Thailand was a heck of a month.
A lot of good stuff happened – and a lot of tough stuff happened.
My team's ministry in the cafe became a safe haven filled with joy, dance, and wonderful smelling cookies, pad thai, burritos, you name it.
The women there work so hard, from 8-10 six days a week, and we tried to help anyway we could. We weren't exactly the most helpful bunch when it came to cooking, but I can now shred any part of a chicken and peel peanuts with the best of them.
We also helped with serving the customers that came in, which gave me a chance to get to know quite a few people from many different parts of the world. I even had regulars that came in quite a few times just to talk about life, ministry, and the midwest– shout-out to Gary and Julie from Kansas.
In the afternoon, business came to a halt and we spent our time either helping prepare for dinner or playing dutch blitz – which became the card game of Thailand. It took a while for one of the ladies (Bing) to open up to us, but once she got to playing the game she was smiling and doing victory dances around the table. She wasn't only hiding her smile from us, but we found out that she wants to move to Bangkok and join a dance company – hence the wonderful dance moves. She also speaks English very well, which she hid from us til the last week, I'm still trying to figure that one out.
From left to right of Thai people: Mai, Bing, Gwang, Pa Gun, and Pa Fon
Mai is another girl that worked in the cafe with us and was the sweetest smoothie maker I've ever met. She is 18 years old and had a smile that could melt your heart. She clung to us once we started to get to know her and one night we were able to go to the night market with her and she held our hands the entire time, pulling us in whichever direction caught her eye.
Gwang is about 20 years old and her and Mai were the two we were able to build the best relationships with, because they didn't cook in the kitchen and spent a lot of time with us out in the cafe. Gwang also translated for us and spoke English really well. Our very last Sunday we were able to spend the entire day with Mai and Gwang. We went to a 3.5 hour long church service, went out for cheeseburgers and ended the night by letting lanterns go down by the river.
Emmi told us that Gwang just pretends to be a Christian, I think in order to avoid uncomfortable conversations, but at church they must have been praying something powerful, because there were real tears flowing down her cheek and quiet sobs being muffled under her bowed head. I was able to pray over Mai at church and she returned the prayer in Thai and it was a beautiful moment filled with genuine love for one another.
Our team found such joy and encouragement through the women in the cafe and even in moments we weren't feeling the best, they gave us hugs and held our hands. The ways we were able to tangibly serve the women in the kitchen isn't what made these relationships special, it was their patience and laughter and our willingness to have fun with them in everyday situations. I was sad to say goodbye to them, but I know Emmi has laid a solid foundation of love in the hearts of the women there and that they will only continue to grow together.
Top 7 best random moments from Thailand:
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Playing Thai checkers at the temple with some goofy monk friends I met nicknamed Joe and James.
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Singing alanis morisette during karaoke night in the cafe.
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All of the love my squad showed me through hugs, gifts, letters, and brownie cheesecake on my birthday.
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There were a few special mornings when we woke up early to open the cafe and Emmi would make us iced Thai coffee that brightened my entire day.
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Riding elephants was da best.
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Going out to dinner with Blue – a lady who works in the bars and has built many friendships with our squad and previous world race teams – a girl from my team was able to buy her for the night and we went to dinner, walked around town, and went to our squad meeting together.
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Giving letters to all the ladies in the kitchen and seeing their faces smile and light up while their eyes welled with tears when they were translated for them.
