Hello to the 37 days that I’ve lived in Thailand and the growth, bold faith, tears, sweat and JOY that have filled every ounce of each day. Each one has played an important and beautiful part in the learning I’m experiencing. Each day has launched me into this all-in leap to seek after the Lord. The vastness of my experiences, emotions and even prayers are abounding- to the point that if I were to hand you my nearly-filled journal, it would not fully encompass everything. I am required to blog once a week… my apologies for not! It’s not that I want to hide my experiences from you- I have just needed time to sit in Chiang Mai and live and serve without an audience. Before getting into posts about things im learning or sharing beautiful moments, I wanted to just share the basics of life here: the who, what, when, where, and the smells, sounds, tastes and sights!
WHO:
I’m living with around 40 other young adults who are about my age. We are accompanied by 4 alumni team leaders-beautiful women of the Lord who just completed their own world race in May and are staying with us for 3 months-and three squad leaders who will be with us the entire duration of the race.
Among those 40ish other racers, are 6 amazing ladies who make up my team named Ahava. I’ll write another blog later to show you their lovely faces and tell you all about these sweet gals and the heart of our team!
WHEN:
We arrived in Thailand on the 11th of September at 11:30 at night. Thailand is 12 hours ahead of where I live in Iowa. When coming here, we did a bit of time travel-skipping tuesday because God decided to make time work in ways that blow my mind. We have been here 37 full days, which includes; three and a half weeks of ministry and a week long rest and refocus we call debrief. We will be in Thailand until early November.. Meaning only 10 days left of ministry here, HOW CAN THAT BE?? It has gone by so fast.
WHERE:
We live in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Our hostel is located on a busy street, just kitty-corner from the Street Market that opens at 6 each night to sell all sorts of delicious Thai food. I swear that each hour, the music that they play gets louder and lasts until midnight at least. Across the alley is a mall that has a grocery story, food court, and a McDonald’s that sells 18 TBH (about $0.60) dipped cones which were a regular go to the first few weeks being here.
On every street there are multiple coffee shops which has been a BLESSING to say the least. Also on every street, just about, is at least one massage parlor-that we can talk about later.
Around the corner from our hostel is the Night Bizarre-a giant market that is set up and torn down daily of booth after booth selling jewelry, clothing, handmade treasures, art, fruit, almost everything you are looking for- after searching hard enough- you could find there.
My team has been placed to do ministry at Wildflower Home- about a 25 minute drive from our hostel.
WHAT:
Wildflower Home is a safe house for women and their children to live when coming out of oppressive and unsafe situations. For the most part this home sustains itself. They raise chickens, pigs, geese, and fish. There is a banana field, and a few gardens. The women make clothes, soap, notebooks and other goods to sell. It’s a pretty sweet gig they have going there- like a little haven. Our role in being there is to assist the women in their outdoor work. Two weeks in, I wrote in my journal a recap of our experience:
“Today is the end of my second week of ministry. So far we have helped tear up two gardens- harvest some veggies, planted trees and herbs, removed so many weeds, moved 18 or so truckloads of dirt, shoveled, carted, and spread two layers of gravel for their driveway. We have played with kids, cleaned out a mushroom house [rows upon rows of stacked plastic bags that create a conducive environment for mushrooms to grow and be harvested], filled in a swampy ditch. We have shared 10 meals, 6 snacks, taken naps and spent a lot of time praising, praying & diving into the word.”
In the next blog, I’ll share more about what ministry looks like and has taught me.
SOUNDS:
Thai is the language spoken here. The phrases,”Kawpkoon caa” -thank you- and “Sawatdee caa” -hello- are heard most commonly.
I mentioned the street in front of our hostel.. NOISY vehicles are a prevalent sound. When walking down the street, the familiar beep beep of sungtaeuws (red trucks used as taxis) lets you know that they can give you a ride to wherever you need to go.
The music from the market- a mix of a live singer playing a similar set of western songs each night and early 2000’s bops.
The shriek that starts each one of sister Lena’s laughs at ministry!
TASTE:
Here I’m just going to list my favorite Thai dishes!
Pad Thai from the night market
Green curry with rice and egg omelet
Homemade coconut ice cream at ministry
Fresh fruit: longan, rambutan, baby bananas, dragon fruit, coconut, mango
Veggie Pho that they serve at ministry
Freshly harvested and lightly fried mushrooms
Thai food is much less sweet than in the United States and equipped with a more tangy, spicy, herb-filled taste. White rice is served with 85% of meals and egg is in most of those dishes as well. Coffee and fruit smoothies are readily available most places, however, opposed to the States its on served one size. Also the doughnuts served at Big C (the grocery store) are arguably more delicious than those at Casey’s- just putting that out there!
TOUCH:
SWEAT. The kind that is nonstop and runs down your face and neck and soaks your shirt through.
It’s the cooler season here due to ~frequent~ rain storms which brings the temperature down from unbearable to just plain hot.
Calloused hand from a constant work task of digging or hoeing.
Little hands playing with your hair and holding your hand-pulling you to whatever it is they want to show you.
SIGHTS:
Beautiful, luscious, exotic plants in front of every store.
Giant smiles from every Thai person you greet.
Golden and colorful temples and spirit houses.
Monks wrapped in their orange robes.
Rows and rows of tables covered in jade and gems and hand-painted canvases.
Beauty in the sun and buildings and the fact that this is real life- that this is a land that Jesus loves so much and I am living in it.
