“When you’re ready, yell ‘Hit it!’ And don’t let go of the rope.”
By this time, I was feeling exhausted and ready to give up. I felt like I had swallowed a gallon of muddy water and was about to vomit.
I was floating in the middle of the Fox River in northern Illinois. It was a hot summer evening, but I was shivering. My older brother was trying to teach my younger sister and me how to waterski. She had already gotten up, yet I was still struggling as the sun started to set. My brother, though, was not about to let me give up. He wanted me to feel the thrill and joy of skiing, too.
Finally, when it was almost too dark to see, I did get up. And it was an amazing feeling to be gliding over the water with my brother and sister cheering for me.
As I look back on that day thirty years ago, I realize how precious a gift it is to have someone in your life who believes in you and never lets you give up on yourself, someone who helps you learn that you can do hard things.
Recently, after a long day of co-teaching English with my friend Teacher Knot, a young government school educator, we got together at a café to relax and talk about our work. Teacher Knot graduated from college just last year, and she is excited about her future as a teacher. But even after just one year of teaching, she is beginning to feel the weight of responsibility for her students and shared the following lament with me.
“It makes me sad to see how many of the parents of my students have given up on their children, and how the children then just give up in school. They have been told they are not smart like other children, so they just stop trying.”
I nodded in agreement and then paused before responding.
“Knot, you know, as teachers, we have a special opportunity and responsibility to come alongside our students and encourage them not to give up on themselves, to encourage the parents not to give up on their children, to keep reminding them that they do have potential, that they each have light to shine,” I replied to her.
Teacher Knot’s eyes lit up, with a smile spreading across her face. Teacher Knot knows that we work for a Christian organization, but our relationship with her is still new, and we have not yet fully shared with her why our faith in Jesus compels us to serve children and families as we do. Still, in that moment, I could see that maybe the seed of the kingdom of heaven, the hope of a better life that Jesus promised to all who follow His teachings, was beginning to take root and grow. It is our deep desire that as we continue to invest in our relationship with Teacher Knot, we will be able to help her discover that all light and life flow from the heart of Jesus.
Please continue to pray for us as we collaborate with teachers and caregivers to minister to “the poor in spirit,” to help those who feel unimportant realize their true worth, to encourage those who others look down on to never give up, and to guide children and families, and even entire communities, to discover the light they have to shine. It is our deep desire to help the Isan Thai people feel the joy and satisfaction of doing good to each other. Doing so, Jesus said, brings joy and honor to God.
Would you like to partner with us in helping the Isan Thai people to learn how to live as representatives of Jesus in their families and communities? Do you share our deep desire to see the entire Isan region of Thailand flooded with the light of God’s mercy and grace? Will you help us invest in local leaders who are inspired and equipped to plant churches so the entire 23 million Isan Thai people have a chance to experience the life-changing power of God’s love for humanity? If so, we invite you to pledge your support and join with us in making this dream a reality.
