I’ve shared a lot of photos and videos about my month in Thailand, but I’ve found it challenging to put it into words. So this will be my attempt.
I just really loved Thailand. The scenery, the people, the work we were doing…and even most of the food. Not to mention the elephants, tigers, and the astonishing number of 7/11’s.
When we arrived in Thailand, we were met at the bus station in Chiang Mai by our AMERICAN host. When you haven’t seen or spoken to American’s other than your squad mates in a couple of months, this is the greatest blessing. We worked for an organization that takes in children who are at risk of being sold by their families into the sex industry. They basically become like legal guardians for the children. There are currently 4 homes (2 boys and 2 girl homes) and over 200 children. We spent our days working on the new property where two homes are currently located and construction is ongoing for a third home that the boys from the old property will move in to. We helped on the construction site, assembly lining dirt and rock up to the roof, knocking out bamboo braces, and learning to make bamboo scaffolding. We also spent some time weeding around the property and planting pineapple. There’s something satisfying about manual labor that just makes you feel good. This is one of the reasons I loved Thailand so much, our daily ministry was so fulfilling.
In the evenings, we went to a different house each night for dinner and got to hang out with the kids. It was fun getting to know all of the different personalities. They welcomed us and opened up to us easily and we just fell into their routine. We played a lot of games, and learned a lot of new ones. They made us smile and gave us a lot of joy. It was such a blessing to be a part of their lives.
We also met some people in Chiang Mai that really loved us well. One of those people was Bud. Bud is an American who moved to Thailand to work full time with this organization a couple of years ago. He is in his 70’s, and he really became like a grandpa to us. Bud takes care of the new property, so when it came to weeding and gardening, he was in charge. He was great at including us in new experiences, such as planting pineapple. He took us to lunch every day and made sure that we got to try some of Thailand’s best dishes. He opened up to us about his story and shared so much wisdom with us. One of my favorite memories we had with Bud was taking him out one Friday night to join us to see “Mockingjay” and have dinner with us. He told us that that night had been the best night he’d had in 6 months. He said we were a blessing to him, but he was such a blessing to us. He allowed us to decorate his house for Christmas, and told us that it was “our Christmas” since we wouldn’t be home. Overall he just loved and encouraged us really well.
God spoke a lot to me about my identity and bravery and having a voice. Thailand is where I got passionate about making a video, even though I’d never done that before…and finding it to be a really fun process. It’s where I discovered the value behind what I have to say, and learning to speak up and say what I’m thinking. It was a learning month for my team, learning how to give feedback and learning to open up to each other and love each other well.
Thailand was just really refreshing. It has been my favorite month on the race thus far. I loved it. And I definitely wouldn’t mind going back one day!
