My parents receive fliers from various missionaries, and one caught my interest. It was Cup of Cold Water Ministries, located mostly in Asia, a ministry focused mostly on women in prostitution and children. And they have this special ministry in Bangkok, Thailand on the streets to the prostitutes there, called 'Servantworks' run by a guy named Jim. My parents haven't been giving money to this ministry or had anything to do with it except receive their mail, but I took an interest. I sent them some money and they responded. I did a post on this back in February on my old blog.
Suddenly, out of nowhere I received a comment on my blog from a guy who knows them and has been there and worked with them. I don't know him from Adam! There is no connection between my blog and my regular mail. It is purely an act of God connecting me with this guy. His name is Bill Graver and he has pictures on his blog of his time in Thailand working with Jim Larson's ministry. On His blog there is also a connection with Jim Larson's blog telling of the ministry in Thailand.
6 comments:
Isn't it cool how God does stuff?
What's really exciting for me is that Jim, Judy, and three of their kids are actually back home in the Chicago area for a little R&R and I got to see them this last Sunday.
I did a presentation of my Thailand trip, along with a Q&A at my church and was blessed to have Jim & Judy there. It was awesome because the folks at church were are really engaged with this ministry in Thailand so it was nice that they could actually meet the people who do it.
I promised you that I'll put all my Thailand photos online. I guess I'd better start working on that :-)
OK, so they are from the Chicago area. I guess you are too. I kind of gathered that from your blog. I noticed that the church you were going to be at was somewhere in the Chicago area.
Well, Chicago isn't so far...
But you appeared out of the blue. I still have to find out how you found me!
happy birthday!
Yeah, Jim & Judy & family are from Chicago. Me too.
I thought I told you how I found your blog... a month or so ago I was doing some research on similar ministries to The Well so I did a Google search about ministries to bargirls in Bangkok and a bunch of different blog entries from different people popped up, including the one on your old site.
So there you go... personally, I think it's a Jesus thing because He always does cool stuff like that.
You should drop Jim & Judy a line some time. They're extraordinary people.
Personally, I can't wait to get back to Thailand. I'm hoping that we can go back to the village and see the folks there. That was a lot of fun.
Bill - that is great! Google is my friend. I have sent a letter to the people in general in Jim's ministry, along with a donation, but can definitely write to Jim and Judy.
Thanks!
You make it sound inviting.
Gabrielle,
I'm not sure if you know about these already, but here are some URLs:
The parent organization for The Well is called ServantWorks
http://www.servantworks.com
The Well website is
http://www.servantworks.com/well
I doubt that I've mentioned it but they actually run three businesses in Bangkok to help support the ministry and teach job skills to the girls. They have a beauty salon, make handmade greeting cards , purses, and things like that, and make beautiful handmade jewelry. They sell this stuff through home parties, churches, etc. Hopefully soon they will actually have the stuff on an Internet storefront.
Yes, it is inviting. It gets in your heart and doesn't go away.
Personally, I want to go to Thailand full time but I can't because of some family stuff so I'm trying to figure out other ways to be a part of their ministry.
Things you can pray for are:
1. These girls are very broken and it takes a whole lot of loving and patience from the staff there. They can have some really hard times.
2. A couple of our sisters in the Lord have had some very hard times lately. One of them has left the well and is doing drugs again; the other came back and is currently in rehab.
3. They need somebody to be a pastor to new believers in the town of Buriram.
4. They need a man to start a men's ministry, similar to what The Well does for the women
5. The girls who are going back to their villages need other women to mentor them, encourage them, etc.
Well, I hope you have a nice weekend.
Bill
I will certainly pray. It's the kind of "tire meets the road" kind of loving ministry. It is the real deal. Thanks for sharing that. I hope you get to do what you really want. Sounds like your heart is in the right place.
I will write to Jim and Judy and can perhaps visit there.
It's a beautiful weekend here in Minnesota. Have a good one where you are!
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