I cannot believe that I only wrote one blog last month!! I am so sorry that I have been slacking on this. It feels like we are moving so quickly, it’s hard to keep up!
Gratney (Graham + Whitney) successfully got the entire squad of 43 people from month 3 Thailand to month 4 Laos. Yay! My team took an 11 hour overnight bus from Chiang Mai to Vientiane, the capital of Laos, where we will be working this month. Our bus ride was super windy in the mountains and it was pitch dark, but we managed to make it out alive! Ah!
The 7 teams were scattered all over Thailand. We met together for a few days in Chiang Mai for an LDW (Leadership Development Weekend). It was such a refreshing time to see everyone again after the month, getting to fellowship and worship together. It helped us all get rejuvenated for our next month!
Of all the countries on the list of 11, all of us knew the least about Laos. I had no idea what to expect. Coming here and seeing how these Chr_stians are risking their lives for the Gosp_l is extremely inspiring. Laos is a closed country. It is open to tourists and visitors, but it is closed to relig_on. There is freedom of rel_gion in Laos, it is not illegal to be a Chr_sti_n, but it is illegal to “force c_nversion” which we aren’t doing anyway. But what we are doing (sharing our story, sharing what we believe, loving on people) can be perceived in that way by the authorities. So we have to be careful.
The min_stry we are working with is made up of all sorts of nations. We are working with a woman from the Philippines, a man from South Korea, a man from Australia, and a bunch of Laotians. It is so incredibly beautiful to literally see the Nations reaching the Nations. A lot of times the Chri_tian chu_ch in America views m_ssions as an American endeavor, that we leave America and go pre_ch to those who need it. But in reality there are nations reaching other nations without American involvement. And there are nations going to pr_ach and be miss_onaries in America. Ah, I just love it!!!!
What I wanted on this Race was to see G_d in ways I hadn’t seen Him before. He made all of the Nations: the skin colors, the languages, the music, the cultures, the food. There were parts of G_d that I didn’t know, that I wanted to see more of. I am seeing G_d so much in each of these places, in ways I wouldn’t see back home, and it is so crazy encouraging, meeting so many new people! G_d, in all of His glory!
What we will be doing in Laos: most of the month we will be split up into two groups. One group will be teaching English to college-aged kids. One group will be teaching English to children and seniors. One of my passions is TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), better known as ESL (English as a Second Language). I had to get a bajillion hours of ESL teaching to prepare for the Peace Corps. And through that, I fell in love with it. These people want to learn English so bad. They know that the language is powerful, it’s global, and they want to be successful in life, so they want to learn. It’s beautiful to be a tangible part of their lives in this way!! Plus it’s a LEGAL way to be in this country and pour into these people! 😉
^Edie and I teaching an English class to local college students
^Jordan teaching the alphabet to the day care kiddos
^day care snack time!
Life is hard, but it ain’t that hard! 🙂 We are staying in a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom home. We have a squatty potty and a western toilet. We don’t have a shower faucet this month, so only bucket showers! We will be handwashing our laundry. There are ants everywhere. Oh, and the mosquitos! It’s a malaria area. We have our own kitchen to prepare breakfast and dinner (lunch is provided for us at the schools where we are teaching). One of my teammates and I bought a gigantic bag of rice and tons of vegetables. We’ve been using the rice cooker and the wok to cook dinner! So yummy!
^our home for the month
^khoa piak noodles for breakfast!
I absolutely cannot wrap my mind around it being Chris_mas at home!!!! It is warm here!!! This is technically their “winter” but it’s not cold at all! I think because I left Dallas in late summer, and I haven’t really felt the cold, it’s been easy to not be super homesick during these holidays.
I absolutely love Thanksgiving. I think it’s my favorite. My family drives out to a big home on the lake. We play lots of games, watch football, eat eat eat, and laugh laugh laugh. It’s my favorite!!! I was so sad to miss it this year!!!! But I was able to facetime my family over that weekend and saw all of their little faces on the screen. That meant so much!!! Family, I promise I’ll be there next year!!! 🙂 Wouldn’t miss it!
^the closest thing I could find to candy corn 😉
In the spirit of Ch_istmas, any homesickness, and just an all-around feeling of wanting to really press in, my team has started a Boost Up month. There are 6 of us, we each get 3 days in a row. During my 3 days, my team will encourage me and boost me up. It can be anything like making me food that I like, buying me a gift, writing me an encouraging note, serving me in some way. Those 3 days will be about me and how my team can practice loving me well. It will be so fun!!! My days are December 21-23, just before C_ristmas!!! So even if I do get a bit homesick just before the 25th, just know that I’ll be pampered with love by my little team family here!
I do miss all of y’all. But know that I’m in a good place. I am exactly where I am supposed to be. G_d is really challenging me with reliance on Him and intimacy with Him. Heart, mind, and soul, all to His glory.
We are heading back to Thailand for New Years!! Gratney is planning it all. Should be super fun!! We will be in Pattaya on the beach — yayyy!!!! Please pray all of the planning and travel goes smoothly for that debrief!
I will post more pictures soon!! I’ll try to blog again about Laos before the end of the month. Internet is scarce for us this month!
Also, I know that I have promised this over and over, but you WILL get a Logistics blog from me soon!! It will be right after the debrief over New Years. It will include Gratney getting all of the squad through 5 countries and 2 debriefs! Darrah and Royce, the blog you have been waiting for!!! 😉 (those are Graham’s parents) 🙂
I have met my December 1 deadline, the 3rd of 4 total deadlines. However I am still about $4,000 short for the final deadline. The final deadline is on March 1. If I don’t get the money by then, I go home! Ah! I have to raise a total of $15,500 (plus approx $750 for insurance). The financial status bar on my blog is always up-to-date, fyi.
If you are interested in giving an end-of-year donation for tax deductions, I wouldn’t complain. 🙂 Just click on the “Support Me!” link on the left side of my blog. THANK YOU in advance!!!
I love y’all. Miss y’all. Pra_ing for y’all.
PR_Y that we would be bold and eager to share, despite the fear that comes with being undercover. P_AY that we would encourage the believers here to continue in their courage. PRA_ that our team will press in to unity with each other and that we will grow closer together. PR_Y that we will not become too homesick during the holidays, but that we can celebrate the birth of J_sus from the other side of the world!
