Home.

Some people define home as a place, and for me, I defined my home in the people I love for years. I have a home in southeast Texas where I was raised, met Jesus and have an awesome church community, and where my precious family resides. I have a home in Dallas where I have a new "family" that I adore. I have a home in Aggieland with all of the lives I invested in while I was there. I have a home here in Thailand that my tongue cannot express how much I love.

So if home is where the heart is, then my home is all scattered..

But home should be a place of unconditional love and of no shame. Home is a place of comfort and of everlasting hope.. And I don't find that all the time in these places. And if I place my hope of what a "home" should be in these places, I am going to be let down and disappointed at some point..

One of the definitions of "home" is a destination or a goal. And that's what it should be for us as believers.

The truth is, we will never be fulfilled here on Earth. People can't satisfy and are not reliable. Faces come and go. Places are not eternal: disasters happen, people change, culture turns, and politics will always be an issue in most places. The closest place we get to home here on this Earth is in the presence of God. For our time here, a taste of God is just a glimpse of what having a home really is.

Because our home is in Heaven. It's our safe place. It's our final destination. Heaven is the place where something is native and common to us. It's where we finally meet our true Lover and our hearts will finally be full. It's where we will never feel discomfort. No sickness, no darkness, no disease, and no shame are found in our home in Heaven.


I might not have a home he in this world, but the journey getting there has been great and I look forward to more of the adventure, but my hope is not places in those experiences. When I feel empty, alone, or even homeless, I have to keep in mind: emptiness in this life is only a reminder that I was made for another world.



-kf

Thailand 2011 Round 2!

Sa-Wad-Dee-Kah!!

That is officially how I will be saying hello for the next couple week! We board a plane early tomorrow morning heading for Seoul, South Korea and then we will be on our way to Chiangmai, Thailand!

As you might know, I spent part of the summer in Chiangmai working with beautiful Thai women and children that are wrapped up in the human trafficking industry, either working as a sex slave or at risk of being sold. While we were there, God incredibly blessed our team by using us a vessel to get two awesome ladies out of the bar and into the ministry that we were working with. One of the girls, I personally formed a close relationship with. I am so grateful for the opportunity to go back to Chiangmai now to meet up again with Lighthouse ministry (lighthousethai.com) to not only work more with human trafficking victims in Southeast Asia, but to see the two beautiful girls who are now set free, from prostitution to praising the Lord!

I would love for you to be a part of this journey! I will be updating this blog as much as possible. Also, I will be updating Facebook (Kayla Ferguson) or you can email stoptrafficthailand@gmail.com to be added to an updates list. Another way to keep up with us is through Twitter, by following @stoptrafficthai.

One of the biggest way we need your help is by your prayers. I have come up with some prayer request that are some specifics that we as a team would love to be covered in, butyour prayers in general would be so awesome.

Please be praying for:

-- Stop Traffic team. Members include: April Welch, Grace Johnston, Jesse Fagan, Alan Pate, and myself. For health, wisdom, protection, guidance, unity, and favor while we are in ministry time.

-- Our team leaders: April Welch and myself. That we would be intune with the Lord, and overflowing so that we can pour out to the team, for rest, and for wisdom when making team decisions and making the calls.

-- Pray for the girls that we will be meeting in the bars at night. For divine appointments with girls and ladyboys that the Lord has already begun to work on and has softened their hearts.

-- Pray for the children that we will be working with that are at risk of being sold. That the Lord would bless their parents by needing their needs so they would not have to sell their child. And that God would provide safe homes for the children if no other option.

-- Pray for the men that we will see that are buying the girls in the bar. For our hearts to be loving towards them, and not angry and bitter. And that God would start convicting them of their sin and bringing it into light.

-- Pray for the pimps that own the girls as well. That God would heal them too and get them out of the industry, because most of them were sucked in as well.

-- Pray against all idols. We will be working in a Buddhist country, and idol worshipping is a thick spirit that needs to be broken.

-- Pray for open doors. That God will lead us to good opportunities to share our faith, and that receivers will be open to the good news of the Gospel.

-- Pray for boldness for our team, but the ministry as a whole as well. This is a dark ministry, so pray that we won't be discouraged.

-- Most important, pray for unconditional love. That we would not walk in judgment or ignorance, but that the love of God can be poured out of us so thick that everyone we come in contact with will feel it.

Thank you so much for your support. I will be updating you as soon as I can!

Much love,

Kayla.