How I love thailand let me tell you of thy ways…
Thailand was a beautiful and captivating month. Seriously. Check out this scenery….
 
Coming from Africa, you could say this month was, well, different. Haha extremely.
It was as if we had gone back home to America.
This is why….
Our contacts lived in a house with their family. Since their ministry is to bring in missionaries and provide rest, rejuvenation, resources, among other things, they have additional housing that they use to have those people stay in. That meant, that we got a house to ourselves. Weird. But what a blessing. We had a place we could call HOME. Well, actually we had 2 places to call home because every night we got the wonderful privilege of sitting down and having dinner with our “family”–aka our contacts and their children– for dinner. We even had responsibilities like cooking or cleaning the dishes like you would in a real family.
Some other reasons why it felt like America to us. We had…
— a regular toilet. Like the one where you sit down on a seat, do your business and wipe with toilet paper… ya that one. And the toilet was in its own room, with a DOOR to close and LOCK. Weird. Oh and we had sinks!
— a shower… like a legit shower, not a bucket with dirty water.
–a washing machine. I had forgotten how to use one.
–a refrigerator with a freezer. Cold fresh food… yes please.
–electrical appliances–microwaves, stoves, coffee pots–AND electrical outlets.
–ROOMS! Bedroom, living room, dining room, bathroom, kitchen, etc.
We were relatively clean… all month…and didn’t smell all that bad. Lol
We had amazing food for dinner every night–pasta, meat, FRESH veggies and fruits, egg salads, pizzas, sandwiches… basically everything and anything we could have wanted that wasn’t rice and beans.
We were blessed to have such an amazing family for the month. Seriously, I love them–Janene (mom) Ramel (dad), Stephanie, Nicole, and Jefferson–fantastic family who love Jesus so much and seek Him daily together.
But even all that aside… there is something so special about Thailand. Sure it was nice to have comfort things for the month and feel “at home” again. But God’s doing something so powerful and almost magical here.
This is a country that’s not technically “closed” nor “open” to Christianity. But it IS a country that allows freedom for Christianity in spite of that. They can teach about Jesus in the schools, really any time they want. People are very curious and open to hearing about Jesus; many of them have never even heard of Him before. This is an extremely relational culture, w
here someone’s prime focus is to form a friendship with you rather than “just do business” and move on. Oh and they smile, a lot.
 
During our stay here, we got to bless a church by painting their worn down building and make it look brand new. Now, this doesn’t seem like a big deal, but think about how we take care of our things–our house, our lawn, our garden, car…whatever it is. They have wanted to make renovations for a long time but haven’t had money to hire people to do it. Our team got the privilege of spending a few days with these wonderful people… and what a blessing and honor it was! The church looks beautiful and is one less stress for them as they continue to do ministry here.
Before The team &church After
 
We also got the sweet opportunity to help make resources like puppets and pop-up books for a nursery school.
Later in the month, we worked in the ministry’s office and our last week we spent putting on an English camp for children and visiting Christians in small villages, encouraging them in their faith and praying with them.
 
Some of the teams on our squad got the chance to do ministry in the sex-trafficking industry. They got to go to the bars and talk with the women and”lady-boys” (men who have had surgical operations to become a woman). They got to talk to them and BE A FRIEND–something most of these women have not had in a long time–taking them out to coffee or to a movie or something fun. They got to offer them new jobs and resources–a way out of the life they have now– and tell them about Jesus. If you wanna know more about this… check out my squad mate Stephanie’s blog.. Seriously it’s worth checking out. This woman has mad-talent for making videos and writing… {click here…it’s like you were there…}
 
Our men’s team got to work at an orphanage for children who either have been trafficked or were at the risk of being trafficked. One story I heard from my friend was about a little boy (11 years old) who was left in the care of his aunt because his parents couldn’t take care of him. Well, his aunt couldn’t either so at times he got to sleep there and at times he had to fend for himself in the jungle.. Out of desperation for money, he, and his cousin (age 8, the aunt’s son) were about to be sold for their virginity. The organization my teammate was working with heard about these boys and offered their parents an opportunity for the boys to come and live there and have a better life. Thankfully, the parents accepted and now these boys are being educated, taught valuable skills, laughing and playing, being fed, are safe, and able to still be innocent playful children.
