ATL (Ask The Lord) months are always interesting ones because you never know what is going to happen or where you will end up. The four teams on my squad are literally all over the place right now. My team is in Singapore, two teams are in Malaysia, and one team is in Thailand. But one thing that is the same is we are all seeking the Lord and what he has for each of our teams this month.
Since my team arrived in Singapore, we have been overwhelmed with the way the Lord has provided for us beyond our means. And he continues to show himself to us in the little things as we are seeking him and what he has for us in Singapore.
Last week, I decided to go into the city to a coffee shop that Sarah, one of my teammates, had looked up a few days ago. I did not have any agenda, I just needed to get out and be alone with God.
As I followed my map to the location, I had a hard time finding it. My map said I had arrived, but I did not see the cafe. Instead I was on a college campus. But I walked around a little bit and ended up finding the coffee shop within the campus.
As I walked in, the employees all looked up and welcomed me with a warm smile. They were quick to serve me and answer any questions I had. We got into conversation a little bit and I ended up telling them that I was traveling around the world for a year (we have to be careful in some countries of telling people why we are there).
After I ordered my coffee, I went and sat down. I was getting settled as I overheard the song playing in the background. I stopped what I was doing. I recognized the song. I listened more intently and realized it was a Christian song. It was the song Simple Gospel by United Pursuit.
I felt the Holy Spirit leading me to go ask about the playlist they were playing. So I got up and went to counter to ask them. They told me it was a United Pursuit playlist and I said, “I know them! I love this song!”. Then I just felt the Spirit prompting me to ask if they were Christians, so I did. And they said yes. But more than that, their vision for the coffee shop is Kingdom minded.
The owner was inspired by Isaiah 58:12 which says, “Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.” He desires to build cafes that make a difference. This specific cafe, named Lowercase, aims to change the atmosphere around LASALLE College of Arts because the owner believes that the future arts and media leaders of the nation will come from there. The cafe hopes to influence the students’ lives to do arts and media to glorify God and His kingdom. A much different way to do media and arts than the way they are done in today’s world.
Then she asked me if I wanted to go to church with her on Saturday and I said yes! I went to church with her and Yan Ee, another girl that works at Lowercase. It was a really awesome service and afterwards we went to dinner with Angeline’s small group. At dinner, I was able to meet even more people. I got to hear so many stories of how these people are so passionate about Jesus and bringing his Kingdom here in their country.
They keep telling me what a blessing I am to them and Singapore. But they have been such a blessing to me. God has used them to speak into some hard things that I have been wrestling through. It never ceases to amaze me the way that God chooses to work and bring things/people into our paths. I’m so thankful for these new friends and the way God has used them in my life!
P.S. We head to Thailand next week and we will be partnering with a ministry that exists to rescue, restore, and empower women ensnared by the sex trade in Thailand with the grace and love of God. They seek to be a holistic ministry. They engage in bar outreach, teaching, counseling, and employment. Please be praying for safe travel to Thailand and be praying for our time with this ministry.
