Hello friends and family!
Yesterday we arrived safe back in Los Angeles! Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support. We had an incredible trip and God has taught us all many things. We will try and post again soon with some concluding thoughts!
Love to all!
Team Thailand
Hello Readers!
Yesterday we said our goodbyes to Chiang Mai, our home for the last 2 weeks, and hopped on a bus headed North. About four hours later, we arrived in Chiang Rai! We are now happily involved in life at Baan Immanuel, an orphanage in Chiang Rai. This place is centered on Jesus. It is beautiful to be here and experiencing the joy and hope that these kids live with. They are always up for some soccer or just running around. Their beautiful smiles are contagious and so far there’s been a lot of laughter going on.
This was our transportation into town to get some fish food. They have a fish farm with over 3000 pretty large fish in it!
We joined the kids and staff today for work day. Chrissy is very strong.
We have LOVED playing with the adorable kids here. They are so sweet, so loving and so ready to have fun!
:)
Kelly’s latest love!
This is what happens when you let a seven year old style your hair! haha :)
Thanks for reading. Keep praying until the end! We love you all and pray for you all!
Love,
Team Thailand
With no pictures of us and the kids at TawSaeng posted, it probably looks like we’re big slackers who are just hanging out with elephants all day and haven’t been working at all. But the truth is, we have been working hard with the kids, and been blessed immensely in the process. For the safety of the kids though, we just can’t post any pictures of those amazing times. So, hopefully this will give you a ‘picture’ of our afternoons…
We wanted to share with all of you a beautiful story! The song “God of This City” was actually written in a bar in Thailand. Watch the video to hear this incredible story and then read through the lyrics and be encouraged that there is no one like our God and He’s at work in the world. Keep praying that the light of Christ would pierce the darkness.
A little girl was asked to draw a picture of something children have the right to. Her answer was to be protected. She grew up working in a factory and one day she fell asleep while working. As punishment, she was violently stabbed with scissors. After this incident she fled the factory wishing to call the police. Because she had been so oppressed and under-educated, she didn’t even know how to dial a phone to call someone. Instead she ran to the home of a former customer who had shown her kindness. This customer after seeing her wound and how upset she was immediately took her to the hospital where they cared for her. From there she was passed on to the New Life Center.
The new life center is an organization that works to provide education; vocational training and other developmental things to tribal girls that are either at risk for being sexually abused or already have been. After arriving at the center the girl said that her two biggest dreams were to meet her birth mother and get an education. The New Life Center taught her how to pray and she began to pray for these things. Within a few months her mom was found and she was able to meet her. Eventually she was also able to attend school and begin her education. What a great story of hope!
It has been neat to be encouraged through these different ministries here in Thailand. The amount of oppression and spiritual darkness can be overwhelming, but God is at work here. He is bringing up a generation of believers that are hungry for him and are seeking to bring others to him. The task at hand is huge, but God is even bigger than anything the world can throw at us.
This truth is becoming more and more evident through the children at TawSaeng. These children have already experienced things way beyond anything anyone ever should have. And yet, they still have joy. Today they received their Christmas gifts from the staff. It was just a simple outfit, but the way their faces lit up as they pulled the clothes out of the bag was beautiful. Every child had a huge smile on their face and some started pulling the new clothes on without even taking off the clothes they were already wearing. This joy and appreciation for the little things is something we should all take away from these precious children. Even as Christians sometimes we loose sight of how blessed we are. New clothes are not something we are usually truly joyful about. But God calls us to be grateful for what we have, even in the hard times. We must not loose hope. If not for ourselves then let it be for God’s children and his glory.
-Kelly Griffin
Remember to laugh, even if you look ridiculous. :)
Break my heart for what breaks Yours
Everything I am for Your Kingdom’s cause
I’ve read about red light districts, seen documentaries on sex trafficking around the world and prayed against this injustice. All of these failed to prepare me for the reality we now face, being situated just around the corner from a red light district. To be here is unreal. For me, this has been one of my biggest struggles while being in Thailand. I’ve felt a mix of emotions towards the situation. Most of the time, I feel really numb. It is incredibly hard to comprehend that there are actually women stuck in the trap of prostitution literally feet from me. It’s hard to comprehend the desperate need for money that these women have. It’s hard to comprehend the brokenness intertwined in the whole situation. At other times, I’m filled with anger. Almost every night we see men, from all over the world, leading beautiful Thai women along the streets towards various bars and hotels. I feel so sick when I see this. One night, I even heard a woman in a bar say to a man, “Do you want me tonight?” It breaks my heart and I feel paralyzed, unable to do anything. To be completely honest, there are moments when I feel intense bitterness and rage towards these men, and I just want to stop it all from happening. But I can’t.
