So first off, I want to start off by once again apologizing for not blogging … in like three months. Haha. whoops. I think at this point, posting really long blogs very rarely is my brand. Haha. Yeah, I’m really sorry.
In fact, I’m so bad about it that I have two entire countries that I haven’t written anything about. And because I know myself well enough that I won’t write two blogs, I’m about to recap Thailand, Myanmar, and my entire Race recap and put it all in this one blog. Buckle up!
I’m writing all of this in one sitting and probably won’t revise any of it. So in advance, be prepared for this to be really long, really unstructured, and really just… not too good. So, here we go!
I’m going to keep my Thailand recap short. And the reason why, if I’m being completely honest, is because I really didn’t connect with Thailand – and if I had to pick a least favorite country on our route, it’d probably be my vote. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t hate it or anything. In fact, I loved the country itself. The mountains are beautiful, everything’s green and lush, the culture is fascinating, the cities are full of life and energy and the food is incredible. I’d definitely go back, no doubt!
Our team stayed in Chiang Mai for two months – one of Thailand’s biggest cities. We lived right in the middle of all the action and lived in a cute little hostel right downtown. My team and I worked with a ministry called “ActsCo Bookhouse” – a bookstore that carries bibles, devotionals, and christian books that are given to anyone who walks in for free (keep in mind, 96% of Thailand is buddhist, and less than 2% is Christian). This place has seen lives changed, and Jesus brought to people who have been trapped in buddhism for years.
(sidenote: One of the biggest things I learned in Thailand was just how dark buddhism is. In the states, we think that it’s strictly about “ reaching nirvana”, “peace” and “self-fulfillment”. But it’s so much more than that and so much darker. I’d write more about it and go into it more, but I don’t have enough space on here)
In addition to running the bookstore, this ministry sends teams out to countries that are in desperate need of the gospel. Me and my team had the privilege of helping arrange and organize shipments in order to help prepare boxes of bibles to be smuggled into other countries. We moved boxes, organized boxes, stacked boxes … and did a whole lot of other things with a whole lot of boxes.This ministry does incredible work. The work they do mirrors so well what Jesus calls us to do in scripture and it was such an incredible opportunity to be apart of it. Our hosts, David and Patrick, are amazing people, and getting to know them was the highlight of my time there.
But why was it my least favorite? I honestly don’t really know. Again, I didn’t hate it or anything. I think the biggest thing was the lack of relationships made. Coming out of South Africa where we had a huge community and our ministries were relationship based, transitioning to manual labor was hard. I felt lonely in a weird way and didn’t feel like I was apart of the culture. And apparently, I’m not a city person. Haha. Overall, I really liked my time there, I just didn’t love it. But I’ve come to terms with it.
Moving on to the country that I’m in while I type this – Myanmar! I’m not exaggerating when I say this is the coolest place I’ve ever been. I LOVE it here! This country has proven my ongoing theory that Asia just gets better and better the more you explore it. Since I’ve been here, I’ve seen a total of one white person. Absolutely no one speaks english and we stick out like a sore thumb wherever you go. Me and my team are living in a little motel in the middle of a township – a small, poverty stricken neighborhood right outside of Yangon (the city). Our little neighborhood is adorable and we live right across the street from a park where all the kids go to play soccer, play with sticks and climb tress, and sit and watch the sunset.
This past month, our team has been working with an orphanage in a neighboring township. This place houses around 50 kids ranging from ages 2-18. Me and three other girls from my team had the incredible opportunity to teach an english class to about 20 middle school-aged kids. We lesson planned, taught them grammar, taught them how to form sentences, played games, and did a whole lot of hangman (their favorite). We got to also help out with the orphanage’s church service every week and sang for them. This has been one of my all time favorite ministries and my time here has been amazing. We got to make so many cool friendships at this place and it truly felt like home. This culture is so welcoming and it is truly unlike any place I’ve ever been. Definitely one of my favorites on the race.
Yesterday was our last day of ministry. Ever. So with all that being said, my time on the race has come to an end. It’s over. While I haven’t quite been able to process this completely, I have been able to reflect on this past year and what the Lord has done. I’m not exactly sure how to organize any of this or even what to write about or how to write it. So, like i do with most of my blogs, I’m just gonna start writing and see where it takes me.
