Every year I nominate a “Song of The Year” that I sing and declare over my life for the rest of that year. Cool huh? (Well, I think it is) I do this because I’m a strong believer that music feeds and strengthens our spirits. Every year I wrestle with which song to pick but this year was a little different because I asked the Lord to lay a song on my heart. As we were bussing from Siem Reap to Bangkok I was feeling really homesick. Gosh I know month one and I am being so dramatic but honestly, you have no idea what HOME means to me. When I think of HOME I think of my family, my friends, my church, my co-workers, my community and of course the beautiful city in the forest (AKA: ATLANTA) that I love so much. What I did was put my playlist on shuffle and allowed God to pick the song He wanted me to hold on to this year and this is what He chose:
“You make it easy to love You,
You are good and You are kind,
You bring joy into my life”
So much truth in these first verses… God’s grace is immeasurably more and every day when I wake up I am in awe of how good He is with me even when I feel like I don’t deserve it. His grace truly makes it easy to not just love Him but to fall in love with Him. It gets better cause Jesus doesn’t only bring happiness (temporary) into my life but He brings JOY (everlasting)! [Read Romans 15:13]
“You make it easy to trust You,
You have never left my side,
You’ve been faithful every time,
Jesus, all I want is You”
When has God ever left my side? I think the real question should be, “When have I left God’s side?”. Even then He remains faithful and that just blows my mind. He is truly all I want and all I need. [Read Isaiah 41:10]
“You are the refuge I run to,
You are the fire that leads me through the night,
There’s a million reasons to trust You,
Nothing to fear for You are by my side,
I’ll follow You anywhere”
Every day is a new day, new adventure, new story that we get to write and tell. Some days are high and others are low so the question is what do we do in the low moments? Where do you run to? Who leads you through those? For me, I want Jesus to be the refuge I run to. I want Him to lead me in the light and in the darkness. [Read Psalm 71:3] My favorite part of this song is that there is not only one reason to trust Him but a million reasons…. A MILLION REASONS!! As I walk this year with an open heart to serve and love the people on God’s heart my desire is to do it in complete BOLDNESS and without any FEAR.
“Oh Jesus, You came to my rescue,
Took my place upon that cross,
You redeemed what I had lost,
Now my whole world revolving around You,
You’re the center of my life,
You’re the treasure, You’re the prize.”
What a reminder of the gospel in these verses! Jesus came to take my place on the cross to give me a place in heaven. Just paint that picture in your brain right now…. Jesus is in the center and all the galaxies, planets, the sun, the moon, the stars, the oceans, the land and all of humanity is revolving around HIM. Being able to just place that visual into perspective and sing it out from the depths of my lungs simply ASTONISHES me. [Read Lamentations 3:58]
“I’ll follow You anywhere
Wherever You lead me, Whatever it costs me
All I want is You”
As I continue to travel this year from city to town, town to village, village to city I want Jesus to be in it all. My route is called “UNSCRIPTED” because every day when we wake up we ask the Lord to provide organic opportunities that will raise His Kingdom. As I ask Him every day I want Him to know that my only desire is to follow Him wherever He takes me regardless of what it’ll cost! I will follow Him anywhere He wants me to go. This song is “Follow You Anywhere by Passion” that birth from my home church Passion City Church in Atlanta, GA. So not only does this song have MARVELOUS lyrics but it comes from HOME! Jesus always knows what He’s doing.
We were in Bangkok for a mini-debrief with the entire squad, our incredible mentor Kylee and our amazing squad leaders Kate & Reece. We got to worship, debrief what God did in Cambodia, learn from our mentor and leaders and have some squad fun! I love big cities so spending time in Bangkok was very special for me. The traffic, the skyscrapers, the heaps of people all reminded me of home and it was SWEET. I also got to meet so many cool local Thai people who work and study in the city. After debrief we had to leave Bangkok because of the air pollution warning that was issued prior that week. It was lifted up the week we were there but to keep everyone safe we decided to migrate to Northern Thailand.
After prayers and hard decisions of where the Lord wanted us to go our team decided to head up to Pai a small town up in the mountains. When I say up the mountains I MEAN IT FOR REAL – FOR REAL! We had to drive up 762 sharp curves in a minibus to get there and you better believe I threw up! I don’t have a huge heart for small towns or villages but the Lord has seriously been teaching me to lay down my own desires aside and follow Him anywhere (YEET YEET). Day 1 was okay, Day 2 we got to pray over Pai during sunset which has been one of the most tangible moments our team has experience with the Holy Spirit. As we prayed the Lord spoke over us and told us that if all we did in Pai was pray over the town then that was ENOUGH. Why? Well because Jesus is ENOUGH and so we grabbed onto that truth and with boldness declared His power, mercy, love, and grace over Pai. Day 3 was even better because we got to meet Sasamon and Jera who have a small street business of making crepes at the Night Market and we got to create a special relationship with them during our stay there. Day 4 God began to shift my heart from a place of not wanting to be in that town to liking it so much that I was keen on extending our stay there. Funny how God works when you surrender huh?!
As the week passed we continued to pray over Pai at the Pai Canyon, meeting locals and creating relationships with travelers. Our team corporately has a huge heart for sharing the gospel with travelers. We quickly realized after speaking with many of them that the majority are on a journey of seeking answers. Guess who has those answers… WE DO! JESUS IS THE ANSWER and we get to share that! With that God is also teaching me that we all need Him not just the poor or the sick but EVERYONE needs Jesus!! We have met some really cool people from all around the world and in the picture below you will see Chrs and Stefanie who are siblings from Germany that were on vacation. Then there is Arman who lives in Florida but is from Atlanta!!! I know who would have thought that we would meet miles away from home?? When he asked me if I was from ATL cause of my United jersey and I said YES we both got excited or at least I did because to me Arman was like a piece of home and I was stoked we got to meet!
As the end of our time approached in Pai our team decided to lock ourselves in a room on the last day to worship, pray and ask the Lord what and where He wanted us to go next. My heart smiles when I think of the NEXT because I can’t wait to tell y’all on my next blog!
Several of you have donated to my journey since my last blog and thank you so much for your generous hearts! If you feel led to give I am still short to be fully funded and my deadline is so close! You may give by clicking the “DONATE” button at the top of my blog: www.ronnysison.theworldrace.org. Please let me know how I can be praying for you by text, email, facebook, instagram, ect…
Stay tuned for the next post!
Ronny Sison
