For our last few days in Thailand we went to a village a few hours away from Chiang Mai called Mae Aye. We each paired up and got to live with different families and experience village life. I was super excited, I had wanted to do village life from the beginning and was kind of bummed when I found out none of the teams would be there for the month. Once again, I went in with expectations and God showed up, gently reminding me my expectations and perceptions of myself are never really accurate.
Since I spent the month mostly in intercession, I didn’t really connect with many people in Thailand, so I was eager to get to know my host family. My squad mate Laura and I got to our house and were immediately greeted with tickles and hugs from Ohm, the little grandchild of our house parents. We called them Mae and Pow, which means mom and dad, they were so sweet to us. We spent the first night playing with Ohm and getting settled. The second day was raining so they didn’t have any work for us, so we walked out to the rice fields where most of the villagers work. It was gorgeous! It literally looked like a photo shopped picture. We talked to some kids a little and spent time with our host families, and went to bed around 7:30, since that’s when most villagers go to bed. The next day they had work for us, we were helping clean out a monk’s house. It was probably one of the most bizarre things I’ve ever been a part of; they didn’t really know what to have us do so they started bringing out piles and piles of dishes that had been sitting in this abandoned shack for who knows how long. They were covered in dirt and bugs and nasty stuff, it was definitely an adventure. When we went home that afternoon I knew something was not right with my stomach. I couldn’t finish my lunch and since that would be considered very rude in village culture, poor Laura had to eat all of hers and over half of mine! I decided to lay down for a nap and woke up nauseous with a fever. As I was laying there miserable I began to feel so discouraged. Huddled on my little mattress on the floor, curled up against the cement wall of the house, I started crying. All the frustrations and homesickness of this month came pouring out. “You’re a horrible missionary, you haven’t made connections with anybody for two whole months, all you were supposed to do was love these people and instead you’re shut up in this room wishing you were home in America, a real missionary would do a way better job than you”. I started telling God I wasn’t right for this, maybe He made a mistake and I couldn’t do it. He gently reminded me that I was right; I couldn’t do it on my own. I couldn’t love people on my own, I needed Him. I feel like I have to learn this lesson over and over again, I have to be brought to my breaking point so God can and pick me up and remind me that I need Him first and foremost.
I ended up throwing up in squatty potty, which was super fun, and now over a week later I still can’t stomach the smell of noodles or rice, but that’s ok because it’s a tangible reminder that I need God. We ended up communicating to my precious Mae that my stomach was upset and she made it so evident that she was going to take care of me and loved me deeply. She kept coming in and feeling my head and murmuring things in Thai, offering me tea and medicine. She treated me like a mother would treat her daughter, even though we couldn’t speak the e same language, it was so sweet and such a blessing to me. It was a great way to wrap up Thailand, and even though I got sick the village of Mae Aye will always have a special place in my heart.
Here’s a video my teaamate made about our time in the village! 🙂
http://carolynbradley.theworldrace.org/?filename=village-life-video-mae-ai-thailand
