When we first arrived in The Thailand, we were supposed to go to Chang Mai where the AIM base was located. However, due to dangerously high pollution, we were asked to stay in Bangkok where we had flown in. This turned our month into an ATL month.
What is ATL? ATL means ask the Lord. We spend some time everyday in prayer asking God to lead us to a ministry or individual where we can share his love. Since we didn’t have time to prepare in advance, we didn’t have any ministries lined up, so we set out to the streets to find people to talk to and we even got opportunities to speak to others living in our hostel.
This month I got the privilege to share my heart with a young man from the Netherlands who was traveling around the world. My teammate Jenn and I were at a tattoo shop where I was getting my first tattoo. He was considering getting his first as well and wanted to look at their portfolio. He asked me what I was getting and what it meant. He took a look at my arm and saw the cross and flowers just getting started. I told him that it was a symbol of everything God has done for me in my life. I went on to talk to him about God’s unfailing love and that a relationship with him isn’t about what we can do for Him, but just about being with Him. I told him that God has chosen him and loves him so much. He listened intently as I corrected some misunderstandings he had about Christianity and God. He then asked Jenn and I if he could stay with us at the shop even though he had decided not to get a tattoo. He stayed with us for 3 hours. We listened to his thoughts on God and how he believed he was his own god that he was reincarnated. He talked to us about how he hated this world and the people in it. We listened to him and loved on him until we were finished. We said our goodbyes and parted ways.
Later that night after our squad meeting, we returned to our hostel and there he was sitting in the courtyard! He was talking to another teammate Alyssa this time. We waved and said hi and went back to our rooms. They appeared to be having an important conversation. We later asked her what it was about and she said that she was sharing with him how much God loves him! We knew then where we were going to go for the last week of our stay in Thailand. We were debating between Krabi and Phuket. He was going to Krabi and wanted to meet up with us there. So we felt God pulling us to Krabi.
It turns out that he decided to not meet with us, which happens. We’re all given a choice and that’s just how it goes, but we know that God is in pursuit of him and he won’t stop showing him his love. We’re so excited that we got to be part of that pursuit and can’t wait to see what happens. Please keep him in your prayers that he’ll see how much he really is loved. His heart was so broken and God can change all that.
We’re in month 6 and just entered Indonesia! I’m at $10,965 in funds and have a new deadline for June 30th to have $13,500 raised. If I don’t meet this deadline by the 30th I will be leaving the mission field and returning home. Please consider clicking the donation link above and making a donation today. God has been so good and done so many amazing things. I can’t wait to see what’s next!
