This past Friday we left Bangkok and traveled to our new home in Tak Fa. So for the next 6 weeks, we are living in an abandoned old house on the property of a small Thai school. We sleep on hardwood floors. We are covered in all kinds of lizards, bugs, and mosquitos at all times. Not a single person in the village speaks our language. There is no AC anywhere and it’s always a billion degrees. We can’t wear our shoes inside. Ever. And this is our bathroom.
The other three teams on our squad? Well, they’re living in apartments. And tiki huts. On the beach. They have AC. And beds. And American contacts. And wifi. And workout rooms. They’re working in orphanages. And at surf camps. Surf camps.
And this makes me, well, almost jealous. Almost bitter. Almost.
Until I re-read these statistics.
The village of Tak Fa is smack dab in the middle of Thailand.
It’s a town of 40,000.
Less than 100 are Christians.
That’s .0025% of the population.
The rest? The other 99.9975%? They worship Buddha.
It is rare to find a child here who has not been sexually abused.
This place breeds the prostitutes that line the streets of Bangkok and Phuket.
Over 39,900 people live here who have never heard the gospel or the name of Jesus Christ.
And God chose me to be here.
Our ministry is this:
17 schools.
We’re allowed in because we’re “teaching English.”
And we are.
But here’s the agreement:
We’ll teach English,
IF
We also get to share the gospel.
So, the gameplan:
We go to a school,
Have 30 minutes to share the gospel,
And then we teach English.
(First things first, right?)
So…
30 minutes to share the gospel with 17 schools full of kids who have never heard it.
30 minutes to tell the 99.9975% about Jesus, a name they’ve never heard.
30 minutes.
So what I am saying is this:
We might not be in our ideal living conditions for the next 6 weeks.
And our squadmates might be living in tiki huts on the beach. They might have wifi and beds and workout rooms. They might even be working at surf camps.
But they don’t get to walk into 17 schools full of children who have never heard the name of Jesus Christ and tell them about Him.
We’re gonna see eyes opened.
We're gonna see chains be broken.
And we're gonna see hearts transformed.
Every day.
We get to see the truth be made known.
Students are going to fall in love with a God they’re never before known.
And their lives are never going to be the same.
And God chose me to be here.
I would take this part of the deal any day.
"Instead, we endure everything so that we will not hinder the gospel of Christ."
-1 Corinthians 9:12
I love how God has given you this amazing opportunity to be in that village in Thailand! I went on the Immersion trip last year and also taught “english” at Thai schools, and learned a whole lot about being content in wherever God places me. I will be praying for you guys that the people and student’s eyes will be open to the hope and freedom that you are bringing them! Continue to look at the opportunities that God is giving you and not at your…. unpleasant circumstances.
-Roni 🙂
I love seeing this posts when they show up on Facebook. Totally enjoy what you are up to, and hope all is well. Spread the Word!!
Abby your living conditions sound terrible. We are concerned for you and will pray for your protection and health. May your vision be achieved. I don’t get why squads would be in such opposite conditions. It would make sense if you would rotate at some point, though I realize you have accepted your mission. How can you sleep or get rest under those conditions? We love you dearly sweetheart. I pray that Jesus will protect and give you his graces for your acceptance of his calling and faith in his protection as you share his word. Love Dad(dy).
Oh wow, Abbz. And this is exactly why I look up to you SO much. I love your perspective on this whole situation. Especially since I know how badly you wanted to do surf camp. God knew that too and I think that’s exactly why He DIDN’T put you there. God is going to use your team there in mighty ways and I cannot wait to follow along in part 2 of your journey 🙂 Love you sweet sister! Praying without ceasing.
Many prayers as always Abby.
You are SO loved by God, He tells me all the time when I pray for you. 🙂
Abs,
You are SO strong! I am beyond proud of you and admire your (God’s) beautiful outlook. We all know you’re doing great things there because you’re letting God do great things. You’ve got this dude, if anyone does, it’s you! I am kicking my prayers for you into overdrive over the next 6 weeks. I love you Abs!
Ps. Hey, you’ve always got that mountain of letters from your loved ones to open when you need them! 🙂
Thank you all so much for the encouraging words! They mean so much! Day 1 of teaching went super well! But we had no translator, so we weren’t able to share the gospel. Pray especially for reliable translators to be able to travel to the schools with us over these 6 weeks, so that Jesus’ name can be made known with no language barrier. Thank you guys. Love you all!