I don’t know what you think of when you picture a mission trip, but it probably involves a rural setting in a remote location. It probably doesn’t take place in the heart of one of the world’s largest cities with working professionals and paying customers, but this month, mine did!
Month four, my team served in Bangkok at Santisuk, an evangelical English school. Each course is one month (perfect for us) and all of the reading material is from the Bible.The lessons share the Gospel slowly and every teacher is encouraged to share their heart for Christ by build relationships and spend time with their students.
We had to look nice and show up every day to provide a product. This felt like a job to me and that felt great. I loved having a job and even more than that I loved having a job in a bustling city. My love for big cities was for sure confirmed in me this month. I knew I loved living and working in D.C., but I didn’t know if it was limited to just there.
Every night we’d walk home and cross over a beautiful bridge above the traffic and beneath the sky scrapers and every time, with out fail, I’d catch my breath. I got the feeling I can remember having when I first moved to D.C. That feeling of grateful confusion, “how did I get here?”
Photo credit Kacie Tillman
There is something so special when you’re given an opportunity to do something that makes a difference, especially when you can see the fruit of that difference and even more so when the backdrop for it all truly makes you feel alive. That is the gift I was given this month teaching English, building relationships and sharing my heart with the young professionals of Bangkok!
I relished in that gift for a few days, until the question popped into my head: Amongst so much familiarity, could change and growth still happen? Would I still learn and grow this month in a ministry so perfectly catered to my interests, preferences and comfort zone?
YES, because even though I was being called Teacher Julia for the second month in a row, the lessons were not limited to my class room and nor was I the only one doling them out.
Here are the top two.
My level four class on our last day.
While navigating the markets, busy streets and public transportation of Bangkok something fundamentally changed in me that had been building the past four months. Ministry isn’t limited to your particular assignment or specified hours of the day.
Something I saw in my squamates month one that I felt I lacked was their natural ability to build relationships with everyone around them. One thing I loved about my teammate Sarah was how she called everyone her friend. She would meet a woman at a snack stand or a security guard on the corner and tell us, hey that is my friend (insert name here) and I love talking to them. I loved this idea of expanding the word friend and pursuing all people we come into contact with as such.
Friends are people we know, care about and invest time into and that was what she was doing.
I wanted to be like that but it wasn’t something that truly became apart of my spirit until Thailand. I don’t know what changed or switched but I found myself pursuing people left and right. I would get my smoothies every day from my friend Mal, a 24-year-old who owns a shop with her mom Jade. I would get popcorn from my friend Air who has an American accent because her family is from there and her brother spent a lot of time in Boston. As often as I could, I would sit and eat lunch with a 60-year-old woman named Meow who used to work in the red-light district and now crochets dolls all day for living.
A doll Meow was working on.
I make friends everywhere I go now and I simply love to just ask people what their name is. I have seen a need for this everywhere I’ve been and this is a change that I know I will take home with me.
Another huge shift I felt in Thailand was a conviction to give more. To put it plainly, my students showered me with presents. They took constant note of the things I liked and made a point to get them for me. This included but was not limited to popcorn, clothing, a beautiful leather backpack, elephant keychains and an aroma therapy inhaler that might be addictive.
Presents aside, our students just understand hospitality on a deeper internal level that I could barely grasp. They wanted to take care of us, show us their city, share their culture, keep us safe, walk us home and treat us to everything.
My Pre-Level One class and the popcorn they gave me.
It was hard to accept this kindness at first. I kept thinking that I wouldn’t and haven’t shown this kind of kindness to my guests in the past. I don’t know why their generosity hit me so hard as I had been shown similar hospitality in the past three countries, especially in India. I was welcomed into the tiniest homes and given the very best to eat and drink and sometimes the one and only chair to sit in. I was touched by their kindness of course, but I noticed yet another shift in my spirit when I witnessed it in Thailand.
I think the difference was that I could see myself in my Thai students. We were the same age and had the same energy and spirit. They were all recent grads and young professionals – titles I have both identified with in the past. Every time they gave to me, I thought about whether or not I would have done the same if the roles had been reversed. I don’t know honestly, but I will now. They taught me about simple selfless giving; kindness for the sake of kindness.
So, Thailand was familiar. It was an environment I personally felt I could thrive in and I did. I think comfort is the enemy’s greatest tool for our destruction, so how is it that amongst so much personal comfort I still found so much fruit and growth?
The top of the tallest hotel in Bangkok for Ashley’s birthday. Photo credit Kacie Tillman
My former roommate, dear friend and former racer, Jamie put it best when she commented on a video of me doing a traditional dance in India:
“Sometimes, God stretches us, and I’m so proud of you for stepping up to the podium. Sometimes, though, God puts us right in our element, and I love Him so much for giving you that moment in your passion!”
God wants to grow and stretch us. He is always calling us out into deeper water. But sometimes that deep water can take place somewhere that feels like home. So don’t take this as an excuse to stay stagnant, but do take comfort in knowing God knows our hearts. Not only does He want to teach us lessons, but He wants to see us thrive.
