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Thailand, or the Mulan Soundtrack?

You’re the saddest bunch I ever met
But you can bet
Before we're through
Mister, I'll make a man
out of you

 
So being here in Thailand it has felt like we are living this exact theme. We came to training camp these weak individuals not at all ready for the battle that lay before us. I am sure that God was thinking that exact first verse at times—that we were in fact just sad, it was sad that we could think we were ready for this. But he promised that he would not send us into the heat of the battle unprepared—he promised that essentially he would make” men” out of us. He would turn us into the soldiers we needed to be.
 
Tranquil as a forest
But on fire within
Once you find your center
you are sure to win
You're a spineless, pale
pathetic lot
And you haven't got a clue
Somehow I'll make a man
out of you

 
When I hear this I just think of the beginning of our journey to “manhood.” Our journey into the soldiers we needed to be. We started as these individuals who were on fire to start with- we had a burning fire within for a passion the Lord had given each and every one of us. He knew that we had NO idea what we were getting ourselves into and what we were about to give up our summers for and he knew we would each struggle with areas that were maybe not our strengths or whatever but he still promised that he would refine that original burning passion and throw out our expectations in order to make us our soldiers.
 
I'm never gonna catch
my breath
Say good-bye to those
who knew me
Boy, was I a fool in school
for cutting gym
This guy's got 'em
scared to death
Hope he doesn't see
right through me
Now I really wish that I
knew how to swim

 
This totally represents the exhaustion we have felt leading up to this point and I know will last until the end. We have been moving so quickly that it is hard to keep track of what we are doing and keep on top of everything-we just want to lay down but God has been reminding us to keep marching on. We said our goodbyes to all that we knew to be a part of 25 girls all with this crazy fire burning within them too. About the cutting gym—you may not think this applies but I believe it does. Half of us work at the land (manual labour) every other day and then the next group goes. Alternating. And this is hard work. My body does not love the physical work so it has been a training and learning session in itself—to allow the lover of our hearts to change our view on it. To allow our bodies ache the next morning for it is a part of the Lord’s work.
 
(Be a man)
We must be swift as
the coursing river
(Be a man)
With all the force
of a great typhoon
(Be a man)
With all the strength
of a raging fire

 
BE A MAN! Be his soldier—keep pushing forwards!! The battle is at hand! Swift: quick to act or respond; quick to understand. This is essential. We must be swift because we are being thrown things all the time on Bangla Road that we would not know how to respond to normally but now we must do it quickly. Force: strength, intensity; power to affect; mental and moral strength. This is also imperative.  We MUST have force on Bangla Road and he has given each of us the force we need. We need the strength to go to another bar after we have seen more than we wanted to at the first, we need the power to affect the women (show them they are royalty and loved) and the men (that they are loved greatly and they will not fill the broken hole in their hearts this way). We need moral strength—it is NOT easy to see what we see each night we go out. We want to cover our eyes and go home but we are required to stand up in our morals, in the justice of our great God!