Saturday, June 2, 2012

Reaping Joyful Shouting

I'm sorry it's been soooo long since I have posted, but I have been very busy!!  So much has happened since Easter I don't even know where to begin.  I will try to remember all of the important things!! 

First of all...I went home for almost 2 weeks to surprise my sister ( and everyone else ) for her 30th birthday, THANKS TO MY BROTHER IN LAW, BRAD!!  Got to spend some quality time with family and friends!  And raised more prayer and financial support while there.  Praise the Lord!!  I could not be here without the support of friends and family. 

I will start with the bad first.
Here is another heartbreaking story about Nam.  I was actually facebook messaging with Maegan after it happened and I am too lazy to type it all out so I copy and pasted here.  Minus Maegan's comments.

so i witnessed a some men cheer for a guy as he walked out of having a short time with Nam today.
like high fives and celebration like he accomplished something
it made me sick and i just broke down right there in front of p'fon
i had to get control of myself before i left bc we were leaving for outreach. everyone else had left and i went to the bathroom and when i came down i was about to walk out of the front door and saw it
he stood there with his buddies and was showing his muscles and his stomach for some reason
like trying to show off or something
NOTHING to be proud of by the way.
i walked out to leave and she saw me so i motioned for her to come see me
i just gave her a big hug and said god loves you so much
i told her like 3 times and said you know that right
she said yes
then she looked at my face and asked what was wrong
she knew i was upset
she said what happeded to you
i said i was fine and she said no monica tell me what happened
i hugged her again and whispered in her ear that i am so sorry that she has to do what she does, that i hate how these men look at her, and i love her so much.
she told me to try not to think about it. i looked a her and she was crying too.
she said i only have 10 days left of this. its almost over.
tears were just streaming down her face
it absolutely broke my heart
being close to these girls and caring so much for them is sooooo hard.

This is Nam


Here is a song that I have heard probably a hundred times over the last 3 years that spoke to me about a month ago. It's called Those Who Dream by Kristene Mueller.

Those Who Dream Lyrics
When the Lord brought back the captive ones of zion
We were like those who dream
And the mouths were filled with laughter
And the tongues with joy of shouting

When the Lord brought back the captive ones of zion
We were like those who dream
And the mouths were filled with laughter
And the tongues with joyful shouting

We will say among the nations
The Lord has done great things
We will say among the nations
The Lord has done great things

More than the watchmen wait for the morning
Our souls wait
Our souls wait upon the Lord
For with Him, His love and kindess
And abundant redemption

We will say among the nations
The Lord has done great things
We will say among the nations
The Lord has done great things

Those who sow in tears
Are reaping joyful shouting
Those who sow in tears
Are reaping joyful shouting
So we will say among the nationsThe Lord has done great thingsSo we will say among the nationsThe Lord has done great things

The dinners are going wonderfully and growing!  Maegan and I are loving our time with the girls outside of the bars!  And I believe the girls are loving it too!  We have 5 new girls coming tomorrow.



Happy Birthday Apple!!!


This picture was taken after the original post was added.  The 5 new girls are in this picture!


Ok I can't wait any longer.......I have GREAT NEWS!!!!!  4 out of the 8 original girls that have been coming to the dinners are either out of the bars or coming out next month!!!  Honey left the bar while I was home in April, lived and worked for Tamar for about 3 weeks, then decided to move back home to Bangkok with her family.  Toon quit her bar and moved back home to work in a massage shop on May 8th, Nam quit her bar about 3 weeks ago and will move to Bangkok next month to work in a hair salon (She will only be making about $300 a month, but she has a "boyfriend" in Belgium that will help her out a little), and Niki just told me tonight that she will work one more month then start Tamar training in July!!!  I could not be happier right now!!  2 nights before Toon moved home I shared the gospel with her and Pu translated.  The seed has been planted and now we just wait for it to be harvested.  Nam and I were talking about my church, Water's Edge, one night about a month ago and she told me that she has been a christian for 10 years.  Both of her parents died when she was young so she lived with her aunt for a little while.  Her aunt was a christian and Nam saw something different in her and wanted what she had.  Then she moved in with her much older brother who is buddhist.  She accepted Christ when she was 12 years old, but had nobody to disciple her.  We drove past her bar one night and she told me that she prayed to God many times while sitting and working in that bar.  She is now reading her bible every day and I see her growing closer to God.  And now for Niki...she is sooooo close to accepting Christ I can almost hear her saying it already.  LOL!!  Pu, Maegan, and I have had many great conversations with her.  She is becoming more and more open every time, but there is still this little place in her heart for buddha.  I believe the place is getting smaller and smaller each time we share with her and spend time with her.  She told me weeks ago that she is working in the bar so that she can pay for a new house for her mom.  (Her dad died in December)  She came to work in Pattaya in January and said she only wanted to work one year.  I was asking her many questions yesterday...I asked if her mom had a savings for the house.  I just assumed this whole time that her mom would be saving some of the money that she sends home every month.  Niki sadly said no.  I said but I don't understand.  What is she doing with the money you send her every month.  Again very sadly she said that her mom has a drinking problem and is spending the money on wiskey instead of saving it.  She then went on to say that she (Niki) has many problems in her life.  I told her that no problem is too big for God and that God is bigger than any problem she could ever have.  I prayed with her for her mom and for her to have a way out of the bar. 
Today I went to go pay her and Raya's bar fine for dinner tomorrow night.  They both started a new bar tonight and did not want to tell their bar that I was bar fining them for a party with friends so we had to scheme a little.  A friend of Niki and a friend of Nam came to give the bar the money for me.  After a 10 minute conversation with Niki and her friend about why she is still working in the bar if Tamar Center has free job training and living, I went to play pool with Raya.  I went to the bathroom and Niki was in there.  I told her that we talk to her often about leaving the bar because we care about her so much.  She then told me that she will work one more month in the bar and do computer training with Tamar!!  I screamed with excitement and hugged her so tight!!  Thank you thank you thank you JESUS!!!!! 

So that's why I could not wait any longer to make this post!!  God is working in many ways here in Pattaya!!  Please continue to pray for the girls and the  dinner party ministry ( KWAM RAK MAI ) we have here.  Look it up on facebook, google, and rakstories.blogspot.com to read more about it. 

There has been many tears shed here in Pattaya, but like the song says, Those who sow in tears are reaping joyful shouting!!  I have definitely done some joyful shouting in the last 3 weeks!!  Feel free to shout with me....PRAISE THE LORD, HALLELUIAH, THANK YOU JESUS!!!Love, Monica PS. I typed most of this post in green because green makes me happy....and I'm very happy!!! 

3 comments:

  1. So Niki just told me tonight that she is officially done working in the bar. She is not working this last month before the training. She will probably move into Tamar housing and start in the card room this week! Praise God!!!

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  2. Monica, so glad I found your blog! What amazing things God is doing there!! Praying for the girls and you!

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