Sawatdeeka from the Land of Smiles!
I am thrilled to let you in on where I am and what I am doing this month! We are in Chiangmai working with Lighthouse in Action. I absolutely love this ministry and this place. Lighthouse in Action was founded by our new friend, Pi Emmi. Pi Emmi has an incredible testimony of how God redeems, restores, and then calls to action hearts that are willing. She has a huge heart, always makes us laugh, and we love her so much already! The two main ministries we are working with this month are Zion Café and Love Acts. This month we have teams Throne Unveiled and Peculiar Treasures here with us and we have split up the ministries so each team has a particular ministry focus. There is also freedom to join in the other ministries as God leads.
Before I explain the ministries I want to share my heart on the things going on here. I want to tell you just why our teams have been placed here, why these ministries exist, and what is trying to win over love. However, I really want to carefully choose my words because I want to shed light on the issues without focusing on what the enemy is doing, but rather what God is doing right now as I speak.
I want to share with you that there are 5,000 male and female prostitutes here and statistics say that number will rise to 20,000 in the dry season. Instead of being overwhelmed by those numbers, let us be overwhelmed by the truth that each one of those precious souls are claimed as God’s own. Each one of them has a purpose, healing to be had, and value. “The enemy seeks to steal, kill, and destroy but God comes to give life and life abundant.” (John 10:10) That fact is infinitely more important than any number.
Statistics say that 99% of this country is Buddhist, believing in reincarnation, striving to be good enough, and worshipping idols that cannot help them. Instead of being alarmed by that statistic, let us be overwhelmed by the knowledge that God is moving here. Everyday someone comes to know the love of Jesus. On the wall of my bedroom this month there is scripture that says, “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness can never extinguish it.” (John 1:5) I truly believe that God’s light travels everywhere we go because He dwells within us and the truth of His word will continue to spread through this nation.
With that said, Team Teleios’ focus this month is Zion Café. Zion Café is a beautiful place and when you walk inside it feels like a sanctuary…and it is. The mission of the Café is to be a light in this area. The red light district is around the block, the night bazaar market is one street away, and we are in the tourist district. So, we are here to build relationships with people coming into the café, help out in whatever way we can, and love on the Thai ladies that work in the café. Zion Café has dorms right above it for volunteers to stay so we get to see a lot of the ladies that work downstairs. Working with them has been so much fun! We laugh and play games and one of the girls even went with us to the waterfalls on Sunday. We also have three nights a week where our team holds events here…we have a game night, a karaoke/dance party night, and a worship night. I am looking forward to seeing how relationships will continue to develop this month.
Love Acts is a ministry where we go out into the red light district and pray, intercede, and build relationships with the girls, ladyboys, and children that work there. A big part of this ministry is prayer walking. The team will go out morning in the afternoon to prayer walk through the area. Then in the evening we hold worship and prayer before going out a final time to meet with the girls. There already has been much fruit and testimony of how God has not only built relationships with people in the bars but how He has given all involved a deeper revelation of His heart for them.
Through Love Acts, there is also ministry where teams go to the nearby slums to work with the children and to a university to reach out to monks. Some of the children in the slums work in the red light district throughout the night, selling roses. Teams play soccer with the kids, love on them, and build relationships.
This is a brief summary of what our month here is looking like. I will be sharing more in detail soon! Thank you all for reading and for your support!
Here are some prayer points if you would like to be in prayer for us:
Pray that God would prepare the hearts of those that we are ministering to. Pray that God would bring about personal relationships with Him and lifestyle changes.
Please pray for the health of our squad as a whole. There have been some injuries and illnesses and we would love it if you would continue to cover us in prayer.
Pray for our unity as a squad and in the subsequent teams.
Pray for financial provision for our squad and that we will be fully funded soon!
Thanks!
Laura
