Thailand brought about a lot of change. First, we had team changes because August, Month 8 in Thailand was Z Squad’s “Manistry” month. So the 10 men of Z Squad were a team and then all the girls got mixed up into brand new all girl teams. I was a little nervous going into team changes. I had been with the same 3 girls and on a co-ed team for the entire Race so I was nervous to be split up and on an all girls team. However, it ended up being great.
I was on Team Mackel-More with 5 other amazing women! We had a fabulous month together. Fun times came so naturally to us and we strived very hard to have great spiritual times and real conversations in our free time. It was amazing how fast we were able to go deep and truly get to know each others hearts and we really only had 26 short days together.
I grew a lot in studying the Bible with this team. To be honest, studying the Bible never really excited me or came easily to me. However, being vulnerable with Team Mackel-More about it really helped. The whole team started a Bible study through James, and then Katie, Lauren and I started a Bible study through Jeremiah almost every morning before school. It was wonderful to have such great conversations and start our days off with the word. They also opened my eyes to new ways and resources to study the Bible that I will keep with me forever. I now have an amazing study Bible app that helps me understand more of what I am reading and gives me other references in the Bible to know the history of people, places and words. The first time I brought up the app and started my own personal devotional time, I was almost giddy. It was so exciting to love, understand and explore the Bible like never before. The team also did an amazing job of keeping me accountable and asking me questions about what I was learning. Now I just pray that the craving and excitement of studying the Word will continue everyday!
Another big change was that we spent the month being English teachers. I never thought I was qualified to teach English, but apparently I am. We lived and worked at Bankai school. They had a nursery, primary classes and secondary classes. Mandi and I worked with the older kids (ages 13-16) in the secondary classes, Katie and Amy worked with the younger kids (ages 6-12) in the primary classes, Lauren worked in the nursery every morning and then would come help us in our classrooms and Liz was able to move around to help wherever was needed but luckily she was with us in the secondary classes most of the time. School was from 8am to 3:30pm everyday with an hour lunch break, but everyday looked very different. Some days we would play English games in class or we would assist the teacher with a lesson or activity. A couple days we were told that a teacher could not be in their class so we would go ‘teach’ it. Some days were full of assemblies and celebrations. A majority of the month we helped the debate team prepare for a country-wide debate competition that was at the end of August, and other times we would be asked to teach American history or art for a couple hours. It was crazy but always stretching and exciting!
I was very nervous going into the month with no teaching experience but it ended up being great. Of course their were nerve-racking times but it really helped that we usually had some time to prepare before class and that we had another teammate with us as a comfort, helper and someone to brainstorm with. Also, the teachers stressed to us that it was just super helpful and important to speak English in front of the students and with the students so they could hear a native speaker and practice conversations. This just really showed me that even though I did not feel at all qualified to teach, God used me to help students and teachers because I had a willing spirit.
The food and living conditions were a huge change as well. We got to eat a lot of local food. The school would feed us traditional Thai dishes everyday for lunch. And we learned very fast that we LOVE pad thai, especially the toppings. I learned how to make it and cannot wait to make it when I get home. Then our living conditions were very nice however we had a squatty potty. I have learned the greatness of western toilets slowly over the Race in public places, but this was my first time on the Race having only a squatty potty where I lived for a whole month. I definitely have a great appreciation for western toilets now.
Overall, it was an amazing month! Our contact used to be a tour guide in Chiang Mai so he was able to take us to many different tourist attractions for a cheaper price. We rode elephants through the jungle and a river, went on a bamboo raft, went to the walking street market, went up to a temple that had a gorgeous view of Mai Ai and met tigers at Tiger Kingdom. It was such a new, fun and growing month!