Coming onto the race, I didn’t have a relationship with the Lord. I didn’t pray, I didn’t worship, I didn’t actively think about my faith and I never put anything into practice. Simply put, I believed in God. I believed that Jesus died on the cross, I believed that He rose from the dead … I believed all of it. But I never allowed my belief of God to change me. My whole life, I’ve wanted to. I think that desire has always been there, I just didn’t know what is was. Coming onto the race though, that whole “lukewarm” faith was wrecked. The race showed me how radically life changing it is to allow the Lord into your everyday life – how Christianity isn’t meant to be passive, but active. We serve an active, living, breathing God who solely wants a relationship with each and every one of us – He wants to work in us, change us, challenge us, bless us, move us … but only if we allow Him too.
The first part of the race, I learned about joy. And turns out, that’s my word. I’ve been told countless times that that’s the trait I embody the most – but at other times, it’s what I struggle with the most. And this could not be more true. I’ve written about this before, but at home, I always fell back on negativity. I never chose to see the good in anything or anyone, and would make negative comments almost unconsciously. I so effortlessly chose to see the negative in almost any scenario. Since the race though, The Lord has been teaching me one of the most important lessons I think any person can learn in life – how to find genuine joy even when that’s not our first initial reaction. One of my all time favorite quotes is “We can either make ourselves miserable or we can make ourselves strong – the amount of work is the same”. I used to think people who said stuff like this were just people trying to make themselves feel better about whatever it was that they were going through, and almost “faking” joy if that makes sense. But I’ve learned that that’s not the case. It’s just not. If you make negative comments, think negative things, and will do anything to find something to get angry at, your natural reaction to any situation will make you miserable. Make a habit of doing the opposite though, and everything changes. And the thing is, Jesus calls us to be joyful. He calls us to find joy in the little things. I’ve really had to learn this lesson the hard way, but at the end of the matter, this has been one of the biggest things I’ve learned.
Middle of the race, I learned about the power of prayer. Someone recommended to me that I start “journal praying”. So I started writing down my prayers every morning, and it changed my life. I can sit here and confidently say that the Lord answers every prayer we ever pray. Maybe not in the way we want or expect, but He does. Every time. I bought a hi-lighter and went back through my prayer journal and started hi-lighting answered prayers, and my pages are becoming full of yellow. From little things like praying for energy for that day or patience with a situation, to big things like healings, forgiveness, or closure (like Jayden). Every time. Everything, He answers. At training camp, one of the speakers during our session said, “what God does is predictable. But how He does it, that’s impossible to predict”. That will always stick with me, and I think that quote goes hand in hand with prayer. He answers every time. God is good – He hears, He listens, He answers.
Now I’m at the end of the race. This past year has been nothing like I expected it would be – not even in the slightest. It was a lot harder in ways that I hadn’t expected it would be, and it went by so much faster than I ever could’ve imagined. But even though the race completely wrecked my expectations, I wouldn’t trade it for absolutely anything. This past year has been filled with so many great memories that I’ll never forget. These 48 other people that I’ve been living with have been some of the best people I’ve ever met, and the experiences we’ve been through will forever be some of the best times of my life. And as I reflect on these nine months, I see this whole journey as a blessing. I never in my wildest dreams could’ve imagined me being able to do something like this. But I thank Jesus everyday for giving me this incredible opportunity. This trip has completely changed my life, the way I see the Lord, the way I see others and the way I see life. To everyone who has contributed financially, emotionally or with prayer; thank you. That you for all you’ve done for me. You have not only changed my life, but indirectly the lives of those around the world. I will never forget this year and the memories from it. I will never know how to express my gratefulness to any of you – thank you, thank you, thank you!
I know I did a really bad job about blogging. But there are so many other stories and cool memories that I’d love to share sometime, just not write about (because I’m lazy). If you’re curious, PLEASE reach out – I’m home June 2nd, and would love to talk about it with anyone who’s interested!
Again, thank you for everything. God is good!
