hey friends! sorry my past few blogs have been so short/quick and blunt.
in short there arent really words for outreach and DTS, and how God is moving. A few weeks ago i got a word from my really good friend about my ministry here saying we were 'planting seeds on thorny ground' but that the seeds WOULD reep a harvest in Gods timing. God is good, God is an amazing provider for me but somehow still i manage to feel overwhelemed emotionally and like i have to handle things on my own. I know that when i come home-God WILL provide me with a stable christian community that can disciple me. God has been teaching me that it is OK to use my giftings and to step out of the box
flood relief, major switch of plans, university ministry, trying to build relationships when i feel drained myself and have put off spending time with god and its exam week. this is all part of gods plan? this is outreach....
this is all worth it-some things cannot be described so please forgive me when i cannot answer the question 'how was god moving/what did god do in thailand????'
its the beginning of a new year, and i am definately changed. this year has been very much a process of good times, hurt and pain, and learning to see god as who he really is again and i could not be more thankful. God redeems all things and i have met people that have been so amazing to me that i do not deserve. I am eternally grateful for the people, leaders i have met on DTS
you guys are frickin, frackin awesome.
and Jesus who brought me here-there is absolutely nothing more i can say. you know the words that i dont know how to express so thank you for that too :)
2 weeks left of outreach..... what on earth am i going to do with myself????
-Chelsea
Psalm 82:3-4
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Monday, December 26, 2011
paint, art & praying!
Hey Friends!Merry Christmas from Thailand!!!!
This past week we have continued doing campus ministry and going out to the university everyday to build relationships and meet people. We have started an ongoing project at WonGen Cafe and the University students. We are painting a mural on the one wall and are hoping to invite all the students to take part and share in painting it, this will be an awesome opportunity to connect with the students further and learn what they really like and go into deeper conversations the students then 'what is your name? do you speak english?'
I am starting to meet more people through the english class, it is awesome to meet the people i have met on more personal levels and get to know them better.
This past Saturday & Sunday night, (Christmas eve & Christmas Day) our university team were finally able to go to the redlight district here in chiang mai. i had the opportunity of meeting someone i hope to become very close to and hear more of their story the nights that we are fortunate enough to go out there. the people involved in prostitution are people, have stories that could be just like ours.....
my heart aches for this person and the people who have purchased her... but i also know the power of prayer.
psalm 82:3-4
This past week we have continued doing campus ministry and going out to the university everyday to build relationships and meet people. We have started an ongoing project at WonGen Cafe and the University students. We are painting a mural on the one wall and are hoping to invite all the students to take part and share in painting it, this will be an awesome opportunity to connect with the students further and learn what they really like and go into deeper conversations the students then 'what is your name? do you speak english?'
I am starting to meet more people through the english class, it is awesome to meet the people i have met on more personal levels and get to know them better.
This past Saturday & Sunday night, (Christmas eve & Christmas Day) our university team were finally able to go to the redlight district here in chiang mai. i had the opportunity of meeting someone i hope to become very close to and hear more of their story the nights that we are fortunate enough to go out there. the people involved in prostitution are people, have stories that could be just like ours.....
my heart aches for this person and the people who have purchased her... but i also know the power of prayer.
psalm 82:3-4
Thursday, December 22, 2011
chiang mai university?
it's amazing how God often has a change of plans quite often than we do..... As some of you read from my last blog, the majority of us believed we were going to be working with 'LOVE ACTS': the ministry that works with teaching english to the girls in the bars in the red light district. Our second day here, after a day of rest we were told more about the ministry and were told to pick between 'Love Acts' and 'WonGen' the university ministry that they are involved in.
The heart of this ministry is to show Jesus through their actions and through loving people, through building relationships and serving. Several other of these ministries are based on 'prevention' (some of the girls in the university are involved in prostituion at some point short term for the sole purpose of making money, for 3/4 hours a week.) In the building we stay in is a coffeeshop which is directly across from the university, I was constantly reminded of the atmosphere of the coffee shop back home and how much i adore it and what it did for me.
We were told to pray and ask which ministry to do.... and God convictingly told me 'WonGen' the university one. God spoke to me and showed me how i needed to be there and not apart of Love Acts. Our team may still have the opportunity to go to the slums, and to go to the red light district. .
