Month 6 in Thailand has been my favorite so far. I’m not sure if this is because we were so spoiled in Malaysia that I felt like I wasn’t on the World Race anymore until we arrived in Thailand or if it’s because our ministry/ ministry host was so great or if it’s just because I’m loving being able to do life with my crazy, joy choosing and adventure seeking 6 teammates. Maybe it’s all of the above plus the adventures we have been able to partake it.
Now don’t get me wrong. I absolutely loved our time in Kuala Lumpur! My team and I were blessed with a bougie apartment where we each had beds, AC, there was a kitchen and a living room, we had a pool, fitness room and a home theater! We made friends with a former World Racer who connected us with a great church that reminded me of my church back at home. Our ministry was Unsung Heroes which is when we aren’t actually assigned to one ministry. Instead we are searching for new ministries that the World Race can partner with in the future and send teams to. This ministry was great because it gave us a flexible schedule and we were able to manage our time instead of being told where and when to go all the time. In fact, because of the flexible schedule we were able to throw all of our adventure days together at the end of the month and travel to Krabi, Thailand for a three day beach vacay which was AMAZING! But all of this made me feel like I was a real person again and I kind of forgot that I was still on the World Race.
So on March 4, Team Parkour arrived in Hatyai, Thailand where we met Khwan, our adorable host for the month. Khwan was born in Thailand and grew up in a Buddhist family. Honestly, I can’t remember the story of how she came to know Christ but she decided to open up an English teaching school in her hometown in hopes that it would give her the opportunity to share the Gospel with her students. She’s had this school for a few years but she was in tears the first night we arrived as she was telling us that she had been praying to God for Him to send help and how happy she was that we were the answers to those prayers.
The first week we spent painting a church/ rehab house and cleaning up the school and the rest of the month we taught English for students ranging in age from kindergarten to high school/ university. I helped teach the kiddos in grade 2-3 and the high school/university class.
I think my favorite part of the entire month is when my team and I performed the Lifehouse “Everything” skit at the university market. In the moment none of us wanted to do. We all thought it was an awkward set up because the space we had to work with had students walking through it, there had just been a downpour and we simply thought we had run out of time. However, we were still able to perform this night. Afterwards we had a decent response from people telling us “good job” and such but the best response was the next day when two of our university students, Fourth and Namwan, asked Jesus into their lives. They both had been there to watch the skit and Khwan told us how she has been praying for them to become believers for a long time. Because of this, Jonathan and I decided to share more about the Gospel and what Jesus means to us. Afterwards they both said they feel like they can trust God now and they decided to pray to receive Christ at the end of class. Of course, Jonathan and I were beyond excited that two salvations came from us doing this skit in the middle of a student market. Man, God is so good!
Needless to say, this is my favorite memory of Thailand and Thailand my favorite month thus far. Even if I hadn’t had the best adventure day today filled with riding elephants and playing with baby tigers, I would still be in love with Thailand.
