It is Monday afternoon and after 52 straight hours of travel I am finally at my first WR destination of Phuket, Thailand. It has been an interesting few days as my squad-mates and I met in LA, flew to Hong Kong, then to Bangkok, took a 3 hour long “scenic tour” of Bangkok from some not so comfy truck beds, and then embarked on our final leg of the journey which was an 11 hour bus ride down to Phuket. Whew! And just as I’m breathing a sigh of relief, I’m told that my team’s ministry location for the month is in Northern Thailand (about 16 hours away) and we’ll be leaving tomorrow! Luckily “flexibility” is the name of the game for 2011 so constant traveling is expected and we’re all excited and ready to meet the challenges and blessings that are sure to await us 🙂
On a personal note, being free from immediate technology for these past 3 days is already proving to be such a blessing and only an occasional hassle (let’s see if I can keep that positive perspective for the next year!). While walking through the Bangkok airport I very stealthily (White Collar/24/Burn Notice style) removed the battery on my phone, tossed each half in it’s respective eco-friendly trash receptacle, and continued on my way without looking back. I know my mother will love to hear that I’m currently surviving wonderfully without texting, email, instant apps in my pocket and all of the other conveniences previously provided by my iPhone and the American guarantee of Internet everywhere you go. With that said, I won’t pretend that I’m currently deprived of ALL connection to the Americas! Skyping with friends and family in Indiana, Tennessee and Honduras is a luxury that I know will not always be available while I’m on the race, but for now am thoroughly enjoying!I’m unsure what this next month holds in regards to ministry or if I’ll even have Internet again to fill you in, but know that I love you all and am safe in the middle God’s wonderfully crazy and exciting plan here in Thailand!
Peace & Love
