I am in Thailand!
We left Nepal after a week of what seemed like vacation. We
stayed in a hostel in Thamel, Nepal touring and resting for a week. We were
able to enjoy going out to eat American food, fresh bakery items, and desserts
daily.
Then we got to Thailand for debrief with the whole squad. We
stayed at a YWAM base in Bangkok for another week of what really was vacation.
We had lots of Thai food, American food, and desserts including crepes,
waffles, and ice cream. It was a time for the squad to hang out, see our counselors
or mom & dad for the race, and rest in the Lord. 7- Eleven’s are everywhere
here. This was our normal hang out for snack and air conditioning.
I enjoyed spending time with the men and women on my squad,
having one on ones, and catching up on what we had experienced for the past two
months. We worshiped together, dancing and shouting praise to our father each
morning and evening.
And finally, we made it to our ministry sight for the month!
I am in Uttaradit, Thailand. We live in an apartment that looks like it was
once a store of some kind when you walk in. Then you go to the back, up the
stairs, and there are two bedrooms and one bathroom. Fortunately, we have air
conditioning in our room. Unfortunately it is monsoon season here and the
ceiling leaks.
The bathroom has a real toilet, but it doesn’t flush, so we
have to splash water down it each time we use it. There is no sink, just some
spigot & a bidet sprayer.
We also have our own kitchen, so we’ll be cooking for
ourselves this month. We’re able to eat American breakfast and cook whatever
kind of dinner we want!
We are staying with a pastor and his son, Oo, is our
translator. His son doesn’t live at home, but is just staying with us while we
are here. Oo is very musically talented, plays guitar and sings really well. We’re
looking forward to praise and worship with him this month.
There is a university campus close to our apartment and is
our ministry for the month, aka university students! The pastor has a passion
for the young people here and reaches out to them, sharing the gospel. He has
recently moved into town and starting a fellowship in his home.
So, our ministry for the month is going on campus and
talking with the Thai students. We will invite them to fellowship each evening
to practice their English. Once we build relationships with them, we’ll tell
them about Jesus. In the culture here, you have to build relationships with the
people to share the gospel.
I am very excited about ministry! We met three students this
evening and are looking forward to meeting more.
We are thankful God put us where he wants us. We will not
give into the lies of the enemy telling us we can’t communicate with Thai
students because they are too shy or don’t know enough English. We will not
believe it when the he says that we aren’t brave enough to talk to a stranger.
We are bold, we will step out in faith, and we will continue to press in even
when there is a language barrier.
