As we entered Month 9, I gathered with my squad in Penang, Malaysia for a debrief that ushered in the final season of our race.
I was placed on a new team, Dreamboat. I know, not a very “Christian-ese” name, but the Lord clearly had purpose for this naming (I’ll explain this throughout this blog). As our whole squad prepared to travel to Thailand, our team was told that we were being sent to Laos instead. Our set-up sheet informed us that we were going to be doing resort ministry, partnering with American Christians who manage a resort in this closed country.
Dreamboat. Top Row: Maria, Jenna, and Me; Bottom Row: Jenny, Paige, and Emma
With the changing of seasons, I really felt that it was important to invite all of you into more of our daily life on the race, and so I started vlogging (video blogging) this month. Here are some glimpses at our month!
Vlog 1: Dreamboat Gets a Canoe
It’s our first full day in Laos. Our host tells us to be ready at 6am for an adventure. We take a 5-hour drive on the back of a truck to see some caves. Then our host informs us that we actually drove all this way to buy a canoe for the resort. We take a treacherous 7-hour journey home, while sitting in the canoe that is hanging a good 10 feet off the back of the truck. Bruises emerged, tears were shed, laughter was abundant.
Amidst the craziness of that day, it was amazing to see that a team named Dreamboat was actually sent to Laos to serve our host by fulfilling a dream to bring this boat to the resort. The boat has been beautifully painted by my teammate Emma, named Dreamboat, and each of us have our name on one of the seats.
Vlog 2: Dreamboat Explores Vientiane
We take our off-day in the capital city. We visit an international church, which was an incredibly inspiring community to be invited into. The church does not have a pastor, but rather allows all of the members of the congregation to take turns leading the message and worship. Our first week there, shown in this video, we spent the whole service praying over various members of the congregation. We returned the following week and saw this community operate in incredible vulnerability and love for one another. A young German man got up to give the message on Psalm 22, and as he was speaking the words, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me,” he broke down in tears over some betrayal that happened in the last country he served in and his father’s failing health. Rather than finish his sermon, all of the men and women of God in the room jumped into action and began to pray over him. Then the church was releasing a family to go serve in another country, and we heard a woman sing a prayer over her best friend, crying as she thanked God that she would be reunited with her in heaven. Such a powerful picture of the body of Christ loving each other as we are called to love. Even when seasons change, God’s love remains. He is constant even when our lives are full of instability.
Vlog 3: Dreamboat Gets to Work
Sometimes ministry is manual labor. Sometimes we don’t actually share the word of God, but ministry is showing love through our actions. By serving the Christians at the resort through physical tasks, we set an example and act as the light of Christ to the other workers at the resort.
Vlog 4: Dreamboat Makes Its Theatrical Debut
You are probably wondering why we even chose the random name, Dreamboat. It all started in Botswana, when my teammates Paige and Jenna jokingly said that they wanted to release a musical album under the band name “Dreamboat,” with all the songs named for the weird quotes and situations that come up on the World Race. Maria was going to be the lyricist, and I was going to be the band manager. Then all four of us were placed on the same team, along with Emma, a professional musician, and Jenny, a secret tap dancing wonder. We had to be named Dreamboat. Once our host discovered all of the musical and dance talents on our team, he asked us to create a musical production for a local primary school. We created an hour-long production on “love,” pointing gently to the Father’s love without openly preaching or evangelizing. Enjoy.
Vlog 5: Dreamboat’s Typical Saturday
Kids ministry, English club, and a trip into the city. The norm.
Vlog 6: Dreamboat Begins Pi Mai Celebrations
Pi Mai is the celebration of the Lao New Year. We start the holiday by taking our musical on tour and playing games with English students. We return to the resort to work at the floating restaurant, because the resort was expecting over 1000 guests to show up for the holiday. All hands on deck.
Vlog 7: Dreamboat Enters the Water Fight
Pi Mai continues. People go crazy. Water is thrown everywhere. Our host takes us into Vientiane to experience the fullness of the festivities.
Vlog 8: Dreamboat Unveils the Dreamboat and Goes Fishing
The unveiling of the completed dreamboat. Dreamboat finishes our time in Laos with some brutal fish murders and a goodbye/birthday celebration.
I hope all of these videos give you an idea of what our life is like on the race. I am going to keep vlogging through Cambodia and Vietnam, so stay tuned!
Thank you so much for continuing to intercede for my team and I in prayer. I will be posting several more blogs shortly—the seasons have been changing so quickly and the Lord has been teaching me so much! At the end of April we traveled to Chiang Mai, Thailand where I was able to spend a week with my parents. Then we traveled to Siem Reap, Cambodia for a 2-day conference entitled, “The Cambodia Awakening.” I am now in Battambang, Cambodia for month 10 of the race. I can’t wait to share more about these last few weeks with you all. Thank you again for your support!