On Monday & Weds nights we help to teach english, and during the days we go to the university to find people and start conversations/try to build relationships with them and hang out with them 'outside of school.'
It is coming slowly, we have only been doing this for a few days now so i cant really describe 'God did THIS!' type of newsletter.... It feels weird that i am doing this type of ministry rather than LOVE ACTS, but i know there is a reason for it. So i just have to listen to God and know that he knows what i am doing.
While we are here, it is about seed planting... we may never see the fruit. But the fact is there WILL be fruit someday and that is a beautiful thing. God WANTS his kids and he wants this nation, he loves them just like he loves any other country....God is preparing GREAT things
and i know that our work is not in vain.
Lighthouse In Action Website
The heart of this ministry is to show Jesus through their actions and through loving people, through building relationships and serving. Several other of these ministries are based on 'prevention' (some of the girls in the university are involved in prostituion at some point short term for the sole purpose of making money, for 3/4 hours a week.) In the building we stay in is a coffeeshop which is directly across from the university, I was constantly reminded of the atmosphere of the coffee shop back home and how much i adore it and what it did for me.
We were told to pray and ask which ministry to do.... and God convictingly told me 'WonGen' the university one. God spoke to me and showed me how i needed to be there and not apart of Love Acts. Our team may still have the opportunity to go to the slums, and to go to the red light district. .
On Monday & Weds nights we help to teach english, and during the days we go to the university to find people and start conversations/try to build relationships with them and hang out with them 'outside of school.'
It is coming slowly, we have only been doing this for a few days now so i cant really describe 'God did THIS!' type of newsletter.... It feels weird that i am doing this type of ministry rather than LOVE ACTS, but i know there is a reason for it. So i just have to listen to God and know that he knows what i am doing.
While we are here, it is about seed planting... we may never see the fruit. But the fact is there WILL be fruit someday and that is a beautiful thing. God WANTS his kids and he wants this nation, he loves them just like he loves any other country....God is preparing GREAT things
and i know that our work is not in vain.
Lighthouse In Action Website
Thursday, December 15, 2011
moving on to Chiang Mai...
Hey guys! it has been awhile since i left you guys a post so i thought i would briefly share what i have been up to.
Tomorrow we leave for Chiang Mai, which also means outreach is half over..... this also means we start doing the 'hard work!' Alot of our time here we were led by hearing God's voice. It was very difficult at times, but we had the opportunity of building relationships with some really incredible people. It taught me alot about myself and really being obedient to God. During the most part we were being impatient, we just wanted God to move in really big and crazy ways-and he didnt do that until the very end. it required patience and alot of prayer and obedience on our part. We werent asking for it when it happened, but it did.
Working in the red light districts was difficult, all we did was prayer walk. The most difficult thing for me was being obedient to Gods voice. For me personaly, i wanted to go up to every single girl and talk to her.... but that was not what our team/our God was asking us to do. We were prayer walking-and IF God asked us to talk to people-then we were supposed to be obedient to that. 'our battle is not with flesh and blood, but with powers and principalities.' Sometimes, those strongholds really have to be demolished before something can move in the physical realm. Prayer is the only thing that can change that. How many people walk into these places like buddhist temples and patpong/nana plaza and are willing to take a stand and be bold enough to pray and say NO to the things happening there? Gods love is strong enough.
we have to believe (and at first this is something i really struggled with) that when God isnt asking us to do a thing, that it means that he IS and always has been taking care of these people.
we have to take time with god and pray, we have to invest time in our relationship with him otherwise itll leave us empty-as i experienced for a little while being here. but god is never the reason for things like that, its always us. i am excited to go to patpong for a final time tonight because i know that god will be working in ways that i cannot see. now we are off to chiang mai where we will be working in loi krah with 'light house in action' with a ministry of theirs called 'LOVE ACTS' where we will be teaching the girls in the bars english.... so that one day when they get out of there, they will have that skill of speaking english.
xoxoxo
Chelsea
Psalm 82:3-4
www/theabolitionistdts.org
Tomorrow we leave for Chiang Mai, which also means outreach is half over..... this also means we start doing the 'hard work!' Alot of our time here we were led by hearing God's voice. It was very difficult at times, but we had the opportunity of building relationships with some really incredible people. It taught me alot about myself and really being obedient to God. During the most part we were being impatient, we just wanted God to move in really big and crazy ways-and he didnt do that until the very end. it required patience and alot of prayer and obedience on our part. We werent asking for it when it happened, but it did.
