Hello family and friends! Long time no blog! I apologize for my lack of writing and posting. Anyways here is an update on what my team and I have been up to and things I’ve been learning.
Ministry:
My team and I have been in Ratchaburi for the last two weeks and will be here until the end of April. We have been keeping ourselves busy with a variety of different ministries and each week we get the opportunity to serve different populations.
Last week (3/12-3/17) we went to a Karen village in Suan Phueng which borders both Thailand and Myanmar/Burma. We helped build a road with concrete, taught English at the near by school, led children’s Bible studies and after school activities every day, visited and prayed for families, worshipped, and I got to preach at church on Sunday. Some of the families had lived in the village for the past 20 years while others lived in the refugee camps and sent their children to live with people in the village for school. We slept on the floor, took showers outside, and lived our best lives without technology. We ate delicious Thai food, overly sweetened hot beverages with a hint of coffee, tried yellow watermelon (delicious!), and sat on floors for our meal.
This week, we spent two days (3/20-3/21) at the Juvenile Detention Center with 40 wonderful girls ages 14-23. Each girl has a story. Some are there for petty theft, others for drug use and possession (the JDC is also a drug rehabilitation facility because Thailand does not have a individual clinic for it), and a majority for taking their boyfriend’s faults and serving instead. Many of the girls have tattoos on their hands representing “branding” or marking of territory by the boyfriend and when I heard this, I was honestly disgusted and heartbroken. It’s disheartening to see that women are not treated how they should be and how they do not believe they are worthy of pure and genuine love. This world is so full of injustice and it is our job as His people to be the voice for the voiceless, fight for those who cannot fight for themselves, and restore hope (Proverbs 31:8-9). Our ministry consisted of sharing testimonies, encouraging, teaching and practicing English, playing games, and lots and lots of dancing and singing (particularly to Baby by JB). It was cool doing ministry with girls my age because it was just like hanging out with friends. These girls came in as strangers and quickly became family to one another helping each other learn English and comforting in times of sadness. I wish we did more with them but I am thankful for the sweet time to pour into and receive from them.
Every Friday, my team and I go on the LoveRatchaburi radio show and sing songs and host own own talk show. It’s kind of fun chatting into a microphone and not knowing who’s listening. We’ll recap our week’s ministry and what we’ve been learning while also ministering to the listeners.
After the radio show, we have our Rice Seeds Children’s Ministry which is for the local children living in a village nearby our living quarters. We play games, perform skits, share Bible stories, have dance parties, and hangout with these kids. It’s fun because we’ll see the kids around down riding their bikes on random days and then in the afternoons we’ll see them on a street playing some futball.
Then Sundays, we go to a local church and worship, preach, and share testimonies with the people. It’s been beautiful worshipping as my team and I sing in English and the congregation sings in Thai. Also, the drummer for the church is a female who is pregnant. Is that not the coolest things ever?!
It’s been a blessing working with YWAM Ratchaburi because they have established such strong relationships with their ministry partners and you can tell the sweet friendships between the staff and the people they serve.
Miscellaneous:
I LOVE THAI FOOD. We eat most of our lunches and dinners at a restaurant/stand/home a couple doors down from where were staying owned and run by a lovely couple, Po and Whit, who have been running the business for the past 15 years. Let me tell you they are doing something so right. Po stays in the kitchen and cooks while Whit motos around dropping off food, prepping, and buying fresh veggies. We can always except a welcoming smile, free ice, fresh fruit from their mango and orange trees in the backyard, and delicious food for less than $1. I am a very happy camper. And some how I’m not sick of rice. Also the most amount of Thai words I know are related to food. We are living in the YWAM Ratchaburi base which is about 2 hours from Bangkok. My team and I enjoy worship sessions on the roof, working out in 100 degree weather, making frequent visits to the coffee shack lady down the street, hunting down the ice cream man, and exploring the air conditioned 7-11 and the plethora of snacks it has.
Me:
To be honest, these past couple weeks have not been all smiles and rainbows. I was in a funk for a couple long days both mentally and spiritually. Things I hadn’t processed previously caught up with me. I was fully aware that I was checked out and not present but I didn’t know how to help myself or why I was feeling this way. I found myself realizing that my human, perfection, performing self wanted to make things all about me, how I was feeling, what I felt comfortable doing, and how well I was doing it. In the midst, I was challenged to choose joy and serve wholeheartedly despite my feelings and it reminded me that my relationship with God is not based on emotions or circumstances. I can’t make ministry about me because I’m not here for myself or even other people. I can’t rely on my own strength or will. I realized that perfection is not attainable because I am not made to be perfect. I’ve placed these unrealistic expectations on myself and it has been tearing me apart for years. I learned that I can’t actually receive grace as freely as it is given. I am on a journey of discovering a newfound love for my whole self: strengths, weaknesses, appearance, inner feelings. I am learning to love myself the way God, my perfect Heavenly Father, sees and loves me all along the way falling more in love with Him.
Thank you for reading! Hope everyone is doing well and sending much love from across the Pacific!
–Steph from Ratchaburi, Thailand
