Hello all! I wanted to give everybody an update from my final month on the World Race! I’m so thankful for everything God has done this year and it’s hard to believe the journey is coming to an end. I’m excited to continue to pursue the Lord in new ways when I return and excited to share with you all in more detail.
I’ll spend just a bit closing out my time in Thailand. In my last blog I gave you an intro into our ministry for the month working with refugees from Myanmar and doing projects at the coffee shop and bike shop getting them ready to serve as training centers for the refugees to learn skills. Besides that we also helped out a lot at our hosts homes with various odd jobs they haven’t been able to get to as they are working out paperwork with the government for visas, permits for the restaurant, etc. It has been a great to spend time with them and learn more about their passion for what the Lord is doing in Mae Sot.
One day we got to go down to the border of Myanmar (formally Burma) to walk around and spend some time in prayer for the people down there. It’s very interesting because there is an area in between the 2 borders called “No Man’s Land” where people that aren’t necessarily welcome in either country stay and live their lives. It’s a community of about 150-200 people and unfortunately due to obvious reasons we weren’t able to enter and spend time with the people face to face, the Thai military keeps a really close watch on who goes in and out of there.
For those that don’t know, there is a huge crisis going on in Myanmar right now where a militant group is burning villages, along with raping and murdering civilians in what they are calling an ethnic cleansing. So far over half a million people have fled Myanmar into Bangladesh, Thailand, and other surrounding countries. Please pray for them as the end is not currently in sight.
To lighten the mood a little bit, here is a picture of me with the refugee kids on our last day at church in Thailand!
For one of our off days we had the chance to go see some elephants at a sanctuary about 30 min away! Here we were able to feed them bananas, sugarcane, and vitamins, plant more sugarcane for them, bathe them and even swim with them! It was one of the best days I have had. They were so gentle and just wanted to be loved.
I even got to get a “massage” from the elephants from them stepping very lightly on my back then hitting me with their trunks. Good thing they were nice elephants…
Elephant Massage – Thailand from John Hopkins on Vimeo.
Overall Thailand was incredible! The people were so welcoming and loving toward us. The food was also some of the best I have had on the race and super cheap to eat as you can eat a good meal for about $1.50-$2 USD. Next up, Malaysia!
Coming into Malaysia I was expecting a lot of the Thai culture to be carried over like bowing to show respect, not pointing with your feet, no touching people’s heads, etc. But I was surprised to find that this wasn’t the case. While there are still some Thai people that have come to Malaysia, the majority are from India, China, and S. Korea. The city we are in Ipoh is very westernized and nice.
For the final month we are working with a church called Elim Gospel House in Ipoh which is located in the state of Perak. Our hosts main focus is centered on the youth and developing relationships through sports like soccer and ultimate frisbee. So far this month we have been going to a local dementia center in the mornings and working with the elderly there. While it is very sad that a lot of them are starting not to remember family members, etc. they are so happy to have us there and love playing games, singing songs, and doing exercises with us!
In the evenings is when we get together with the youth and young adults to play soccer and just get to know them. Here is a picture of Delaney, Stephen, and myself with another young man named Stephen from South Sudan. He came to Malaysia to attend University and study Biotech. He loves playing soccer (futbol) with us!
It has been so great getting to know the kids and spend some time with them. Here we are out to dinner at one of the local markets! The food here is great because you have such a good mix of culture in one place so you have Indian food, Chinese food, and Malaysian food all in one place! The guy at the bottom of the screen is Joshua, he is 24 and is currently a teacher. The guy just to the right of me is Eugene, he is one of the coaches for Ultimate Frisbee and also plays soccer.
Yesterday, one of the church members took us out to lunch at a traditional Chinese place where the food is served on banana leaves and you eat it with your hands, it was delicious! Chicken, veggies, pumpkin, and rice with curry sauce. Bottom left is our host William and he’s so awesome!
After lunch we got to go play with puppies!! I had to see how many I could hold at once.
This month is off to a great start! I will update you all with more pictures in the next couple weeks or so. We are leaving Ipoh the 16th to head to the capitol, Kuala Lumpur for a debrief with the whole squad for about 5 days before flying back to the USA!!
Thank you for taking the time to read, I hope you enjoyed the pictures, videos, and updates. Thank you for your prayers this whole year and words of encouragement, it means so much to me and I love hearing from you. God bless each of you and I will talk to you soon.
-John
