We arrived in Mae Sot, Thailand after 2.5ish days of travel. 16 hours from Atlanta, Georgia to Seoul, Korea. 5.5 hours from Seoul to Bangkok, Thailand. Overnight at a hostel in the city. Then a 10 hour bus ride to Mae Sot. Let's just say we were all relieved to finally get here.
We arrived in Mae Sot in the afternoon last Wednesday, and our team coordinator picked us all us from the bus station. We packed 11 huge packs and daypacks and all of us into one truck. It took us all a couple days to fully recover from the jet-lag and adjust to the time difference, and we then settled into what will be our living quarters for the next couple weeks. Our first week was somewhat challenging, but very rewarding. Our team has been serving with Outpour Movement. Outpour consists of an incredible staff with big hearts for this community and a vision to see the people know & love Jesus. Outpour operates & serves the community in many different ways, and we have had just a small part in coming along side of them for a short time and helping how we can. Our first couple days of ministry helped on the grounds of Outpour’s property. They have a restaurant called Famous Ray’s, that many locals go to & that we have been frequenting during meal times, which faces the main road, and, behind the restaurant, Outpour is in the process of building a youth/community center, bike shop, recording studio, & women’s center. So we have been leveling ground, sanding walls, building bunk beds, weeding, breaking a part pieces of bike chains that will eventually be used for jewelry to be sold, & painting. Since biking is a primary means of transportation here, part of what Outpour does as well is providing and repairing bikes for the community. We have also been conforming to that trend by using some of the bikes that Outpour already has and that has been our means of getting just about everywhere. Let me just say, that if I wasn’t in shape before coming here, I will (hopefully) be by the time I get home… All joking aside, biking around has been a really fun way to get to know Mae Sot, rather than being driven places. On Saturday, we rode our bikes to soccer fields that children from a Children’s Home that Outpour is connected to, play at on Saturday mornings. That was definitely a fun time to not be “working”, and have some fun. Our first Sunday in Thailand was really great. We went to two places for church. The first was the Children’s Home of the children we had played with the day before. We had lunch with them afterwards, and all sat on the floor eating curry together. The second place was a refuge home in which some refugees from Myanmar (Burma) come after arriving in Thailand. From my experience in Haiti & now in Thailand, being in a church in a third-world country is a very special experience. Seeing people have less material things and live seemingly very different lives, but still be rejoicing for what they do have, and the lives they do live, is a powerful thing. On top of just being there, I had the opportunity to share a short testimony, along with a few of my teammates, at both services we went to. As a team, we have gotten to know the culture a bit by exploring during our free time. We went to Thai and Burmese markets, (tried) to converse with locals, & rode our bikes through the streets in pouring rain. On a side note, the food has been pretty amazing. I have thoroughly been enjoying my time here so far, and can’t wait to continue seeing what our team will experience & how God will be moving in and through us during our time here!
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It is currently about midnight, our wake up call is a short four and a half hours from now at 4:30am. After our concluding session tonight, our team cleaned up part of the campus since we're the first team leaving in the morning & half of us have been packing and repacking for a while now, or else i'd probably already be asleep.
Yesterday, when my mom asked me how i'm feeling about leaving so soon, I told her i'm really excited, and I can't believe it's finally here! For the last 10 months - which has seemed like a very long time - I have been anticipating this trip. I felt like I kept telling people when I was going, where I was going, what i'll be doing, and it felt as though I was just going to keep saying it, rather than actually going. But the day is finally here, and I don't think it'll actually "hit" me until i'm there...
