The Land of Smiles //PHOTOS// - Explore Archived World Race Alumni Blogs

Wow oh wow! We have finished yet another month! We were in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where we stayed at an Adventures in Missions (AIM) base. I wanted to write a blog just sharing a little overview of what our month looked like, so below are some pictures and some thoughts to recap the past few weeks.

MINISTRY/ WHAT WE DID:

We partnered with two organizations this month: one dealing with the sex industry (I will not use the actual name for safety purposes) and Christian Outreach Center (COC). Every Friday we prayed for the men, women, and children impacted by the sex industry, as well as did a prayer walk through a street where this activity is prevalent. To read more about the sex industry here in Thailand, check out my squadmates blog.

In addition to this, Monday through Friday we worked with COC by helping with construction at a school for missionary children and kids who have been tr@ffick3d (I will use letters for certain words in this blog as the government monitors these things). The latter of these are not safe until their prosecutors can be prosecuted, which can actually take 4-6 years! Kids obviously cannot just skip school for this long, so this new school will be a special locked school to create a safe haven for these kiddos. It is so sad that we live in a world where we have to create schools like these, but I have enjoyed being a small part of this. We helped with sanding and painting walls, as well as mixed and poured concrete for a playground at the school.

The school where we helped with construction work.

All my lovely teammates!

We also helped mix and pour concrete for a playground.

PEOPLE:

Did you know that Thailand is nicknamed “The Land of Smiles”? Well, I can say firsthand that this is true! So many people on the streets would say “Sah wah dee khaa” (hello in Thai) with a bright smile on their face. It was very refreshing! Where we stayed there was quite the mix of Thai people, tourists, and expats. I met people from all over the world and it was cool to strike up conversations with people, whether in a restaurant, at the store, or on the street.

HIGH:

This month I really wanted to work on building relationships with locals; however, I don’t feel like this happened. Why is this a high then? Well, because what happened was better than I could have imagined! I was able to connect with the staff at the AIM base, which is cool because they are the individuals who can have a longer relationship with local people. Many months so far on the Race have looked like pouring into our hosts, so they can better pour into their local communities. In addition to these relationships, for ministry my team was also with another team from our squad this month. This was really sweet because we were able to pour into one another and deepen relationships as we worked.

LOW:

The low for this month would definitely be learning more about the sex industry in Thailand. From what we learned, many women actually use pr0stituti0n as a way to make money for their families, whom often live in smaller villages. Sadly, pr0stituti0n is a fast way to make a lot of money. Although it is officially illegal to be a pr0stitute in Thailand, the government does little to stop this activity. Although many women are not tr@ffick3d, Thailand is a shame-based culture. This means that the motivation for decisions is based off of avoiding shame or embarrassment for themselves or others. In their culture, it would be shameful for these women to not be able to provide for their families back home, thus, they will do what they can to make money. This is not the case for everyone, but we learned that this is the case for many women in this industry.

For these reasons, the approach to “rescuing” these women from this industry looks a lot different from other cultures. The goal for the organization we partnered with was simply to love on these women, rather than making them a task or a ministry and praying that God would open their eyes and doors to another way of life.

BUFFALO:

A sweet gift from the Lord this month was being able to see some friends from back home. It was such a God-thing the way their travels lined up perfectly with mine. My friend, Kate, was traveling for work in Myanmar and flew out of Bangkok, Thailand. This meant that she was able to stop by Chiang Mai to see her friend and I for a long weekend! It was so great to catch up with her and to explore the city together – we even got to play with hedgehogs! In addition to Kate, my cousin, Jess, was visiting Thailand as well. We were able to spend time together and catch up throughout the time she was there. It was such a sweet, sweet gift to see these two ladies, who have poured so much into me and have impacted my relationship with Jesus. It was so refreshing and felt like home.

My friend Kate on the left and Jess on the right.

WHAT GOD HAS TAUGHT ME:

Wow, this month God taught me a lot about freedom from insecurities and past hurts. I plan to share more of this in another blog hopefully soon! In addition to this, I have been learning to better abide and listen to God. I have been occasionally asking God for a word for the day, and it has been really cool to see how faithful He is in this. For example, one day I felt like God put the word ‘joy’ on my heart. He reminded me of the verse 1 Peter 1:8, which says, “…you believe in Him and REJOICE with JOY that is inexpressible.” Throughout the day I found so many little moments of joy, which was really sweet! It just reminds me of how deeply God cares all the little details of our lives and how He constantly pursues us.

PRAYER:

Please pray for the men, women, and children involved in the sex industry in Thailand.
Pray for safety and doors to be opened for us in Myanmar, as it is a closed country.
Pray for my team and I as we teach English this month. We hope to build relationships with our students and show them love.

Here are some other photos from this past month too: