Walking in Willingness

Jan 215 min read

Since the beginning of the new year, we’ve returned to our normal schedule of ministry. It has been a blessing to be back in the places we love with the people we love. The past few weeks God has been moving. At times, it feels like I’m doing very little- and yet I’m finding that’s when God is working the most- either in those around us or in my own heart.

I’m learning the importance of resting and setting God as my first priority. I’m learning that when you truly sit and walk with God- he shows up and speaks clearly. Experiencing God’s nearness and grace has been such a blessing in my life.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” -Matthew 6:33

So much of what we’re learning as a team right now is to approach our lives and ministry with a willing “yes” to whatever God puts in front of us. Our time in Thailand has been filled with more last minute plans than I can count. While constant last-minute plans are a little out of my comfort zone, God is at work every time. He’s softening my heart and providing so much joy in every opportunity. This has especially been true these past few weeks as schools were on a brief winter break. The opportunities that arose have become some of my favorite things. It’s my hope to learn how to walk through life with a willingness to be interrupted. Jesus got interrupted countless times while doing ministry and lives were transformed because he cared for the people in front of him. It’s my prayer that we never become too consumed with our plan that we miss out on what God puts in front of us.

Spaces:

School of Promise: I had the honor of sharing my testimony with 6 classes this past week. I can’t begin to express how awe-inspiring and humbling it is to hear your words and story translated into another language.
Hang Dong High School: Here’s a beautiful example of having a willing “yes.” On our typical day helping teach English, we ended up helping Teacher Sand decorate a booth for an open house the following day. He invited us to return the next day and assist him in running the booth. We ran the dart board and bingo games, handing out Christmas story booklets in Thai to over 70 kids as prizes. God’s timing is good because during the 2 hours we were able to be there, it was primarily Hang Dong students who came through our booth. These students know and recognize us, and are able to follow up later if they have questions. I got the opportunity to share the gospel with one girl. The team went back again the next week (as I was recovering from food poisoning) and shared the gospel in a class using the 4 bracelet.
North Chiang Mai University: Our back gate has opened some incredible doors for us recently. While we schedule one day to be on campus and fellowship with students there, countless other opportunities come up for us to meet people and love on the student. We set up at badminton one day, invited 2 students walking by to play, and discovered an hour later that they’re Christian! They don’t know of any other Christians on campus so it’s our hope to connect them with Thai staff who can disciple them. We were invited by the English department to do an English activity in which we were able to teach about American culture and Jesus. The time was successful with over 20 students attending. We’ve now been given a time and space to teach English to students in the coming weeks.
Hosea Center: This place remains special to us. Megan and I got to teach the little kids the story of Jericho- including building their own “city” out of blocks and paper trumpets. We later taught them Duck Duck Goose which they loved.
Tha Phae Gate: This gate is in the middle of the city, standing at the entrance of the largest street market in Chiang Mai. We’ve joined a group doing evangelism outreaches there on Sunday nights. What started as a one-time commitment after Christmas has become one of our favorite nights to look forward to. In terms of execution- we set up a table with tracks in several languages (Thai, Chinese, Burmese, English). We set up outside the gate where thousands of people stream in and out of the market. A speaker system is set up for us to sing and play guitar. David, a messianic Jew typically leads worship. He’s graciously handed his guitar off to me a few times. We hand out tracks, wait for people to wander over, worship, dance, and the Holy Spirit leads us into some wonderful conversations. We met 2 students from Myanmar our second week and they came back the next to see us! One of the boys had read John 1-3 upon our suggestion, while the other knew all the words to “I Thank God.” We were able to share the gospel message with them in more detail our second time seeing them. We met a group from Israel- all soldiers recently released from service. Hearing stories and seeing pictures of them (being 18-24 years old) in active military was sobering. The most exciting moment was from this past week- we played the chicken dance and 5 strangers from France joined in!

“I realized the pure gift that dancing last night was. I know that street evangelism is all about having conversations and trusting the Holy Spirit to lead- but also- people say Christ’s joy and freedom in us. People saw joy and it captivated them. That’s powerful.” -My journal

Other Adventures:

At the beginning of January we took a day trip to the Loas border in order to renew our visas. The whole experience was truly a “Praise God” situation because a path was made for us to get a 60 day renewal (which is abnormal). Megan, Maja, and I spent a total of about 7 hours in the back of a car (plus 2 little boys at times), as the AIA staff graciously drove us and arranged the trip.
The Cru teachers invited us to go hiking at the highest point in Thailand- which was actually cold! It was a wonderful opportunity to get to know them better and explore more of the area.
Our parents blessed us with a guided hiking/camping trip for Christmas which we took advantage of this weekend. We adventured with two Karen Hill Tribe leaders along with a two folks from Australia. The views were breathtaking, the hiking was difficult, and laughter abounded. We got to raft down a river on bamboo and meet some elephants in the midst of it all!

It’s surreal to think we have less than a month left here in Thailand; that half of this trip is already over. God’s been teaching me so much and I can’t wait to share stories of his faithfulness with you all. Again, I’m so grateful for your support and prayers. God is good.

Prayer Requests: