Hey Team!
I just wanted to give you guys a little update!
Right now I’m smack dab in the middle of month 8 on this incredible journey. I’m in Thailand working for an organization called Remember Nhu, which helps prevent young children from being sold into sex trafficking. That is such a crazy sentence. Crazy that I’m in Thailand, even crazier that the Lord is letting me play a part in preventing sex trafficking, and insane that people are selling kids as young as three years old for sex. This is a wild world that we live in.
This month, instead of my regular team, all 10 of the guys on the squad are working together. Known as “Manistry,” it is something that we have been looking forward to since the start of the race. I have loved being on a team with so many incredible young ladies, but there is something cool about spending a month working with just a group of godly fellas. It has been a cool time to experience brotherly community, work hard, and enjoy life together.
While I’m loving Manistry, Thailand, our hosts, and the organization that we are with, if I’m being honest it at this point in the race it feels somewhat like “no man’s land.” The race is well on it’s way to the finish line, but I’m still far enough away from coming home that I can’t really get started making plans. To some extent the journey is getting monotonous. Go to a new country, meet great people, work with great ministries, see amazing things, say goodbye, repeat. Don’t get me wrong, it definitely has it’s ups and downs, but the overall theme stays the same. It’s hard to really process everything that you have done and seen before you are off doing the next thing. It’s hard to not take this adventure for granted while you look forward to putting what you’ve learned into practice when you get home. There’s a constant tension between where you’ve been, where you are, and where you are going.
Even community relationships have entered “no man’s land.” I’ve built a great community with my squad mates, and I’m so thankful to have them in my life! However, the reality is that they won’t be around for everyday life once I get home. I’ll be back in a world that has moved on with out me. With the exception of a couple folks, I’ve pretty much lost regular contact with all of my closest community back home. Some of that has to do with personality, gender, time difference, life stage, etc. and I honestly can’t blame them. Life moves on, people change, friendships grow apart. As many people make fun of me for saying, “It’s part of life.” It's just quite a strange feeling trying to continue to build relationships here while trying to nurture relationships back home.
I know there are pros and cons to every situation. I know God has me where He wants me. I know I am blessed beyond belief to be here, and I feel that I’m doing a good job of being fully present and intentional.
The Bible is full of stories about incredible things that have happened when folks were in what seemed like no man’s land. Although it's a strange place to be in, I don't think it is necessarily a bad place to be in.
I’m excited to see what the Lord has in store!
