Dudeee this was actually such a good week!!
Sunday night-Wednesday morning, Jaylynn and I did our fast. This week we’re back with the older kids, and honestly I was dreading going because of the energy it takes on a normal day to play with them, so not having food I was a little nervous. BUT GOD CAME IN CLUTCHHH! Today I had the most energy I’ve had even having not eaten. We also had the opportunity on Monday afternoon to give out our provided meals to homeless people on the street, while also offering prayer. We asked God where we should go to start, and He gave Jaylynn a picture of the street behind where we were. We walked for a little while, then came across a homeless man on that street. When we came up to offer him a meal, he quickly asked us “Do you know Jesus?” We were both a little shocked because that’s what we were coming to ask him, but it was sooo sweet. We prayed for him, and he ended up putting us on the phone with his American friend named Ryan who owns a non-profit that offers jobs for women in trafficking. Ryan told us we could bring our team and come down to the non-profit the next day for him to give us a little walkthrough and a briefing of what they do.
Tuesday, instead of going to Connie’s home, my team cleaned a house that our ministry host Zac uses to host other teams. It was fun to some different ministry. I got to put my cleaning skills from cleaning the Farmhouse all summer to use hehe. In the afternoon, Gretchen, Lexi, Jaylynn, and I visited Illumin8 which is Ryan’s non-profit. Not only is their mission so cool, but Ryan was such a kind man and you can tell he loves Jesus.
Jaylynn and I broke our fast on Wednesday before ministry with a banana and a bomb salad. This fast was a little different from my first one in terms of what I was looking for. I think I did get what I wanted out of it, though I feel like I could’ve used it better in terms of time to read my Bible more.
Thursday was Emery’s 18th birthday! After ministry, Jaylynn and I ran over to the food court across the street, then back to the rooftop to quickly decorate while Emery was downstairs. We had a little team-time saying what we love about her (SHE’S SO AWESOME). That night after a gym session, the girls and I went to McDonald’s and I absolutely grubbed. I had the best strawberry sundae of my life.
Friday during ministry, we took the kids out to buy their Christmas presents! They had a budget of 1,000 baht (about $30), we were each given one or two kids, and they went to town. This was probably one of the most chaotic things ever, but it ended well. The afternoon group helped them wrap their own gifts, and every day they get to open a new toy. When we returned to Bella Goose, we found Carter and Caleb there! Lexi, Jaylynn, and I spontaneously joined them to attend a briefing about things going on in Syria at their ministry office. Afterwards, we got some early dinner and ate it all together. It was actually just so good to see them all. In Greece we’ll be a whole country away from the rest of the squad, so I’m enjoying the time we have with the boys while we can. That night for team time, we all came prepared with a randomly themed slideshow and we presented them. I just cackled so much it was so funny.
Our adventure day on Saturday was definitely an adventure lol. For Emery’s birthday we went camping on the top of Doi Suthep, which is the closest mountain to the city of Chiang Mai. We started driving up at noon. The temperature dropped a lot and we basically started driving right into a massive cloud. Once we got there, it was super foggy and chilly. We set up our tents, then decided to go on a hike to the top of Doi Pui Peak. It started raining pretty much right away on our hike, but it felt like an enchanted forest with all the fog and high trees, so it was actually awesome. I thought the rain was going to stop once we got down, but it just kept on raining and raining. Jaylynn and Liv’s tent flooded, so we ended up bringing it into the pavilion that was there so they weren’t sleeping in the rain water. Most of the team headed to their tents at 6:30 and us three were up getting ramen until 8:30, and I was asleep by 9:30. Even though it wasn’t the ideal camping trip, I still had fun and I ended up sleeping so well in my tent.
There are a fewwww things on my mind for our last week on Thailand. This is our last week in ministry with the kids and we have to say by to them Friday (very sad). We found out this week that we will be doing squad leader switches, which means our leader Gretchen, will be with another team, and we will have Lucy. I am excited to have Lucy as our leader, but we all are pretty devastated that we’re not going to be with Gretchen for two months. Debrief is also a week away, so the whole squad is coming back together to process our time in Asia. Seeing everyone will be so sweet, but there is some tension THAT NEEDS TO BE RESOLVED!! Please pray for unity and love as we go into debrief. I’m just praying it’ll be so fruitful, especially since it’s going to be Christmas in a week. Whattttttt.
Words for this week are intentionality and diligence. Intentionality and diligence to pursue each of the girls on the team, and to pursue the Lord. I still have some goals that I want to meet here, so this is the week!
