The Lord Is My Shepherd

We made it to debrief!! My team and I have been reunited with our squad here in Chiang Mai.  We spent Christmas together and now New Years!  I’ve been able to process a bit of what happened in Thailand and I’m here to share.  Soooo let’s start off with our ministry.

Ministry

So as you know we we’re helping teach at an English center called A-Mane in Bangkok.  Which was so fulfilling to pour into the students and build those connections.  However, they only needed us a few short hours each day so we would Hit the streets!  Evangelism baby.   My team would pray and ask the Lord where we felt called (which if I’m being honest, most often involved Jesus calling us to buy a coffee 😉 ) we would sit and talk with local baristas and whoever we came into contact with.  I visited this one woman nearly every day for a smoothie.  She was actually so perfect.  She was a Buddhist (like most people here in Thailand) and she simply wanted to be happy in life.  So each day I’d see her and ask her how I could pray for her.  She always said happiness and blessings over her business.  She would teach me a bit of Thai and I would teach her a bit of English, but most of our conversations happened through Google Translate.  Here’s where things get sticky, however… I was trying to say “may God bless you” in Thai for weeks (thinking I was saying it correctly) only to find out later by my ministry host I was indeed saying “I want to sleep with you” sooooo not my best evangelism moment but I think she knows Jesus loves her regardless what I said.   By the end of my time in Bangkok I can say she was one of my favorite connections made.  It was small, but she wouldn’t let us pass her smoothie shop without yelling through the crowd that she loved us.  She’s someone I’ll continuously be praying for. Aside from our street evangelism, we were able to help out in local Thai and international churches for a few events. I was also able to host a beauty for ashes event which was so exciting consi

dering I hadn’t been able to step into that role a ton yet.

Debrief

Now that we’re in debrief I’ve been able to look back and reflect on the ministry done in Thailand and if I’m being so honest I felt discouraged.  I was trying to find a crazy testimony of how God worked in Thailand and see how God may have spectacularly used me.  But all I was able to think was “God is using everyone but me.  What am I doing wrong? Why aren’t I seeing crazy healings, or people accepting Jesus?”  and the truth is, I was obedient to what God had asked.  Sometimes he’s not asking for you to shake the earth, instead, he just asks you to plant a seed.   Also, being obedient and sharing Jesus daily with your students and local businesses IS MINISTRY, and HE WILL USE THAT.  I just trust and believe that he will use me in the bigger picture.  This isn’t a works-based faith, it’s also not defined by how much you’re able to produce.  He LETS YOU partner with him in the great commission.  Truth is, he doesn’t need you.  YOU GET to share the gospel and be apart of his great commission, and that’s so epic that he does that.

Update!! NEW MINISTRY!!

First off… Me and my team are switching leaders.  So we will no longer be with Lucy during our time in Albania instead we will have LEE!  We also are all taking up new roles, so along with being on Beauty for Ashes I also will be compiling personal updates of everyone on my team.

Okay onto the good stuff. The city we will be in is Tiranë, Albania.  And our ministry includes helping with special needs kids, along with helping out at local dutch churches.

Prayerrrrrr

Our struggle isn’t with flesh and blood but with the principalities and powers of darkness.  So prayer is so important!! Please continue to pray with me for these things.

• (I never asked to spell her name so I’m probably spelling this incredibly wrong but here we go) Doe (the smoothie lady) that she can find a peace found nowhere else in Christ, and that Jesus reveals himself to her.
• for A-Mane Eglish center, that God continues to bring students through those doors and it can be a safe haven to students where they can find Jesus.
• For our ministry hosts P Benz and P Golf that God continues to use them and bless them.
• For our travel to Albania
• For my teams mental health and community with each other, that we grow closer to one another.
• For our new ministry, that we will be prepared and ready to help wherever and whenever.
• My funding!! I’ve made it to 66% so we still have a ways to go!

The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.  He restores my soul.

Psalm 23:1-3a