“What I desire for you most is that you first fall in love with Jesus.”
These are the words of our blessed ministry contact, Pi Emmi. These are the words I have had echoing in my heart for the last two weeks in Thailand. And her desire has become my desire in a profound way.
Pi Emmi is the precious woman of God who runs Lighthouse in Action, the ministry my team and two other teams from my squad are working with this month.
As I signed up for the race, I purposely picked a route that included countries where human trafficking was a rising issue. The fight against this exploitation of vulnerability quickly became a passion of mine. I once read in a devotional the following quote: “Some wish to live within the sound of a chapel bell. I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell.” I wanted that quote to be my life.
Guess what? The Lord often gives us the desires of our hearts. This month, my team and I are taking the red light district of Chiang Mai, Thailand by storm. We are living in the rescue shop within a yard of hell. And each night, we take the five minute walk into the darkest part of the city, the bar street where most of the bar girls are working in forced prostitution, to bring out the light of Christ which already resides there, for what we bring into the light can be in darkness no longer. (Words of my wise team leader, Erika Wynne.)
Pi Emmi told us during orientation to seek the Lord and ask him to reveal to us “the one” that he desired us to invest in this month, for this ministry is about intentionality and trust-building. She said we would be most effective focusing our efforts on just one person. I thought for sure my “one” would be one of the bar girls. That’s where my passion lies, so naturally that is what I kept my eyes open for.
Before we went out the first night, the Lord directed me to 1 Samuel 16. Here, the Lord speaks through Samuel to tell Jesse that He has called one of his sons to greatness. So Jesse brings one of his sons before Samuel, thinking he is the one the Lord has chosen. But Samuel says, “Nope, this is not the one the Lord has called.” So Jesse brings another son before Samuel, thinking surely this is the one He has chosen, and Samuel says, “No, not this one either. Do you have any more?” Jesse goes through seven of his sons and none of them are the “one.” And Jesse says, “I mean, there’s David. He’s out in the field working but I guess I can go get him.” So he brings David before Samuel and Samuel says something really cool:
“Rise and anoint him; this is the one.”
Jesse thought seven of his sons were “the one” before he actually got to “the one” that the Lord had called for him.
I wanted to remember this going into our ministry. Not to get discouraged if the first person I talked to wasn’t “my one” for the month. AND not to assume the first person I talked to had to be “my one.”
The first night, we spent time in prayer and worship, preparing our hearts for what the rest of the night held as we went out onto the bar street. Kaitlyn and I went out with Matt, an employee at Lighthouse. Kaitlyn felt drawn to a bar at the end of the street, so we went in, ordered a Coke, and waited for the Lord to stir us to action. I saw one of the bar girls standing alone, so I went to talk with her. It was difficult as she didn’t speak much English. The bartender, a young-looking Thai man, came and helped translate a little. Eventually, he and I got to talking. I kept asking him about the girl, about her life and so on. And then it dawned on me. She was not “my one.”
WHAT. Come on, God. It’s gotta be one of the girls! I care about their lives! I want them to experience freedom. I want to help rescue them.
And Jesus showed me my one. He was sitting right in front of me.
Over the past two weeks, I have been investing in Aran’s life. I have watched others from my group fall in love with the little guy (he’s small in stature…). And I’m not sure if I’ve ever had such a consistent burden for someone to know the Father’s love. I pray for him daily. I pray the Lord catches his heart and becomes so real to him. I pray that, one day, he becomes a person of influence in the Christian faith in Thailand. And that profound desire I spoke of at the beginning of this story, that desire to fall in love with Jesus, I pray that prayer for him.
My "one" for this month was not who I thought it would be. While I’m still getting a chance to talk to many of the bar girls and show them a kind of love they have never known before, I have the eyes of Jesus every time I see that little guy who wants to learn Western slang, doesn’t like big chilis in his rice, rolls with Hell’s Angels bike gang, paints on glass, played in a band in high school, loves Chop Suey and dogs, and who has taught me so much about being patient in the Lord’s timing.
Would you join me in prayer for Aran to awaken to the Lord’s deep, Fatherly love for him? That would bless me so deeply.
Below is a video explaining the ministry my team and I are involved in this month. Check it out, as it explains far more than I can cover in this post.
