This blog is long overdue, but here ya go :) My life was a whirl-wind for a few days. I had just left Australia and my time with Josh was wonderful. We spent a lot of time exploring the Great "Outback"... haha kinda..We went cliff jumping, snorkelling, and visited the Sydney Opera house. It was great catching up with Josh- a very much needed time for us to connect and encourage each other.
I left Australia on December 20th and arrived in Bangkok that night. As I said, my life was quite a whirl-wind. When I arrived, I found out that my luggage got lost somewhere between Melbourne and Bangkok...The airline wasn't quite sure. I told myself it was ok, and I felt the Lord ask me quietly, "Bekah- are you going to trust me when I am literally all you have?" Right away, I had to choose to surrender and let go of my "stuff" and trust that the Lord would provide for my needs- no matter what the outcome. Well....right before Christmas just three days later my luggage arrived!!! It was the perfect Christmas gift! Praise God, He was so gracious!
Christmas was just around the corner when I arrived, so the first few days were spent with Tim and Amy (the missionaries, I am living with) and right away we began organizing and buying gifts for the children who beg in the red light districts. Tim and Amy have done an amazing job at building relationships with the children and women on the streets. When we were organizing the gifts, we counted 53 people that they were in contact with!! My very first Thai Christmas was spent walking around the Red Light Districts passing out gifts, Christmas caroling, and giving roses to the women.
Its hard to describe the feeling of that night...in one aspect we were joyfully celebrating the birth of Jesus, the HOPE of the world... But on the other hand, many of these children and women have never experienced any type of hope- let alone had any reason to celebrate at all. For them, all they have known is suffering and fear. My prayer that night as we walked the streets was that the women and children would get a glimpse of hope, that they would see their value, and encounter Jesus the healer and lover of their souls!
It has been a raw few weeks just taking it in- walking the streets and getting to hear the stories of the women & children. Many times we don't know if the women & children who are begging, are being controlled or watched by someone, so we have to be careful. It is hard not knowing the depth of their stories and situations... Building deep relationships will take time.
On my 2nd week I began language school. I am doing the excelerated program, so I'm in school from 8am-4pm. So far I have not cried yet, I have however embarassed myself. I told my female teacher she was a man. Hahahah, thankfully she didn't kick me out of class! Anyways, language is coming along (slowly) and I am understanding it, but I am just needing to practice it out loud. Thankfully, our Thai neighbors nexts door a wonderful!! They love speaking Thai with me so I am getting lots of practice! Plus ordering thai food on the street markets really helps me catch on!! (that pig eye was sooo good!) HA.
Please be continue to pray for me and language school, also we are leaving to go to India on January 20th. There is a Word Made Flesh conference in Chennai, and we are also spending sometime in Kolkata. Please pray for travelling mercies! Just want to leave you with one last thought and prayer of mine, "Do not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time you will reap a harvest if you do not give up" Gal 6:9. My prayer for all of us is that we keep pressing on order to reap what is eternal! Whatever season we are in let's not become weary!
