Encouraged

to encourage: a verb defined as to inspire with courage, spirit, or confidence.


I have been inspired with courage, spirit and confidence by several things lately, by several ways that God has moved back the curtain for a brief moment so that I can see his hand at work in lives and ministries around me.  

At school, the staff was able to hear from two graduating seniors (one here for 2 years and one since Kinder) who come from non-Christian families yet heard about Jesus at ICS and have come to know and love and serve him.  Hearing their stories gave me inspiration for the days in my classroom when it feels like such a struggle.  A week later we had the chance to hear from two parents about how their children came home from school talking about Jesus, and how they decided they had better learn more about him in order to understand their kids- and how they too have come to know him personally and how he has changed their lives and families.  

I also had a chance to meet with a staff member of Thailand Campus Crusade for Christ.  Crusade is an organization that I'm fairly familiar with, but I didn't know they were in Thailand.  I met with one of their national staff and was so encouraged by her story of coming to know the Lord through Crusade while she was at university, and how she is now on staff with them full time.  Across the world, the most effective missionaries are often the native missionaries- they know the language, the culture, the systems and they help people see that this Jesus stuff is not just for foreigners, it's for them too.  It was a joy for me to hear how I can partner with her in her ministry on campus and support Thais reaching out to Thais.  

I have also been encouraged by growth I'm seeing in the kids I work with, both at school and at Nak Suu.  As the school year draws to a close I have had the chance to step back and bit and remember those first weeks and months and see how so many of the kids have grown- academically, socially, emotionally and spiritually.  And at Nak Suu, I'm seeing the results of their recent leadership camp for the kids as well as the results of what their team pours into these kids each week. I'm seeing the older kids stepping up in ways I haven't seen before.  And even though my learning curve is still pretty steep and I continue to struggle with  what and how to teach in such an environment, I think I heard the kids speak more English today than ever before.  


I also got to have some fun with two particularly, um, squirrely boys. I had a chance to pray with and for them, in addition to talking to them more in Thai and running races against them and just having fun.  It cracks me up when I speak a few words of broken Thai to them and they suddenly think I can really speak Thai and start chatting away at me and asking me to translate stuff that other people say in English.  


Which leads me to another inspiration of courage recently: speaking more Thai at Nak Suu and in a few other quick situations and I'm getting closer to having the courage to really start practicing and using what I know. Right now I basically only speak it with my tutor and with the NS kids.  But I am getting less and less self-conscious about it every day.  


I love the way that God has been painting these pictures for me lately and for how they have encouraged my heart in the work that He has given me here.  In three short weeks year 1 in Thailand will officially come to a close- and what a year it has been, God-shaped and God-inspired, it's only the beginning.