Yet God can. I serve a God who longs for all of His children to experience freedom. My God is against injustice and is working for the redemption of His people. Our team is unable to actually be in the bars reaching out to these people, but God has definitely been leading us to become prayer warriors in our everyday lives. As a team, we are aiming to focus on praying with our eyes open. God has been teaching me so much by being located right in this area of Thailand. For one thing, as I walk by the bars at night, these people I’ve heard so much about now have faces. Rather than sitting in helplessness and fear, God has been calling me to pray for these faces—and prayer is powerful. I’ve also come to realize that I must avoid judging these women. I have no idea what their lives are like, and to pass judgment on them is wrong. I don’t know what it’s like to have a family that expects me to provide for them, no matter the cost. I’ve never had to decide between feeding my children and selling my daughter as a prostitute.
In 1 John 4:19, we are called to love…because we were loved first. Jesus Christ was sent to save all of us. Therefore, we are to love everyone. As I walk through the streets and look into the eyes of these men, rather than let my heart and mind be filled with hatred, I’m led by God to pray. Nothing inside me wants to love these men…only God can make that possible. God is love and this love is so much more powerful than anything I personally can muster up. I’m not aiming to love the sin and brokenness they are involved in, but to love the person that was created in the image of God. We all sin, and while it looks different in each of our lives, none of us deserve the grace of God…and yet God freely gives us grace. This is seriously incredible! I’ve been praying for a better understanding of God’s love for me. Have you read Romans 8 lately? If you haven’t read it lately, or haven’t read it at all, I would suggest reading it. That’s some beautiful truth right there. As I am able to understand that I am loved and forgiven because of grace, I understand that these men are also loved and forgiven…only through the grace of God.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?…in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, not anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:35, 37-38
Nothing can separate us from God’s love. There is so much hope exploding from that statement. We were created and are loved by an incredible God. This is why we are in Thailand. We are here because we desire for the whole world to know that they are loved. For these women, knowing Jesus loves them and has forgiven their sin would mean freedom from the chains that hold them in prostitution. It’s about finding their identity in Christ and learning that they are truly beautiful. It’s about healing from brokenness and moving forward in life with hope. For the men, it would mean freedom from shame. It would mean progressing towards fulfilling their created purpose of living for the glory of God. Living in relationship with Jesus does not make life about doing anything to become a better person. It’s about what has been done for you and what is being done in you. It’s about the transforming love, freedom, joy and hope that come with knowing you are forever saved.
Thank you for following our blog so far! God has been so faithful every single day and we know He will continue to be. Our hearts are breaking for these people and we are falling in love with this nation. If you have any questions or prayer requests, we would love for you to email us (lucy.a.harig@biola.edu).
God bless.
-Lucy Harig
The past two days have been full of joy and seeing how the Lord is moving here in Chiang Mai. Yesterday morning (Tuesday), we went to a ministry site called Create International, run by YWAM (which was super exciting for me since I am a YWAMer). We walked onto the base and met groups from all over, some from Bethany School of Missions in Minnesota and another group from YWAM Germany. At Create, they have a goal to evangelize to unreached people groups by making videos that portray the gospel so that those who have not heard it yet may hear and understand it in their own language. Many of these videos are animated and are contextualized in order to fit the culture of the people who watch these movies. Lots of hard work goes into this seeing that research must be done about the culture before making this video. Also, actors who know the language must be used in order to make these movies possible. Create International has a vision called the 2020 vision which means that they want to reach 75% of unreached people groups by the year 2020. It was incredible to see the work that they are doing and the commitment they have to make the gospel of Christ known to all people groups. They shared one story about showing a video to a tribe in Northern Thailand and after the video was over, 13 families accepted Christ! Praise the Lord for the work he is doing through Create and in unreached people groups. Keep Create International in your prayers as they continue to make a way for these people to hear about the love of Christ.
After going to Create, it was another day with TawSaeng working with the precious children there. We played games with the kids and had our first classroom time with them teaching them English. It was a challenge for some of us seeing that these kids can get a little wild, but it was fun nonetheless.
This morning, we were able to have an extended amount of time simply being with the Lord before we began our day. It was much needed, and after that we were ready to see what the Lord was going to do with the rest of our day. We had lunch with the TawSaeng staff which consisted of rice, chicken, liver, pork, and spicy noodles—all very good (pretty sure we have more pictures of food than we know what to do with). After that, we headed back to TawSaeng. We had worship and devotions, and then learned some Thai. It was quite hilarious trying to pronounce words that we don’t even know how to spell, but our teachers were very helpful. We were able to use a few words and phrases with the kids that night as we played games with them. Before the night ended, we taught English again and then said goodbye to the kids until tomorrow. It’s been a great couple of days seeing how the Lord is moving, how he continually brings us together in unity, and how he has kept us safe and healthy (for the most part).
Thank you all for your prayers and support. Please continue to pray for our team (our health and unity), for Create International, for the city of Chiang Mai, and for the kids and staff at TawSaeng.
-Lindsay Ahlquist
