We left Africa! And have arrived safely in Chiang Mai,
Thailand.
This month, my NEW team and I will be working for a ministry
called Lighthouse in Action. The ministry has three separate parts and a
separate team from our squad will be working with each section. One squad will
be headed to a village to live and work in the rice fields with a Buddhist
family. Theses are the types of families that are at risk of selling their
children into the sex slave industry, so this team will be working to stop
things before they start.
The second group will be working in the red light district.
They will be attending the bar scene (not participating, obviously) and
establishing friendships, and encouraging people in this area.
The third group, which also happens to be my team, will be
working in Wongen Café. Wongen Café is a coffee shop/café that the ministry
owns and operates. It is located directly across the street from a large
university (45,000 students) and seeks to minister to the college scene. They
have open mic nights, they host local bands, and even offer English classes and
clubs. We will be meeting one on one with students to help with their English,
running a two-day English camp, and working 4-hour shifts as waitresses in the
coffee shop. Our goal is to build relationships and during normal conversation,
share what God has done in our lives.
I am also super stoked because I’ve heard that directly
across the street there is a track and tons of other fitness facilities and a
large “fitness park”. I’m hoping to go there a few times a week and meet people
through sports and fitness and connect on that level.
The ministry here is entirely based on relationships. The
Thai people are a communal culture and work best in relationship settings.
We’ve also been told they don’t respond well to preaching, but rather to seeing
what God has done in someone’s life and wanting that for themselves.
Anyway, will let you know how the ministry pans out.
Oftentimes what we think we are going to do isn’t what we actually end up
doing!
