Dear Shift Global Operations,
I would like to thank-you so much for the missions bursary I received in conjunction with my missions trip to Thailand with Youth With a Mission (YWAM). I would like to take this moment to share how this missions trip has changed me and those around me through the help of this bursary.
From January until mid June, I was apart of a Discipleship Training School (DTS) with Youth with a Mission. The first 12 weeks we were in lecture phase, where we grew in out knowledge of God, His ways and His kingdom. We went through topics such as the Character and Nature of God, Forgiveness and Repentance, the Father Heart of God and many others. The Lord was teaching me a lot through this whole time. For example, in the week on Hearing the Voice of God, I learned to ask God questions when He would give me a prophetic picture or word. It has become a door to know Him and His thoughts better. In the week on Submission and Authority, and throughout the whole lecture phase, God was highlighting the power of walking in humility, a lesson I will be learning for the rest of my life.
Come end of March, we headed to Cambodia, then later Thailand, India and Malaysia for the Outreach portion of the DTS. One highlight for me was teaching. I got to preach twice, once in Cambodia and also in India. In preparing and in sharing, I loved how the Spirit would help me. I was asking for a personal story to share to go along with a teaching, and the Spirit brought one to memory from a number of years ago that fit perfectly!
Healing the sick, instead of praying for them, is something I just recently started trying to do, and it was encouraging how The Lord moved. We saw some significant healings, including a sprained ankle and a stroke victim regain significant movement! The woman whose ankle was healed was a friend of mine, who I had wanted to dance with during worship, but she quickly informed me she couldn’t. The doctor told it would take 3-4 weeks before it would be healed. After the service, the Spirit urged me to pray for her, and so I prayed for her along with someone else. She started to timidly put weight on that foot, then to jump, and then she was running around the building! How wonderful it is to hear the Holy Spirit and follow Him.
Another example of hearing the Spirit came in finding a place to volunteer after my DTS was completed. I knew The Lord wanted me to form long-term connections with a ministry in Thailand, or in that vicinity before I left, and booked my flight 2.5 months after my DTS graduation. I don’t really like Bangkok, where my lecture phase of DTS took place, and so I was thinking to look outside of Thailand. However The Lord highlighted Pattaya to me after being there only 5 days to do Evangelism. There is a ministry there, called Tamar Center, that works with the prostitutes there, however there are many ministries in South East Asia with this focus. I was thinking of partnering with some others, however in an afternoon of looking further into these ministries, The Lord made it really clear that I was to go to Tamar. Upon talking to the volunteer co-ordinator there, Tamar seemed to be the perfect fit, and upon arriving I realize how this ministry had everything in it that I wanted!
I stayed with Tamar Center for 2 months. Tamar offers English classes to the bar women as an avenue to share the Gospel with them. They also provide vocational training in hair styling, computer skills, baking/ cooking while giving them a job making cards. During this 3 month training they are also learning about God and His ways. It was amazing to see their lives transformed in such a small time! While there, I was teaching English, being apart of bar outreach, learning Thai and being apart of a prayer room there. It was such an amazing experience being with like-minded people, wanting to see God’s kingdom come to that city and to the women stuck in the sex-trade.
During this whole trip, the greatest blessing for me has been partnering with what God is doing. Hearing His voice and letting Him be my Shepherd has allowed me to see how He leads me perfectly and I really can trust Him anywhere and with everything. The Lord spoke to me about returning to Thailand and to Tamar Center for long-term missions. I have made a 2 year commitment to start with, which I will commence in April 2015, however in my heart I can see it being longer. I am passionate about seeing God’s kingdom cover the earth, and I am honoured that He has called me to be apart of that process through prayer and discipleship with the women in Pattaya.
May the Lamb who was slain receive the reward of His suffering. Thank-you for your partnership.
Blessings in Christ,
Melinda Peters