In a recent email with my Dad he quoted a pastor named Darrell Ferguson from a church in Denver who said "our efforts to 'do God's will' are no more than a 3 year-old boy following his father around the house with a plastic hardware belt and hammer asking how he can help with chores. This gives Him pleasure. The only difference is that He actually gives us things to do that make an eternal significant change."
This hit home quite a bit because being so caught up in answering the question of "how can I be most useful and have the most impact in Thailand?" doesn't exactly leave me with the impression of a toddler with his Fisher Price hammer trying to fix the family car's alternator.
But this is exactly where God has me. I have no idea how to stop the sex trade in Thailand, or how to bring about the salvation of so many beautiful, yet lost souls, or even how to negotiate the price of a tuktuk ride if it's not one of the more regularly traveled routes.
However, the delight for both God and I, comes in the attempt. I most certainly am still trying to use a plastic hammer rather than a real one but the end result of progress; success or failure, is only because He's letting me try my strength in the first place.
I'm beyond ecstatic to be allowed to be here and learn Thai, teach English and do everything through the universal language of love, but if it weren't for the Holy Spirit speaking through my immature toys that squeak, it'd hardly be anything but exactly that.
I guess what I'm trying to say is I am not some awesome "missionary" (sounds like a PhD. after my name that I haven't earned) who is charging forth bravely into the unknown for His kingdom.
I'm just some kid who thinks he hears his Dad saying he would love some help with the car. Which happens to be located in Thailand and has a whole mess of problems.
So please pray for the ministry that God has for me specifically would become clear...cuz there is a junkyard full of cars I could help with...and I still only have my plastic tool belt.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
End of chapter 1
Well! After 3 whole months of crazy adventures, God-seeking, and random times of life all over Thailand it's time for a change. But first here's a recap of the last month here:
-After the jungle, the team and I came back to Breanna's House, where we spent the next two weeks playing all sorts of games, building soccer goals, mowing, painting, power washing and giving every amount of love possible to the girls. I continued to teach the staff English and was very excited to find that they had contained the content from all the previous lessons and were ready for more!
It's hard to sum it all up into a few words but after 13 days it was time to say goodbye again. I had it a little easier since I wasn't saying goodbye for good; I made sure all the girls knew that plans were in motion for me to stay and continue living here. But it was pretty harsh for the rest of em; lots of tears, "Chan rak kun's" and email exchanges. But after a few hours, we were on the road again.
-We didn't go far, but it was necessary to say goodbye at this point rather than later due to future itineraries. We took the next 5 days to have a Spiritual Retreat at a hotel/botanical garden on the outskirts of Chiang Mai. Here we had time to pour over scripture, fast, pray, spend a day in silence and rest in the blessed love of our God. I have yet to feel so rested than after receiving the peace that comes from His presence. (Nor do I expect to in this world).
-Then we were off to Bangkok; we only spent 3 days in Thailand's capital, but that was all that was needed. Barely an hour after getting off the overnight bus from Chiang Mai, we found ourselves in the center of Bangkok's notorious "Patong District", the city's well-known red light district where more than 2,000 prostitutes work each night. We walked past disgusting bars and their signs and went up an elevator to meet with Rahab Ministries; a ministry literally in the heart of the sex industry that provides rehab and vocational training for women wanting to escape their current occupation. For more info check out rahabministriesthailand.org.
We headed back to our hostel and honestly had already lost our taste for Bangkok...spent the remaining 2 days praying and willing God to move in the city.
-We grabbed our flight from Bangkok to Phuket and spent a night in a bamboo bungalow near the ocean, took the ferry to Koh Phi Phi Island the next day where we spent the next 6 days in awe of God's amazing creation and beauty. We spent most of our time in the water; snorkeling and swimming, and I was exceptionally blessed to be able to go Deep Water Soloing (a mix between rock climbing and cliff jumping; something I'd been longing to do for many nears!) and kayaking to different places around the island.
