“You are fearfully and wonderfully made.” As I sat awake, in the middle of the night, on a 12 hour bus ride, I prayed and those are the words God gave me to speak to the women of Thailand that I will soon meet.
Okay, so our journey from Atlanta to Phuket was many things, however, glamorous was not one of them. With three flights, 1 (LONG) bus ride, and lots of waiting adding up to over 60 hours of travel, we were all ready to arrive in Phuket Friday morning! Our journey was filled with exhaustion, a tiny bit of culture shock, and a realization that Thailand was finally, actually reality for us.
Our TukTuk ride from the airport to the bus station…
Taking a rest break while we waited for a few hours at the bus station
…and finally the bus that took us the many hours from Bangkok to Phuket!
Needless to say, 2 ½ days of travel can leave one feeling completely disgusting, and by the time we were on the bus ride from Bangkok to Phuket it is safe to say I had reached that point. As I looked at myself, I could practically feel the filth. Then I was reminded by something beautiful. Even on my worst days, I am loved unconditionally, by the God of the universe. He sees me in my worst and His response is always:
“The Lord your God is with you,
He is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.”
~Zephaniah 3:17
Wow. These were definitely comforting words for me to hear after reaching the point of being so dirty I felt I could never be clean again. Just as I had reached that point in a physical state, many of the women we will be ministering to have felt this way on a spiritual and emotional level. The amount of shame they have felt is immeasurable and many of them are not able to see their own worth. However, God desires to break through all of those things they are feeling and tell them that they are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” He knows everything they have done, every ounce of pain they have felt, and He looks at them with loving eyes, waiting patiently for the day when they choose to come home to Him.
I believe that there is a God who cares DEEPLY about every single thing these women have experienced. I am so grateful to be a part of bringing hope and healing to His daughters here in Thailand. As my team prepares for our time of ministry here, please pray that we never lose sight of the fact that we have a God who has seen every step of our journey, who has been with us along the way, and who has never stopped loving us through it all.
