“Goodbye, Hello” is a blog series where I share brief highlights from my previous country while introducing you to my current country and ministry. Enjoy!
Goodbye Costa Rica
I can’t believe we’re half-way through month 4 already! Last month was another great month. As our last month in Central America, it was bittersweet. However, like the rest of our time in Central America, I learned a lot and had a blast while doing it.
See. Doesn’t it look like we’re having so much fun?? We actually had a great time this day helping to clear out some sod. It was very difficult for us to look serious long enough for the picture!
Our schedule was pretty busy as we worked with Glory Christian School and Zoe Future Leaders. It was both great and challenging at times to live, work, and attend church all in the same building. One of my favorite things about the ministry we worked with is that they actually took into account our individual experiences, giftings, and passions. So, for the first time my teammates and I were assigned different areas of focus. It was great to see everyone in their element.
Here’s a pic of some of the students at the Youth Retreat. I was blessed to be able to attend!
All in all, my favorite part of the month was definitely the people. I had a blast doing ministry with team Ubuntu as our teams enjoyed challenging and supporting each other’s spiritual journeys while also having a lot of fun together (e.g. wrestling with our sleeping bags, capture the flag in the dark, & charades). I was also extremely blessed by the people who loved us by praying with us, imparting wisdom, feeding us, and just inviting us into their lives. This includes the amazing students we were able to work with. It was definitely another month of giving and receiving love!
Hello Thailand & Unsung Heroes!
After 4 flights (Costa Rica>Atlanta>Los Angeles>Hong Kong>Bangkok) we safely made it to Thailand on December 1st. I can’t even put into words how weird it was being in the U.S. I know, I know it was just the airport, but it was crazy having everything in English, familiar, and a lot of white people. Just very different from our last three months.
Our first week in Thailand was spent at an YWAM base for month 3 debrief. Debrief is a time of rest and relaxation for the squad as well as time to check in as a team and individually. Our next one will be at the end of January.
Me and Candace at Debrief. We were taking a break from the squad’s Christmas video shoot!
What Are We Doing This Month? What is Unsung Heroes?
After debrief my team began our ministry for the month. While the rest of our squad is working with YWAM, our team is doing Unsung Heroes (UH). UH is a campaign by Adventures in Missions that seeks to identify ministries around the world that may be unknown or unrecognized. As the UH team for the month our task is to travel around Thailand in hopes to find ministries that could potentially partner with AIM in the future. So, unlike other months where we stay in one location and with one organization, we are traveling every few days visiting different organizations. As you can imagine, this is both exciting and terrifying at the same time. It’s exciting as we get to see more of Thailand, meet people with incredible hearts for God, and finally be alone as a team. It’s also terrifying at times as we really have to rely on God for everything (food, lodging, transportation, etc). We are definitely living every day by big faith that God will provide and lead us to the people we’re supposed to meet among a language where all we can say is (“hello,” “thank you,” and “six-the number of our group”).
There are definitely challenges with doing UH in Asia, but I can’t wait to share in other blogs how blessed we have been in just one week. We have spent several days in Bangkok and got to meet a missionary family that my church in Seattle supports and now we are spending a few days in Pattaya with an organization that does anti-sex trafficking work. Also, Thailand is beautiful—the people, culture, language, and nature, so we’re not complaining at all about seeing a lot of it!
The team went elephant riding yesterday. Here’s me and Lynn. I promise we’re sitting on top of an elephant!
How can how partner with us the month?
As of right now, we have no plans on where to go next. Our team is focusing on Southern Thailand and would love to meet with any people or ministries that you know of. If you know of any missionaries in Southern Thailand please let me know, we’d love to meet them! You can leave their information in the comments section below or by clicking on the “email me” link on the right hand side of my blog.
Thanks again for your love and support. A special thanks to those of you who sent me cards…it made my day!!! It all means so much, especially this time of year! I hope that you’re enjoying the holiday season J
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