It’s been a major change when comparing it to the open spaces of Jeffreys Bay. We live in the heart of the city of Chiang Mai. There’s a market across the street where we can get dinner every night for less than $2 (unless you go all out). You can get a fruit smoothie, a plate of fried rice, pad thai, or dumplings for the exact same price. There’s also a night bazaar a street over. It caters to tourists, but it’s cool to see all of the different souvenirs and clothes you can buy. We live in a hostel owned by Adventures in Missions. I live in a room with just my team minus one. We only have six beds, and there’s seven on my team. The room is much smaller compared to the one we had in Jeffreys Bay, but we have our own outlet and personal light with each of our beds. We eat in the kitchen every morning for breakfast provided by Momma, a sweet Thai mother that already thinks of us as her own daughters. She’s taken the new position of housekeeper here at the base. We eat lunch at our ministry, and dinner is on our own. Only the girls of Q squad live in Chiang Mai. The boys live in Chiang Dao, a town about two hours away. The smog is terrible here frankly. We have to wear face masks every day just so we don’t get sick or develop health problems. One of our girls got bronchitis from the smog. She’s better now, but the air quality is definitely sub par. On a good day, you can see the blue sky. It’s normally quite hazy.
As for ministry, my team and Mosaic work at Agape home. It’s a orphanage for kids that have HIV/AIDS. Ages range from newborn to late teens/early twenties. While we’re there, we help them out by sewing together shoulder bags, making jump ropes from rope and PVC pipes, and repainting classrooms. The shoulder bags and jump ropes are donated to Operation Christmas Child, and they’re sent out to other third world countries. During the summer, the kids at Agape help make these items so they have something to do. We also teach English classes during the afternoon for the teenagers. This education gives them a better opportunity to find a well-paying job and be better off once they leave Agape. They can go on the university, but they also have the option to work at Agape and receive a salary. We only have them for 45 minutes to an hour, and we’re teaching them at the most basic level. On Friday, Natalie and I taught them how to use where, why, how, and who. Some pick up faster than others, but we generally have to be patient. In my opinion, they’re easier to handle than African children. They’re good kids, just a tad loud and outspoken, as most preteens and teenagers are.
Transitioning to Thailand has been harder than I expected. For one, we moved from wide, open spaces to a crowded city. We were almost all squad again. The guys sometimes visit on the weekends. Finding a place to have quiet time with the Lord, no matter the time of day, is quite difficult. There’s ten floors in the hostel, but not much floor space to spread out. We now have WiFi at the base so we don’t have to go out and look for a coffee shop. We can actually go somewhere and spend time together without worrying about if we need to talk to people back home at that specific time. We can enjoy the atmosphere and the company. That’s a blessing, to be sure. I’m grateful to be here, for sure. I’ve found a church to go to on Sunday mornings and be spiritually fed. It’s something I genuinely look forward to on the weekends. We have worship in English and in Thai. The pastor speaks in English and then a translator speaks in Thai. I think all of the staff is bilingual, so there’s a nice flow in the service. No choppiness or awkward pauses.
With it being the final stage of the Race, it’s been easier to actually think about home and what I’m going to do when I return. Sometimes I get homesick, but I just remind myself that I signed up for nine months. While I’m still on the field, I need to stay present. It’s the only way to make my time here memorable. I want to say that I served effectively instead of being distracted by the idea of home constantly. I can’t wait to be home. However, while I’m still here, I can still be used if I present myself as a willing vessel.
That’s all for now! Thanks for reading!
