This month we are partnering with KIM ( Kids International Ministries) that is run by an amazing Spirit led American family. I feel so at home here and am learning a lot. There are so many ministry opportunities ranging from working with street children to pregnant women and abuse victims. We can do feedings, construction, red light, and so on. Along with their ministry they have connections everywhere! We have the freedom this month to choose where we want to pour into and invest our time which is cool. The first week we have had the chance to work with Trash Mountain Project, another ministry from the States that came to check out the needs here and work with Jeff the director of KIM. Their mission statement says:
“To develop Christ-centered environments for children and families living in trash dump communities worldwide.”
I knew I wanted to help with this for the week but had no clue really what we would be doing. We ended up setting up a feeding, clothing give away, medical clinic, and a prayer station at each location. These have been the roughest conditions I have seen on the race.
(waiting in line for the food)
I was ministering at the prayer station...praying for sickness and needs. One sweet Christian lady had brought 4 children to see the Dr. She had me pray for all of their health and then wanted to pray that she could get an umbrella and rain jacket, so that she could work harder when it rains out. This lady wasn't crazy, its just that they have nothing material. She relys on God for everything. We prayed together but it again burdened my heart 2 days later when we were heading to the next dump. I started praying to the Lord telling him all this poor woman needed was an umbrella. Asking him to help her out. Telling him I was sorry for how selfish I am. Tears rolled down my face as I pictured her big smile and soft touch after we prayed that day. This is just not right. She shouldn't be living in the filfy dump. No one should. My heart hurts. I know she will have her umbrella soon though and will be living in Heaven for eternity with our Savior.
Since I can't be at home on Mother's Day I wanted to dedicate a special blog to my mom Joanne. These are words that come to mind when I think of my her:
Pure heart- joyful- sacrificial- caring- LOVE- genuine- giving- laughter- fighter- humble- gentle- beautiful- fun- hard worker- faithful- patient- forgiving- child like FAITH- shines!
Being on the race and seeing so many children without a mom has broken me, and I cannot express the words and thanksgiving to the Lord for you! I look back at my childhood and no daughter could ever ask for a better mother.
Growing up in my teens and early twenties I put my gracious mother through alot. She never gave up, and always showed me love no matter how bad I hurt her. Thank you for your unconditional love Mom.
Mom you have encouraged me more than you know this year on the field, and blessed me with your administrative gifts preparing for the race and while I have been gone;)
Can't wait to have coffee on the patio with you... I l o v e y o u M o m!
We have been working with YWAM University of the Nations this month. We are living in a small village outside of Siem Reap. The country side here is so beautiful! Currently it is the hottest month of the year and probably the hottest of my life. I don't do very well in this type of heat and have been pretty tired, but the Lord has sustained me through it, bringing
joy in the small things like the fact that we have a fan!
On one our first days of ministry we got to ride bikes to a small village 20 min. outside of the school to teach. This was the first time all year most of us had been on a bike and we couldn't stop smiling whole way there. I felt like a little kid again. Love those moments. Going to this village is the highlight of my days. Most of the children that come have had very little schooling and are just beginning with the basics. They are so eager to learn though. Through the English teaching we are also able to bring in Biblical teachings on other days when there is no class.
We also help with the Wed. night fellowship for the students and the church service on Sundays ....sharing the word of God, testimonies, playing games and just hanging out. During the week we each help one of the teachers in classes throughout the day. My kids have been great and I don't think I have ever laughed so much in a class....
There are 5 main teachers ranging from 20-28 years old. They are teachers, janitors, plumbers, cooks, youth leaders, grounds keepers, secretaries, and whatever else you can think of because they also live here at the school....they are completely reliant on the Lord for pretty much everything and the Lord has graced them with much.
Well I can't believe we are headed to MONTH 11, the Philippines ...the last month of the World Race. I realized I am a slow processor and not sure where to even begin.....
Today as we were waiting at the bus stop to leave Penang and head to the captial city Kuala Lumpur, my heart broke. We were just sitting on the curb and I noticed a man that had been coming to the drop-in shelter throughout the week. He was headed toward a garbage can. He began to rummage through it and pulled out what looked to be a nice new red T-shirt. He held onto it, hitting up a whole row of garbages that lined the street, collecting things along the way. When he came closer to us he pulled out Carly's almost finished iced coffee from Starbucks that she had just tossed. It still had ice and a bit of coffee in the bottom. He then proceeded across the street to a curb. I watched him lay out his new finds. Off came his shirt to try on his new red one. Then he took a sip of the watery Starbucks out of the straw. I began to choke up. What put this man on the street? Maybe drugs? Choice? He seemed pretty young still. So alone. Yet content with his garbage treasures. I began to pray for him. I don't know why he was so precious to my heart, but I hope and pray they continue to reach out to him at Kawan and he comes to Jesus.
