Update: We’ve made it to Thailand! And goodness is there a lot to catch up on! However let’s start this recap in Siem Reap where we left off. Before we launched into our new ministries we were able to take a few days to relax and explore the city, and it was so much fun! In the 3 days we were there we managed to do quite a lot, and I’m so glad we did because there was so much to see! Of course the main event was Angkor Wat temple which we couldn’t miss for the world, and it did not disappoint. We got up around 4AM and got to see the sunrise over the monument which was in itself amazing, and then we got to spend the whole day walking around and exploring this 8th wonder of the world for ourselves. It was a once in a lifetime experience, and seeing the beautiful art and sheer detail of the stonework was really special to me. I will say, going into this our team knew we needed to cover ourselves in prayer and that was something that we definitely did not regret. As beautiful as the place was, you could really feel the spiritual heaviness, and it did affect a few of us on the team in particular while we were there. There are a lot of spiritual strongholds in Asia due to the widespread Buddhism, and this was definitely a place where we could feel the grip it still has on its people. This was a hard thing to encounter and battle against, but our God is greater! It was still an amazing experience, and we felt better once we got out in the town a bit more. The next few days were full of delicious food and fun exploration! We were able to reconnect as a larger group and recenter ourselves emotionally and spiritually before going out again. We were informed that there had been a change to our plans (as there is so much of in ministry) and that my team would actually be headed into the mountains to an area called Chiang Dao. This would involve more of what we had been doing in Cambodia with teaching English at a local school, and this was hard for a lot of us as we were really looking forward to the ministry we would’ve been doing in Chiang Mai. But we knew the Lord was sending us there for a reason, and trusted that His plans were greater than ours ever could be. So after saying goodbye to the two other teams in Bangkok, we headed off to Chiang Dao. And now that we’re here, I can confidently say that there are so many reasons why I can see the Lord brought us here, and I would rather be nowhere else!
