Some of my friends and colleagues have asked about my “mission” work. My role is pretty simple – I get to love, support, guide, and teach a team of “Racers” as THEY travel around the world for nearly a year (11 countries in 11 months!). Right now Karen and I are coaches for U Squad. They’re the ones actually out in the field day after day doing real missionary work. I just get to visit them – somewhere along their journey – a couple of times during their travels. My latest (first field trip) visit was to meet with them just as they were preparing to leave China and head to Thailand. So let me tell you what some of them were up to in Thailand.
U Squad is composed of 7 teams (I think another blog is in order to explain the structure of the “Race”!). Last month three of the teams were in Chiang Mai working with a local ministry called Lighthouse in Action.
U Squad’s work with Lighthouse in Action
- Love Acts is a ministry focused on the bars and the girls in the red light district. Early in the morning and in the afternoon one team will be prayer walking through the darkest areas, showering it with prayer and preparing the way for the groups that will be going out at night to shine the light. This is extremely important because it is an extremely heavy and dark area.
- Ex Life is a ministry focused on the slums, particularly the children in the slums. It is called Ex Life, first because that is where Emmi came from and second it is where most if not all of the girls in the bars came from. The goal of the team in this ministry is to go love on the kids and show them that they do have worth and there is hope for them. These kids do have value and they deserve better than a life in the sex industry. The ultimate goal to stop the sex industry is to cut it off at the root; many of the girls are bought out of the slums at a very young age. This team also has the opportunity to go to the temples and talk with the monks during the early hours of the afternoon.
- Zion Cafe is where everything comes together. It is the home base and where a lot of the funding comes from. The third team will be working in the cafe, loving on the staff,(who aren’t always Christians) and helping to keep the place running smoothly. A lot of people come in to learn and practice english so this team has the opportunity to share the love of Christ through teaching.
Since I first put this blog together the Squad has moved on to Cambodia. Stay tuned for a report on what the other teams are up to.
