What do I expect to learn from the Thai people on this trip?
Rewind to when I spent a couple weeks in Uganda not long ago. One of the bigger impressions I came away with was a realization that drove me further into worshiping and loving Christ.
It wasn’t a realization of how privileged I am to live the way I do in the US, or a grand idea that I hoped would change the world for the better. What made the biggest impact wasn’t the outer differences (physically or socially) between myself and those I met, but something that I’ve found applies no matter what community I am involved in. What I came away with was the reality of the commonness of humanity, spiritually speaking. We live with such similar hopes and goals, and face similar disappointments, griefs, frustrations, and longings. These core issues can’t be solved by service or donations.
So as I’m serving in Thailand, I believe the Lord wants to continue to reveal to me how the common desires of humanity can be met in Him. None of us are alone: that includes me and my teammates, victimized women and children, the “successful”, those who are sick…and Christ is able to meet all of our needs in who He is.
I think God sparked ideas in me during my two weeks in Uganda that He wants me to dive deeper into over these months. No matter how good we’ve had it, all of us reach seasons of doubt or depression, regardless of our financial or social standing. We yearn for something more meaningful and our minds are blinded to the emptiness of what the world has to offer. Our struggles are different, but they have the same root (sin) and the same solution (Jesus!).
I think from the Thai people, I want the chance to understand what they care about, and how that reflects the core of who we are as humans, our need for Jesus. And I must start this openness by being willing to share my weaknesses and how Jesus has transformed me. Taking the risk of honesty is worth it to find that we can build one another up in the challenges we didn’t know we shared. This applies to my team as we grow in unity, and in conversation with those to whom we minister. I believe that if we show up intending to let our real hearts be known, someone else will show up, and HIS real self will beat out all our expectations, and show us that we were never meant to battle our sin and its affects alone. Whatever has caused hearts to ache throughout history and to the present–there is one healer, one rescuer, whose name we come privileged to bear. We know His name and His power, and others are waiting and needing to hear of it. When we share our brokenness, we can share our Redeemer and His uncontainable love.
“Jesus, the name that charms our fears, that bids our sorrows cease,
‘Tis music in the sinner’s ears, ’tis life and health and peace.”
