We left Uttaradit on Thursday night and arrived in Phuket,
Thailand on Friday evening. We went to the beach that night with the squad for
worship.
They had team changes awaiting us for the evening. New team
leaders were being raised up and some of the old ones moved on to squad lead.
Lizi, my team leader, was chosen to become squad leader.
She is giving up her Race; she has chosen to serve the squad
instead. We are so proud of her and excited for the adventure God has in store.
She is perfect for the job and will serve the squad well. Joining her are two
others, a Stephen and Alyssa.
As for my new team, Shelley is our team leader and Ally, my
friend from Gwinnett and best friend on the squad, is now on our team! Altogether it’s Ally, Andrew,
Courtney, Grayson, and Shelley. We are all excited to welcome Ally to the
family and will fit in so well. She is excited too and has already talked about
how much more freedom she has to be herself with our team. The new team name is Restore 61, having to do with Isaiah 61.
If you couldn’t tell, this is us saying, “We’re on the same team!!!”
Saturday was ‘make a memory’ day with the new team. So, we
went to the beach, of course! I love the beach so much! This beach was
beautiful. The water is clear and greenish blue. The waves were really rough,
but it was fun to swim/fight the waves for a bit. There was an old man wearing
a thong bathing suit, which gave us a good laugh for a while. I tried going to
talk to him, but he wouldn’t so I just got some pictures with him without his
knowledge.
This picture could have been worse, I’m saving you from the gross view. But here is a side view for some laughs.
These beaches are a little different then beaches at home in
the fact that people sell things on the beach. Anything and everything you can
think of, there will be someone that has it and someone who will walk up to you
trying to get you to buy it.
Bathing suits, bathing suit cover ups, shawls,
corn on the cob, ice cream, elephant candle holders, elephant carved wood
picture, henna tattoos, flower necklaces, jewelry, messages, beach chairs, and
more.
We left the beach for lunch then grabbed ice cream. The rest
of the day was filled with showers, napping, and watching Fox News (that was
the only English Channel, but I am now caught up on the whole Ambassador
assassination in Lybia and the US knowing it was a terrorist attack within 24
hours, but the UN representative said otherwise 5 days later. I also know what
Mitt Romney and Obama should do to win their debates).
It was awesome to lay in a king size bed with
Ally, just doing nothing. We were so blessed to be able to do that.
Other teams rented scooters to travel around. Many of them
got into accidents and were scraped up. It’s funny looking back now that many
people thought they could ride them, but got hurt.
This month, for Challenge Asia, we’re going to Malaysia! I
haven’t heard much about this country or what it is like, only rumors.
Our ministry will be teaching English. Ally has an
Elementary School Teaching degree, so this will be a great opportunity for her
to use what God has gifted her with. We aren’t able to share our faith or say
anything about Jesus so this month will just be about bringing the presence of
the Holy Spirit around these people. We will be making a difference with our
smiles and joy.
Courtney, Aubree, Andrew, Shelley, Ally, Grayson – Team Restore 61
