I don't think we, as a team, expected our summer in Bangkok to be so difficult. Difficult to explain, difficult to process the things we see, difficult to sort through our many emotions. But it has been.
I would like to talk about all the great things about this city, but that isn't really what we're experiencing in our time here. One of the overarching challenges seems to be trying to hear God's voice in a place where He seems absent.
Between the 5 of us we teach English, work in a cafe, teach guitar, help with exercise classes, work on marketing ideas, and spend time in a salon doing hair, make-up, and nails for women and ladyboys each week. We do these things hoping to love these Thai people the way Jesus does. We haven't gotten to share the Gospel with anyone. We haven't seen anyone walk away from their life of sin and turn to the Lord. But God is opening our eyes to see the beauty in the small things.
We came, not to start something new, but to continue the work that has already been started. We are spending time with people and with each other. We are being loved by Christ, so we can pour that love out to anyone and everyone we encounter.
It's easy to look at the city we walk through every day and see the overwhelming darkness of sin. It's hard to find the light that is Christ. It's even harder to realize that He has chosen us to be that light. In the 4 weeks we've been here, God has humbled, broken, overjoyed, and reshaped us. We're finding that it's only the beginning of the way God desires to move in us and through us to impact this city.
Please pray:
- for us to encounter persons of peace
- the chance to share the Gospel
- a revival in the city of Bangkok so Thai people can reach Thai people
- ears to hear God's voice and eyes to see the work He is doing