We’ve made it to Asia! We traveled overall about 24 hours by plane from Costa Rica to Bangkok, Thailand. The time difference between Thailand and home is 12 hours. Even having it being mid-month, it still feels like there is still so much jetlag. Thailand so far has been amazing and a culture shock especially having the country being 94% Buddhist. Here are some cool facts about Thailand just from living here for about 2 weeks.
The country is a Monarchy. It is illegal to speak bad about the king. The king is a great man to the Thailand people and is the longest reining king. Just about everywhere you go, you will see pictures of the king surrounded by a decorative golden frame. The people say he once flew a plane into the sky and made it rain during a severe drought by spraying chemicals into the air.
Having the majority of the population being Buddhist, you will see spirit houses, shrines and alters at every house and business.
7/11’s are everywhere…and they are wonderful. They have the best packaged deli breads.
If you want a culture shock in food, the market is the best place to go. You will find many unfamiliar meats, fruits you’ve never seen before, and foods that will rock your taste buds or make you drip sweat from the spicy flavor.
You will see a lot of Monks and they are not like the pictures. You will see Buddhist Monks wearing the traditional orange robes and go around doing they’re daily business. They aren’t always sitting on top of a pretty mountain meditating. I even saw a monk hanging out with his smart phone probably Facebooking. Monks cannot have physical contact with women no matter what the case. If a girl needs to hand something to a Monk, she needs to either lay it on the table for him to get or she needs to hand it to a man, which will hand to the Monk.
Finally wherever you go, no matter what drink you get, you will be given a straw with your drink. Slurps up!
On top of being getting to experience Asia, the ministry has been a blast. We’ve gotten to go to Christian schools to help teach kids English, prison ministry for both men and women, do radio shows, and do a 10k race with the school we taught! I got to say though, the prison ministry is really moving. To see grown men and women in prison covered in tattoos and scars walk forward to receive Christ is incredible. To pray over them and to see them raise their hands voluntarily to receive the Lord’s grace for the first time, is a once in a lifetime moment.
The coolest thing the World Race has shown me up to this point is the Unity among all the Christians all over the world. We’ve encountered so many missionaries on the field having the same purpose we have. This month we’ve gotten to work with both the YWAM Thailand staff and a South Korean team. 3 different cultures altogether. It’s such a neat feeling.
If you would be interested in donating to help me fully-funded for the race, click the “support me” link on the left. I’m only about $3,000 short of being fully-funded! If you’re unable to help support me financially, then please continue to pray over Thailand, YWAM in Thailand, the prisoners, and for our team. Thank you and God bless!
