Hello from Chiang Mai, Thailand!
It’s sunny, 75 degrees, and bustling with local Thai people and expats here in the city of Chiang Mai.
We arrived on Monday, February 5th but unfortunately, I spent the first forty-eight hours of my time in Thailand in bed. I was deathly ill from food poisoning I acquired during a three hour stop in Bangkok. The twelve-hour overnight bus from Bangkok to Chiang Mai may have been some of the worst hours of my life, as I spent them trapped in a very small, aluminum bus bathroom doubled over in pain. Luckily, I survived my first traumatic food poisoning experience and lived to tell about, although I’ll spare you the gory details.
My time in Thailand has looked different than previous months on The World Race because I’ve spent the first week here in training instead of doing ministry with the locals. I’m training for a new role on my squad that I’ve been asked to step into for the remaining seven months of the race. This role is called squad leader. When my squad of forty-eight launched in October, we were accompanied by two alumni world racers who had previously completed the race and joined us to lead and direct with their experience and knowledge. These were our squad leaders, Hana Beth and Charmagne. They led us for four months and at the end of month four, asked myself and three other members of the squad to step into their role as they prepared to head back to the United States. What all this means is, instead of being assigned to one team with a single ministry every month, I will be joining multiple teams during the upcoming seven months, traveling around and helping with multiple ministries in each country, and walking alongside many different world racers instead of a confined team of seven. My purpose in this role is to support, assist and pour into the teams I visit – doing ministry alongside them and providing guidance if needed.
So, how do I feel about all this? Let see.. scared, excited, unsure, honored, apprehensive and eagerly anticipating what’s to come and how this new season will look. Basically, I have all the feels.
All my feels are a bit overwhelming and as I sit at a little organic bakery in Chiang Mai, Thailand, daunted about the responsibility of this new chapter, I am suddenly reminded – but God.
I am reminded of Psalm 73:26 –
“My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart, he is mine forever.”
No, I can’t take on the task of becoming squad leader for seven months. I can’t lead in places I’ve never been, and I can’t provide guidance and support when I have no experience with these scenarios. But God can. God can lead, God can guide, God can support, God can provide, and God is my strength. I cannot do any of these things, but luckily, I don’t have to. The Lord called me into this role, therefore He will equip me with everything I need. Phew. What a relief that I am not walking alone but walking alongside the creator of the world. When I think about it like that, all my feels start to fade away and I am left with a resounding confidence that anything is possible and can be overcome in this new season.
Here we go! Squad leading for the next seven months! I’m excited to keep everyone up to date on how this new chapter unfolds and the new adventures that proceed in Thailand then across the sea in Eastern Europe.
I will be traveling through Thailand for the next three weeks then heading to Serbia at the beginning of March. I’m leaving you with a picture of my new squad-leading team – Myself, RJ and Kayla (a married couple), and sweet Shannon <3
All my love.
“I look up to the mountains – where does my help come from there? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth!” Psalm 121:1
