How Did I Get Here?

28/10/2019 5:40:26 PM | Liz

Intercultural Worker Liz maps out six key moments in her journey of following Jesus from Western Australia to Thailand.

ONE
My first experience with Thailand was in 2009. Glenn and I had only been married for a year and we went to Northern Thailand to visit our sponsor child. This was Glenn’s second trip to Thailand and he loved it, however, I distinctly remember driving through Chiang Rai, (the area we now live in) and thinking, “I could never live here.”

TWO
In 2013, we took a trip to visit my eldest sister Kath and her family in Mozambique. Originally this trip was just to visit family but when we got there and witnessed what they were doing and the work of Global Interaction, we became excited. We loved the relational approach to sharing Jesus. At the end of the trip Glenn and I shared with each other that God was telling us to do this work as well, but not in Mozambique. In Thailand.

THREE
We were hesitant about this ‘calling’, we had good jobs and a mortgage. At the start of 2014 we went on a short-term trip to Thailand. Again, Glenn loved it and I was unsure. As a mother I felt like our boys would be in constant danger in Thailand. I was ready to go home and not come back when one evening God spoke to me and gave me the peace that I could handle all things with His help.

FOUR
In 2014 I asked God for a sign if we should go or not. I was reading through the story of Gideon and I could relate. Within days I attended a service where the guest speaker encouraged the church to send out more workers to the mission field. That’s when he said, “There may be a couple with young children in this church that will go to Thailand. Send them out.” When I heard this, I knew God was speaking to me.

FIVE
After being accepted to go to Thailand with Global Interaction, I fell pregnant with our third child. We thought everything was typical until at the 12 week scan the doctors told us there was evidence of potential medical issues. During this time, I started to question God and our calling. Did He really want us to go? If this was true, was that even possible?

SIX
After our son was born he had some mild medical issues, but not to the degree we feared. It was a stressful time and we were so grateful for the support we received. Over the next two years Global Interaction and our partnering churches prepared us and sent us off to Thailand as ready as we could possibly be.
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