I have arrived home from Thailand, safe and sound! My quarantine period is over and I am now enjoying baking, reading scripture, zoom calls with friends and going on walks with my family. I would like to thank you all for your continuous prayers and support while I was in Thailand. Although I am sad to have had to leave the country sooner than expected, I am so, so thankful for the time that God gave me there and all that I learned. Even though I have always greatly admired the international workers who go overseas to serve the Lord, I have a newfound appreciation and a greater understanding of the sacrifice, the courage, the love and the faith that our brothers and sisters in Christ have in order to do this. I encourage you all to continue to keep For Freedom International and their international workers in your prayers as they serve the Thai people in Phuket during and after this pandemic!
Since I’ve come home from Thailand, one of the most prevalent comments I seem to be receiving from others was along the lines of “poor you, being sent home from Thailand early”, and oh how I am thankful that the Lord has spared me from looking at my own situation through this lens.
When I was discerning, planning and fundraising, my family, For Freedom International, Envision Canada and myself all thought that I was going to Thailand for three months. Flights were booked, curriculum made, goodbyes said, all planning for the program to start the 16th of January and end the 15th of April. According to the extent of my knowledge at the time, God had called me to Thailand for three months. Little did I know, that JSEM 2020 was going to finish Tuesday, March 17th as a result of the global pandemic COVID-19.
At first, feelings of incompletion started flooding in. I was supposed to…
- Go to Cambodia to see how God is working in and through ministries there
- Learn about modern missions in North America and how we could apply what we’d learned
- Gone through the reverse culture shock and end of semester debrief
- Have a whole other month with the people, and country I had grown to love
I felt like all of these things had been taken from me, but the truth is, they were never mine to begin with.
While I was planning, discerning and fundraising, God knew that I was going to Thailand for two months. Flights were booked, curriculum made, goodbyes said, all planning for the program to start the 16th of January and end the 15th of April, but God knew that would not be the case. God knew that he had called me to Thailand for two months. He knew the whole time, before I was even born, that JSEM 2020 was going to finish Tuesday, March 17th as a result of the global pandemic COVID-19.
I would like to encourage you all with a simple truth that I am continuously reminded of. In the midst of confusion, while life seems utterly chaotic at times, we can have assurance because God is in control. No matter how dark or troubling things may seem in the midst of this pandemic, God is faithful and we can trust Him.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.
Proverbs 3:5
Jillian Stewart 