, and joy to these women. We would purchase a drink (coke, water, tea.. whatever was cheapest) which would then allow us to sit at a table and interact with the girls. Often there are games such as connect four, jenga, and a few other games that the girls play with patrons, so we would interact with them through games. All the while trying to get to know them and show them that they are loved and valued. My teammate Anne-Michael wrote a beautiful blog (password: annemichael) about this ministry, which I highly recommend reading for more insight on this part of our month.
One of the sweet, beautiful friends I made during Bar Ministry
Teaching English:
Several of the weeks, our team got to partner during the day with a large university nearby, helping students practice conversational English. We would visit classes (ranging in size from 20-100+), where we would play games to help practice vocabulary, pronunciation, and spelling, teach vocabulary and phonetics, teach simple English songs (This is the Day, Making Melodies, etc), and have general conversations to allow the students to practice.
Teaching English at a local University
Sunday Services:
One of the benefits of partnering with a church for a month is the ability to not only attend services every week, but also assist the church as needed. Each Sunday, our team served in multiple facets, giving testimonies, leading childrens’ church, and singing with or leading the worship team. The church has two services each Sunday, so it not only gave us the opportunity for many of us to use our gifts, but it also gave us a better understanding of what it is like to run a multiple services.
Leading Worship at PIF
Village:
For a few days during our month, our contacts took the whole team, as well as their family to a village that they had lived/worked in prior to moving to the city we were working in. While there, we got to make house visits where we prayed for families and shared the Gospel, we visited a local school and played games with some of the students, we attended a prayer meeting for a local Burmese church and visited a meeting at a sister home-cell/house church. We got to try several new things, including monitor lizard (not a fan), coca cola in a bag (so much fun, though dangerous for a klutz like me!), and rice porridge/soup (texture was different, but tasty!). Finally, before leaving and heading back to the city, we visited the Tsunami Memorial in Baan Nam Kem, where we learned about the Boxing Day Tsunami that struck the western coast of Thailand in 2004. The wall I am standing in front of in the picture is the average height of the wave that came through at Baan Nam Kem, where the most deaths, injuries, and disappearances in Thailand due to the tsunami occurred.
Burmese Home Cell/House Church in the Village (Note: There were at least 10 people that you couldn’t see in this picture. There were people along the wall beside me, down the hallway to the right, and outside listening through the windows and door.)
At the Tsunami Memorial in Baan Nam Kem. This curved wall shows the average height of the waves as they swept through Baan Nam Kem.
Painting:
The building that PIF now occupies is new to the church, so not all the rooms are completed yet. We helped to paint one of the rooms, and two of the hallways of the building. Melissa and I also got the enormous opportunity to use our newly found talents/hobbies and painted several pieces of artwork, including several canvases as well as a series of abstract painting based off Psalms 23. These paintings will be used to eventually decorate the church sanctuary and offices. It was not only a unique way to bless the church, but also allowed us to further explore a new form of connecting with Papa through art.
Contacts:
One of River Dwellers favorite parts of ministry for our month in Thailand was our amazing contacts. Joe and Sarah, along with their 4 children became like family to us. We spent time ministering to the family, helping the kids with home school, encouraging the parents, sharing meals together (including a Thanksgiving FEAST), watching the kids so the parents could have a date night, taking the kids to the beach, having sleep overs, visiting local (family friendly) attractions. This was the first month that we were so closely involved with our contacts and their family (we worked with our previous 2 contacts, but did not spend near as much time with them or their children), so it was a lovely change. I’m pretty sure that if the family could have gotten their hands on our passports, we would have not been able to leave Thailand. I’m also pretty sure we would not have been extremely sad about it 😉
Hanging out with our contacts’ kids at their favorite place to take us
This month was a stretching, yet extremely rewarding month for Team River Dwellers. Our schedules often ran from 10 or 11am all the way till 2am, with a couple breaks for meals and a quick nap. We learned the importance of quality time. We learned the importance of setting boundaries for ourselves and our team. We learned that cockroaches can bite. We learned that monitor lizard is not the most tasty of dishes. We got to experience more unique and different types of ministry, learned important lessons that brought our team closer together, made life-long friends, and fell in love with the country of Thailand.
