Hi Friends and Family,
We made it to our ministry in Thailand! I have made 2 blog posts and since I will only have wifi once a week, I thought I would just post them both at the same time. I wrote them a few days apart but I wanted to fill you in about the travel days and debrief and also a lot of things I’ve been learning from month 1!
Post #1 (written October 4th):
I can’t believe that it’s already time to serve the Lord in Thailand! We left our ministry host on the 27th and traveled 5 hours to Siem Reap to break up our travel days. We stayed there for 2 nights and saw Angkor Wat, which was SO beautiful!We then traveled 10 hours to Bangkok for our team debrief, where our mentor, Alissa, led sessions to unpack everything that had happened in our time in Cambodia. She is so wise and had so many encouraging words and pointers for us to take with us to Thailand! Bangkok had lots of ups and downs for my team and I, but it definitely brought us all closer! Some of the highlights were ordering pizza every night, sleeping in comfy hostel beds for a few nights, and going to cafés with cats and zoo animals! I’m seriously so grateful for these past few days to rest and reenergize so I can give my all to our new ministry.
Our first few days here have been amazing! We got here after an 11 hour bus ride and 2 hour taxi ride! All of the girls greeted us with bunches of wildflowers and hugs—my heart melted. The next day we woke up and met all of the girls (there’s about 40 of them) and our host. We played games with them for hours and it was so much fun. They also braided our hair and put lots of flowers and leaves in our hair. Again, they’re so precious! These girls seriously have hearts of gold and it’s been less than 48 hours and I already love them so much.
So far, Thailand is much cooler than Cambodia! There’s lots of breeze and it’s less humid, which my teammates and I love. It looks like we will be having a more structured schedule here with worship in the mornings, followed by games and English class and then dinner and worship again. The girls will be leaving for holiday towards the end of our stay here, so we will be doing manual labor and possibly going to visit other villages. I’m so excited to dive into this ministry!
I will also not have a ton of access to wifi these next 2 months. In Cambodia, we had to walk to the guest house to access it, but here we will only have it on our off days each Saturday. I’m excited to have no distractions during my time here, but I will also miss talking to friends and family.
Post #2 (written October 7th):
I wanted to share what I’ve learned during debrief in Bangkok and in the last few days of our ministry in Cambodia.
Alissa, our team mentor, spent the 4 days in Bangkok pouring her wisdom out to us and having one-on-one time with us. She seriously is so wise and I’m so grateful that she share her story and wisdom with us. My one-on-one meeting with her was very eye opening for me. There was something in my past that I thought I had fully healed from and as I started talking about it, it was clear that there was still some healing to be done. She encouraged me to fully let Jesus into my heart and to not figure it out on my own. She reminded me that He wants to walk with me through this and that He can heal all wounds.
During one of our sessions, we did a prophecy activity. If you’ve been reading my past blogs, you would know that reoccurring themes in prophecy circles for me are flowers and the color yellow/ sunshine. Half of our team stood in a line with their eyes closed and the other half picked someone to stand in front of. I stood in front of my teammate, Hannah, and the first thing she said was no surprise: a bouquet of flowers and then you guessed it, sunshine! God over and over again keeps reminding me of my growth since the start of my race and even the growth I’ve had since the beginning of my walk with Him. God is breaking down walls and changing my heart in ways I didn’t think would be possible. Vulnerability is not one of my strengths, but He has blessed me with incredible teammates and leaders that have been willing to hear some of the deepest parts of my heart. Emotions I had never planned on sharing have been brought out and so much life and truth have been spoken over everything.
We did an activity one night where on one side of the paper we wrote things we didn’t like about ourselves/ false things that have been spoken over us. We then flipped over the paper and had every teammate write positive things that speak truth. I was overwhelmed with everything written on my paper and absolutely filled with joy. The girls I get to do life with are amazing and serving the Lord with them is so incredible.
Since coming to Thailand, I’ve been spending a ton of time reading my Bible and praying. I’m becoming so close with God and He feels closer than ever. Our porch has the most beautiful view of the mountains and it’s perfect to watch the sun set. I’ve been in awe of God’s beauty and how perfect the land He created is. As of today, we have 50 days left in our ministry. I’ve been away from home for 41 days, which is absolutely crazy! These past 41 days have been so life changing and I’m not the same person I was when I arrived at training camp in Georgia. I was scared, anxious, fearful, and not fully trusting in God’s plan for me. Now, I’m listening to God closely, I’m at peace, and I’m walking in confidence of the person God created me to be. God continues to shape and mold me in so many ways and I’m so grateful for the slow and steady growth I’ve achieved. He’s already done so much in the first month and at debrief and I’m so excited to have 50 more days of growth.
Please pray that our team’s time will be fruitful and we can continue to build relationships with the sweet girls. Also, I happened to sprain my foot and need to uses crutches for 2 weeks, so please pray for a speedy recovery so I can jump back into doing all of the ministry projects!
Thank you for your continued prayers and support!!
Blessing,
Natalie
