No more sad things...

-May 18-

Today we went to Mercy Center. I got to meet the people I would be working with for the rest of the summer. There is so much love in this place! The staff here have laid down their lives to love and serve the kingdom of God through the lives of these children. Many of the children who are living at Mercy Center have been taken out of a life of poverty, sickness, and/ or abuse. All of the children here are under 10 years old. I met the kids, and I was filled with so much joy! It was an incredible experience to finally meet the children that I have been praying for all these months. It was so beautiful to be able to hug them. Their smiles melted my heart. I think it is going to be a great summer working with these children.

After we returned from the Mercy Center, our team was sent out to the streets to invite the bar girls to English lessons at Tamar Center. Tamar Center (http://www.ywamthai.org/pattaya/tamar.html) is a place where women can go when they are fed up with selling themselves. At Tamar they are given vocational training so they can provide an income for their families. At Tamar they are taught about God and His love for them.

My team headed to a street close to our hotel. I sat down and bought a Sprite. (If you don't buy a drink at the bar, then you can't sit and talk to the girls.) I started talking with a woman whose nickname was Angel. She was telling me and my friend Tara about a flower. This flower was a funeral flower. The Thai people believe this flower brings death, so they will not bring the flower into the house. Angel said that the flower is so pretty though, so the Thai people gave it a new name. A name that means happiness and joy. She said they didn't want any more sad things, so they made it so it brought good things. I told Angel how much I loved that! I told her how I had done that in my own life too. I got rid of all the bad things and only let the good things in my life. I shared with her how much God loved her. She instantly put up this wall. No more talk about God. Ok. I can do that. Instead of telling her about God, I decided that I would just lover her right where she was at. She just wanted to chit chat. I can do chit chat. =) I brought out my camera and we had a great time taking pictures. (When I find my camera cord, I will post pictures...)

It was hard to leave Angel that day. She would stay in that bar and be forced to entertain the male tourists. It broke my heart to leave her there, but I have full intentions of visiting her again.