The evenings were spent processing the entire trip and preparing the girls for their trip home. We made friends with the locals of the beach we were staying at and I enjoyed talking with them and playing guitar while admiring the beauty and opportunity to be in the South Pacific. But before long we grabbed the ferry back to Phuket, stayed one more night and headed back to Chiang Mai where the girls packed up, said their goodbyes (to friends in Chiang Mai and the Parkers and I) and boarded their planes back to the states.
So...I am currently waiting for the time to creep closer to my own departure; I'm hopping a bus in a few hours bound for Vientiane, Laos to do a 3 day visa run in the hopes and prayers of returning with another 3 month visa! Prayers, as always, are greatly appreciated and welcomed!
End of Chapter 1. See next post for the exciting beginning of the next Chapter of what God's doing here and letting me be a part of!
LAOS VISA UPDATE: The Jessen family and I took the overnight bus from Chiang Mai to the border and we were blessed beyond belief by receiving our visas without any semblance of difficulty at the consulate! We even arrived 2-3 hours later than most people had suggested due to a little bus/tuktuk mix up, but were relieved to find hardly anybody there. (Imagine showing up at the DMV at 10 am and expecting to wait in line until at least 4 pm and find no one in line!!)
Laos is a communist country and therefore closed to missionary work, yet I could physically feel the grace of God in the midst of almost tangible opression. The Jessens and I took time to pray for the country while having 24 hours to kill while our visas were processed.
-After the jungle, the team and I came back to Breanna's House, where we spent the next two weeks playing all sorts of games, building soccer goals, mowing, painting, power washing and giving every amount of love possible to the girls. I continued to teach the staff English and was very excited to find that they had contained the content from all the previous lessons and were ready for more!
It's hard to sum it all up into a few words but after 13 days it was time to say goodbye again. I had it a little easier since I wasn't saying goodbye for good; I made sure all the girls knew that plans were in motion for me to stay and continue living here. But it was pretty harsh for the rest of em; lots of tears, "Chan rak kun's" and email exchanges. But after a few hours, we were on the road again.
-We didn't go far, but it was necessary to say goodbye at this point rather than later due to future itineraries. We took the next 5 days to have a Spiritual Retreat at a hotel/botanical garden on the outskirts of Chiang Mai. Here we had time to pour over scripture, fast, pray, spend a day in silence and rest in the blessed love of our God. I have yet to feel so rested than after receiving the peace that comes from His presence. (Nor do I expect to in this world).
-Then we were off to Bangkok; we only spent 3 days in Thailand's capital, but that was all that was needed. Barely an hour after getting off the overnight bus from Chiang Mai, we found ourselves in the center of Bangkok's notorious "Patong District", the city's well-known red light district where more than 2,000 prostitutes work each night. We walked past disgusting bars and their signs and went up an elevator to meet with Rahab Ministries; a ministry literally in the heart of the sex industry that provides rehab and vocational training for women wanting to escape their current occupation. For more info check out rahabministriesthailand.org.
We headed back to our hostel and honestly had already lost our taste for Bangkok...spent the remaining 2 days praying and willing God to move in the city.
-We grabbed our flight from Bangkok to Phuket and spent a night in a bamboo bungalow near the ocean, took the ferry to Koh Phi Phi Island the next day where we spent the next 6 days in awe of God's amazing creation and beauty. We spent most of our time in the water; snorkeling and swimming, and I was exceptionally blessed to be able to go Deep Water Soloing (a mix between rock climbing and cliff jumping; something I'd been longing to do for many nears!) and kayaking to different places around the island.
The evenings were spent processing the entire trip and preparing the girls for their trip home. We made friends with the locals of the beach we were staying at and I enjoyed talking with them and playing guitar while admiring the beauty and opportunity to be in the South Pacific. But before long we grabbed the ferry back to Phuket, stayed one more night and headed back to Chiang Mai where the girls packed up, said their goodbyes (to friends in Chiang Mai and the Parkers and I) and boarded their planes back to the states.
So...I am currently waiting for the time to creep closer to my own departure; I'm hopping a bus in a few hours bound for Vientiane, Laos to do a 3 day visa run in the hopes and prayers of returning with another 3 month visa! Prayers, as always, are greatly appreciated and welcomed!
