It’s hard to write “A Day in the Life� blog here because no
two days are the same. The days we do
bar ministry look different from the days we work on the SHE property.
Bar Ministry Day
I woke up at 6:30 to go to the bathroom and I got this
awesome sunrise. I couldn’t go back to sleep so I did my devotional and read my
Bible. Shortly after I was done I went back to sleep.
8:30 am – Woke up for the second time – I don’t wear makeup or
do my hair (there’s really no point when it’s 90+ degrees and we have not air
conditioner… I just end up sweating it
all off) and since I only have about 6 outfits to choose from getting dressed
is a very easy process.
I have that sweet bottom bunk.
8:45am – Breakfast – We have cereal every morning. I’m not a
huge fan of cereal but I’ve learned putting sugar and/or honey on it helps it
go down. This morning I decided to skip the cereal and go for Pringles. FYI: The people of Thailand are being ripped off by the Pringles’ Company. Cambodia had Pringles just like we have in the US but Thailand has super small Pringles that don’t taste like they should…. but they do have some interesting flavors including Grilled Shrimp and Seaweed.
9-11am – Team Time: Podcast on Spiritual Warfare – We do
morning feedback and listen to a podcast then discuss it. This month my team,
Team Wellspring, has added the girls from Team Illuminate (Liz, Allie, Susan and
Laura Hamilton) to our group. It’s been great getting to know them and build
relationships with them.
11-12pm – Personal Time- This is when I usually get on the
internet but I’m trying to make better use of my time and I’ve decided to start
doing the training that is required for our month of ministry in Atlanta.
12-1pm – Lunch- Our meals are provided for us at the SHE
house so unlike Cambodia where we were responsible for getting our own food here we
have to eat what’s provide. I’m going to be completely honest and say that 85%
I’m not a fan of what we’re eating… I just eat it so I’m not starving for the
rest of the day. Thank God there is a 711 down the road where we can go to get
snacks and slurpees. On this day we actually had spaghetti which was awesome and I don’t even like spaghetti back home.
1-3:30pm – Prayer Walk/ Cooking making – On bar ministry
nights we go on prayer walks during the afternoon. We split up into groups of 3
or 4 and walk to either the spirit houses that are up the road, around the area
of the SHE house or to Patong. During our walk we pray for the area, the women
we will encounter that night, divine appoints, etc. During this time one or two
people have to stay back to help bake cookies. One of SHE’s ministries is
baking cookies that are sold around Thailand and the proceeds help support
other ministries here. I hurt my ankle Monday working on the land so I stayed
back two days this week to bake cookies. I’m starting to actually enjoy it even
though the women I’m helping don’t speak a word of English and we basically
just use a lot of hand motions to get our point across.
3:30- 5pm – Personal time- More training our for Atlanta ministry. So far
I’m on session 6 out of 13. Pretty good progress after just one day if I do say
so myself.
5pm – Dinner – One thing you can always count on is that there will be plenty of white rice. I never want to see rice again when I get home.
5:30-7:45pm – Personal time to pray and get ready for
ministry. This is when I try to take a shower and do my hair, makeup etc. We
try to look like tourist who are going out for a night on the town during bar ministry so a little
effort is required.
7:45 – 8:45pm – Worship and Prayer – Everyone in the house gets
together for collected worship and prayer. The first two weeks we were here the
house was almost completely full with 47 people including a YWAM team, Real
Life team, group of Swedish college students, our team and other World Race
team. Now the WR and YWAM teams have left so things are a little quieter.
9 – 11:30pm – Bar Ministry – The bars usually open at 8 to begin setting up we get there a little after 9. We look for areas that are not busy and have women just sitting around waiting for customers. Bar games are very common here so we’ll order a drink (non-alcoholic) and ask one of the girls to play a game with usually Connect Four, Jenga or Jackpot. I’m getting pretty good at all these games, FYI. The bar get busier as the night goes on and it’s hard to have time to just talk with a girl. We leave at 11:30 because after that time the girls are either completely drunk or have a customer they are looking to go home with.
12- 1am – Debrief – We come back to the house and discuss
the night’s events, the highs and lows.
After 1am – Bed – I’m usually completely exhausted by this
time especially since I got use to going to bed at 10:30pm in Cambodia.
Work Day
We push our team time back to 10am so that we can sleep in a
little. I somehow always manage to wake up at 8.
10-12pm Team Time – Bible study, feedback
12pm – Lunch
1-5:30pm – Work on the land – SHE has bought some land in
Phuket about 30ish minutes from where the house is now. They have big plans for
this land and we are helping to make this vision a reality. I actually like
working on the land. Granted it’s about 90 degrees and we get soaked with sweat
and dirty but it’s nice to see actual progress being made each day.
And
sometimes Sharon and Mark take us to a private beach after we’re done to wash
off.
5:30pm – Dinner – I’m usually so hunger at this point I’d anything…
and I usually do.
6:30 – 7:30pm– Children’s ministry – We rotate going
outside the back of the house and playing with the kids in the neighborhood.
7:45 – 8:45pm – Worship and prayer
9-11pm – Intercessory prayer – in one of the rooms there is
a wall with all of the bars on it along with the names of the girls that people
have met there. We gather together in that room and pray for the teams that are
out and the girls they will meet.
11:15pm Shower and bed – No joke, I’m usually the first
person asleep.
When you work this hard during the week it’s absolutely necessary to play hard on the weekend. This Saturday we went on a boat tour of Phi Phi (pronounced like Pee Pee) Islands. We got to snorkel, explore and lay out all day. It was amazing.
Wish you were here!!!!
