Bye Thiaw

Bye Thaiw simply means "vacation." Can a missionary go on vacation? Shouldn't I be doing missionary stuff like bandaging some wounds and giving bible studies? What kind of work can you be doing when your on vacation? These are the questions that I asked myself before going. I have heard many missionaries say that no matter where you are you are a missionary, a ambassador for Christ. Working in the big city of Bangkok has definitely redefined my idea of the mission field. Bangkok has also changed my conception of what the work of a missionary is. When I volunteered to be a student missionary I was given a limited pallet of options. To be a missionary meant that you either did something in medicine or education, I honestly wasn't interested in either one of them and wondered if I was really meant to do the whole missionary thing. Just when I was about to give up on the idea of it all God opened the doors to Thailand under the call of media. Now that things are starting to wrap up I am starting to look back on the whole experience and I realize that God used me to do a whole bunch of stuff that didn't fit my job description. I have this saying up at the top of my blog just under the title it says " its not about what I can do, its about what God can do through me." Its very tempting to take pride in the things you do, especially as a missionary its almost like your put up on this Holy pedestal. Its a good thing we are not saved by our works. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." - Ephesians 2:8-9 Works are important though "Where there is no active labor for others, love wanes, and faith grows dim." DA p 881. I assure you anything good that you see come out of me comes from God.