Mission Accomplished?

I know I will be asked this question. So since waking up (or never really falling asleep) all night, I finally got up at 3:56 a.m. I'm showered and am going to work on cleaning my house, doing laundry, dusting ect..... first however, as these Thai people remain on my mind constantly, I'm going to tell you what this trip accomplished, briefly. I don't think it's possible to make anyone understand what a trip like this can do--totally. But I'll try to explain a little.


I know I will be asked this.

"So was the mission of your trip accomplished?"



Well, first that is a loaded question. My generic answer is this and it starts with a question. "Is God sovereign, is He in complete control? Does He ordain our footsteps? Are we held in the palm of His hand?" If you answered yes to any/all of those questions (I answer 'yes' to them all) then this trip accomplished exactly what God designed it to do. We may not (you or I) understand what was accomplished and if our "mission" was successful, but I firmly believe it did all God wanted it to do.

Here is a more individual sense, of what it was for me. What got me to go on this trip to begin with? Making Cards. Did I accomplish this on the trip? Personally, No. Before you jump to conclusions, let me explain. We went to show trafficked women how to make beautiful cards. I believe that was accomplished and I can explain that in more detail later, (they were um....giddy? seems to lame a word, over learning how to stamp and they just took over shortly after we began showing them stuff)

Why did God bring me to Thailand? I think it was to show me His power, His Hand, His working, His perfection, His greatness and majesty, His Glory, the unity of the Body of Christ, to gain a larger view of Sin--not just Thailand's, but my own.

You may ask,

"you traveled all the way to Thailand to see God's power?"

No, I know He is all powerful and have seen glimpses of His power manifested here....but no matter what you read in the papers, travel journals or mission stories, NOTHING can prepare you for seeing the body of Christ at large in the World, as experiencing it first hand. Nothing can prepare a person for seeing a 3rd World country, than walking it's streets, smelling it's smells, hugging it's people, eating it's food. Nothing can give you a passion to reach the lost and for missions in general, than going. Now, I'm not saying that you can't have that burden and God can't show you the reality never leaving the soil of ones country; I may just be a very ignorant person, but I had NO clue..None whatsoever, until I went to a 98% Buddhists country and walked there for 8 days. So while I am sure I am not conveying this to you as you read.....I believe the reason for going (making cards) and what was accomplished (brokenness for God's will and the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ) was totally different than what I expected. While I went because of the card ministry, I am so glad God showed more of himself to me than cards. I wonder if I'd have gone had it not been for the ministry of the cards? I don't know. But God in his perfection, saw fit for the card making to draw me there.

I feel like my creativity was hampered. I just couldn't hardly make a "design" to save my life on the days we created in the hotel room. (to ease your concerns, I eeked out a few) But...while I let that discourage me at first (sinner that I am) I see God's big picture. It's not about card making, it's about administering the love of the Spirit to women who have been wounded and attacked by Satan from their birth. Yes, we all are, as we are born sinners, but what I saw in this country (I compare that to the U.S.) gave me a view of God that I think is hidden in our easy, clean, "christian" United States. Hugging these women, laughing together even though the language barrier was so difficult, (at one time tons of tiny ants are crawling all over my legs...but still smiling and loving them) telling them you will pray for them and their faces lighting up, even the ones who didn't understand that, b/c they aren't regenerate yet. As Becky so aptly put it, it's "being Jesus with skin on"

I have many many highlights, today I will share these couple.
1. Listening to "Anitas" (changed her name) testimony in a quiet room, through her broken English, of her life after she was sold by her parents at age 6 for $500 to a Chinese Business Man Oh, my goodness. I can't explain the power of God I saw through her testimony. He is ALIVE!!!!!!!
2. Connecting with a woman from my church I barely knew. How precious of God to allow me to know someone from my own church, to give me a love for her, enjoy her and allow me to pray for her in a way that I wouldn't have been able to do--except for Thailand, (McDonald's and the Indra Hotel Lobby) I am so thankful for the opportunity to know a sister in Christ, that I never knew before. Thank you Jesus.
3. International Services/Prayer Meetings: This is something I couldn't imagine before attending one. You know, we all talk about going to Heaven and the joy that we can "imagine" of all nations and tongues and tribes, worshiping together. Well, I believe I had a glimpse of it. To sing songs, each in our own native tongue, but we all knew what each other was saying because we knew the tune of the song....that was an AWESOME experience for me. Chinese, Thai, Australian, English, American (both N and S) Phillipino, Vietnemese, Cambodian...you name it....we sang praises to Jesus, broke up into small groups to pray, shared victories God had given and shared about souls that are being reached every day w/the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We were privileged 4 different times to participate in these gatherings of the body of Christ. It once again showed me that we (U.S. Citizens) are not "it" and oh, how glad I am because how hopeless life would be if this is all we ever thought there was. American "christianity" seemed so vain and weak in comparison to the faiths of these people living in these conditions. PLEASE HEAR ME. My faith is NOT weak, (and those of so many I know) I serve the one True and Living God. My faith is strong. God is Strong. I just think our lives are so easy here, that a complacency hits here because of the ease of life. It may not when we have to rely on God in a way I never could have imagined before going to Thailand. We have poor "areas" of the U.S. where people struggle more than others and need help, but that whole country is poor in Thailand. I don't know I have to quit, b/c I am probably not explaining things how I want and I don't want to give the impression that Americans can not be Christians with strong faiths, please don't think that. Ministry is done there in a way that we may not be able to grasp. But trust me when I say, God is alive in Thailand, He is working, He is drawing sinners to Himself.

These were many things accomplished in my life, most had nothing to do with card making and everything to do with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So yes, the Mission was Accomplished.


**No spell check, punctuation check or writing check. Just plain un-edited me.