People say not to have expectations while you’re on the race. But let’s be honest, that’s pretty hard to do sometimes!
Our route had changed twice before we left the US, so I guess I expected that there would be no more changes.
Guess again!! 🙂
Two days before leaving Thailand for our next country, Myanmar, we were told that our team was going to….
LAOS!!
And we were doing…
UNSUNG HERO month again!!
I knew basically nothing about Laos (including how to pronounce the name). All I knew was it is a closed country, and we had to be careful what we talked about with the people there.
Because of those two reasons, Unsung Hero month looked very different than Nicaragua, where we did UH the fist time.
We had to be more cautious in sending emails, sharing what we are doing with others, and talking on the phone. Meeting people had to be done on the down low, and limited information was often given and/or received.
My team stayed in Ventiane, the capital city most of the month, and a lot of time was spent exploring the city, sitting in coffee shops, looking for possible connections, and spending time seeking God for direction.
Without a clear schedule and a clear focus, it was easy to become distracted and wonder why God chose Laos…
Each morning/day, one of our goals was to ATL-Ask the Lord-what He had for that day.
Most of the days, it was something like this for me:
“Live with your eyes wide open.
Love the people I put in front of you-including your team.
Don’t complicate it.
Allow me to love on you.
Don’t lose the wonder when you look at Me.”
We were able to stay in the same hostel most of the month, so that meant we got to run into people from all around the world.
Australia, France, England, Canada, Holland, Thailand, America.
We were able to meet and talk with beautiful people, working so hard for the Kingdom, despite the challenges.
We got to know different local families and faces. Before my team left Laos, we wrote all of them thank-you cards and told them what we couldn’t say in spoken words…
There was the local family who made amazing Pad Thai…
the owner of the Mini-Mart just around the corner…
…the workers at the front desk at our hostel who memorized our names…
the cleaning lady who changed our beds and towels even when it looked like our room exploded…
…and the man who ran the local French coffee shop with the amazing Greek salad and the chocolate croissants…
The people He places in front of me.
Beside me.
Around me.
{Daddy, keep my heart eyes open.}
