Thailand has been rough at times. It is unbearably hot here... and getting hotter. We have no air conditioning, limited fans, and lots of sweaty americans. All we ever eat is rice. I'm not sure I will ever again choose to eat rice. There are creatures literally everywhere. Mosquitos in our rooms, scorpians in our beds, land crabs under the couch, and water buffalos in the front yard. We've been sleeping on the floor for about 2 months now, and my back is wanting a real bed.
Thailand has certainly been rough. We've worked hard, sweated, cried out for these people and seen little results. The culture and the intense devotion to religion has made it hard to bring Christ into this region. Thailand defines the term "unchurched." We have met few people who know the name Jesus, the term christian, or even understand the basis of our religion. When we are engaged in ministry, we literally have to start from the beginning, explaining a God who is personal, who you can actually pray to, who isn't made or gold and found in some temple. Our work here has resulted in fruit, but it's small. We won't return home with stories of conversions or miracles, because our job here has simply been to create a foundation. Create a foundation for the work that Praung is doing here, create a foundation for a church to rise, create a foundation simply for questions.
But despite all the strugles, Thailand has stolen my heart.
Every night on the floor, every bug, every frusteration has been worth it. It has been hard, but the harder it has gotten, the more I value the results we've seen. The questions from the teachers, the simple act of picking up a bible, the request for prayer, each little result represents hours of prayers, weeks of struggle. And it is beautiful. It is beautiful to see God work in ways that are small in comparison to our expectations, small in comparison to our american worldview, but complete miracles nonetheless.
Our VBS programs have been built around simply teaching the children that there is a God who loves them and believes that they are special. Like I said before, it is a challenge to even teach of a God, a god who loves and is alive. Their understanding of our idea of religion is so small that we can't even use bible verses because they don't understand a God that speaks through a book. So our job here is simply to teach love. To show the children love, teach them that God loves, and hope that they can make the connection between our feeble attempts at loving them, and a God who loves unconditionally. We aren't trying for conversions...if one child walks away simply with an understanding that they are loved, our mission is complete here.
The same can be said for the schools. We're simply teaching english, usually with no translator. We aren't sharing the gospel. we are just attempting to show each child that they are valued, that we value their futures, and that we think they are capable to succeed. In an area where girls are heading to the bars each day, just this simple lesson is essential.
What I'm trying to say, as scattered as it may be, is that my heart is broken for this country.
Like I said, Thailand has been hard, harder than I ever could have imagined, but the blessings God had poured upon our team and upon the thai people here are even more incredible that I could have even imagined too. Our time here has been well spent. God is working and continues to work here in Thailand.
Our team is doing wonderfully-as of today everyone has returned to complete health. Our team has truely become a family, depending on each other, learning, laughing, and sleeping side by side. I am already dreading leaving them.
As of today our team has less than a week left of ministry. We leave Friday morning for debrief. As we enter our last week of teaching, VBS, and in general ministry, we ask for prayer that we will remain healthy, energized, and passionate about our community here. We're all sad about leaving, but excited to spend a week debriefing as a team and pouring into each other before we leave for home.
