Our squad had the pleasure of enjoying our entire stay in Chiang Mai (except for Training Camp) at a Christian hostel called Zion Cafe and Hostel. And quite frankly, we were pretty spoiled to stay there. This was my first foray into the world of hostel living, and apparently it was on the nicer end (and something I shouldn’t get used to on The World Race). Take a look!
ZION CAFE AND HOSTEL
[Sleep] Each of the rooms had multiple bunk beds with pillows, sheets and blankets provided. This was the men’s room, which we also shared with some guys from YWAM. Needless to say, it probably wasn’t the cleanest or best smelling room in the hostel…
[Clean] There were bathrooms (or toilets as they’re called in Thailand) on each floor of the hostel, along with additional showers and sinks on the roof (pictured above). It definitely made for some hot showers during the afternoon, but hey — at least the view was great!
[Eat] On the ground level, the hostel operates a cafe that serves coffee drinks, smoothies and Thai and Western cuisine. The cafe also has a beautiful wrap-around patio and bartop area for outdoor eating and was where we had our breakfast and lunch everyday while in Chiang Mai. The food was so delicious (make sure you try their khao soi!) and we ate so well — I’m sure most of our squad gained weight during this month!
So the neat thing about Zion Cafe and Hostel is that it is also the home base of our ministry host, Pi Emmi, and her ministry called Lighthouse in Action (lighthouseinaction.org). Their mission is “to eradicate the commercial sex trade in Chiang Mai, and see the Thai people choose abundant life through Jesus, as we show them His truth and love through our actions.” And their ministry is three-pronged through X-Life (educating the villages where many sex workers come from), Love Acts (building relationships with those working in the red-light district bars and slum areas) and Zion Cafe (employing and empowering college students, some of whom were working in the bars previously). I encourage you to check out their website and also watch Pi Emmi’s powerful testimony video!
Over the years, Pi Emmi and her ministry has accommodated many World Race squads at Zion Cafe and Hostel and we were lucky enough to participate in continuing the work that she, Lighthouse in Action and previous Racers had already started. Each of the four teams within our squad was assigned with different ministries throughout Chiang Mai, which we did for about ten days. While the time might have been brief, God still provided us with some very cool moments. Here’s a look at what our team did!
PRAYER WALKS
[Prayer Walks – Slums] In the mornings, our team was tasked with doing a prayer walk along a new bar district in a poorer neighborhood of Chiang Mai. Our route to the bar street took us thru the slums of that area. While this wasn’t a part of our specific ministry (another team did slums children’s ministry in the afternoons), as we walked our team would still pray for the people living here, that God would release them from the chains of poverty.
[Prayer Walks – Bar Street] The bar street of our prayer walk ministry had a hodgepodge of stores and businesses along it, in addition to some new bars and karaoke rooms. While the more commercialized red-light districts were popular among foreigners, this area was apparently a hot spot for local men. As we walked this street each day, our team would pray, sing or simply listen to how God wanted to lead us during our walks…which led to a very special encounter.
[Prayer Walks – Ye and Happy Food] On our first prayer walk, we passed by a tiki bar area where the woman in the front greeted us with a smile. We noticed she was selling food there so we decided to make a pit stop on the way back. And what started as a simple mid-morning snack break turned into a new friendship.
The woman’s name was Ye and she had just started working at her friend’s bar (called Happy Bar) selling food the day prior — and we were her first foreign customers! Her food was so delicious that we decided to stop by every morning to eat and chat. Ye had worked at a local touring company before and had taught herself English, but her passion was cooking. So as we ate, we would share stories — ours and hers — and strike up conversations on just about everything. We quickly developed a friendship with Ye that when we told her about our trip to Chiang Mai Grand Canyon, she offered to take us in her own car! And when we told her our group was more than 10 people (and not just the three of us who visited her at the bar), she said it was not a problem and arranged a songtheaw (taxi bus) to pick us all up from our hostel — and that she would come with us too! We were so lucky for her help and made some great memories together on our trip that day!
And as luck would have it, it turned out that the day after our Chiang Mai Grand Canyon trip was Ye’s birthday! So that morning before our prayer walk, we wrote a card and bought a small cake and candles to celebrate her special day and to thank her for her help. Unfortunately, it had been raining throughout the night so we weren’t sure if she would be at the bar that morning. And sure enough when we got there, the window was closed. But just as we were about to leave, Ye opened the door and greeted us in! We spent the rest of the morning sharing cake, laughs and simply life together. And right before we left, we decided to take a birthday photo together — and Ye loved this so much (especially the camera counting down) that we took another silly one (pictured above)!
And one last Ye story — a personal one. So on our first visit with Ye, I had asked her if she had a name for her new restaurant/food business. She said she did not. Seeing that she was selling food in front of a bar called Happy Bar, I suggested the name Happy Food — “Happy Bar, Happy Food” — and she LOVED it! I remember her laughing, smiling and nodding approvingly at the name. Ye said she was planning to create a nice, professional-looking banner with her menu items on it soon and said she would use Happy Food as the name of her new food business. Of course, I thought she was just saying that to be polite, but sure enough on the last day of our prayer walk, Ye had gotten the banner made with the Happy Food name (pictured above)! I was so touched and honored by the moment — how cool is it that I got to name someone else’s business!
Our team and I were so blessed and fortunate to have met Ye this month. Her hospitality, generosity and kindness to us left an indelible mark. It was a privilege to be a part of her life and she in ours, and we only hope to meet more people like her along our journey. While she might not be a Christian, we hope and pray that the conversations we had with her about God and faith will one day lead Ye to Him!
MONK CHATS
[Monk Chats] Our team’s afternoon ministry consisted of visiting a local Buddhist temple for monk chats. The temple was also home to a Buddhist university where monks took courses on various subjects, and these monk chats were a program designated for visitors to sit and ask the monks about the temple and Thai culture. And the monks welcomed these sessions because it allowed them to share about their beliefs and also practice their English skills.
Each afternoon our team would go and spend time with whichever monk was available at the moment. Some monks had a decent handle of the English language while others did not so it made for some interesting conversations. God did provide us with a few opportunities during our talks to share and exchange views on faith. We also walked around the temple grounds and lifted up prayers as the Holy Spirit led us. We hope and pray that God will continue to seek the monks and reveal His truth to them!
