A Love That Catches Souls

There are certain wisdom’s and understandings that can only be learned in suffering. There are lights that will never seem as radiant as when we are covered in darkness. I know this because I have seen it. I saw it this past month in the eyes of orphan children.   A week ago, I was sitting on the cement floor of the orphanage’s church, surrounded by a group of about twenty-seven children, all orphaned for different reasons. Every one of them has a story that became a reason for their lack of loving family. For one high school boy it’s a story that leads to his mother working...

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Today Is Not My Day

 :when self-pity robs you of the joy of service: I grew up hearing stories about great missionaries. Some were my parents’ friends, and some were laced throughout Christian history. To me, they were the real adventure stories, each one showcasing a faithful God. I owe much of my faith to the testimony of the way Jesus moved in the missionary community around the world. Growing up I got a close up to hardships missionaries go through. I admired the work but was positive I never wanted to be a missionary. It was too hard.    Despite my deep desire for God to use me, the reality...

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Sweetly Broken.

First of all, I have simply fallen in love with Thailand, the Thai culture and the sweet Thai people. Since we have been here we have gotten to do children’s ministry in a local village, teach English camp and tonight we got to go to the Red Light District of Korat. Children’s ministry and English camp has been so amazing and has made my heart so full but tonight, for the first time, my heart BROKE for the girls we met.   Let me set the scene. We were at a park in the Red Light District. In this park was a festival and a place to worship one of the main idols here in Korat. You could sense the...

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The Blue lights of Chiang Mai

I approach our red light district…  My team calls it our street because twice a day we are prayer walking down the street. The empty bars we see by day are the same men-packed bars we see at night.  Okay, so I’m approach our street and my heart begins to jitter with nervousness. I don’t know why I’m nervous… I tell myself “all I have to do is love like Jesus. You can do this.” Nonetheless I feel the jitters and jumps inside. I call out the enemy in Jesus’ name. I am instantly filled with peace and I am no longer afraid.  My...

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Chasing Daylight

I wrote this on the plane, but could not post till now!   After 20 hours on a plane where it happened to be light the WHOLE TIME, team Thailand has finally made it safely to Bangkok! …And now it is dark around us, but we have brought the light! Hallelujah!  Jesus has been good to us all week! He has united us as a team and given us a safe place to be vulnerable, be safe, and to grow! He has spoken to us clearly as we have actively listened and have been encouraged. And now he has called us to love the hurting in Thailand.      Our first week has been great! We...

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The Men are Important

~~God has messed me up so much this summer. Every time I pray for the women in the Red Light District I find myself praying over the men. My heart is so drawn and focused on them. The men who are buying and abusing these women are just as broken as the women—if not more. Something went wrong in their life for them to settle for being less than a true man. Something horrific must have prompted them to damage these women and everyone around them.      I encountered an older gentleman in his 60s who was so wasted that he could barely function. He sat with a beer and a...

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