Well. This past week was a blast, a blur, and the time of my life.
- I moved to Thailand!!!!
- I GOT TO SEE MY PARENTS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN SIX MONTHS!!!!!
- I hiked some cool waterfalls.
- I have been eating some awesome food.
- I started ministry with a printing company called ActsCo. where they print and give out bibles and other Christian resources (devotionals, bible studies) to unreached people groups all over southeast Asia and the world!
After spending three months in the bush of Africa, moving to the middle of the city was quite overwhelming. There’s pavement. There’s food and stores EVERYWHERE. There’s AC. There’s wifi, and I can talk to my family and friends!! I was looking forward to this for so long, but a part of me forgot that a lot of craziness comes with having those privileges. Distraction is real. I had been living a life of ZERO distraction and the adjustment hit HARD. And on top of this, I had Parent Vision Trip the moment we arrived! I have been feeling discouraged, exhausted, and overwhelmed. But the good news is that God gave us the free gift of grace, so I need to have some on myself! I feel like by now I’ve been getting good at moving around and transitioning, but it doesn’t get easier. It’s always a challenge. And that’s okay. And He is still good.
Seeing my parents was equally as good and refreshing as it was hard. A sense of familiarity is something I haven’t truly had in six months. Something about good long hugs from your loved ones is more valuable than I could ever attempt to describe. I loved getting to share the same space as them for the first time in a long time. We got to adventure, eat, hangout, and worship for 5 DAYS!!! It was so fun, but gave us no time to recover from traveling so we were exhausted.
Within a few days of our parents leaving, we all got assigned to our separate ministries. Our squad got split up for the first time in six months. The guys went off to MANistry month, two teams went to Chiang Dao, and four teams (including mine) are staying in a hostel in Chiang Mai. Saying goodbye to my friends for essentially two months was harder than expected. I say two months because we are going to be split up in Malaysia as well. We all have wifi to keep in touch, but it’s still weird not having them around. While writing this, we have only been apart for a day. But I already miss being teased by the guys and yelling at Blake when he’s being crazy.
But now things have finally settled, we have gotten acclimated with our ministry hosts, and Thailand feels like home for now. Chiang Mai feels a lot like Houston, which is very cool. The Lord is so kind to send me here because it will set me up well for my return to the states. The busy city life is very familiar, the food here is familiar, the cool shops around are familiar, and I feel like it’s a dream sometimes. I just love it.
So our scheduled ministry time is with a company called ActsCo. Our ministry host is named David and he’s from Scotland but has lived in Thailand for over twenty years now. We spend the day moving and organizing cardboard boxes filled with books. From 8am-2pm in the heat of Thailand. It’s hard freaking work! But it pays off for sure. We come home sweaty and exhausted from all the heavy lifting!
Through all the craziness, I am reminded of a few words I once heard from a ballet teacher. Adapt and overcome. She said that was life advice, and it’s so true! I am learning that we can adapt and overcome any situation with Christ alone! If you feel you need to adapt and overcome right now, here’s what’s helped me: making my bed (even if it’s just a sleeping bag), deep breaths, prayer and gratitude! Also water, drinking lots of water helps me because you can always control your water intake (except if you don’t have filtered water or something but still, haha).
Adapt and overcome, my friends.
Peace and blessings,
Hannah Keller