End of Chapter 1. See next post for the exciting beginning of the next Chapter of what God's doing here and letting me be a part of!
LAOS VISA UPDATE: The Jessen family and I took the overnight bus from Chiang Mai to the border and we were blessed beyond belief by receiving our visas without any semblance of difficulty at the consulate! We even arrived 2-3 hours later than most people had suggested due to a little bus/tuktuk mix up, but were relieved to find hardly anybody there. (Imagine showing up at the DMV at 10 am and expecting to wait in line until at least 4 pm and find no one in line!!)
Laos is a communist country and therefore closed to missionary work, yet I could physically feel the grace of God in the midst of almost tangible opression. The Jessens and I took time to pray for the country while having 24 hours to kill while our visas were processed.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
The Jungle
Day one: We hiked for about 4 hours through the thickest, densest jungle imaginable. We stopped around 2 pm to have lunch and built a little bamboo and banana leaf hut to hide from the rain that was threatening to overwhelm us. It was here, that it struck again; that sickening gut feeling that screamed, "I am not where I am supposed to be right now!" Feeling as white as possible (a prime target for malaria-carrying mosquitoes), hardly being able to stand still due to the sensation of being so out of place, trying our best not to just throw our hands in the air and yell! But thankfully our guide and porter just started hacking away at the endless bamboo trees, building a fire and giving us small tasks to complete like chopping carrots or digging a small hole with a bamboo shoot with one end sharpened with a machete. They cut several shoots and stuffed eggs, noodles and rice in the hollows, and helped us cut our own chop sticks out of other shoots. (Lesson learned: bamboo works for everything! Even eating). After roughly an hour and a half of continuous hacking, cooking, and mosquitoe-slapping we left the fire burning against a tree (while I could very audibly hear Smoky the Bear screaming at me to never do such a thing.) and continued hiking for 2 more hours to a Yao village where we stayed in a little barn-like building on the wooden floor, had fresh green tea (while piles of it were outside being dried before shipping off), and enjoyed the company of our guide and the family with which we were staying.
Day two: Rain. It had rained all night, woke up to more rain, and after hardly any sleep, made breakfast which consisted of eggs and about 6 pieces ofwhite bread toast per person (apparently its believed that Farang eat bread all the time and it takes half a loaf to satisfy each person over 5'6"), packed up, said "thank you" and headed out into the continuing rain. Hiked for several hours, fighting our way through razor sharp thorns, a million mosquitoes and leeches (no small task), stopping only briefly to eat our Pad Thai for lunch which we had previously packed into banana leaves. Continued on for another couple hours until reaching an Akha village where we stayed in a house owned by an elderly man and woman. Where we felt more like part of the family than guests due to the instant hospitality; cooking with them, trying to converse with the use of lots of hand gestures and repetitions. (The last 2 months of learning Thai didn't prove very effective with those who only speak Akha).
Day three: Woke up to sunny skies and had breakfast (eggs and half a loaf of bread again each), hiked out to a stream, helped dam a small section and proceeded to fish for small crabs, prawns, minnows, eels, etc with our hands for several hours. Took them all back to the house, cooked and ate them for lunch. Then packed up, said our thanks, and began the trek which was originally expected to last 2 hours, but quickly turned into 4 once we discovered the trail we were heading up: due to the rain and the recent use of the trail to herd water buffalo, we found the thickest mud I've ever seen. The steep inclines and decents proved to be as treacherous as glare ice while wearing moccasins. Having mud up past our ankles caused feet to slide if the terrain angled even a little bit, but soon turned to quick sand that would swallow the entire foot once it leveled off. Had quite a bit of fun with it and eventually made it to the Lahu village we were heading for. (Having the bottom half of our bodies a lot darker than before) Took a some time to rinse off, make dinner, hang out and eat, and then quickly fell asleep.
Day four: Woke up, ate breakfast, packed up, and hiked about 45 minutes down a washed-out road, caught a truck which took us to the river from where we took a boat to an elephant camp, rode elephants for about an hour, ate some lunch, grabbed another truck back to Chiang Rai, were dropped off at the bus station, said goodbye to our guide, bought bus tickets back to Chiang Mai, waited around at the station for a couple hours, then took the 3 hour bus ride back to Chiang Mai.
