for the joy of the LORD is your strength.
Nehemiah 8:10
Sawatdee Ka from Thailand!
It has been a little over a month since I left for training camp, and what a month it has been! Transformative, challenging, and covered in so much joy!
My team of six is living in a town called Chiang Dao, on a farm with 12 children, plenty of animals, and lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. Our ministry here switches weekly, one week we do manual labor around the farm, and the next week we teach English in the local school.
Being on the farm is covered with blessings! We are living in a small town, so when walking around neighbors’ faces are familiar, smiles are regular, and relationships are built because we have the opportunity to grow familiar with the routine.
I don’t think I fully understood the verse from Nehemiah 8:10 until stepping into this season. The days here are long and very very full. Some mornings, we’re up and in the hot sun, chopping bamboo, shoveling dirt, and farming cassava. Other days, we’re in a classroom with kids who don’t speak our language, finding creative ways to teach them without fully knowing if they understand us. And yet, in all of it, joy has carried our team.
Not the kind of joy that comes and goes with circumstances, but the kind that holds steady. The kind that looks like laughter over a meal of rice and chicken, singing praise songs with the family on the front porch, and the deep peace of knowing God is present even in the endless unknowns.
There are hard moments, of course. My body is sore more often than not. The language barrier is definitely a real challenge. And some days, the constant community is exhausting. But over and over, I’m reminded that joy isn’t about having perfect circumstances, but about leaning into the One who never changes.
I saw this so clearly one morning when we were out in the cassava fields. I was EXHAUSTED. It was our second long day out there, and we had already been at it for hours, my body was sore, my hands were ripped apart with blisters, I was sunburnt, and I was counting down the hours until a cold shower, dinner, and a quiet, calm night. But all of that seemed so far away, and that left me feeling discouraged.
Then, our team called a break for lunch, and we collapsed into some much-needed shade, surrounded by gorgeous trees and a cool breeze. Though we were all worn out, something shifted in that hour. We started laughing over the chaos of the morning, broken machetes, tangled cassava, and the excitement of finally being in the long-promised cassava fields. Then our host arrived with lunch! Not only had she picked up food for us in town, but she also pulled out six ice-cold bags of THAI TEA!!!
While I know you lack the context on my new love and passion, Thai tea is my new FAVORITE. On a hot day, an early morning, or a walk in town, I will always seek out Thai tea. So when I was handed the tea, I was taken aback!
That moment reminded me of God’s kindness. My circumstances didn’t change, I was still sore, still sunburnt, still in the middle of a long workday. But He met me there in it, bringing joy in the form of laughter, the cool shade, and an incredibly unexpected blessing.
Joy isn’t about waiting for things to get easier. It’s about seeing God’s goodness right in the middle of the hard. That is the kind of joy that gives strength!
I’m learning this month that when I let go of my own strength, I get to rely on His. And in that, there is sweet sweet JOY.
Hooray! God is at work here! I can’t wait to share more.
If you are praying for me and my team, here are a few specific requests on my heart:
- For our Team
- Unity, grace, and encouragement, as we grow closer
- For the Host Family
- Many of the kids come from broken backgrounds, here at the farm we ache for them to feel deeply loved, safe, seek the Lord, and grow in their faith!
- For Relationships with the Locals
- Open doors for conversations with locals and with travelers, open hearts, and that these connections would be meaningful, and lasting.
- Pray for boldness on our team!
- For Chiang Dao
- The community in our village heavily practices Buddhism, and you can feel the weight of that spiritually. However, we know we are not bringing the presence of God somewhere He isn’t already. Pray over the light brought to the darkness, and that hearts would be softened.
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