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We are currently living in Nondcupca, Thailand. It is a small village in the northeastern province (the poorest in Thailand) and the closest city is called SisaKet. This has definitely been a step up from the jungle. I wish I could explain how excited my team was when we learned we had a toilet. The only thing we are still dealing with is the heat and the bugs. Within our first four days we’d already killed two centipedes and a scorpion in the house we are living in.

We are blessed to live with a family, the only Christian family in this village. Mom and Dad (that’s what we call them) and Katie (a YWAM missionary originally from Alaska) are our housemates. Mom and Dad’s daughter, Rat, and her kids have stayed with us as well although they live in the city. Rat was the first one to become a Christian and several years ago married a missionary named Casey who hails from the great state of Ohio! It’s been fun to have everyone around and a great thing to have Katie, Rat and Casey all as translators. We have been so blessed being here this month and getting to really know this family.

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One of the first days we were here, we all piled into the truck and went down to the village soccer tournament to watch some of the games. Several villages had gathered for this and there were several hundred people there. We went expecting to meet a few people that Dad knew, sit on the sidelines and watch some soccer. Instead, we were given the best seats in the house and some cold water to drink while we enjoyed the game. The whole time we were there I could see Dad talking to a bunch of people but this was all happening in Thai so we didn’t have a clue what he was saying. Dad is an outgoing, fun-loving guy and I’m sure he would have us laughing all the time if we could understand what he was saying. This still doesn’t stop him from constantly trying to teach us Thai words or songs. So we sat and enjoyed the game, even if we still were a little unsure of what we were doing or what was really going on.

Once we arrived home for lunch, Rat told us what our presence had really meant at the soccer tournament. Dad, and this family, are the only Christians for miles. The percent of Christians in Thailand in the northeast region is 0.15% and we can feel that being out here. And Dad feels it every day. There’s been some persecution from friends and people who think the whole family has just gone crazy. But on this day, Dad could feel incredibly proud. He had 10 Americans who had come all this way to back him up. We, just by showing up and going with Dad, gave him a great amount of credibility. All of a sudden, he could really hold his head up and say, “these people have come all this way to support me.” And others noticed.

Since then, there have been several opportunities for us to go out into the surrounding villages and simply be there to support Dad. We have gone to a rocket rain dance parade and the park where they shoot off all the rockets. And we have also participated in some relay games in the rain (which was hilarious, by the way…)

To see some video footage of what we’ve done this first week at ministry, check out my teammate, Brook’s blog at http://brookarmistead.theworldrace.org.