This is my first blog in a while and it comes to you straight from Bangkok, Thailand! In many places in Thailand it is customary to remove your shoes before entering an establishment, this is why I am writing this blog barefoot, sitting in a neon orange leather chair at an internet cafe with very high-speed internet. After only a day here, it feels different. The time difference plays part of it, I am writing this blog in the afternoon and it will be waiting for you when you wake early to start the day I am finishing. The language difference is also very noticeable. Transactions at the grocery and the process of purchasing SIM chips for the squad’s phones were much more interesting than they were during my time in Latin America. Even saying hello is more complicated than a simple, Hola! The weather is hot and humid, enough to make walking into a place with air conditioning feel like the blissful release of an unrealized burden. For the first time in my life, I feel like I am someplace completely foreign, and it is awesome.
I had gotten comfortable in Latin America. I was getting better at the language, I understood the culture and I was able to effectively communicate and operate in public there. I was well on my way to what could have been a complete transition there, but that wasn’t why I was there. My time there was temporary. It was for a set duration and the last month in El Salvador, as pleasant as it was, seemed as though it couldn’t end quickly enough. Like I said, I had gotten comfortable. I had been to hundreds of Spanish church services, sang hundreds of Spanish songs, eaten tons of rice and beans and was ready to either take things to the next level and live there or leave for my next part of the world. Since staying wasn’t a desire nor opportunity at the time, it was time to move on. As the month continued, I began to get more and more excited for Thailand.
Our ministry in Thailand is exciting. Tomorrow night we will be travelling south by bus to the city of Phuket (pronounced pu-ket). There we will be working with a group called SHE Thailand (http://www.shethailand.org/). SHE stands for Self Help Empowerment and is a ministry that focuses on the many prostitutes in the city’s bars. Thailand is known internationally as a destination for sex-tourism and many women are trapped in the industry with no foreseeable way out. A life motto my dad has ingrained in my brother and I since we were little is that, “There is always a way out,” and for the prostitutes of Phuket, SHE strives to be that way out. With work opportunities and education, SHE teaches the women their value as a daughter of God and then teaches them how to use that to support themselves and their families. SHE is working to start a hospitality management school so that the women can gain the accreditation necessary for the highly sought after resort jobs of the area. The ministry also has a jewelry making business that provides the women with safe, well-paying work making jewelry. I am very excited to work with this quickly growing ministry for the month!
Thanks for reading!
-Jeff
