This last month has been a blur. When I went to launch, I got a Kingdom Journeys key that said “LIVE” on it. Even though I haven’t figured out the entire meaning of the key, I definitely know what it looks like to Live here in Thailand.
As I saw that our time of being service team was coming to an end I felt super frustrated. After all of our hard work, I just felt like there was nothing to show. Nothing to appreciate. So, a couple of my teammates and I decided we needed a new perspective, a new way to look at things. We went up to the roof and just yelled all the emotions we were feeling. After that, we looked out at the city of Chiang Mai and screamed all the attributes of God we saw in it (while some people down in the street looked up slightly confused). Then we yelled who God said we were in his eyes. We were reminded that while we are serving to be humble and serve with the heart and eyes of a servant and not expect anything in return.
After us yelling on the roof, we came down to the hostel and they asked us to touch up anything that needed fixing. These touch-ups included three doors that needed to be sanded down to its raw wood. After about an hour and a half of sanding, I sat there trying to figure out how I got to the place where I was on my hands and knees sanding down a door and getting sawdust everywhere (something I will never want to do again). How could the last 18 years of my life just lead up to me sanding down a door? Why the heck did I do this to myself? As I let these thoughts run through my head I realized I was in the exact spot that I wanted to be in for the last month. I was doing some type of manual labour that was going to immediately benefit the community around me. Right then I realized that what I have been doing for the last month might not be instant satisfaction, but if I took the time to look back I was helping the people in my squad not have to worry about where they were going to eat in the morning or even when. They were able to have a place of rest waiting for them the moment they came back from ministry.
In this last month, I have learned so much about humility and what it means to constantly be choosing the people around you. Living in a community isn’t easy, but I have learned what it means to live. That sometimes living means going on a roof and screaming all the attributes of God you see in a city. Getting on your hands and knees to sand a door down to its raw wood by hand. Other times it means to be humble and willing to wake up earlier than most to serve your community by getting out food. And most of the time it means loving the people closest to you and holding their hands through the scary rough times (even if that means shielding them from seeing live fish at a food market about to get killed).
Sincerely,
Lillian Son
P.S. Despite me being on the field I’m not fully funded and I am so close guys! Only $1,000 left. If you feel led please give.