A few photos of the city
Some of my favorite verses this month: " I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips." Psalm 34:1
"Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere." Psalm 84:10
"I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations." Psalm 89:1
Hebrews 12:2, Matthew 5, Daniel 2:22, Galatians 2:20
Off to Cambodia for MONTH 10 tomorrow morning. We will be teaching English in Siem Reap. Love you all !
This month we are living on a YWAM base and working with a few different ministries. This past week we have been volunteering at a hospital. Each morning starting at 9 a.m. we walk throughout the hospital asking for donations and selling stuffed animals to help those who can't afford heart surgery. Good times!
We are also helping out at a ministry called Kawan which means "friends." Kawan is a drop in shelter for the homeless and needy. They offer breakfast and lunch on Mon. Wed. Fri. along with a cool place to rest and take a shower. During this time there is also a Bible study and worship going on. Wednesday nights we do prayer time and outreach into the city..... back at Kawan there is intercession and Bible study/Discipleship for all who want to come. It has been such a blessing to help out here! We have gotten to work in the kitchen, serve lunches, and hang out with the people. The Lords love is so evident in this place.
The other day at Kawan I sat down and talked to an elderly man who became a Christian 1 year ago. This grandpa stole my heart! He was so open and just wanted to talk. He had great English too! Beh was an Athiest and heroin addict who lived on the streets for 30 years. He overdosed one night and went completely unconscious. He had vision of his soul and out of God's grace he was awaken. Things began to stir in his heart. He wondered who created him if he had a soul. He wondered about the trees, ocean, and all the beauty that was around him. Someone or something had to have created this. He wondered how he was still alive. One of his friends invited him to go to Kawan where he was introduced to Jesus. There people prayed for him and he began to weep. This man couldn't remember the last time he had cried. Not even at his own fathers funeral. The Fathers love invaded his heart and Jesus became real.... he has never been the same! "I am a changed man!" he exclaimed with joy!
We have had some time to spend at the ocean too... God is so good, so beautiful.I'm in LOVE.
"All the world's major religions have substantial representation in Malaysia. The Population and Housing Census 2010 figures shows approximately these proportions of the population following these religions:"
61.3% Muslim
19.8% Buddism
9.2% Christianity
6.3% Hinduism
1.3% Confucianism, Taoism, and other traditional Chinese religions
and other traditional
0.7% Atheist
1.4% Other religions or no information
(numbers from Wikipedia)
Right around the corner from where we are living this month is a block with a muslim mosque, buddhist and hindu temple, and a Christian church. ALL on one street! Most people are defined by what they wear, whether its a special color robe or something on their head. You can pick people out of the crowd by how they appear from the outside, to know what they believe or who/what they are worshipping. Now I'm not disrespecting anyone just observing. Anyways, I began to think how are Christians supposed to be defined? How do we "look" and live different?
Jesus says, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:34-35.
It is our LOVE that is supposed to show who we follow and worship. Jesus says, "AS I HAVE LOVED YOU." Where do I even start with His love? Do you know this love? Do you worship Jesus? The one and only true living God....so faithful and worthy of our praise! Does it cause you to love your enemies and those that are hard to love? Does it cause you to want to share his love and tell others the Good News?
The only way you can show real love is if you know how much the Father loves you. That He LOVED you so much He gave his Son who was willing to die in our place for our sin. Out of perfect LOVE Jesus died in our place to the GLORY of the Father! Making a way so that we can be with him forever.
"We love because he first loved us." 1 John 4:19.
As Christians yes we mess up but our Father is always there with loving arms... refining and teaching us what it looks like to be more like Jesus. To walk in more of the freedom he has called us to. He is faithful and loving when we aren't. Pouring his love upon us. Thats what I Iove about Christianity. It has nothing to do with a long list of DO's and DONT'S. It has to do with what Jesus did that day on the cross out of LOVE. Help us Jesus as your chosen BELOVED to be awaken to your love day by day!
I am sitting at our debrief in Thailand about to head out to month 9 in Penang, Malaysia in a few days.
I want to share a few stories about how the Lord is moving in Thailand and the women I was led to minister/love on this past month.
(Names/Bars have been changed for privacy.)
