Want to know the epitome of life on the race? From the time it took for us to take off from Accra, Ghana until we landed in Bangkok, Thailand, my squad had our route changed, our ministry for the month gone, and our housing for the month unknown. Instead of boarding a plane to Chiang Mai and working with the Adventures base for the month, we stayed in the Bangkok airport for 5 hours while our amazing squad leaders and logistics team scrambled to find housing for over 40 people.
Because Jesus loves us we ended up in a wonderful little hostel where our squad was able to overtake two floors of bunks, here we waited for news of what the new plan was for the month. It took a few days to adjust to “we’re not in Africa anymore, Toto!” It’s really weird having so much at our convenience; WiFi, air conditioning, and especially food… I’ve had more pad Thai and mango sticky rice than I’d like to admit.
After the initial shock of the culture wore off, we started getting antsy about knowing what we were going to be doing. At this point we still didn’t know if we were staying in Bangkok or eventually getting to Chiang Mai, and we didn’t know what we would be doing on Bangkok if we stayed. This month was supposed to be “all squad” month, instead of breaking into our teams and dispersing like we’d been doing for the past three months, we all stay together to do ministry. No one knew what that would look like if we didn’t have hosts to set us up with a ministry.
I’m not the type of person that needs much order or set plans, but even I was going a little nuts not having any idea of what would be happening the next day or what the rest of the month would look like. I can’t imagine how hard that week was for the people who do need that kind of structure and planning.
Let me switch topics for a minute and tell you what our next few months will (potentially) look like. They’re called “ATL” meaning “Ask The Lord”. This means we show up with no hosts, no rules of where to go or what to do, just ask Jesus and go where He says and do what He tells us to do. So basically, Thailand ended up being an impromptu ATL month. We were told to stay at the same hostel we’d been at so that it could still be an “all squad” month, but our ministry looks like waking up, getting into our teams, and asking God what He wants us to do that day.
So what has that looked like this month? It’s been a pretty mixed bag honestly. One day it looks like taking a day or days to pour into a stranger that God brings across our path. I’ve never really understood when people talk about God “highlighting” a person who needs to hear something from Him, but it happened over and over again to our team. Can’t even begin to tell you how freaking cool it is to “randomly” meet someone and realize that God has so much He wants to say to them, and so much that they need to hear. ATL this month has also looked like seeing the people who are really overlooked, the homeless population. My team took cold water around the city and talked (as much as possible) to people that get passed by a lot. If you know Thailand heat, you know that you can feel Jesus’s presence in a cold water bottle.
My team has also taken some tome this month to partner with a children’s home. Y’all these kids are the CUTEST. I’m not able to post pictures for the safety of them and the organization so you’ll just have to take my word for it. AIM allocates some team money to buy ministry supplies, so we were able to bless this organization with some things that they really needed.
Thailand has also been a LOT of fun. Every day feels like three days in one because we are doing SO much. I feel like I can’t see enough of Bangkok. It’s been eye opening to realize how easy it is to get distracted when there is so much available to do. But it’s also taught me a ton about finding ministry in everyday life. Adventure days and ministry days blur together because we are learning to be on the lookout all the time for the little ways to show Jesus’s love in every moment, especially the fun ones!
We only have 1 week until we’re in Malaysia starting month 5 (say whaaat??) of the race! Please pray for my team and my squad, that we would keep our eyes open to the many opportunities that God gives us to show love, and that we would be willing to say yes!
Much love from Thailand!
