Oh, Thailand, how can I put you into words? How can I accurately portray what you were to me? When I speak of Thailand, it’s become so much more than just the country. It’s the people, my wonderful all-girls team, the experience of team leading, the culture, the food, etc.
Thailand was rich and full and blessed. Our time began as July ended with team formations and goodbyes to Mongolia. We flew to Bangkok and waited overnight to take a bus to Phuket for ministry. I should have recognized the favor upon us then: a rushed crew of women barely making it in time for bus departure yet arriving and embarking on a vehicle of reclining seats and snacks provided and cozy blankets. Arriving at our ministry site was similar: warm greetings from our contacts and grocery store stops and beautiful accommodations and the gift of rest.
Our time as a team, short as it may have been, was unspeakably precious. We were genuinely honest with one another, about each other but about ourselves, too. It was a month of light and celebration. We shared stories and cheered for one another and spoke new truth into old hurts and discomforts. We fervently prayed together and vocalized needs as they arose. We gave our very best in ministry and were a team that said “yes”. No one was left alone in a struggle but surrounded by a gaggle of sisters in Christ ready to offer of themselves. We each brought something different to the table and instead of encouraging division or promoting jealousy, our differences unified us. We were a body, settled and secure in our roles. Laughter was frequent and inside jokes and camaraderie arose naturally.
Our ministry contacts were nothing short of amazing. They genuinely cared for us and we were able to minister alongside one another. We partnered with Phang Nga Church and worked daily with at least one of the leadership staff. They are passionate and caring and kind. Each day, they invited us to join them in some opportunity to minister to the local community through English Camp or hospital visits or beach clean up. They included cultural experiences as well: elephant rides and visits to the Tsunami site and wading in the Indian Ocean and more delicious food experiences than you could ever fathom. They truly embodied what Thailand is known as: “the land of smiles”.
I’ve pondered how to tell the story of Thailand truthfully and it continues to come out this way: utterly slanted toward positivity. Before you think that our month was perfect, let me stop you. There were moments of unknown and plans changed at the last minute and feelings of insufficiency but the outcome was all in the way we handled it. Instead of choosing frustration, we fought for joy. Instead of thinking that we knew best or should be in control, we chose trust. Instead of differences glaring, we found commonality. It wasn’t just rose colored glasses, though. Rather than stuffing uncomfortable emotions down or avoiding challenging things, we embraced them with open arms together.
Too often, friendship with other women is viewed as utterly undesirable by women. We choose to see each other in the most unattractive light: catty and manipulative and needy and envious. We look at a group of women and see a pot-stirrer and an overly dominate one and a doormat and a wet blanket and we haul ourselves out of there as fast as humanly possible. What would it look like to embrace the differences and see each other the way that we hope others see us? If we extended grace and told the truth and chose love, how would that change things? I’ve seen the beauty and there’s no going back. From now on, I know that I’m going to crave these kind of deep friendships with a group of women. I’ve been blessed by wonderful one-on-one friendships in life and I’m in no way saying that’s not good enough. But, I’ve tasted the beauty of community and now I’ve got a craving for it.
Women, let’s be this for one another: authentic community cravers. Let’s tell each other the truth in love. Let’s celebrate our differences and allow them to draw us nearer to one another. Let’s seek out friends who aren’t the same as us and let the union be beautiful. Can we stop being girls who hate relationship with other girls and start fighting for the good in it? There’s no going back from that.
