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I haven't written a blog the since I've arrived in Thailand- not becuase I haven't had anything to write about but becuase I've been so busy doing life that I haven't had time to write! 🙂

This has been my best month on the Race yet. 

* I have been blessed to participate in SO many different types of ministry

* I have gotten 'revelations' from God about who I am – and I've been waiting for that!

* I have built SO many new friendships and relationships

* I have gotten to learn about a beautiful culture that I new absolutely nothing about 3 wks ago

* I've gained new insight and perspective on God, myself, and people

* I have fallen in love with a foreign culture

* And fallen more in love with God

Not only all that but I've also:

Ridden giant elephants


     
Played with baby elephants

                Rafted down a river on a bamboo raft


                       

            Hiked limestone waterfalls


                               

                    Tasted the most delicious (and spicy) Thai foods


                                         
                               Basked in the beauty that is Thailand


It's been EPIC.

 

I'll back up real quick and give you a peak into the different types of outreach I've been a part of:

-Working at WonGen Cafe, a Christian coffee house that offers game night, karaoke, English classes, & intercultural friendship to college students. WonGen Cafe is where I've spent the last 2 weeks and it's been so fun. The coffee ship is a chill, trendy, and warm atmosphere that serves as a 'home away from home' for many college students. And in a country where only 1.5% of the population is Christian, it's kind of a safe haven to come and talk about what God is doing in your life. 

–English Tutoring at WonGen, My student Kade and I have become good friends- she has taken me to eat in the university cafeteria, to local markets, temples, and parks. I love her!


-Working with 'Love Acts': visiting bars and befriending prostitutes to show them the love of God by just becoming friends and thus teaching them their value.  I only got to do this a few nights, but WOW it was pretty incredible. Me and my teammates made friends with 'ladyboy' prostitutes ('Ladyboy' is the Thai slang word for transexual, some with operations and hormone changes, some without) and was invited to have homecooked dinner with them at the bar the following evening! It was so surreal.

We hung out, played Jenga & Connect Four, played with the owner's pet Chihuahuas, talked about shopping & makeup, and ate the most delicious homemade Green Curry Pork!

Marina, the bar owner, makes dinner for her 'girls' every night. It hit me that they were like a family. Many of these 'girls' are far from their families, don't have families, were disowned by their families, or were sold into human trafficking by their families, so this IS their family. They seemed so delighted to simply hang out with us, like a bunch of girlfriends just chatting and laughing. It blew my mind.


When it crossed my mind what I was doing:
 
"I am sitting here chatting with the ring leader of
one of the most famous transexual prostitution rings in Chiang Mai…"
 
Immediately I felt God tell me:
 
"This is who Jesus hung out with when He was here on earth,
so why shouldn't you?"
 
I was like, "OK! You're right. Let's do this!"
And we had a fun, surprising, evening filled with laughter and the Joy of the Lord. No joke.

There was also a midget boxing match going on in the Mau Thai Kick Boxing Ring in front of the bar we were at.


 

I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.
It was ridiculously fun.
This is my life! 🙂
 
-I went to 'Monk Chat' where I got to chit chat with Buddhist Monks for an hour. They want to practice their English & I enjoy learning about their culture! So cool. These guys were all between 20 and 24 years old and they are going to Buddhism College and are 'new' monks (you can become an official monk at age 20). They were SO chill (as you can imagine) and they were so delighted to talk with Americans and share with us their culture and their life stories.

 

It was interesting to realize that here I am, a Christian Missionary,
sitting across the table from a Buddhist Missionary.

But we had fun talking!
And now we are Facebook friends.
Hah! 

 
-I recently moved across town to Lighthouse in Action where I will spend my last week in Thailand working with the slum children. At first I was sad to leave my 'home' at WonGen Cafe, but God is now opening up my eyes to why He moved me here and I have this strange sense that He is 'proud' of me for just 'going' when He says 'Go'. When I was talking with God before writing this blog, I even felt Him 'thanking me' for trusting Him. How's THAT for strange? Hearing GOD thank YOU! How odd, right? But it felt good nonetheless and I am excited to see what else He has for me in this last week. I get to help plan a Christmas party for slum children this week and like my mom said, "How perfect! You LOVE Chirstmas parties!" and yes, I do. My Father in Heaven knows me better than I know myself! So that's cool. 😉

 
It's been an action & adventure packed month.
And I freakin LOVE Thailand.


 

Thank you for reading- thank you for coming on this journey with me- thank you for your prayers & support.
As my online support family, I do want to let you know that my final fundraising deadline is coming up on December 31st and I still need $1,550 in order to be fully funded and complete the World Race. Please consider making a tax-deductible end-of-year donation to help me finish the World Race. No amount is too small! 🙂  Thank you!
You can donate here: https://www.adventures.org/give/donate.asp?giveto=worldrace&desc=For%20Christina%20Dombrowsky