Working in the red light districts was difficult, all we did was prayer walk. The most difficult thing for me was being obedient to Gods voice. For me personaly, i wanted to go up to every single girl and talk to her.... but that was not what our team/our God was asking us to do. We were prayer walking-and IF God asked us to talk to people-then we were supposed to be obedient to that. 'our battle is not with flesh and blood, but with powers and principalities.' Sometimes, those strongholds really have to be demolished before something can move in the physical realm. Prayer is the only thing that can change that. How many people walk into these places like buddhist temples and patpong/nana plaza and are willing to take a stand and be bold enough to pray and say NO to the things happening there? Gods love is strong enough.
we have to believe (and at first this is something i really struggled with) that when God isnt asking us to do a thing, that it means that he IS and always has been taking care of these people.
we have to take time with god and pray, we have to invest time in our relationship with him otherwise itll leave us empty-as i experienced for a little while being here. but god is never the reason for things like that, its always us. i am excited to go to patpong for a final time tonight because i know that god will be working in ways that i cannot see. now we are off to chiang mai where we will be working in loi krah with 'light house in action' with a ministry of theirs called 'LOVE ACTS' where we will be teaching the girls in the bars english.... so that one day when they get out of there, they will have that skill of speaking english.
xoxoxo
Chelsea
Psalm 82:3-4
www/theabolitionistdts.org
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Bangkok Lately.
As some of you might have read from my last blog, we spent our last friday doing ministry prayer walking in one of the many red light districts in Bangkok. There are 3 red light districts that Bangkok is famous for, and it has several other smaller ones in the city. We went to Nana Plaza and another street full of women from the middle east: women who are promised work from foreign countries, and end up in Thailand to work in the bars and brothels.... It is all to common in Bangkok and there are several different districts like this. Different streets with different girls IE: one street will be full of girls from japan who are trafficked, while another could be full of girls trafficked from Holland. My first reaction from being in the red light district was a very strange one...
We first went into the middle east street (we went around 8pm, so there werent alot of girls standing around) which wrecked me apart. Even though we never saw any prostitutes in this districts (although i did see a few ladyboys/girls on their way to work @ nana plaza) it wrecked me to see all these women. I was sitting in a place like thailand, yet there were more beggars than usual and women wearing purdahs everywhere. Because there was such a language barrier i didnt really feel like i could help them.... i looked at them and gave them an empty smile and in my breath i prayed for them. And then we went to nana plaza..... Nana plaza is one of the top 3 most famous red light districts in Bangkok, outside of the main strip clubs and brothels there are a row of bars. Inside these bars there are hundreds of men all with prostitutes, acting as if they were on a date. Men that do not have a love deficit in their lives do not buy women for sex..... tangibly seeing with my own eyes how many of these men were buying a prostitute and it was being treated as normal, shows me how much God is needed in a place like this.
In the redlight district itself, you went into a small sidestreet that had loud booming music. There were signs everywhere advertising "next ________________ show in 15 minutes" there were 3 tiers that you could go up with stairs. On each floor, there were about 12-15 stripclubs/brothels covered with a curtain. I don't feel the need to elaborate what i saw because God deserves the glory out of this situation, Gods heart is for every man in that place. Gods man is for every hurting girl who is terrified every day that they go to work.....
Thailand is not like the United States where you can call an anti trafficking hotline when you see trafficking happen, its just everywhere. I believe the only situation is people being obedient when God calls them to 'GO' to these places.... our testimonies can be redeemed and that is certainly true for me. For me, my first time being in the red light district/nana plaza i feel like i shut down and let God down alot... But i know that i have grace for the next time i go. Evangelism is not about pleasing God but its just about bringing Gods kids back home/expanding Gods family and his love and i just need to remind myself of that....
