The Victory

As we walked down the street filled with karaoke clubs and bars, I struggled to smile as I followed three precious young girls to a vacant parking lot.

Because as we were walking from their homes to go play badminton, the club owners were turning on their lights. The bar tenders were setting out alcohol. The pimps were outside waiting for customers. The girls that work the clubs were putting on their makeup.

As we walked I felt the darkness: the depth of the sin sickness, penetrating even into these girl’s childhoods.

And I see what the enemy has stolen. Children’s innocence. Women's dignity.

Little girl's dreams of one day wearing white and walking down the aisle to marry their prince charming, become dreams of the foreign man that just bought them for the night coming back and being their boyfriend and caring for their children. Their customers become their only hope of redemption from this lifestyle.

And its so obvious.

We pass by with these young girls, going to just spend time with them. Giving them attention and love that they rarely, if ever, receive from home. The same parking lot that we play in will soon become the same lot that the van loads of foreign men will park in. They won't stay long, only long enough for a drink and to pick a girl, then they load up the vans with them and return to their hotels.

This sight is the norm for these young girls. Though they are so young, they know. How can they not? The backyard they should be able to play in without a care is instead the enemy's playground. He's stolen it, corrupting everything good.

But He didn't stop there. He's stealing their childhood friends. Girls their same age. Other little girls who should be out there with us, playing and giggling, instead are putting on their makeup and high heels- being dressed to pass as much older than their age, though they are only 13.

As we hit the birdie back and forth, this is the reality.

This is their reality.


But God isn't done yet. He hasn't forgotten them. He hasn't turned His face.

He knows. He sees. He is El Roi. 

And He is pursuing them.


Meet Angkhana.

Four years ago, Christ pursued this beautiful lady and wrecked her life for Him. Her testimony is incredible. She grew up Buddhist, like the majority of Thai people. After losing her business, her husband and her parents all within a year- she had hit her lowest. But Jesus changed her heart and gave her a new life. Her hope is now in Him, not in the circumstances of life. Since then, she has started her own ministry out of her home. She lives right in the middle of the red light district, with an open door for girls to come and seek refuge. She cooks with them, plays with them, mentors them, and is a listening ear. Though she lives on very little, she is the most generous person I have ever met. She spends all her extra money to buy baking supplies in order to cook with the kids. She also has an incredible passion for ministering to Burmese refugees. She often makes long journeys to take cookies and cupcakes to them and to share about Christ's amazing love. Her light shines all the more brightly in this darkness.

My team and I have had the privilege of getting to know this incredible woman and teaching a class twice a week with the kids in this area. We have been able to teach English and bible stories to these children. I have loved every minute of it.

Though we only have 9 days left here in Thailand- we are expecting God to do big things. We are desperate for God to save the people we have invested in. We are begging the Lord to break the chains and to set these girl's free from bondage, not only physically but spiritually. I have faith that He can and will do far more abundantly than we could ever ask or imagine.


 This morning my team listened to a song that perfect culminates what this summer has been for us.

You can listen here: Take Back, United Pursuit


"I know God has not forgotten
All that's lost and broken
So, come and see the turning of the times
Come and see His sons and daughters rise
For how could He who did not spare His own son
Not freely give us victory 
Against the darkest of nights

We're gonna take back
All the enemy has stolen

We're gonna plunder the pits of hell"


That's exactly what we're doing- plundering the pits of hell. Going into the darkest of nights and trusting that He has already won the victory. 

For His glory, 
Lindy 

Wrecked by Grace

Its funny how the Lord can teach us things twice. Sometimes even just more than in a single instance, like in the day to day. The same truths that wrecked my heart and changed my life last summer are wrecking me in a totally new way.

That's how awesome our God is; how He can take a piece of scripture that we've read countless times or a reminder of His unchanging character to captivate our hearts again and again. 

Last summer I taught English in universities and hung out with high school and college students: playing sports, shopping, and doing a lot of eating. It was such a fun summer. Most days, although exhausting, were overall pretty easy. Friendships came naturally and many were very open to the gospel. 

