Sawadee-kah, everyone! (That's the last time I can say "hello" in Thai!)
In a couple of hours, my team and I will be heading out from Chiang Mai, Thailand to go to Calcutta, India (with a stop in Bangkok and Mumbai first).
Our squad will spend a couple of days in Mumbai debriefing our experiences so far; I am very excited to have a couple of days to breathe, process, and get the Lord's direction before beginning a month of ministry in aftercare.
Last night, we went to say goodbye to our new friends who work at the bars. These women, swallowed in their own stories of brokenness and helplessness, hugged us gently, told us that they loved us, and made sure we knew that if we were ever in Chiang Mai again, we better come back and see them. 🙂 The feeling of saying goodbye to them was haunting: for me, this is "goodbye, nice to meet you, I'm off to travel the world and go home to my family and friends that love me." For the girls, this is, "goodbye, nice to meet you, I'll be here working another seven hours tonight and if I'm lucky, some man will pick me to go home with him for the night so I can make enough money to support my family that, rather than showing gratitude to me for providing to them, is ashamed that I am a prostitute."
How did I get so lucky?
Then today, we went and said goodbye to the kids. (The picture shows a craft one of the girls made, on which she wrote "[Her name] loves Alicia" over and over.) The young girl that made the craft lives in the tiniest shack in the slum and is forced to sleep in the same bed as her grandfather every night; sexual abuse is suspected but in Thailand, before action can be taken, there must be a witness. Thus, this sweet girl remains silenced.
Again, how did I get so lucky?
Many laughs, gifts, hugs and kisses later, I am sitting in my room hoping that my long hug and broken Thai "I love you" somehow communicated to the kids how much I love them and that I will be praying for them constantly. They are so precious.
The rest of today consists of packing, returning my bike, and trying to make it back to my favorite street vendor for dinner before a long bus ride back to Bangkok.
The next time anyone hears from me, I'll be India – ahh! I hope that everyone has an amazing Tuesday (or whatever day you read this) and feels the love of God more powerfully in their lives today.
I love you all. 🙂
Alicia