The trek through the jungle had originally been a two-part enterprise: firstly to see the northern part of Thailand and make contacts with the villager locals, and secondly to do a bit of sight-seeing and explore the beauty of Thailand's lush jungle. The first objective fell on the wayside once Courtney hurt her tailbone and Matt aided her in taking her to the hospital and back to Chiang Mai.
Through all of it, it was impossible for all of us to constantly be in awe of the beauty of creation (even the slicing of thorns and tripping of vines were equated to the snares of the Devil and remembering to look up and still give thanks for the beauty above our current situation.).
The LORD your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.
Zephaniah 3:17 (English Standard Version)
(Again, photos will follow once they are acquired from various cameras). But until then, feel free to check them out at Sarah Worscheck's facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/?sk=messages&ref=mb#!/album.php?aid=253466&id=584708398
Day two: Rain. It had rained all night, woke up to more rain, and after hardly any sleep, made breakfast which consisted of eggs and about 6 pieces ofwhite bread toast per person (apparently its believed that Farang eat bread all the time and it takes half a loaf to satisfy each person over 5'6"), packed up, said "thank you" and headed out into the continuing rain. Hiked for several hours, fighting our way through razor sharp thorns, a million mosquitoes and leeches (no small task), stopping only briefly to eat our Pad Thai for lunch which we had previously packed into banana leaves. Continued on for another couple hours until reaching an Akha village where we stayed in a house owned by an elderly man and woman. Where we felt more like part of the family than guests due to the instant hospitality; cooking with them, trying to converse with the use of lots of hand gestures and repetitions. (The last 2 months of learning Thai didn't prove very effective with those who only speak Akha).
Day three: Woke up to sunny skies and had breakfast (eggs and half a loaf of bread again each), hiked out to a stream, helped dam a small section and proceeded to fish for small crabs, prawns, minnows, eels, etc with our hands for several hours. Took them all back to the house, cooked and ate them for lunch. Then packed up, said our thanks, and began the trek which was originally expected to last 2 hours, but quickly turned into 4 once we discovered the trail we were heading up: due to the rain and the recent use of the trail to herd water buffalo, we found the thickest mud I've ever seen. The steep inclines and decents proved to be as treacherous as glare ice while wearing moccasins. Having mud up past our ankles caused feet to slide if the terrain angled even a little bit, but soon turned to quick sand that would swallow the entire foot once it leveled off. Had quite a bit of fun with it and eventually made it to the Lahu village we were heading for. (Having the bottom half of our bodies a lot darker than before) Took a some time to rinse off, make dinner, hang out and eat, and then quickly fell asleep.
Day four: Woke up, ate breakfast, packed up, and hiked about 45 minutes down a washed-out road, caught a truck which took us to the river from where we took a boat to an elephant camp, rode elephants for about an hour, ate some lunch, grabbed another truck back to Chiang Rai, were dropped off at the bus station, said goodbye to our guide, bought bus tickets back to Chiang Mai, waited around at the station for a couple hours, then took the 3 hour bus ride back to Chiang Mai.
The trek through the jungle had originally been a two-part enterprise: firstly to see the northern part of Thailand and make contacts with the villager locals, and secondly to do a bit of sight-seeing and explore the beauty of Thailand's lush jungle. The first objective fell on the wayside once Courtney hurt her tailbone and Matt aided her in taking her to the hospital and back to Chiang Mai.
Through all of it, it was impossible for all of us to constantly be in awe of the beauty of creation (even the slicing of thorns and tripping of vines were equated to the snares of the Devil and remembering to look up and still give thanks for the beauty above our current situation.).
The LORD your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.
Zephaniah 3:17 (English Standard Version)
(Again, photos will follow once they are acquired from various cameras). But until then, feel free to check them out at Sarah Worscheck's facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/?sk=messages&ref=mb#!/album.php?aid=253466&id=584708398
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