Real Ministry

In the last few weeks, I've learned a lot about what real ministry looks like. This is going to sound super obvious, but there's a lot more to ministry than holding babies and teaching English. I think I knew that before, but I never experienced it firsthand. Up until recently, the majority of my ministry experience has been quite pleasant. Occasionally there was a hard situation thrown in, but most of the time it was just fun and enjoyable. However, through some recent situations, I'm realizing more and more that sometimes ministry is messy and hard. Sometimes you invest tons of time and love into a person only to have them throw it all away and go back to their ungodly lifestyle. Sometimes you will witness gross injustices involving people you know, and there's not a lot you can do about it. Sometimes it will be extremely hard to love or show mercy to someone because you've seen the terrible choices that they've made. Real ministry isn't always pretty.

You're probably wondering what happened to bring on all these realizations. I want to respect the people involved, so I'm not going to share too many details, but here's a brief summary. . .

In the last three weeks, a lot has happened at my ministry as well as with some of my Thai friends. We've had 2 girls run away from HOS with their children, even though they've been there for several months being discipled. Because they're adults, there's really nothing we could do to stop them. I also have a Thai friend who has been mentoring someone for the last year, only to have him make some poor decisions and hurt her deeply. Finally, there's a baby that I've helped take care of whose mother sold him because she didn't want him anymore. Praise the Lord, the baby was rescued and is now safe and cared for (not with his mother) but still, this situation was absolutely heartbreaking!

Like I said, real ministry can be messy.

It could be really easy to get discouraged when situations like this come up. It's easy to start questioning if it's really worth it to keep investing so much time, energy, and love into ministry. The answer, of course, is yes. It is worth it. There will always be some people who reject our message and love, but that does not mean our efforts were in vain. Even if we never see results, I  wholeheartedly believe that God is still working through our actions. And sometimes, people will embrace the message of the gospel and have their lives transformed by God's power and love. What a privilege to get to be a part of that!

Real ministry isn't always fun. Sometimes it's messy and complicated and heartbreaking. But our job is to be faithful, even in the hardest of times, and trust God to work in the hearts of those we're ministering to.

 

 

 

 

"Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness."

-Psalm 37:3 (ESV)

February Update

Next week it will have been 6 months since I moved to Thailand! Time is going so fast! As always, this last month was quite busy with ministry, class, and just living life. Here are some of the highlights of what's been happening lately.

Ministry
I've now been working at Home of the Swallow for a little over a month. Most of the kids have started to get comfortable around me and I'm getting much more comfortable with them too. I love getting to know each of their personalities. They're so great (and cute)! I'm also really enjoying getting to know my coworkers. I've been able to teach English to one of them by singing worship songs in English that she knows in Thai. That's become one of my favorite things to do! I also really enjoy laughing with my coworkers (HOS has some funny people!) and hearing their stories of what God is doing in their lives. They are such a fun and encouraging group of people!

I went out with some of the HOS staff to play
games and eat dinner. It was so much fun!

Playing legos.

Nap time is great because it allows me to spend time
 with my coworkers and the moms who live at HOS.

 

Class
Last week my team was blessed to have Paul and Elizabeth Strand come from America to teach Cultural Anthropology. I loved this class! Paul spent a lot of time telling us stories and sharing wisdom from their years as missionaries in Indonesia. We also spent time discussing problems that missionaries often face in other cultures. For example, we discussed how a missionary can help those in need without creating an unhealthy dependence on the missionary. It was really good to start thinking through issues like this so that I can be better prepared when I go out in the future.

My team with the Strands

Fun Times!
A few weeks ago, my team leader had family come visit from Canada. This gave us the excuse to be tourists for a day! We joined her family and spent a day visiting a Karen village, going to a waterfall, riding elephants, and my personal favorite- bamboo rafting! It was so fun! I've been wanting to do these things ever since coming to Thailand, so it was a pretty great day!

 
 

 Time with the Lord
 "Don't just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically." -Romans 12:9-11 NLT

Over the last month the Lord has been challenging and convicting me a lot and much of it comes down to these verses. I haven't been doing so well at living these things out. In many ways I've just been going through the motions. Like with my team, I try to act in love toward them but a lot of times there's bitterness in my heart. My love isn't genuine, it's pretend. That's not okay. Now that I'm aware of this, I'm trying to change it. I want to love people in a genuine way that will draw them to Christ. If I can't even do that with my team, how will I do it with Thai people or anyone else I encounter? That's what the Lord is challenging me in right now. My prayer is that God would change my heart and mind so that I can start living out these verses for real.


Prayer Requests
Here are some specific ways that you can be praying for me and my team:

• Pray for unity and love to be strong in my team and that the Lord would continue to restore relationships that have been broken in recent conflicts.
• Pray for continued motivation in language study! Even though we all realize that learning Thai is important, most of my team has been struggling to find motivation to keep studying even when it's hard or boring.
• Pray that I would be able to build deep relationships with the ladies at Home of the Swallow. Because I'm such a quiet person, this can be a big challenge for me, even without the added language barrier.

 

 

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and for all your prayers and support! You truly are a blessing and encouragement to me!

~Emily