Written: 12.7.10
Hey family and friends,
So, I just made it to Chaing Mai, Thailand. We left Nairobi, Kenya on December 3rd and flew to Bangkok, Thailand via a short layover in Doha, Qatar. Our squad stayed at a YWAM base in Bangkok for a few days in order to orient ourselves with Thai culture. I cannot begin to express how excited I am to be here in Thailand. It is a country I have always dreamed of visiting, and now I am finally here! The Thais are a beautiful people with an amazing culture. It might be hard to get me to leave.
We’re doing MANistry this month. This means all the guys on our squad are coming together as a team in order to serve a specific ministry. Our ministry is at a couple female orphanages in the countryside near Chaing Mai. There are about 30 young girls at each orphanage, and they’re considered “high-risk” possibilities for being trafficked through the sex-trafficking industry. Though, some have already experienced such abuse. Keep these girls in your prayers, please.
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Written: 12.13.10
These girls are amazing.
We have lunch and/or dinner every workday with the girls at the orphanages, and every encounter with them blows my mind. They are so much fun! After eating cabbage and chicken over steamed rice, the girls proceeded to teach us all kinds of teeny-bopper asian games. We played some form patty-cake in a circle with a bunch of people. “Don’t let the tigers get the cows and bite them in the neck” has also been a hit game the past couple days.
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Written: 12.15.10
I believe love can make any cultural barrier nonexistent, and love is my main pursuit with these girls. And, I’m not just being cheesy and cliche. Love truly melts the illusion that we are somehow separate from those who seem different from us. We get to decide how quickly such an illusion melts. I can choose to stay separate from those who are different from me throughout my whole life, and I can justify my position by defining the differences between myself and “them.” When I have set up my exclusive ideology, my uniqueness becomes right and their uniqueness makes them inferior. And, when they are less than I, it’s just a matter of time before they become an object of ridicule a
What if we didn’t fall into this cycle anymore? What if we sat everyone up as more holy than ourselves? What would happen?
I think greater things…things like humanity has never before seen…even Kingdom.
I believe Kingdom is happening between a random group of 13 twenty-something American males and young Thai girls….and I love it.
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Written 1.10.11
A few thoughts on my time in Thailand:
Simply…I love Thailand and her people.
It was one of the most memorable times of my life.
I miss Pim, Noot, Dang, Lilac, Som, Mew and the rest of the girls at Remember Nhu.
Slashing and burning an overgrown field with a machete and flint stick was one of the MANliest things I’ve ever done.
I remember my parasite medication almost killing me. Not awesome. But, as it was killing me, my bud, Salley prayed for me and my headache went away…instantly. It was awesome/weird, like Jesus put warm honey in my brain. Thank you Daddy.
I spent Christmas morning with the girls. We exchanged gifts and ate rice together. I remember sitting underneath one of the awnings and eating oranges with the girls which proceeded into an orange peel fight. It was a sweet time. Then I spent Christmas evening in downtown Chaing Mai with the guys and some of the girls from our squad. The girls were working at a coffee shop called Wongen (it’s a mission set up to help bring girls out of the sex trade), so there we ate Thai take-out that night. Christmas memories.
During one off day, Salley, Beckman, Garrett and I rode motorcycles up Doi Suthep mountain to Doi Suthep Wat (a historical buddhist temple overlooking Chaing Mai). Jonathan hit the temple bell with his motorcycle helmet. It was loud.
12 baut (30 cent) McDonald’s soft serve was regularly ingested. Don’t judge.
The night bazar, sunday market, Lighthouse (girl’s hostel), Wongen, the moat around the city, wind in my face (reference to the motorcycle riding…don’t worry mom and dad…i was careful), bar street (sex trafficking ministry), Aroon Roi restaurant (best Thai chicken and potato curry ever!) are all a beautiful montage of downtown Chaing Mai in my brain.
…yea, there are so many more memories, but we’ll leave it there for now.
Oh, and guess what. I am going back next month to work with the girls from Remember Nhu and bar street…..again! Holler.
Much love. Keep praying.
