Its been about a month here in Thailand since we first started ministry. I’ve been living in an orphanage with 15 Thai children. Our bathroom consists of a ceramic toilet bowl with places for you to stand. You have to squat down on it (hence the name squatty potty). When you shower, you stand in the same room and just turn on the shower nozzle. Water pours over you and also onto the squatty potty, sink, and anything else in there. For food, I’ve been eating chicken, rice, and noodles, for just about every meal. I am really enjoying the food here, I like the cuisine a little more than Guatemala. We wake up at 6:30 a.m, and go to bed around 9 p.m.
Day time
During the days, starting at 7:30 a.m, we cut down bamboo trees with machetes, pick axes, and axes. Conversation has not been lacking during the work day, in fact we’ve come up with names for all of our tools (even though they continually break).
We have:
The Mutilator (a large metal welded axe with a wide head on it)
The Punctuator (a more precise, long thin headed, metal axe)
The Prospector (a big wooden pick axe with a metal head)
The Dirt Mover (a shovel)
The Boring (a handsaw that we never use because it’s not practical)
My Mother’s Lucky Machete (a simple metal machete)
The Violator (a square handled metal axe with a sharp head)
Night time.
At night we hang out, and play with the children, until dinner (about 6:30). THEN we head to the hot springs and shower in the river. 6 or 7 concrete cups contain the water of the spring next to an icy cold river. The spring water is VERY hot depending on which one you get into. That’s about what most of my days look like physically. My day spiritually looks much different.
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Spiritual growth
This was an especially important season for me. My dependence on the Lord has grown so much. I find myself waking up in the morning and wondering what I could even do that would matter. I’m reminded of my purpose and my hope. The absolute treasure of Christ is something I’m beginning to grasp. Sometimes the Lord teaches us, but other times he is changing us. That’s definitely what this season has been for me. Changing me into a man who not only needs God, but wants God.
My future plans used to revolve around what I wanted to do, but now it’s about what I want to be, I’m no longer focused on what I will have to do in order to be happy, because I am positive that it is who I AM in Christ Jesus that brings me joy.
As of right now, my future plans are not concrete. Many options are a great thing, and that’s definitely what I have, however it’s not important. What’s important is who I will be. In that sense, there is only one option.
In John 4, with the woman of Samaria, the Lord says that his food is to do the will of God. That verse became reality for me this past month. I’ll be completely honest, it was the manual labor that did it for me. I was waking up in the morning and thinking “this is gonna suckkkk” for the first few days. It wasn’t something I wanted to do. To go out to the farm and swing a machete all day with blistered hands, was the last thing on my to do list. However, it was the best thing for me. I don’t think I’ve ever been more still, and stable, in God. My joy did not flee, Christ did not disappear, and salvation did not fade. No matter where I am, and what I am doing, I surely will be strengthened by the Lord of the universe.
Thats what’s on my mind most everyday here. The power of being with the Lord is so real to me. I used to worry what would happen after I left the race, and if I would grow as much spiritually. At this point I have no doubt that the community might be thinner, but the will draw near, as I draw near.
Donate
“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”
??James? ?1:27? ?ESV??
Another thing I’d like to blog about is our ministry hosts here in Thailand. Aaron and Wanida run an orphanage here in Chiang Dao, but they are trying to move to a new location. We are building a fence for them at their new property but they need about ? 1,000,000 THB or $30,000 American dollars in order to build the home. They want to teach kids the basics of farming and other usable skills for after they leave school. When I return to the states, I plan to help support them in this and whatever, however why wait when you can do it now? Please let me know if you would like to donate to them and support these orphans. I leave within the next few days so please hurry!