THESE PAST FEW DAYS....
these past few days, as some of you may have read when we came to thailand alot of the ministries we had planned to work with fell through. We will be going to one of the several red light districts again once or twice. So far what we have/will be doing is focusing on the 7 spheres of influence....
-family
-media
-business
-arts
-education
-government/law
-religion
if we do not have something set up for the day of having a tour of, a ministry, this is what we do for the day... we pray into which sphere god wants us to impact and what he wants us to do for the day. this is very much what our time in Bangkok is going to look like, and our time in Chiang Mai we will be working more heavily in the red light districts the majority of our time with a ministry there teaching the women working in bars english. we are very much being led by the holy spirit in all of what we are doing in Bangkok, it is a struggle for me personally but i believe will be a very rewarding one.
please continue to pray for our team & myself during this time. yo ur prayers & spiritual support for us is greatly appreciated as we are a light in these dark places.
Psalm 82:3-4
-Chelsea
[me and some of my team members on a 'tuk tuk' (similiar to a taxi, common in thailand) during the temple tour!!]
We first went into the middle east street (we went around 8pm, so there werent alot of girls standing around) which wrecked me apart. Even though we never saw any prostitutes in this districts (although i did see a few ladyboys/girls on their way to work @ nana plaza) it wrecked me to see all these women. I was sitting in a place like thailand, yet there were more beggars than usual and women wearing purdahs everywhere. Because there was such a language barrier i didnt really feel like i could help them.... i looked at them and gave them an empty smile and in my breath i prayed for them. And then we went to nana plaza..... Nana plaza is one of the top 3 most famous red light districts in Bangkok, outside of the main strip clubs and brothels there are a row of bars. Inside these bars there are hundreds of men all with prostitutes, acting as if they were on a date. Men that do not have a love deficit in their lives do not buy women for sex..... tangibly seeing with my own eyes how many of these men were buying a prostitute and it was being treated as normal, shows me how much God is needed in a place like this.
In the redlight district itself, you went into a small sidestreet that had loud booming music. There were signs everywhere advertising "next ________________ show in 15 minutes" there were 3 tiers that you could go up with stairs. On each floor, there were about 12-15 stripclubs/brothels covered with a curtain. I don't feel the need to elaborate what i saw because God deserves the glory out of this situation, Gods heart is for every man in that place. Gods man is for every hurting girl who is terrified every day that they go to work.....
Thailand is not like the United States where you can call an anti trafficking hotline when you see trafficking happen, its just everywhere. I believe the only situation is people being obedient when God calls them to 'GO' to these places.... our testimonies can be redeemed and that is certainly true for me. For me, my first time being in the red light district/nana plaza i feel like i shut down and let God down alot... But i know that i have grace for the next time i go. Evangelism is not about pleasing God but its just about bringing Gods kids back home/expanding Gods family and his love and i just need to remind myself of that....
THESE PAST FEW DAYS....
these past few days, as some of you may have read when we came to thailand alot of the ministries we had planned to work with fell through. We will be going to one of the several red light districts again once or twice. So far what we have/will be doing is focusing on the 7 spheres of influence....
-family
-media
-business
-arts
-education
-government/law
-religion
if we do not have something set up for the day of having a tour of, a ministry, this is what we do for the day... we pray into which sphere god wants us to impact and what he wants us to do for the day. this is very much what our time in Bangkok is going to look like, and our time in Chiang Mai we will be working more heavily in the red light districts the majority of our time with a ministry there teaching the women working in bars english. we are very much being led by the holy spirit in all of what we are doing in Bangkok, it is a struggle for me personally but i believe will be a very rewarding one.
please continue to pray for our team & myself during this time. yo ur prayers & spiritual support for us is greatly appreciated as we are a light in these dark places.
Psalm 82:3-4
-Chelsea
Thursday, December 1, 2011
first few days in Bangkok/Flood relief.
one week ago today we landed in bangkok. originally our plan was to start right away working Nana Patpong, the red light district in Bangkok but many of the red light districts we were planning on working with fell through... not even a day & a half after we came here we ended up doing flood relief for a week.
