I fell in love with Thailand the moment we got there. I never in my life even gave the country too much thought. I actually did not even really want to go there. I said in my last blog that I was disappointed to not be in the city. We spent our first week there in Chiang Mai. Every day I fell more in love with the city. The people there were amazing, the city was so busy and alive. Even the backpackers that we met were amazing.
I was sad the day we left for the village but God quickly changed that.
We were in Mae Ai, which is in north Thailand, just south of the border of Burma. It was amazing. With the fields everywhere, I sometimes thought I was back in Texas. We were working for a program called X Life, run by Lighthouse in Action. The village was Emmi's hometown (Emmi is the one who runs Lighthouse). Team Ahava broke off into pairs and we each stayed at a villager's house. It was amazing to live in their house for two weeks and build a relationship with our "moms". They lived to serve us when we were there. I couldn't wake up in the morning without breakfast being ready and my dirty clothes clean and set out to dry. It reminded me of the southern hospitality you can find in Texas.
During the day we would help with various construction jobs they had for us and helping to teach English at the school. In the afternoon, we were supposed to teach English and have a VBS for the kids, but God obviously did not want that to happen for some reason. It rained almost every afternoon or the kids did not show up. I did get to play with the kids a few times and it is amazing how easily entertained they were. They loved playing with a plastic ball on a string tied to a basketball hoop. They couldn't have been happier.
The point of X Life is to see where sex trafficking starts. The first thing I noticed was that I did not really see any teenage girls anywhere. There were pictures of them, but no girls. It was shocking knowing that people could sell their own children, especially Buddhist, who do not believe in killing even insects. We could not talk about it, as it was taboo to talk about the sex trade there, but there did seem to be a heaviness in the village, and it was obvious why that was.
It was an amazing experience to be in a village and see what Thai life is really like. God totally changed my view of the country. There is so much to be done there. It was really hard to leave because I felt like there were so many more relationships to be formed in the Mae Ai. So many people there were so close to finding the Lord. They serve others so selflessly like Jesus did, they just need to know Him.
I do wish we built a better relationship with our mom, Mea Jan. She loved and served us so much, but she also seemed very distant from us. We found out when we got back to Chiang Mai that her husband had recently died. Such a tragedy but also a perfect time to feel the love of Jesus and know that He is graceful and loves her so much.
I love Thailand so so so much. I plan on returning soon and visiting Mae Ai and seeing how God has shown himself to the people there and seeing the miracles that have taken place. God is already doing amazing things there and the people that go there through X Life will continue to build His kingdom there.
P.S. God has an amazing sense of humor. Like I said, I was disapointed at first to not live in the city or work in the coffee shop like we were supposed to. But what am I doing here in Malaysia, living in a city and working in a coffee shop. Even when I kick and scream when God has different plans than I do, He is still so graceful and will blow me away with how awesome He is.
P.P.S. I am still in need of a little under $1,700 for my next deadline on January 1st. Please consider making a donation so I can continue the Race. It has been an amazing 3 months and there is still 8 more amazing months to come.
