Our month in Thailand has come to a close, and what a sweet month it was. I have had the incredible opportunity to watch and see how God is moving within the teams that are out here. People that have come from all different walks of life, they have given up their comforts of home, their expectations of what exactly mission work is, and they have been willing to lay down their own desires for their teams. It’s been a beautiful thing, as unity is constantly being created.
My time in Thailand so happened to consist of me being with teams in many touristy destinations, especially in the north of Thailand. As a result we have had the opportunity and privilege of meeting so many incredible people from all around the world! We have gotten to hangout, eat meals, go camping, make bonfires, play cards, go hiking, make s’mores with many of them; all while loving them and telling them about the One who loves them the most.
That’s what I love about this ‘unscripted lifestyle’, there’s no one way to tell people about Jesus. The other thing that I love is that God loves us to enjoy Him and His creation and so we get to go out and just enjoy life with His people as we reveal to them the joy that we carry as a result of Christ.
Although many of these relationships are only built on being together a few days, because tourists change cities so often, that doesn’t hinder us from continuing to talk to people, pray for them, and in some special cases plan to meet up with them again in completely different countries! (Can’t wait!)
Although we were predominently with tourists, we did also have the opportunity to befriend some of the local people which is always my favourite. One of the woman we befriended was named Mae Moon. Mae meaning Mother, because she told some of us she was our Thai mom. Some of my team mates happened to meet Mae Moon while they were trying to fill up water bottles and became instant friends. She happened to tutor 20 students English on Saturday mornings, and so one of the mornings she invited us to come over and teach her children. This was such a fun time. She later invited us over again in the evening and cooked us some traditional Thai curry and showed us such incredible hospitality! It was truly a sweet time with her.
Overall I’m just in a place of being really grateful for the opportunities that present themselves each and every day and the fact that I get to choose joy and the adventure that comes with all of that.
“There’s not a place in the world where God isn’t present. But it’s easy to lack awareness of his presence where we are.” – said by one of my squad mates.
