In the heart of Thailand, right in the center of some of the darkest corners of the world, God has ignited a light. Her name is Emmi, and she is a daughter of the Most High God. Emmi is a woman in pursuit–in pursuit of her Father God, and in pursuit of the women and children right outside the front steps of her coffee shop.

That’s right, a coffee shop. Her coffee shop, known as Zion Cafe, serves as the front lines for her fight for freedom, as the evidence of the burden she carries, and as an oasis for those looking to find hope and safety on the streets of this city. Located right around the corner from the red light district, God has provided Emmi with the perfect location to love the people she was made to love.

According to Emmi, the mission of Lighthouse in Action is “to glorify God, who restores the lives of the poor and needy to a better and successful life, to help them out of the trap of prostitution and human trafficking in ChaingMai and around Thailand.”

The red light district is full of women longing for safety and freedom, women caught in a lifestyle that traps and consumes them, women in search of a better life. That is what most of us can say about it, but for Emmi, this place is full of her friends. Its a place of hope and potential, a place where God is living, breathing, and moving. Its a place full of people that have been chosen by God to something more, a greater freedom and a fuller life. Its a place full of her brothers and sisters and she is on a mission to get them back.

With the ministry that God has started through her, Lighthouse in Action, she is able to reach farther into the depths of the hurt she is surrounded by every day and begin to watch change happen. The ministry is divided into three parts, Xlife, LoveActs, and Zion Cafe. The vision of Xlife is prevention. By pouring love into the kids in the nearby slums and villages and educating their families, they can be protected from the deception that often lures them into unsafe trafficking situations. Sharing other opportunities with them and giving them the knowledge of better options keeps them out of the bars and safe at home.

Through Love Acts, Lighthouse in Action meets people exactly where they are at–in the bars. People from Lighthouse go into the bars to meet people and simply love them with the love of Jesus. Through simple interactions, men, women, and children alike are shown that they are valuable people that matter, rather than objects only worth what they cost. Lighthouse believes that people are not property, but instead irreplaceable children of God worth running after. Love Acts seeks to make this message its goal.

By helping to teach English, Lighthouse also seeks to build relationships with local college students. Through learning better English, students are better prepared to obtain better jobs outside of the bars. Better English means greater hope for many of these students, and our God is a God of hope, a hope that Lighthouse is committed to proclaiming.

The third facet of Lighthouse, Zion Cafe, serves as a safe haven of sorts. The vision Emmi has for the cafe is “to build a successful and profitable business that enables us to empower people to take a higher road for their life and their family to meet their destiny in Christ.” The people of Lighthouse in Action believe that God has a greater plan for peoples lives than the darkness they are entangled in, and they desire to provide a way out.

Always packed with foreigners, it is a place local Thai people can come to practice their English in a normal environment and build relationships with people involved in the ministry. The cafe holds game nights and open mic nights to try and draw in a local crowd. The cafe is also intended to provide a secure financial foundation for the rest of the ministry, and help to support the hostel that will exist above it in the near future.

This is where you come in.

Zion Cafe is a new business, and to create a self sustainable ministry, the cafe must start off on the right foot. There are many things that Zion Cafe needs to start strong, the first being prayer. This ministry is covered in prayer from top to bottom and it is through prayer that it will become what God has intended. Please join us in fighting for what God is doing here in Thailand on a spiritual level, and help to pave the way and prepare the ground He is building on.

Another huge need for Zion Cafe is financial support. From necessary appliances in the kitchen, to bunk beds for the hostel, to renovations to the store front, Zion has many things that need to be taken care of to start well. To complete all of the needed changes to the cafe, Lighthouse needs $50,000. That’s only 50 people donating $1,000 each, or 500 people giving $100 each. Completely possible, right? We think so, which is why we are asking for your help and getting behind Emmi and Lighthouse in Action as best as we can.

As Emmi says, “we start with faith.” And they have. They are people that believe strongly that God has placed them exactly here, at exactly this time, for exactly the purposes He desires to carry out. They have faith that God has begun this ministry and will see it through without fail, and we stand with them. God is doing big things here in Thailand, and Lighthouse doesn’t want to miss one second of being a part of that movement. They have faith, we have faith, and we are asking you to have faith as well.

“And He who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ Also, He said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’” [Revelation 21:5]

If you are interested in being a part of what God is doing through Emmi and Lighthouse in Action in Thailand, or just want to learn more about what they are all about, you can visit her website and/or contact her at [email protected] or if you want to make a quick donation Please follow the link at http://www.lighthouseinaction.org/get-involved/donate/

Patty Reed
WR-N Squad /September 2013