The Lord used last summer to teach me so much about His grace. Not just the grace that He has shown me in granting me salvation, but His daily grace. So I starting counting: writing down all the gifts that God graced me with as I went through my day to day life. Gifts like a good cup of coffee, an encouraging conversation, a smile from a stranger, getting to try a new food, or an afternoon rain shower. 

Simple things that God gives us daily to remind us of how great a Father He is. Gifts to show us of His unchanging and never failing love. 

I counted and the Lord amazed me. My eyes became so opened to His goodness and His tender love for His children. I realized how much I took His blessings for granted. I saw the selfishness in my own heart, how I thought that I deserved the things that He has graced me with. 

Counting changed me. It changed my attitude. It changed my outlook on life. It changed my view of God. 

And one greek word from Luke 22:19 has become a lifestyle: 

“And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them…” 

"To give thanks" in the greek reads: Eucharisteo.
The root of eucharisteo is charis, which means grace. Because of God's grace, we can be thankful. But eucharisteo also holds the derivative of chara, meaning joy. 

Charis. Grace. Eucharisteo. Thanksgiving. Chara. Joy.

Because of God's grace, we can be thankful, and when we have an attitude of thanks, this brings joy. 

True, life giving, eye-opening chara joy. 

And last summer it was easy to believe this truth. It was easy to count. It was easy to be thankful. It was easy to see His abundant grace while hanging out with friends and laughing and eating. Counting came naturally and God's grace was evident everywhere.

This summer, however, has been different. Because its been hard to find the joy in the midst of so much pain. Its hard to find encouragement while being surrounded by so much evil. Its hard to smile, as you walk down the streets, passing beautiful girls waiting to be bought. Its hard to be happy when you see girls that you have built relationships with, being led to hotels by Western men. Its hard to act unfazed when you pass ladyboys being treated like objects. Its tough to watch old married men shoot pool with our young girls, not even ashamed enough to take off their wedding ring. 

Its even easier, in these situations, to ask God "why?" It would be easy to see the pain and the hurt and assume that God has forgotten them. It would be easy to think that His grace just "skipped" over these girls. It would be easy to become hardened and numb. It would be understandable to become discouraged and even depressed. 

And honestly, without the Lord sustaining me and re-teaching me about His grace- thats exactly where I'd be.

So I'm thankful. And I'm overwhelmed, not only by immenseness of the darkness, but by His light, which shines brighter. As my team and I took a two day vacation for some much needed rest, the Lord totally blew my mind with His goodness and faithfulness. 

And I counted again and he amazed me moment by moment with His grace. 

510. The feeling of sand between your toes

529. Picture-perfect boats at sea

528. Swimming in a pool of glass

522. Majestic sunrises- declaring God's glory

552. New mercies each morning

515. Sound of waves crashing against the shore

604. The feeling of victory after hiking up a mountain of stairs

507. Getting to chill with some monkeys

670. Being in places that people dream about on Pintrest

And as I counted and remembered God's goodness and His faithfulness and His love, the burden of our ministry became lighter. If God is good and His blessings are great just in my two days being away, than He is still good even as I walk through the red light districts. His character and His grace don't change depending on where I am and what I do each day. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And I am reminded of a sweet psalm of David:

"You have kept count of my tossings, put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?" Ps. 56:8

God cares enough for us to keep a record of every care of our hearts and every tear we have shed. So how much more should I, his daughter, keep count of His blessings? 

He hears their cries. He sees their pain and their hurt. And He feels the heaviness of my heart. 

He knows.

And His grace is greater still. Greater than the weight of the sin. It is deep enough and wide enough to engulf the sorrows of this world. 

So I rest in this truth. And I'm ready to see how He is going to move in these last 3 weeks I have here. I'm in anticipation- eyes wide open- to see Him do marvelous wonders. Whether thats causing the sun to rise once again, beginning a new day with new mercies- or adopting lost souls that we have pleaded to God for on their behalf. Both are miracles. Both are gifts. Both can lead me to worship Him and recognize His sovereignty. 

Either way, I'm counting His gifts and witnessing His faithfulness and I'm in amazement of His steadfast love. 

And in this posture of thankfulness I'm okay with being wrecked by the darkness and the pain. I'm okay with the hurt and the burden, as long as He continues to daily wreck me even greater with His incomprehensible grace.