Well as crazy as this is to say, my time here in Guatemala is almost done. Wow! Currently I have 20 days left in Guatemala. That’s 16 left in San Pedro/Antigua, 4 at debrief at Lake Atitlan, 1 in Guatemala City. Then I’m out of here on December 2 where I fly into LAX, have a 10 hour layover and head out to Thailand for the 4th, 5th and 6th month of the World Race.
So before I get to Thailand I have a request or a few for all of you reading this. I want you to keep everyone on Gap A in your prayers. Please be praying that we remain focused on Guatemala until we leave here; that our ministries would not be affected by forward thinking; that we would not coast. Pray also for our hearts. Leaving here is going to be hard for each of us and difficult for us in our own ways. On the flip side, pray that our hearts would be prepared for our next country and what God has for us there. Lastly, pray for the people of Guatemala that we are leaving behind. Pray that the people we have made relationships with would not forget the words we’ve said and that God would continue working in their lives.
Now, for the big reveal!
December 2nd I will fly out of LAX, have a layover on the Philippines, and then land in Bangkok, Thailand. From there my team and I will make the 1.5-2 hour trek to Ratchaburi, Thailand. This is the city my team will call home for the next 3 or so months. My team will be living alone (without other teams) for our time in Thailand. This will be quite the change for us. We will be living in a 3 story building with fans to keep us cool. We have access to a gas stove, and possibly a fridge too.
Now for a little bit about the city of Ratchaburi itself. Ratchaburi has a population of 842,684 (2011), so it is fairly large. However it is small in comparison to the 9 million people neighbour that is Bangkok on the east side. Burma borders us on the west. The name of the city means, “The Land of the King” and as you would assume has a lot of historical background to it. So cool things about the city itself are that it has a floating market. This is where locals come in their boats and sell their wares from the rivers that run through this area.
Ministry in Ratchaburi will have some similarities to here but also some differences. In Thailand we will have the opportunity to minister in prisons, churches, schools, on the radio or to children. I’m not sure exactly what each of these ministries will look like but I’m anticipating good things. What is fortunate for our ministry is that we will be accompanied by a translator during our ministry. We also will most likely be working together as a complete team instead of split up as we are currently.
That about sums up really all I know. Please be continually praying for us and the Thai people. God is sovereign in every nation, even if it is only 1% Christian. I know God has some great stuff for us there! Pray big prayers!
