THAILAND!!!! What’s not to love? There’s a vibrant nightlife, an epic party scene, cheap beer, tigers, elephant shows, cobra charmers, Muay Thai matches all along the streets, wonderful markets, beautiful white sand beaches, and every type of sinful temptation you could possibly imagine. Just as I remembered it from 8 years ago when I was in Phuket with the Marines.
Except… I’m not here for any of that (except for the animals and markets, of course). And to be honest, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I suppose there’s a time and a place for everything and even if I had the choice between partying in Phuket or building a concrete wall to protect the orphans who live here with us, I’d choose the latter. White sand beaches or teaching the Gospel to remote hill tribes, again the latter wins. Lustful temptation or trying to talk others out of it, no contest this time around. Playing with tigers or watching elephants play soccer and throw darts?… Well, luckily I don’t have to choose there because I got to do both this afternoon.
Our living situation this month is a bit different. We live in tents but we have a huge swimming pool. We finally have nice clean bathrooms with sit-down toilets but the construction is not yet fully finished. We have the most delicious meals of the race so far with fried rice, roast chicken, fresh pineapple and donuts, but we also have the occasional roasted frog. We also have high-speed wireless internet so I can finally get all caught up on writing blogs and responding to emails. About darn time, right??? I know you guys missed me. No? Oh. Well, okay then. Be that way.
Our ministry this month has been very relaxing but a slower pace than we are used to. We are building a concrete wall to keep the children safe. That involves bending rebar, tearing down the old barbed wire fence, digging a line for concrete foundation, building the supports for the wall, laying brick, and plastering it. Today we pulled an entire tree stump out of the ground with nothing but 2 hoes, a crowbar, and a small hatchet. Whoever said that necessity is the mother of invention wasn’t lying!!! Try adding that to your workout routine. We are also giving testimonies and teaching Bible studies to the kids and teaching sports. The pool just opened so I’m hoping to get something going where I teach swim lessons and Bible studies at the same time. We are looking for whatever opportunities we can find to help this ministry grow in other ways and hoping that we can use some of what the other teams are doing to help provide a framework. There is a team in Burma working with refugees. There are a couple teams just north of us living in a bike shop doing ministry and evangelism by biking from place to place. And there are a couple of all girls teams in Chiang Mai who are working to help keep women out of sex trafficking and to provide a way out to those who are already there. By providing skills and training, they can effectively give these girls the option of whether or not they would like to continue in their current profession. Now, obviously, there is much more to it than that. I know that the sex trade is run by organized crime and various methods from coercion to debt to drugs to violence are all used to keep the girls from leaving. Nonetheless, providing an option and telling these girls about God’s love is more than enough to help change a few lives.
Now for the challenges part. I have got to admit that I’m a bit jealous of the other teams this month. Not jealous like I can’t get over it or am angry but they are doing some incredible stuff here that I’d love to be a part of. I’m one of those people who gets restless when I feel like there is so much more to do and so many more ways to help. I know that God has a plan and I know that patience is a virtue and all that other stuff but I’ve never sugar coated my feelings in any of the other blogs and I’m not going to do it now. I look at the posts of some of my teammates and get frustrated sometimes because they’re doing such incredible ministries. I know that God has us here for a reason. I love these kids to death. And I’m thankful that we are so well taken care of this month after 4 months of rice, beans, and porridge. But, I like to keep everyone aware of the current struggles each month because if all I write about is happiness and sunshine, it would be a lie. So, if I had to list my current challenge, it would be that I am not challenged enough, ironic as that may sound. I will continue to pray about it, seek peace in it, and look for other ways to be proactive.
Moving forward I’m hoping that we can breathe more life into the ministry and find more ways to remain proactive without overstepping our bounds. We are the first team here with this ministry and so therefore a lot of the problem arises from the fact that the host doesn’t know our capabilities, comfort zones, or anything else. As we establish that we are here to do whatever we can to help, I am certain that we will all continue to grow together and push one another into achieving what God has called us to.
So, no beers, no sex, but more tigers this time around and I couldn’t be any happier about the trade-off; but I hope the catchy title helped bring you here to read this blog anyway. That’s pretty much all I’ve got for now, since it’s only been a week. Our team changed slightly at the end of Nepal and we gained 3 new members and lost 3. Everything is going well and we are enjoying daily life and each other’s company.
As a big important side note, I have a BIRTHDAY coming up on May 17. We will be in a remote village with one of the hill tribes then but if you enjoy reading about this awesome adventure and would like to make me the happiest 29-year-old ever, please consider donating to my Race so that I can continue to do God’s work and learn about what He has in store for me. I am currently $3,800 away from my final deadline of $15,500 which is due July 1. I never imagined that I would even raise more than half of what I needed to do this race and had back-up plans of pulling out a small loan if needed. So, I am already overjoyed at how much funding I have received but if I can manage to raise the full $15,500 without writing any IOU’s, that would be a dream come true.
Stay tuned for more including a photo updates blog and a much overdue blog about Nepal (which was erased from the computer when I typed it online directly and tried to submit it without saving into a Word doc… rookie mistake. I’ll do pushups for that later.)
Thank you for reading. Take care and God bless,
– Dave
