A day in the life :: SHE MINISTRY || Thailand
If I could pick two words to describe the month of January they would be 'refreshing' & 'challenging'. Refreshing in the way of experiencing a new ministry and being able to deepen/rekindle friendships. Challenging in the way of dealing with constant community and being exposed to a lot of spiritual warfare.
SHE ministry (http://www.shethailand.org) is located in Phuket, Thailand. Their focus is to bring girls out of the bars on Bangla Road and share with them a life that is outside of Bangla Rd. To share with them different options such as: a different job; teaching them English; teaching them cooking skills etc. Our focus was to meet bars girls and simply create friendships with them. Then call our frienship out of the bars and have dates with them!
Here is a look into what a typical day looks like!
Wake up – Get ready for the day! || 8:30 A.M.
Catch the local transportation to Bangla Road || 1:00 P.M.
Prayer walk on Bangla Road || 1:45 P.M.
POWER OF PRAYER ::
SHE emphasices the power of prayer and how ministry is not possible on Bangla Rd. without it. It is weird how I have unintentionally belitted the power of prayer as I have grown up. As we walk on Bangla Rd. we ask the Holy Spirit to come down and overwhelm the road with its presence. There are thousands of demons present on Bangla…I witnessed demon possessed people. Spirtual warfare is constant and needs to be constantly battled against with prayer. It is scary how real it is. I always would ask for God to send double, even triple the amount of Angels to Bangla than there are demons. God hears our cries and He answers. Bangla is His. He is sovereign but He wants us to call Him into action. He wants us to call down His love, redemption, and grace so others that do not know Him can know Him through us. To feel Him in a tangible way. That is who God has called us to be.
Catch the bus back home || 5:00 P.M.
Document the finances. I am the financial person on my team which means I am in charge of the all the money. I am the one who makes the ATM runs; gives my teammates money; pays our mission contacts for lodging etc.; pays for transportation. I document all of the day to day expenses through a budget tool and creating receipts. I send everything back to the states at the end of each month to AIM. Yay for logistics! || 5:45 P.M.
Grab some of the nearby local food! I usually walk to my favorite noodle soup stand or I get fried rice/pad thai + Iced coffee at a little restaurant that opened next door to SHE right before we left. I usually paid about 35 baht for a meal…which is equivalent to a little over 1 American dollar. || 6:30 P.M.
Worship. This where we set the tone for the night and get filled up.|| 8:00 P.M.
Go to Bangla Rd. for ministry || 9:00 P.M.
Ministry on Bangla varied from talking to the girls in the bars – tourists – bar promoters – street vendors. There is a lot of heaviness and darkness on Bangla. Lonliness and hopelesses are extremely present. Demons cling to people and tell them lies all night. God gave me purpose through this ministry by just being able to love people through listening to them. There are so many lonely men on Bangla…simply craving to talk to someone and be listened to. Some men even buy girls just so they have someone to talk. This month I did a lot of listening and hearing mens' stories – I loved it! Don't get me wrong though because this ministry was extremely exhausting mentally, physically, and spiritually. God definitely blew my expectations about what this ministry was going to look like and the plans He had in store. Also, one of the bar girls that I became friends with told me on my last night of ministry that she wasn't coming back to the bars ever again and she was going back to her family! God is moving and is alive as ever.
Release lanterns into the sky off the beach || 11:15 P.M.
Leave Bangla Road || 11:45 P.M.
Debrief with the squad aka tell stories from the night || 12:30 A.M.
Sweet dreams! || 2:00 A.M.
GOD BLESS!
Thank you for being a blessing by continually supporting and praying for me!!
BEST,
Andrea
Reading these literally makes my week. I am praying for you every day. You are incredible. I know God is doing huge things in you and through you. Can’t wait for your next email and blog post. Love you, Ann.
Dear Andrea,
What a ministry! Satan is alive and well on the Bangla Road. It is by the hand of the Lord that your new friend is leaving the LIFE and going back home to her family. Never under estimate your presense and/or words that can effect someone’s life! We need to keep her in our prayers. Email us when you get to South Africa. We are praying.
Love,
Mom
Wow. Incredible stories. People in Thailand see God in such a different way than people in America. Thanks for sharing. So glad you had the opportunity to go on this trip… you were meant to be there!