If you have had a conversation with me for longer than 5 minutes in the past two years, you know just how much I love Thailand.
Like, I love it, a lot.
So naturally, the anticipation for this month was high.
We left Penang, Malaysia around 10 am and loaded a train to Thailand.
42 hours of travel and I had one thing on my mind.
“I get to see my parents in less than 2 days!!”
The excitement was super high. I hadn’t seen them in over 8 months and I couldn’t wait to let them into my “World Race life.”
Reuniting with them was nothing like I imagined in my head. Instantly, it felt like we hadn’t missed a second in each others lives and picked up right where we left off. Having my parents in Thailand with me was a dream, and I loved every second of it.
We spent the week doing ministry with Lighthouse in Action in Chiang Mai. We played with kids in the slum villages, painted murals at the Lighthouse in Action base, and chatted with monks near Buddhist temples. At night we prayed and interceded for girls in the sex-trafficking business in the local bars of Chiang Mai.
The main vision of Lighthouse in action is to reach out to those who were involved or at risk of being in the sex-trafficing business. The founder of L.I.A., Emmy, also runs and owns a coffee shop, Zion Cafe, that employs girls who have left the the bars and serves as a way to transition them out of the sex-traffcing world.
My mom asked me a question way more than once, “How weird is it to combine your home-life with your new Race-life?”
At first, the answer was, not that weird, because to me, it wasn’t. It oddly felt natural to invite my parents into what I had been doing for almost a year. But by the third time she asked it, I came up with a better answer.
Reality was, it wasn’t hard or odd to combine my lives, because to me, they weren’t separate lives anymore. The “Bethany” that was living at home in Texas 8 months ago, is not the Bethany that exists today. I’ve changed, I’ve grown leaps and bounds, and the only weird part about having my parents there was introducing them to this new version of myself.
We laughed, we cried, we said hard things, and we grew closer as a family in the 5 days we spent together in Thailand.
For the first time in a very long time, there was nothing hidden between us. I was able to be completely open and honest about this journey and how the Lord has worked deeply in my heart and redeemed me from past mistakes and choices.
The love they showed me and the acceptance they gave was a reminder of how much the Lord works so greatly to redeem and renew.
Saying goodbye at the end of PVT was a sad one, but bitter-sweet knowing I would see them in two and half months time.
——————————————————————————————-
Part two of this month was spent in Phuket/Phang Nga where we met up with the rest of our team and joined in on the ministry the had already began.
We, as a team, we partnering with Eagles Rest, an organization that sole purpose is to provide rest and retreat for asian national pastors, most of which are in severe poverty. Our job was to support Rommel and Jeanine, our hosts, in any way they needed it. We spent most ministry days doing jobs around their office and home to make it better suitable to host families in the ministry. We also partner with a school for Burmese refugee kids in Phuket. We painted tires for their playground and created a fundraising skit and help contract the set for that skit.
I learned a lot this month while in Phang Nga. I learned to put my heart where my feet are, even when the ministry isn’t working directly with the people of Thailand. I learned that when you invest all you have into something, when you let The Lord show you His heart for a place and a people-group, wonderful things take place.
Grace is given when you’re walking in the will of the Lord, no matter what you’re doing:
Grace to love the people in front of you.
Grace to stand in the gap.
Grace to paint hundreds of tires and boxes and actually have a blast doing it.
Grace to sweat out your body weight and more daily.
Grace to embrace feedback.
Grace to give encouraging feedback.
Grace to fall in love with Thailand all over again, and again, and again.
——————————————————————————————
I turned 22 this month. 22. Wow. I’m old. (Ha.)
A year ago, on my birthday, I first considered doing the World Race. Since then, my world has flipped upside down. Like, completely.
21 was a year full of hard decisions, bold choices, adventure, relentless pursuit, conquered fear, healed pain, and lots and lots of growth.
It was a good year that impacted me greatly and had a lot of hard life-changing moments that got me to where I am today.
The weekend following my birthday, my team and I went to the beach in Phuket to celebrate. One night, we got some lanterns and released them from the beach into the night ocean breeze. Attached to my lantern was a letter that I needed to write for a year now. This letter described my journey for the year; the good, the bad, and the messy. That tear-stained piece of paper burned up in the flame that carried away that lantern. All that past fear, regret, mistakes, hurt, and mourning flew off into the dark night sky.
What a great moment, a moment I’ll remember for a lifetime.
This month was a grand one. I walk away from it choosing to hold on to the moments that built me up and called me higher.
Thailand, you haven’t seen the last of me yet.
This recap video gives a visual look into what we did. You’ll see LOTS of fun moments and LOTS of manual cleaning labor. I wish I could show you all just what its really like to be out here doing this whole race life, but these videos will give you a glimpse.
Enjoy!
