(this is what I sent out via email to my supporters…I thought it encompassed a lot of what we’ve done and what we’re going to do, so you might like to read it on here as well.)
Hi from Thailand! I’m sure you’ve all been wondering what my teammates and I have been up to these last two months since I left home, so hopefully this newsletter will help you understand some of the ministry and fun stuff we’ve been doing.
I left Michigan on August 30 to drive down to Georgia for pre-trip training, and stopped in Indy to see a friend along the way and in Lookout Mountain, GA to pick up my sister Lisa for the last couple hours of my drive. I spent 6 days training with part of the September team and most of next January’s world race team, listening to speakers and doing team building activities and practical application to what we were learning. Then, for the next 10 days, the whole September team trained together, doing a lot of tweaking of our small teams (mine didn’t change at all) and figuring out what this “world race lifestyle” was that we were about to embark on.
On September 15 we flew from Atlanta, GA to Bangkok, Thailand, where we spent about 4 days adjusting to the time change, adjusting to the climate (it’s been pretty hot so far…we’re praying for cooler weather in the Philippines and China), and learning about Thailand in general and our ministry sites in particular. My team, Beloved One, left Bangkok on an overnight bus to a city called Buriram, in Northeastern Thailand, on the night of the 20th. We jumped right in to ministry the next morning, leaving to do an English camp at a school 2 hours away at 7am (after arriving at our site at about 4am). Our main ministry in Thailand was the Tree of Life Orphanage, run by Roger and Phong (pronounced “pong”) Walker – we did a lot of painting and cleaning and planting and organizing for them. We also did a few English camps and participated in a couple church services. We spent a lot of time playing with the kids there as well, just loving on them and building relationships with them. We also did a few fun things in Thailand: elephant rides, visited a silk village and watched women weave beautiful silk pieces, and did an overnight visit to a beautiful national park about 4 hours away from Buriram. At the end of our time in Thailand, we met up in Bangkok with all the June and September racers for a short debrief – we shared with each other about our ministries for the month and had a day to relax and spent a little bit of time learning about Cambodia.
On October 11 we left for Cambodia…it was a 4 1/2 hour bus ride to the Thai/Cambodia border, a couple hours at the border while we waited for our visas and ate lunch, and then another 8 hours on a bus from the border to Phnom Penh. We spent a few days in Phnom Penh learning about the history of Cambodia and the culture and our ministries, then my team got on a bus and headed 6 hours back toward Thailand, to a town called Bavel. We spent about 2 1/2 weeks ministering at the Khmer Christian Association Orphanage, and it was such a blessing to be there. This orphanage was seriously out in the middle of nowhere…no electricity, no running water, on the outskirts of a tiny town. We weren’t really supposed to leave the orphanage “compound” because our host was concerned about safety, so we spent a ton of time teaching the kids English and singing with them and trying to help with chores (they wouldn’t really let us do much…our host, Vanny, said it was because they wanted to bless us because we were blessing them so much by being there) and just hanging out. They had a guitar and loved singing, so I tried to remember how to play a couple songs and was able to teach them “Blessed Be Your Name” and “Every Move I Make,” as well as a few classics like “The B-I-B-L-E” and “I am a C” and “Jesus Loves the Little Children.” We had a blast singing together! Our days were spent mostly teaching English – we would split them up into two groups based on how much English they knew, and work on basic things like ABC’s and numbers and body parts and animals with the younger kids and try to get a little deeper with the older kids by teaching some grammar and doing some Bible studies in English. The last night we were there, Vanny asked the kids if they wanted to share anything with us, and they were so thankful that we had come to spend time just loving on them and living with them. Since we couldn’t really leave the orphanage during the week, we took a weekend to come into “town” (a city called Battambang) and stayed in an air-conditioned hotel room and caught up on emails and had freedom to walk around and relax for a day. On November 5 we traveled from Battambang to Siem Riep, a very touristy town famous for Angkor Wat – one of the Seven Wonders of the World (depending on what list you’re looking at). We also did a mini-debrief with all the June and September racers in Siem Riep, where we shared slide shows and talked about our ministries for the month. (P.S. Bonus accommodations in Siem Riep – hotel with beds, hot showers, cable TV, air conditioning, and a swimming pool – we got the hook up here!!!!)
We left Cambodia on the 8th of November, and are now in the midst of traveling to the Philippines by way of Bangkok (that’s right…we took busses back to Bangkok, are spending a couple days here, and then fly out to the Philippines – pretty exciting). We’ll spend a few days doing debrief with Seth and Karen Barnes (the founder of AIM and his wife) while in Manila, and then spend the rest of November and most of December ministering on some island somewhere in that country. My team has been given the unique opportunity to split and go to two different ministry sites. Right now we’re seeking the Lord on where He wants each of us, so I’m not sure which other two members of my team I’ll be with in the Philippines. We’ll have a short break over Christmas (including spending Christmas at a beach resort in the Philippines – I’m going to miss having snow, but I think the beach might be almost as nice…) and do another debrief with the June team (they’ll be in a different country while we’re in the Philippines, then we’re together over Christmas and New Years, and then we switch countries). We’ll head to another Asian country for the month of January, doing some sort of cultural exchange program that sounds really exciting! Oh, and just a head’s up for that month – we’re not going to be able to blog, email, write newsletters, call, skype, have computers…anything. And you won’t be able to hear about it on here or see any pictures. Sorry if that disappoints anyone, but that’s just the way it has to go for that month.
Somewhere in the midst of all this travel from Cambodia to Thailand to the Philippines, I’ll be celebrating my birthday…November 11, in…drum roll please…Bangkok, Thailand! My amazing mom sent me a package full of wonderful birthday goodness like a hot pink feather boa and some fun foam and silly putty stuff and balloons…and we have left-over candles from Kari’s birthday, so I’ll be celebrating in style!
So, now that you’re caught up on my crazy last two months, how can you be praying for me and my team? Personally, I’ve been stretched in a ton of ways since the beginning of this trip and have been learning a lot about myself – pray that I’m open to what God is doing in me and that I learn to depend more fully on Him. Also please continue to pray for my finances – I’m still about $3000 short of the $13,000 I need to raise. I’m also starting to miss my family and friends quite a bit (I think it’s because my birthday is coming up and then a couple pretty big holidays), so if you can just keep me in your prayers in that area for the next couple months I would really appreciate it. For my team: continue to pray for team unity – we’re learning what it means to really live in community with each other and sometimes its great and sometimes it’s really hard, so pray that we continue to look to God as a team in the tough times and the easy times. Continue to pray for safe travels for us, as we transition between three countries over the next couple weeks. Pray also for our finances as a team: I’m not the only one who hasn’t been able to raise their full support yet, so pray that more supporters will rise up for all of us. Also, in light of what I’ve said about the month of January, please pray for our safety there, as well as the safety of those we’ll be working with. God is doing big things in the country wer’e going to, even though the government is trying to stop it…so pray super hard for all of us!!!
Thanks so much for your prayers – I’ve definitely been able to feel them covering me these last two months while I’ve been gone. I appreciate any emails you want to send! 🙂
God bless!
Becky
