And so the last stretch begins. Asia. Thailand. Bangkok. Now Chiang Mai. We are officially in Thigh Land and the search for a new and gaudier speedo has now begun!
The allure of a new place has not yet worn off, even after a week of cheap, delicious Thai cuisine, of smiling Asian faces, of bright lights, of street protests that look like parades, of Wi-Fi hotspots everywhere, and of endless street markets. It’s new, it’s exciting, and I love it so far. I have also seen the middle aged western men being escorted along by young Thai girls, I have seen the slums that hide under the freeway overpass in Bangkok, I have breathed the city air that would make SMOG in Atlanta’s air seem like an oxygen mask, and I have heard stories about displaced Burmese refugees overflowing the northern provinces. Thailand is a beautiful country with beatiful people, but there is a lot of hurt here.
Hanging out in Bangkok with my Family Force 6 teammates.
Our squad spent five days in Bangkok for debrief before the guys left to head to Chiang Mai in northewestern Thailand for “manistry”. We arrived yesterday, met our contact Ray, and learned a good bit more of what we will be doing for the month. Ray has been building relationships with the Burmese refugees in northern Thailand for the last six years and has helped to start multiple children’s homes and other safe havens for the Karen people. Burma has been involved in a civil war since 1948, making it currently the world’s longest such conflict. The Burmese government has been attempting to exterminate the Karen and as a result there are over 450,000 refugees that have fled into Thailand. We will be learning more about this ministry and the history of the conflict as we spend our time traveling from Chiang Mai into these border towns and even into Burma this month. One huge aspect of our ministry this month will be spreading the word about the conflict in Burma- a conflict that very few Americans know anything about.
Another aspect of this month that will be different is the above mentioned “manistry” aspect. For the first time, all the guys and girls are splitting up from their normal teams and will be doing ministry separately- the guys are altogether and the girls have new teams for the month. Please keep all the girls in your prayers as they work with the prostitutes in the bars in the redlight districts. The guys are all pumped for this month and the chance to just do manly things – hike, climb waterfalls, ride elephants, camp, grow our beards out, and watch Rambo over and over. Even more importantly, this is the chance for the guys to really press into each other and go places that you can’t go with the girls. I am going to miss my girls, but I am so pumped to see the things God is going to do this month with all the men!
I know your first thought – Is he seriously standing on another waterfall after tearing his ACL on one in July? The answer is yes, and it’s ok because this is a unique sandstone waterfall that we were all able to walk up without slipping. The rock was as rough as walking on the sidewalk even with water rushing down over it!
I will have more stories and blogs to come, this was just a brief intro into what this month is going to look like. Please keep us in your prayers, especially as we head up into sensitive parts of Burma and work with people that might not easily trust westerners. On another note, I am still in need of roughly $300 raised to buy my final plane ticket home to Atlanta from Los Angeles around June 15th. Please let me know if you would be interested in supporting me, or just click on the tab to the left!
**Just added… check out this video my teammate Jeff Bray made chronicling our first adventure of the month. There may or may not be footage of me eating a cockroach.
