Thailand "The Land of Smiles"

I will have the amazing opportunity to go to Chiang Mai, Thailand this summer to volunteer at Taw Saeng (a project of The Garden of Hope), which “protects vulnerable and at-risk children and teenagers from abuse and exploitation and equips and enables them to develop maturity in Christ, bearing fruit for the glory of God.” It is surreal to think that I’ll be back in Southeast Asia in just a few months! Once again, the Lord has been reminding me of why I am going. 

This trip is not just to fulfill my required psychology internship for college, it is not just for me to gain another experience, it is not for me to go tour another country. This, in the words of Amy Carmichael, is “a chance to die”. I am to live a thousand daily deaths, decreasing so Christ may increase; surrendering and abiding, so He may do His work through me. It’s not about what I am going to be doing this summer; it’s what Jesus is going to do in and through me. I am to be the stage upon which Jesus stands. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what the motivation of missions should really be, and what this means for me, as a missionary. I am not to go just for the sake of saving souls. I am to go because the Lamb who was slain is worthy to receive the reward of His suffering. I am not to seek after seeing the power of God made manifest so I have a cool story to tell, I am to seek the love and power of God made manifest because of His heart for people living in me wanting to express itself so others can have an encounter with Christ. With thinking about what it means to be a missionary, there have been some deep questions I have had to wrestle through. Is there any scrap of desire in me to make a name for myself? To accomplish and perform on the mission field for my own selfish desire or reputation? Am I going to serve, or am I going to gain or to feel better about myself through helping people? "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." (Mark 10:45). All is for His glory. Even my desires to go and do must be laid bare on the alter before Him. My motives for missions must be in alignment with Him. I must go because I am compelled by His love. Because I want to be with Him where He is; with those in the darkest places, because He calls me and is looking for an intercessor to say, “here I am Lord send me”, and to stand in the gap and be His hands and feet to act on His behalf. We must go only by means of His sending, in the power of His Spirit, not just on our own whim.

The "romance" of a missionary is often made up of monotony and drudgery; there often is no glamour in it; it doesn't stir a man's spirit or blood. So don't come out to be a missionary as an experiment, it is useless and dangerous. Only come if you feel you would rather die than not come. Lord Wolsey was right: "A missionary ought to be a fanatic or he encumbers the ground." There are many trials and hardships. Disappointments are numerous and the time of learning the language is especially trying. Don't come if you want to make a great name or want to live long. Come if you feel there is no greater honour, after living for Christ, than to die for Him. That does the trick in the end. It's not the flash in the pan but the steady giving forth of light, it's shining on and on that we need out here. Our job is to make all hear the Word. God's job is to give penetration to His Word.  - C.T. Studd




God is so good. Right before I left for Cambodia two and a half years ago, He taught me so much about how it’s all about Him, not about me. He is also faithfully preparing my heart for this trip too. For King and Kingdom, may the God of the nations have His way in my heart as He sends me to Thailand this summer to make much of Him. I was reminded from the words of Major Ian Thomas that, “Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it. The One who calls you is the One who does that to which He calls you. For it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” I am so thankful that Him who calls me will be faithful to live through me and enable me to carry out that which He calls me to. “For God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work” (2 Cor. 9:8). What a faithful God we serve, for He is called Faithful and True! 

Please pray for heart preparation for me as I continue to set my gaze upon Jesus and prepare to go this summer. Please pray for the closing down of red light districts in Thailand, a location of much sex slavery.