Wingapo friends!
This month, my team and I are placed in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Before this story, I would like to preface with one of my big prayers for the race is that everyday is a challenge. I want to be constantly pushing to grow. That being said, everyday has been a challenge.
This month, our ministry is in the Red Light District. An average day looks like:
7:00-8:00 – Wake up/personal time
9:00 – eat
9:30-10:30 – prayer walk the city
10:30-11:30 – debrief with team
11:30-1:00 – team time or free time
1:00-1:30 – lunch
1:30-2:00 – free time or team time
2:00-5:00 – afternoon bar ministry or interceding prayer
5:00-6:30 – dinner
6:30-8:00 – squad meeting/worship
8:00-10:00 – evening bar ministry or interceding prayer
10:00-11:30 – debrief with team
12:00 – bed time
The heaviness and intensity of our everyday routine has been intense. I have found myself constantly reminding myself to find joy to find peace. The past half week has been so heavy that I started praying that the Lord would show me how he sees this city, and this Earth. I prayed over and over that God would show me how he sees us.
About this same time, Thailand has been celebrating Loy Krathlong (boat/water festival) and Yi Peng (lantern festival). Last night I was really anxious and tired of growing; we had worship and everyone was making plans to go out to see the lantern festival. I had secretly planned to go sit on the roof and watch the lanterns from a safe distance from the crowds. I had tea, pillows, a good book (Jane Eyre), the Good Book, and some music.
As I am planning this out, I heard the Lord quietly say quietly, “go out.”
“No, Lord, that sounds tragic. I’m tired and I hate crowds.”
“Go out.”
“God, it’s dark, it’s crowded. Everything is expensive because it is a festival and a tourist event. I can see the mountains and the river from here. Why would I go out?”
“Because I asked you to.”
So I did (with a less than good attitude if we are being honest). I set out with a large group of the squad, we wandered through crowded streets following flowers and flickering flames. Then suddenly, I was separated from the group. As the crowd grew dense, only three of us were left together.
There are not words for the journey. We climbed over motorcycles, walked on walls, at one point I tripped, but could not fall because there was no where to go. It was a hot mess. Then suddenly, everyone had personal space. We were standing on a bridge over the river where the candle boats were being released, and right where the lanterns were being released. The sky line was in the distance, and I had a clear view of all of it. To top it all off, the moon which was supposedly unusually close to Earth that night was right there in frame too.
As I was looking at all of it, I heard the Lord again, “This, is how I see the world.”
Prayers like stars, rising to the heavens, little dots of lights making their way downstream, a skyline made of lit windows, and people lifting their faces to the heavens. It was the most beautiful moment I have ever experienced. How beautiful are the eyes of the Lord.