The duration of this trip is September 1 thru December 1. The first part is in Georgia where i'll be meeting up with everyone on the team i'm on. We meet up at the Adventures in Missions (AIM) headquarters for Training Camp for a couple days. I don't necessarily know what to expect at Training Camp, but i've heard it's basically a means of getting us equipped for what living is going to look like the next couple months & preparing our hearts and minds. On Sept. 5 we leave for Thailand. With a lot of travel time and the time difference, we get to Mae Sot, Thailand on Sept. 6. We'll be in Thailand for a little less than two months, then in Cambodia until coming home at the end of November. We'll all travel back to Georgia together for a debrief with AIM, then arriving home on Dec. 1. I am ready & expectant for what the Lord has for me and our team in this next season. I am believing for new memories to be made with new friends, while also having encounters with other people to share the goodness of God. I am excited for the people I will meet and the connections along the way. I am looking forward to living in a completely new way, and to live day to day not necessarily knowing what is going to happen next. The previous sentence is weird for me to say, because I am a huge planner. But I am praying for a new sense of spontaneity and flexibility. I pray to be willing to try new things and rid myself of any fear. I am living the life that I admired other people for living, and it is a dream come true. THANK YOU for the prayerful, financial, & moral support over the past many months from friends & family! If you'd like to see what our team will be doing, i'll be sharing on the blog, Facebook, & Instagram as often as I can. One year ago this week I was in Ouanaminthe, Haiti serving at Danita's Children for the second time. I continue to be so so thankful for that time. I have learned so much about myself, other people, the world we live in, and how to live life differently. I learned that many people don't have to search long & hard for contentment and joy, and life could be a whole lot more simple if we learned to love one another rather than trying to change them. Going to Haiti was my first serving experience where it really shaped & formed me into who I am today. Before my trips & since then I have had many opportunities to serve in my community and local area. In just over two months (62 days), I'll be serving with Adventures in Missions in Thailand & Cambodia for three months! I am so in awe & overwhelmed by the life I have been blessed with. I do not say this to boast, but to motivate & encourage others to lean into the passions that have been placed in their heart, and see what God can do with them. It is hard to form to words to adequately express how expectant and excited I am to have this experience and see what God will do.
I've booked my flight to and from Georgia (where the team & I will be leaving & arriving from), I am almost fully funded ($62 left out of $6,232), and am looking into getting my gear! It's surreal & crazy that this whole process began almost nine months ago. I am so thankful & God is so faithful! Real talk...
I get angry sometimes. Angry in a way that basically counteracts the Bible at times saying not to go to bed with anger inside me. Ephesians 4:26 says, "and 'don’t sin by letting anger control you.' Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry.'" Oftentimes I let tension build up in me in different situations, and eventually need to an outlet to release that. I guess I don't necessarily "need" that outlet, but it tends to happen that way. In writing this post, I went on Pinterest and searched "anger" (note to self: add another keyword with that search to avoid depressing and negative thoughts on anger). But the trend that I found was that anger - even extended periods of it - is okay, doesn't necessarily need to be managed, is a natural defense mechanism, an inward battle, among other things. While part of this may be true, the other part makes my heart hurt for whoever had that thought. What i've begun to learn, and something that you may already know, is anger can easily be a natural response to a tense situation, and it is okay to feel that momentarily. But when I act on it, and outwardly express it, that is when it becomes unhealthy. More recently since my mom & I moved, her & I have been spending a lot of time around each other, especially lately with me not having a job or other commitments in a new city. Added to that is the stress from the move itself. So, unfortunately, she has gotten the result of what I described. I read something today that said, "you're not the first one to ever be where you are now." I know that I am not alone in the curveballs that life has thrown at me, but I think I needed that reminder today. I am not the only one that struggles with this, but I do in fact struggle with this. I can not control what other people say or do, but I CAN control and manage what I say and do. I CAN seek God, seek community, and not let something like anger override my emotions. I also heard someone say recently that I may think at times that I don't have the life I deserve, but I can surely be the daughter, sister, and friend that they deserve. I'm starting to cry writing this, but it's so true. What has happened, happened, and nothing that I say or do can change that. All I can do is manage what I say or do from here on out. Of course, this is all much more easier said than done, but it's a "one-day-at-a-time" mentality. My paradigm on life begins to shift, and I assure myself that I am blessed in more ways than I can even fathom, I have been & am being provided for, and I have such good people in my life. I'm also reminding myself that anything I may get angry or upset about will all seem less important tomorrow. "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end, they are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness." {Lamentations 3:22-23} |
This is a blog about the ups & downs of early
adulthood, God's goodness & faithfulness, & life in other countries. “Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told."
Habakkuk 1:5 NIV Archives
June 2017
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