Somewhere around 48 hours ago I began a somewhat continuous travel spree. Getting back from a family vacation, I hopped on a flight from Houston to Los Angeles to meet up with the rest of my squad. It’s been encouraging getting to know them and to begin investing in our friendship that will likely span for the rest of our lives. After meeting up with everyone in LA, we then embarked on a fourteen and a half hour plane ride to Guangzhou, China. It was fun traveling with this new bunch of people I had only just met, and there was a strong sense of unity among us even then. Thankfully there were a decent variety of movies to watch to pass the time, as well as ample time to talk with the squadmates that were seated near me. I would like to say that I slept, but looking back I did far more resting my eyes than actual sleeping. After arriving to China, we had a three hour or so layover before catching our next flight to Bangkok. That flight to Bangkok turned out to be incredibly refreshing for me, as I was still delirious from the little sleep I got. They ended up playing an American movie during the flight, and it was strangely comforting hearing and seeing something American and in English. After being surrounded by a language I have no present ability to translate, it was nice experiencing a little familiarity. It was also a great time to reflect on all that had happened up to that point. We were then in Thailand! The architecture of the Bangkok airport was very interesting to look at, and I wish I had gotten a picture. All of us made it through customs with no issues, and all of us successfully collected our bags. It’s important to be thankful for how there weren’t any major issues that occurred during our lengthy travel. We are now on our last leg of travel; a bus ride from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. It’s roughly a nine hour trip. I’m actually writing this very blog while on the bus to Chiang Mai. It’s a very tall bus, and our bus driver is…well…efficient in how he drives. There are moments when the bus rocks back and forth in such a way that I hold on and brace for what seems to be a turn-over event. Thankfully we are still moving, upright and all. We’ve stopped at a couple of places so far on this bus ride. One of our first stops we found an outside food vendor selling BBQ pork on a stick. “When in Rome”, as they say, so I tried it and loved it. I ended up getting a second one. Most of the food we’ve found inside at each stop has been unappetizing, mostly because it’s difficult to tell what’s what. I have picked up on the fact that one of Thailand’s larger exports is bananas. It’s currently almost 8pm here, and it’s obvious all of us are in need of a good nights rest. Our two alumni leaders are named Emily and Stephanie. Emily went on the World Race back in 2011. Stephanie got back from her original World Race adventure just over a month ago; she was part of the original Fusion squad, and felt called to stick around and be a part of our second ever Fusion squad. In case anyone is wondering, there are twenty three of us total, including our two alumni leaders. I am one of four males in the entire squad. So naturally I’ve been spending a lot of time getting to know my fellow bros. These next ten or so days will be our training camp.
This has been one of my longer blogs, and I must wrap this up by stating how thankful I am to be here. It’s obvious God has big things in store of all of us. I’d like to also end with some prayer requests:
1) Please pray for a continued strong sense of unity among all of us. The Bible says that they will know us by our love for one another. So please pray that we continue to grow closer to one another, and that our friendships would be a powerful representation of the love our God has for each of us.
2) Pray for healing. All of us have baggage that we’ve brought with us on this trip. A big part of the World Race is embracing our brokenness and allowing God to come and do as only he can: heal. Pray for healing to take place, spiritually and emotionally.
3) Pray that all of us begin to be vulnerable with one another. This is key and also goes hand-in-hand with prayer request #2 in healing. Opening up and learning to be who we truly are Is essential in moving in the direction of being more like Jesus.
4) Pray for our health. We’re in a country that most of us have never been to, so please pray that our bodies are healthy. Especially as we begin to eat the local food.
5) Please also pray that all of us develop a deep thirst for more of Jesus. To seek him out in all circumstances, and to give him thanks in all circumstances. Pray that we all continue to mature in our faith walk.
Thanks for tuning in to my blog. It’s an exciting time right now as we get these next 11 months off to a good start. If you would like to correspond with me directly, please do so by emailing me at: [email protected]
Until next time!
-Chris
