When I was in Thailand in 2013 I was working with an organization that had great intentions and great ideas but sort of lacked the opportunities for me to really plug in. I left Thailand feeling frustrated and discouraged because I KNEW that there was so much work to be done and so many people desperate for help and for truth. I confused my frustrations with my trip with indifference towards a country and that was a huge mistake. Needless to say, I was hesitant about spending my first month of the World Race in Thailand; but, any expectations that I had were shattered within my first 24 hours back in Thailand. I had such a blast training and launching with my squad in Chiang Mai. It was so different from what I remembered. Everything seemed more alive! The lights seemed brighter, the streets seemed more packed, and there was almost some sort of buzz in the air. I loved every second of it and was really sad to learn that we would be heading out of the city and traveling to rural villages to do our last week of ministry.
My team partnered with another team, team Overcome, for ministry in a village called Mai Ai. It was about a 4.5 hour drive from the city on steep, windy roads. There were several times that I was so absolutely positive that our bus would tip over that I would mutter under my breath, “oh, Lord, here it comes” or “hold on to your butts,” but God is good and we made it in one piece. Alright, enough of the logistics. Now let me paint you a picture.
This village was one of the most beautiful places that I’ve ever seen. It was little more than a cluster of houses surrounded by mountains and rice fields but it was also so much more than that. It was exquisite and charming and full of life. The way the setting sun reflected out over the water in the rice fields was incredible. There just wasn’t enough time in the day to look at the beautiful surroundings.
I was blessed to be able to stay in a small house with a host and four of my squadmates. In the mornings we worked out in the rice fields and in the afternoons we counted down the minutes until the kids came home from school. We were only there for a couple days but it felt like home away from home. While staying with her, we were able to develop the most hilarious and adorable relationship with our host mom. She went out of her way to take care of us whether that looked like cooking for us, tucking our mosquito net under our sleeping pads, or sprinting ahead of us to turn on the lights in the bathroom for our late-night squatty potty episodes. She reminded me so much of my own sweet mom that it both made me homesick and eased the homesickness. I don’t even know if that’s a thing but it happened.
Anyway, I know it doesn’t sound wildly exciting but it was an amazing week and it would not be right to keep it all to myself. If there’s one thing I learned that week it was to take the time to really look at where you are. I mean, REALLY look around and drink everything in like it will be the last time you ever see it. I have no idea where God will ask me to go in my life after the race, but I know there’s a huge chance that I’ll never see some of these places again so I want to look at these places that way. I just want to remember everything about it because there is so much worth remembering.