It was incredible to see mould so thick on some of these walls and smell it so thick and to see the people actually affected. People who still actually want to keep everything even thought it re3ally isnt what is best for them [fridges that reak, one of them even had maggots in it in one of the houses] because its sentimental or because they6 actually cannot afford to get a new one. The area we went to the flood waters had just receeded two weeks before-some of the people there had just picked up and moved because the waters were so bad. It was amazing to see how God used this opportunity for us as a team..... He knew that none of our ministries and other plans had really worked out, i personally was really worried about that. But through that opportunity we became alot closer as a group. We never once said or even thought 'that is gross... i am not going to clean that!' we just though there is a job to do and i have to help these people.
One of the thoughts that passed my head was, if Jesus were here.... he would be scrubbing these floors 15 times harder than i would. Please pray that Byrd & his emergency relief team will get more people-the longer this area goes unreached/uncleanded, the harder it will be & more unlivable for these people.
This time in Thailand so far has been amazing. I wish i had photos to show you but in a giving session we had at the base just before our mobile tour, i felt the Lord press on my heart to give away my camera. So i have no camera and no personal computer here. It took a really long time to sink in that i was in Thailand but i am very thankful for Thailand and that i was able to see every aspect of this country.. the brokeness of natural disaster as well as the beauty of the natural hustle and bustle outside of our building (it is actually NEVER quiet here!! :)
Tomorrow night we start doing our ministry in Nana Patpong, and i am terrified. I am excited in so many ways but i know that once i am there my heart will break in so many ways. My heart and greatest desire is for these girls to KNOW that all religions are NOT the same, that they do NOT deserve what is done to them and that they are princesses.....
i have no idea where this verse is found, [i belive it is in luke?] but it says...
"and in that moment when you have no words, the holy spirit will put words in your mouth and give you words to speak when you have none"
i know and have full faith that God will do that for every single one of my team members tomorrow night-because we will probably need it!
i will give you updates when i can, we have been doing internet alot so even though it is easy for me to get internet-i do not check my stuff that often!
Please continue to pray for me and my team while we are on this journey!
Your prayers and support in this way mean alot to me!!
much love
Chelsea.
It was incredible to see mould so thick on some of these walls and smell it so thick and to see the people actually affected. People who still actually want to keep everything even thought it re3ally isnt what is best for them [fridges that reak, one of them even had maggots in it in one of the houses] because its sentimental or because they6 actually cannot afford to get a new one. The area we went to the flood waters had just receeded two weeks before-some of the people there had just picked up and moved because the waters were so bad. It was amazing to see how God used this opportunity for us as a team..... He knew that none of our ministries and other plans had really worked out, i personally was really worried about that. But through that opportunity we became alot closer as a group. We never once said or even thought 'that is gross... i am not going to clean that!' we just though there is a job to do and i have to help these people.
One of the thoughts that passed my head was, if Jesus were here.... he would be scrubbing these floors 15 times harder than i would. Please pray that Byrd & his emergency relief team will get more people-the longer this area goes unreached/uncleanded, the harder it will be & more unlivable for these people.
This time in Thailand so far has been amazing. I wish i had photos to show you but in a giving session we had at the base just before our mobile tour, i felt the Lord press on my heart to give away my camera. So i have no camera and no personal computer here. It took a really long time to sink in that i was in Thailand but i am very thankful for Thailand and that i was able to see every aspect of this country.. the brokeness of natural disaster as well as the beauty of the natural hustle and bustle outside of our building (it is actually NEVER quiet here!! :)
Tomorrow night we start doing our ministry in Nana Patpong, and i am terrified. I am excited in so many ways but i know that once i am there my heart will break in so many ways. My heart and greatest desire is for these girls to KNOW that all religions are NOT the same, that they do NOT deserve what is done to them and that they are princesses.....
i have no idea where this verse is found, [i belive it is in luke?] but it says...
"and in that moment when you have no words, the holy spirit will put words in your mouth and give you words to speak when you have none"
i know and have full faith that God will do that for every single one of my team members tomorrow night-because we will probably need it!
i will give you updates when i can, we have been doing internet alot so even though it is easy for me to get internet-i do not check my stuff that often!
Please continue to pray for me and my team while we are on this journey!
Your prayers and support in this way mean alot to me!!
much love
Chelsea.
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