Blog from Lorena

 Dear Family and Friends,

Again we are excited to tell you some great stories about what God is doing - this time in Thailand!  Yep, we left Eastern Europe and are now in Asia.  It took us 4 days to get from Moldova to Thailand, but it was easy and peaceful.  It began with an overnight train from Moldova to Romania. Since Moldova has a tiny airport, nothing is cheap flying out of there.  So we took an inexpensive train to Romania where we could fly internationally more economically.  What was interesting was that on the border of those two countries, they had to switch the wheels on the entire train to go on a different kind of track!  A few more airports and hotels later, we arrived in Bangkok, and then caught our final flight to our destination, Chiang Mai.

In Chiang Mai, we reconnected with our Malaysian friends, Helen and Vincent, from the last time we were here in 2019/20.  Helen has a wonderful ministry, called Whispering Willow.  She, along with a growing group of staff and volunteers, help and empower abused women in the sex industry.  When we arrived, Helen said we came just at the right time, as she needed help with discipling these girls. So I’ve taken this on, leading them in devotions every morning and teaching them a series of 27 Bible stories two afternoons a week. The girls enjoy coloring a cartoon style version of the stories, collecting them in a notebook and retelling them to each other as we go. They have a simple church service on Friday mornings as well, which Brian has been helping with. 

Helen and Vincent began this ministry during the Pandemic, when all the prostitutes were starving because they had no business. Helen began praying in front of one of the bars in the red light district every day.  Eventually, the owner got to know her and finally asked, “What do you want?”  “I want to rent a building on this street” she replied.  “Well, I own half of this city!”  Turns out that the bar owner rented the building across the street to them for half the normal price because it was during the Pandemic!  Helen started taking in girls desperate for a different life and God started bringing her all types of help - teachers, nurses, counselors.  Now the girls are learning how to sew, cook, and make crafts to sell, while receiving medical care, trauma counseling, and Bible teaching.  

The building was extreme run down when they got it, so the girls scrubbed it down and painted it white.  When I arrived, Helen and I brain stormed on how to bring in some cheerful color with the theme God gave her for this ministry - Is. 44:4, “They will spring up among the grass like willows by the watercourses.”  So I’ve also had fun painting this past month with some of these girls!

I feel so privileged to be here “for such a time as this.” Today one of the girls asked me with confusion on her face, “Why do you love us so much?  Most people don’t care about us.” 

Please pray for these girls.  Satan wants them back and the spiritual warfare is often intense.  Whispering Willow is a safe haven though.  I’m so blessed to be a small part.

Lorena

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