January – The Philippines – Kids International Ministries
February – Thailand – SHE
March – Malaysia – Methodist Churches
April – Cambodia – World Team
Favorite Country – The Philippines with Thailand not far behind. I felt like I got to make my month in The Philippines what I wanted. The ministry there, KIM, has so many options of what to do. Every day I would wake up and make my own schedule. Monday at the orphanage, Tuesday helping with the feeding ministry, Wednesday was preaching at the prison, Thursday was free day, Friday back at the orphanage; you get the point. I even got to meet and work with Russ Ortiz (former pitcher for the Braves) and Brian Hommel (former pitcher for the Brewers). They were there for a week sponsoring a baseball camp. Getting to do so many different things was the main reason I loved The Philippines the most. I also loved being with the Long family, founders of KIM and one of the World Race’s favorite contacts. I felt like I was part of the family going to basketball games, out to eat, etc. It made me miss my family but also made me feel like I was with family, if that makes sense. The kids were so cute, most people could speak English, the food was great, I met people from all over the world and we got to go to karaoke multiple times. Even though I have loved something about every country I’ve been to, I could actually see myself going back to The Philippines.
Favorite Cultural Experience – I love Asia, which I was not necessarily expecting. Out of all the countries we went to I learned the most about Cambodia. Our ministry that month was way up North in the Preah Vihear Province; the middle of nowhere. We stayed in a house with 3 Khmer girls, cooked with them, taught English and learned Khmer words. The contacts were an American family who had lived in Cambodia for a few years and they let us borrow all of their books on the culture, history and language. The first weekend we were there we traveled back down to Phnom Penh, the capitol. We saw the King’s palace, experienced the city life and also visited the Choeung Ek killing fields. What Cambodia went through in the late 1970s was horrific. Being able to not only hear or read about it and actually experience it was something I’ll never forget. At the end of the month we went to Siem Reap which reminded me of Savannah or Charleston. It was there that I visited Angkor Wat and the other famous temples. If you’ve ever seen Laura Croft Tomb Raider, I was there! So Cambodia was definitely my favorite country to learn about and experience.
Breaking Point – I had seen a lot, even after only 5 months of being on the race. A lot of poverty, helplessness, disease, etc. Sometimes it seems like I tried to hold all the feelings and emotions in because we were around it everyday and to react to it all the time would be out of control. But in Thailand, being surrounded by sin, darkness, lust and addiction every other night took it’s toll. There was a certain part of Bangla Road where you would find the “Lady Boys.” Yes, they were men who dressed and looked like women. Our motto was, “if she’s too hot, then she’s not.” It was very hard to do any personal evangelism down this particular part so whenever we walked by we just prayed through the aisles, between the bars and over bar stools. One night I saw parents hand their baby to one of the Lady Boys who was dancing on the bar. Everyone started laughing, the Lady Boy was making rude and inappropriate gestures to the baby and people were taking pictures. At that moment I felt like I could have killed someone. This innocent baby was in the midst of this chaos, late at night and now was part of the sick show. I immediately burst into tears and just had to walk away. It was a rough night. The next time we went I didn’t want to walk down that strip but knew that God was calling us to prayer walk. It was so awesome to see that by the end of the month, that area had quieted down so much! The main street remained crazy but as we walked down the aisle, most of the bars that had been full at the beginning of the month were now empty. There were also particular chairs that I had touched every time we walked down that weren’t even there the last time we went. So God is definitely moving on Bangla Road and I can’t wait to hear when one day the whole thing shuts down.
Best Memory – We were in Cambodia for Khmer New Year and the hottest month of the year. Because of that, the people really slow their life down. Not a lot of work goes on and people just find a mango tree, sit underneath in the shade and hang out. That’s not a joke. So for Khmer New Year we decided to throw a mango party! What does that mean? Well, it means that the American women spent the day baking. Mango bread, mango cookies, mango crisp, mango jam, mango everything. The Khmer women prepared the main dish, noodle soup. That night we invited the entire church and people in the community over. We played games (water balloon toss, volleyball, bobbing for apples, etc.), ate delicious food and ended the evening dancing traditional Khmer style; around a chair. It was a fun day from start to finish.
Favorite Food – Thai street food is the best. It’s one of the main things I still crave. One of my favorites was the food stalls where you pick your raw meat kabob and they cook it right there. It may sound unsanitary but it was so good. There was also a man who had a coffee stand down the street from where we lived and we went there so much he knew our order and the time to have it ready! You can never go wrong with Pad Thai or the fresh fruit smoothies. Mango sticky rice is to die for and if you’re ever in Thailand you have to try the hot ham and cheese sandwich from 7-11. Yes, trust me! Also, Malaysia was our month of food. We mostly did door to door and every home we went in, we were offered food, tea/coffee or both. I ate so much that month! Most of it was delicious too.
Funniest Moment – Imagine being on a bus for 10 hours and being dropped off at a bus station in a new place. Then imagine a van pulling up, a small man sticking his head out the window and calling to you, “I am Pastor!” (Insert Indian accent here) This was our first of many contacts in Malaysia, Pastor Yesudason. After his interesting greeting he gets out of the car to help us load our bags. We knew ahead of time that we would spend a good amount of time driving. Knowing that small detail we all looked around nervously at each other when the next thing he tells us is that he is blind in one eye and his other eye is lazy. Yikes! Also the van felt like it would break down at any moment and there was no AC. We nicknamed it the Sweat Box. The week we spent with Pastor Yesu was probably the week I have laughed the most on the race. I wish I could portray him properly, he was just so full of joy! Random animal noises and jokes that didn’t really make sense. Whenever he would hear any of us laugh in the back of the van he would say, “are we laughing?” and then join in with ridiculous sounding laughs. It was great. One night we went to the land his church had bought to build a new building on. After we worshipped and prayed he wanted us to lay on the blanket and look at the stars; what else would we do at 1am in Kelantan? He then proceeds to tell us this joke about bananas, only we didn’t know it was a joke until he told the punchline. We didn’t know it was the punchline until he started to die laughing, so naturally we joined in. Even as I type, I feel like I cannot express with words how much joy this man had. It was a breath of fresh air to be around him for the week.
Time I Felt Closest to God – I loved spending the afternoons at the orphanage in The Philippines. I went there one day to see the new toddler that arrived the day before. His mother had abandoned him at the hospital so he lived there the first six months of his life. A Filipino couple adopted him but after a about a year they got pregnant and decided they didn’t want him anymore. So Jacob was dropped off at the orphanage, abandoned twice in his short two years of life. I had heard he hadn’t stopped crying and needed 100% attention, so I wanted to help in any way I could. When I got there it was a little chaotic. Only two workers were there and three of the kids had gotten into the markers so Jacob had been put in the play pen and was weeping uncontrollably. I gently picked him up and calmed him down. After that I held him…for 4 hours. We just sat and rocked. At one point he turned and looked up at me, put his little hand on my cheek and smiled this huge grin. It melted my heart. At that moment I felt closest to God than I had in a long time. I wasn’t building a house or preaching on the street or praying for healing. I was simply holding a two year old that needed to feel loved, accepted and safe at that moment and it was beautiful.
Blogs I Recommend – Chocolate or Poop?, Bar Hopping for Jesus, The Not so Glamorous Side of Life, Where Were You?
