“The light shines
in the darkness,
but the darkness
has not understood it.”
(John 1:5)
By far, so far, this has been my favorite country on the race! I love the tremendous kindness of the people, the colors of the lush green countryside, with hints of pinks and purple flowers; I even love the gold of the temples, however bittersweet their beauty may be. I say that, because I know that behind their beauty, there is a deep and very present darkness that surrounds this country. The truth is, Thailand has been on my heart for a long time. Since living in Asia, I’d wanted to vacation here but knew the timing was never right. I prayed Asia would be one of the regions I would be sent to on this race and sure enough I’m back, because I serve a God that is just
T H A T G O O D .
I’d heard first hand accounts from family and friends of experiences here, and most of them revolved around things seen on the infamous “Bangla Road”. I’d hear stories of the endless bars and the beautiful women who sell themselves, most in a kind of modern-day slavery. Sold by family members or seeing no other way out of poverty, they are in bondage.
To be honest, *that* was the ministry I was hoping to be involved with this month. I desperately wanted to reach out to these women and show them TRUE love- Christ’s love.
However, God is good at giving us what we need, and not always what we want. His answer is always, yes, no, or later, and His timing is not ours. His timing is *p e r f e c t* .
God had a different plan for me personally this month, continually and slowly being revealed. I’ve received so much rest and rejuvenation, and for that I am so tremendously thankful!
Though I may not be walking Bangla Road, I’m praying for those teams that are nightly, and I’m telling YOU, begging you, to do the same.
Like so often in life, I may not be able to be present, but I *can use my voice* encouraging others to do the same.
In talking about the challenges they face in this ministry, one of my squad mates, Angie speaks of the of the emotional toll it can take, hearing stories of these women who say it is, “Too scary to quit…to scary…must stay here.”
Please keep in prayer the strength, emotionally and physically of those who are in ministry there this month.
The words another squad mate, Phil, stung me with a sharp kind of pain:
“…It’s easy to be discouraged; especially when the girl you have built a relationship with isn’t at the bar the night you visit. Is she out with a guy? Does she have the night off? Did she just up and leave the bar scene for good?…”
Though there is a dark side, I read his blog and I am SO ENCOURAGED that there are in fact, STRONG MEN OF GOD out there, calling the other men in their generation to a MORE EXCELLENT WAY, a HIGHER STANDARD of living. We are, after all, airs to a King. Please, continue to pray that God protects the hearts the men who are out there in ministry!
***(To read any of these blogs in their entirety, please, I encourage you to click on the links.)***
And while S-Squad may only have a couple of nights left on Bangla road, one of the absolutely beautiful things about this ministry, (like so many others on the World Race) is that it is continuous. When one World Racer leaves a ministry site, another steps in. That means, that for the people working on Bangla Road this month, while they are soon leaving, other workers will soon be sent!
I leave you with this blog that I discovered the other night, of a racer who left a month before those of us on S-Squad. Funny, she was at training camp with me, and we may have even chatted a time or two. She is one of the ones who walked before down Bangla Road, praying, loving, F I G H T I N G for those beautiful daughters of a Most High King…
Check it out:
Sarah Patterson: My First Time With A Girl
(And one more, a video made by squad mate Stephani Smeltzer, who is also doing ministry on Bangla this month! Warning: This video is graphic and not suitable for young viewers.)
