Our team has been in Thailand for one week now, and I’m really digging this country. Currently we are based just a few hours outside of Chiang Mai in a small and tranquil town by the name of Mae Chaem. This month for ministry we are professional painters, meaning we’re up and ready in our painting clothes everyday at 9:00 am, and we keep going until evening when the sun begins to set in the sky. Our host has been working for years to build a new church and home from the ground up and is now at the final stages. We’ve been paining everything. Fences. Church exteriors. Home interiors. Guesthouses. Everything. But I’ve been having a blast with this ministry, especially since it has given me a chance to chat it up and get to know my brand new team (Yeah, I’m on a new team now! See below for all the details).
When we aren’t professional painters we are teachers of the word in nearby villages. A few days ago we all stuffed into the back of a pickup truck and drove three or so hours through the bumpy, dusty, and hilly forest roads to a village on the border of Thailand and Burma. The drive was absolutely gorgeous, but everyone was pretty queasy and sore from being tossed around the truck as it twisted and turned and bounced its way to our destination. Our only break from the crazy ride was when we were briefly stopped by a family of water buffalo who were blocking the road. The village was beautiful. The people had huge smiles and gentle hearts. They were adorned in intricately hand woven clothes and colorful beaded jewelry. They live simply there. The homes were constructed from bamboo, and contained just a couple rooms, but their doors were wide open to us—we ate four dinners and two breakfasts in the few short hours we were there. The roads were paved with red dirt and cows, pigs, chickens and dogs roamed freely. At sundown we all met in the one humble church building and worshipped in candlelight. A couple of us shared testimonies and messages of from the bible before we prayed over a few Karen individuals. At the end of the service we walked back to our tents as we awed at the millions of shining stars above us. I can’t wait to see what the rest of this month entails, and how God will work in the lives of the Karen people and my team.
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As some of you know my final financial deadline for the World Race was on January 31st 2018. I was about $4500 short of meeting my $18,017 requirement to stay on the Race at that point. But a HUGE thanks to all your help, I am now only $1,200 away from being fully funded and I was given a one-month grace period to continue fundraising in hopes of becoming fully funded. My new deadline is February 28th 2018.
If only twelve people donate just $100 I will be fully funded! Don’t have a hundred bucks? No problem. Rally up 4 friends and donate $20 each. Seriously, any amount is a huge blessing…even $1.
Also, I just so happen to be working on sending out some postcards right now. If you want a postcard from me in your mailbox, you can click on “Donate” at the top right side of this page and give $11 to my World Race fund. Just make sure to include your address!
Guys, let’s get me fully funded! I believe we can do it! Thanks in advance y’all!
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Team changes happened for our Squad just over a week ago. As hard as it was to leave my first team (Shout Out to my Agua Viva girls!!! Love ya!) team changes are a reality of the Race and of life. And my new team is pretty great too. I’m on a co-ed team (praise God!) with four guys and two other girls. I’m super hyped to be a part of this team for what this new season is going to bring.
Our team name is “Married With Kids”. We may or may not be inspired by the Waltons and we also may or may not each individually say goodnight to each other every evening when we go to bed.
So here they are:
Left to Right: Jon, Matt, Tim, Zach, Kelsey (Jon’s wife), Jaivie, and Me.
Stay tuned for a more indepth blog on who these kids are.
