Week 5 was full of goodbyes, travel days, and hello’s. My team and I had to say goodbye to all of the amazing people we met in Batam as we prepared to leave Indonesia. I still can’t really wrap my mind around this opportunity to have made relationships on this random island that feel so familial. I have never felt so strongly about a group of people so quickly, but the sweet ministry family my group served with was one of the hardest goodbyes I’ve ever faced. Although leaving Indonesia was sad, I am so excited for what’s ahead! We took one boat ride, one flight, and one over night train ride to eventually land in Chiang Mai, Thailand. When we made it to Chiang Mai it was the Fourth of July, so my team played all of the American classics from a speaker in the truck that picked us up. We also got to celebrate the fourth with some hotdogs and hamburgers. This was one of the first “I miss home” moments for many of my friends and I, but we didn’t sit in those thoughts for long. We were quickly overtaken by the beauty and excitement of this city.
Chiang Mai is where I will be serving for the next three weeks, along with the rest of the girls on my squad. The boys on our team will actually be heading up to the mountains in Chiang Dao to serve at an orphanage and help on their farm! As hard as it was to watch the guys leave, I am very excited and expectant of this time with all the girls!
We begin ministry tomorrow, so I’d love to share with you what I will be doing. We are broken into four ministry groups again just like in Indonesia. The first group is the boys group in Chiang Dao serving at the orphanage and the farm. The second group is working with marginalized women. The third group is working at an orphanage in Chiang Mai. And lastly, the fourth team is serving at a Christian book store! The group I am serving with is at the book store. This ministry is to sell Christian books! This company receives huge crates of books from boats over seas that they don’t open until a team comes to help them. Our hosts explained to us that without us the store would simply close and no one would receive these books full of truth!
Hearing I was serving at a bookstore for the next three weeks did not feel like the best news to me. I have never been one to love reading, nor do I ever really find myself intentionally roaming book stores. However, I see so much of God in this placement. The number one phrase I have been focusing on this trip is “die to your preference.” This phrase has come up on my phone, in conversations, in podcasts, etc., it has just felt so evident for this season. I think this partially applies to everyone who takes a mission trip overseas, but I am taking it personally for myself right now. I have had to die to my preference of sleeping arrangements, food, schedules, financial decisions, alone time, consistent wifi, air conditioning, curfews, dress codes, and more. When I focus on all of the things I think would be better my own way, or when I think of what should be different I am not really sacrificing anything. I came on this trip to sacrifice my own life for the life of others. I want to serve the nations! While I am here serving the nations I have also learned how to better serve the people that came with me. I have learned patience. I have learned how to give grace and receive it. I have learned how to share everything willingly. I have learned how to have solitude in community. I have learned how to love others better.
The next phrase that has truly stuck with me is from my leader Kailey. I was talking with her about my placement at the bookstore and how I was excited to do something I never would have picked. She told me she felt the same with her placement but she worded it a lot better than me. She said, “I am excited for this opportunity to serve God in a way that doesn’t come naturally to me at all.” Her placement is more physical labor, and she said that does not come naturally to her. Likewise, I don’t naturally enjoy books or love a bookstore, but I am so excited for this opportunity to serve God in a way that does not come naturally to me. I am excited to serve in a way that I never would have considered helpful, I am excited to die to my preference.
My last little message before I end this vlog. If you are feeling like you don’t know enough or don’t have enough Biblical knowledge to be useful, I also struggle with those thoughts. I want to encourage you – God is so happy with your relationship with Him. Yes, He wants it to grow deeper, but He is not at all discouraged or upset with where it is at right now. Do not let yourself get the judgement that comes from man and the infinite love of God confused.
Prayer requests
- For our boy squad up in the mountains of Chiang Dao (orphanage/farming)
- For each squad here in China Mai (an orphanage, marginalized women, bookstore)
- That I will be confident as a team leader
- A lot of my squad is expectant this next month and one recurring prayer request is to become free of the fear of man / what others think of them
My favorite things right now: mango and Thai tea
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