Before I get into the details of this month, I wanted to make you all aware of the latest team changes. We had our month 7 squad debrief a the beginning of April and it included our third round of team changes. I spent months 1-4 with Sculptor’s Seven, 5-7 with Ascension and will now hopefully finish out the Race with my new team, the Green Light Squid Farmers. Ha! The story behind how we chose this name is too long to summarize here (but involves the numerous green lights we saw coming from the squid farming boats every night across the ocean in Pattaya), and it also doesn’t make the name any less ridiculous or random. Still, it somehow oddly fits our quirky and lighthearted team quite well 🙂 It is my first co-ed team on the Race as we have 3 guys and 3 girls, including myself. I was not sure how I felt about being on a guy’s team at first, but now that we have all been together for a week or so now, I think it’s perfect! There is a really cool dynamic with it being both guys and girls. Everyone seems so at ease with one another and I love how supportive and unified we already are. I think this is a great team to finish the Race with, and I’m very excited for what we all bring to the table. You can check out my new teamies on the left hand side of my blog.
Country: Thailand
City: Mae Sot
Language: Thai
Currency: Baht (conversion rate is 35 baht to $1)
Time difference: 11 hours ahead of EST
Weather: We are here during one of the hottest seasons, so the temps have ranged from a low of 75 (at night) to a high of 106. As I type this, it is 10:30am and already 90! We walk and bike everywhere, so within a few minutes of walking outside (and often while inside), we are covered in sweat. Though we can definitely feel the heat and sweat through our clothes daily, I can also tell just how much our bodies have adjusted to the higher temps. My first winter back home is going to be brutal.
Local meal eaten recently: One of our favorite local restaurants in town is called Casa Mia and it serves up all kinds of delicious thai dishes, few of which I can name. We typically get individual rice and then order up several various dishes to share among ourselves. Some examples of recent items ordered include a yellow curry and potato dish, panang curry (pictured below), beef and greens dish, cashew chicken, etc. I have not had a single thing from there that I have not loved yet!
Panang Curry
Living conditions: Our ministry host has teams in all the time to help with different projects, so they have a guest housing building solely for teams to stay in, which is sweet! It’s one of the few months on the Race where our teams are staying in a location by ourselves, which really does make a difference. You just feel like you have a small space all to yourself in the evenings, in which you can more fully relax and decompress. Our team has joined with another one on our squad for this month, so the 13 of us are all together.
Our guest house is a 3 story building with the first floor containing the garage filled with bikes (which we are able to use for free this month) and a kitchen and dining area. The 2nd floor is where the boys stay and the 3rd is for us ladies. We all have bunk beds and one bathroom/shower per floor. There is A/C available in the bedrooms only, which is optional as we have to pay for it each day we use it. I am rooming with Amy and Anna, the two girls on my team and we all quickly decided that the A/C was money well spent! It’s amazing how much the temperature really does affect your sleep quality.
Our 2 teams have combined our food budget so that we can purchase groceries and cook a majority of our meals on our own. This is sometimes tricky depending on the ministry day, so we are still playing this by ear. Luckily, you can go get a full dish of food at a local place for like $2, which is great! Amy and I also found this awesome little coffee stand where you can get a huge iced latte (very well made at that) for $1! Praise!
My team ministries: We have the privilege of being with Outpour Movement this month. Their mission is to transform, disciple, employ, and empower the children and young adults of oppressed people groups who transcend the Thai and Burma border. It has been incredible to see the dreams God has placed in each of the staff here, and how He has made them come to fruition over time, bringing more and more people into the fold. I love that they have not stopped after meeting one need here or one goal there, but continue to seek out God’s vision and heart for these people and how they can be a part of transforming lives in this part of the world. Check out a video they made recently regarding their future plans and needs:
Here is a picture of the staff here:
Our main contacts here are Tanna (4th from the left), Ray, who started this movement (3rd from the right standing beside his wife, Candice) and Michael (far right).
3 of the current staff members were former Racers, and they take WR teams all the time, so they have a great understanding of where we are at and do a great job of speaking into that. Another special thing about the staff here is how involved they are with all of us, whether it be joining in on whatever project we are working on that day to spending 2 hour lunches with us discussing our dreams and goals.
My team has been dubbed the jack of all trades this month as we will be involved in all types of different projects while here, from digging holes for fence posts to organizing the guest housing space to helping with youth events and church. We have been given the chance to share our testimonies, lead worship, share the Word and more in the first week alone. We are going into Burma (now known as Myanmar) tomorrow to take part in the aid efforts going on there, which I’m so very excited about! I never thought I’d get the chance to see Burma, especially not during my Race, so this is a really special surprise!
Interesting fact: There is a huge annual festival taking place right now (April 13-15) called Songkran, which celebrates the New Year here. It is covered in different symbolic traditions, most of which originated within the Buddhist religion. For example, pouring water on Buddha statues is considered an iconic ritual for this holiday – it represents purification and the washing away all of their sins and bad luck. The holiday is now known for its iconic water festival which is mostly celebrated by young people. Major streets are closed for traffic, and are used as arenas for water fights. Celebrants, young or old, participate in this tradition by splashing water on each other in a variety of methods: water guns, buckets, water balloons, kiddie pools, etc. I got hit several times during my short bike ride to this coffee stand this morning, from a young boy chasing me down with a water gun to a group of teens in the back a truck. It’s pretty hilarious to walk or ride down the street knowing that at any moment, you can be drenched in water from complete strangers. I plan on picking up some supplies and taking to the streets later today to get in on the fun myself!
The other team with us this month, Intrepid, gearing up for Songkran
Another thing which is very common in this area (due to the proximity to the Burmese border) is thanaka, a yellowish-white cosmetic paste made from ground bark. It is a distinctive feature of the culture of Myanmar, commonly applied to the face and sometimes the arms.
The Thai culture is very modest and as such, the dress code is more restrictive than any of my other months on the Race. Your bra straps can not show at all (which can be difficult with sports bras) and for ministry, neither can your shoulders or knees. Even if just walking around the neighborhood, you can not wear a tank top or leggings that are not fully covered by a long shirt or tunic. So, I have learned to get creative this month, especially since my clothes need to be washed after just one day.
What surprised me: Yesterday, Ray (the leader of Outpour) took my team out to the Burma/Thai border here and showed us what the locals call no man’s land. It is a small stretch of land right at the middle of the border (which is not considered to be a part of either country) where 200+ people live in complete poverty, with homes made out of scraps of wood. These people have no real home, job or future. Many resort to selling drugs or other illegal items near the border in order to obtain food. It continues to surprise and sadden me to see how many people fall into the cracks due to a lack of resources and strong central government.
On the outside, they appear to be hopeless, and even forgotten. However, I know that God sees them and that his heart breaks. As Joe, one of my teammates stated, this is the kind of place where Jesus would be spending his time if he were in this country. These are the people that God wants to send Christians to come alongside and bring hope and love to.
No man’s land (photo credit: Amy Spicer)
No man’s land (photo credit: Amy Spicer)
Off day opportunities: Our off days are a bit more limited this month due to the brevity of our time here as a result of debrief earlier this month and PVT (parent vision trip) at the end. However, most of us already hit up this random water park filled with inflatable obstacles and slides.
We had an absolute blast and most of us ended up with a few injuries after a full day of having our bodies slammed, twisted and bashed against objects and others. The Race definitely keeps showing me the value of letting go and enjoying every silly moment presented. Our next excursion before half of the group leaves for PVT will be to a nearby waterfall.