There were 2 main bars that Mal and I were led to. The first one I will call XBar. First night I was there it was chaos but we had so much love for one of the girls named Meg. One of our contacts has been pouring a lot into her too. Highlight: We had lunch with Meg on one of our last days there and the Lord definately gave us a special time and opportunities to share more of Jesus with her. (most of the Thai people have never heard of Christ.) I prayed over us and our meal and as I was ending the prayer our waitress was hovering over us and immediately asked if we were Christian. She was too! There is only about 1% Christian in Thailand. I noticed that there where no Buddhist idols or sacrifices around her business. 10 min. or so later Meg said, "How can a Thai person be Christian?" My heart was so excited!! We were able to explain how Jesus makes a way for every tribe and nation and how there are believers all over the world. How God loved her so much and had a plan for her life. There had been so many times this month I wanted to scream and share the Gospel but its all in His timing and leading. I can't wait to hear when she is pulled out of the bars and set free!
Another woman is Lu from Happy Bar. She had my heart right away. Lu is 58 and works behind the bar. I noticed she was extremely lonely. We started spending time together and even got to visit an orchid farm she took us to. I kept having visions of her worshiping the one true Living God and fellowshipping with people her own age at a church. Highlight: The last week we were hanging out on Sat. and she asked what we were doing tomorrow. I said we might go to church. She didn't even know what church was. One of the bar girls that had warmed up to us told her something and all I heard in the translation was "Bible" and "Christian." Lu then asked what time and if she could go with us!We told her 10 a.m. Lu gets up at noon everyday because she is out so late at the bar but she said she would try. She never did wake up, but its a start!
We have watched the power of prayer! Keep these women in your prayers. Love you and thanks for all the encouragement!
Yesterday I went into my purse to add some money in my wallet to go to Tiger Kingdom, but it was no where to be found. (at night when we go out to the bars I don't carry all my cash) I dumped out my small purse only to find my sun glasses, camera, lip gloss, lotion, and gum. There is only one tiny pocket to check that it wouldn't even fit it, but I looked anyway. I put it all back in and dumped it out again hoping it would just appear. Nope. Then I had one of my roommates look just to make sure I wasn't blind. GONE. This was my new wallet that I had bought here in Thailand and I needed that money to get me through the rest of this month. Nonetheless I was going to see these tigers!! We had heard they found a wallet at one of the bars we minister at, so I just decided to check it out when were done with the afternoon.Before I left, Meesh prayed asking the Lord to help me find it etc. and I prayed too.
Taryn, Kelly, and I had a blast with the tigers. I always dreamed of this as a child and today my Father gave me an extra special day =)
Throughout the day I would look in my purse again and again just in case. Well we headed to the bar afterwards and asked the girls if they had the wallet. They looked at me kinda crazy and said they didn't have one. So we continued to walk home. We came to the place where I had bought it and I decided to just buy another one b/c it was so cheap. I even found the exact one I had bought before! Well as we were walking I glanced in my purse and noticed not 1 but 2 wallets !? The first thing I thought of was, "I think I stole one by accident..." but as I unzipped it my money was there. I looked in the other one and my money was in there too. I started praising the Lord!
Sometimes its in the smallest things that we see the biggest miracles.
The word I kept getting from the Lord was T R U S T. Trust me Rachel. I hear your prayers. Don't rush ahead of me. I am going to provide everything for you. You are my daughter and I love taking care of you.
Thank you Father for this beautiful reminder.
Trusting Him with the bar girls that are heavy on my heart.
Trusting Him with plans after I get home from the Race.
Trusting Him to give me a husband.
I just got in from a late night out at the bar...I will be drinking a lot of pineapple juice and diet coke this month.
This month we are working with Love Acts which is a ministry that goes into the bars and builds relationships with the women/ ladyboys who are of the sex trade industry. We have no specific bar that we are supposed to go into, just a general area, so we have spent time doing prayer walks and asking the Lord where he wants us. It was pretty overwhelming at first because there are soooo many! But the Lord is making a way in the darkness here and has led me to the exact ones that I am supposed to go to . (we are splitting up into groups of 2 in each bar)
When we go in we don't preach or anything. We just sit and talk and listen and love. Its like I can see the physical and spiritual battle plain as day. One minute the girls are trying to come and talk to us, the next they are drawn in by a man (both young and old) to perform acts of "love" (whether it be affection/sex/spending time with and so on.) Now I'm not just blaming the men here, because both are DESPERATE for true love that is found only in Jesus. I just want to punch them sometimes.
We are also working in the slums with the kiddos a few days a week so it should be great month
seeing the Kingdom of God come alive in this place.
I feel like I have so much to write without the words right now.
(pictures by my teammate Jess Gasperin)
Please join me in prayer for:
Our conversations at the bar.
Open doors and opportuities to hang out with the girls outside of the bar.
Our eyes because we see alot.
My heart because it is breaking for this place.
The men from the United States and all over that come here for the women...
