Welcome to Thailand!! About 2 weeks ago, my team (Team Salt and Light) arrived in Bangkok, Thailand! I immediately fell in love with the city of Bangkok! Bangkok is a city with so much life! The city is alive with so many street markets, so much cultural diversity, so many kind people, and an abundance of things to do and see! God has truly blessed us so much here! We have the most thoughtful ministry hosts, a bed to sleep in, hot showers, the ability to walk everywhere and explore the city, and so many street markets with the best food! It feels like time is flying by so quickly! I can’t believe we have already been here 2 weeks! Here is a breakdown of what the past 2 weeks have looked like here!
Ministry! Our main ministry here in Bangkok is once again teaching English! My team is teaching at an after-school English learning center! The kids are so energetic and I just love hanging out with them! The learning center has trained teachers, so our job is to run fun extra classes where we teach the kids fun dances (the Church Clap dance lives on from Malaysia to Thailand), teach them bible stories, teach them new English vocab, and play lots of fun games like 4 Corners and Rock Paper Scissors tournaments!
Playing games with the students!
Since teaching is typically in the afternoons, we spend our early mornings spending time with the Lord, reading our bibles, trying new coffee shops, and sometimes even going for runs and doing workouts at the nearby park we just discovered! Then, we often spend a few hours around lunchtime doing evangelism and ATL (Ask the Lord)! We split up into groups of 2 or 3 and walk around the city with open eyes to see those who God has for us to speak to! So far, we have mostly been focusing on building relationships with some of the local street vendors, and we hope to continue going back again and again to share the gospel with them! Our team will also often spend an hour in worship and prayer over the country of Thailand before we begin ministry at the English learning center!
One other fun ministry opportunity we have had is going to local college Christmas fairs and events! The first Christmas event we attended was crazy! On the way there, P Benz (our ministry host) told us that a K-pop dance group was supposed to perform at the event, but last minute canceled and wasn’t coming. So, our team would be filling in for them, and putting together a 30-minute performance to perform in less than 2 hours! Upon arrival, they ushered us into the artists’ room! We were shocked and ended up singing some Christmas carols and performing the Church Clap (a crowd favorite)! We were definitely a bit pitchy, and it may not have been our best performance, but we gave it all we had! The second college Christmas fair we went to was even more awesome! At this fair, we ran a booth where we helped students make Christmas ornaments and explained the true meaning of Christmas as we decorated the ornaments! I was able to have some really good conversations with some of the students and am hopeful that we will be able to meet up with a couple of them again during our time here!
Getting ready to perform at the Christmas fair!
Adventure Days! Being in the city of Bangkok, we have had the best adventure days! So far, we have explored Chinatown, explored and shopped at some huge malls, visited a few temples, and taken a Hop On Hop Off Bangkok boat tour! The city of Bangkok is so vibrant and just has so much depth to it! I just love getting to explore!
Chinatown!!
Visiting Wat Arun, one of the largest temples here!
An indoor floating market at Iconsiam mall!
Living everyday life with God at the center! God has blessed me and my team so much here in Bangkok! Our living conditions are amazing with beds and hot showers, so many fun new foods that are so good, a nearby park where we can exercise and go for runs, and such convenient walkability! In Malaysia, it definitely felt easier to surrender everything to God because the conditions were more difficult, and there really was no other option. Here in Bangkok, life feels so much more comfortable. At first, it felt like I didn’t need to lean so heavily on God because the comfortability of life here made it easier to do things on my own. But, in the past 2 weeks here, God has been showing me that He is still my source of strength for everything, and I can still place God at the center of everything I do, even when conditions are easier. God is still so worthy of our everything, in seasons of blessing and seasons of difficulty!
Picture Time!
Me and my roomies, Lauryn and Avery!
The best Pad Thai in Chinatown!
Walking home from teaching!
Me and Gabi on the river with a gorgeous sunset!
A beautiful sunflower field!
Bangkok at night!
Thanksgiving! For Thanksgiving, we went to Sizzler’s and then watched the new Wicked movie!! (Peep the Christmas tree behind us that is in front of our hotel! If you know me, you know I love Christmas, so it makes me so happy that we have a Christmas tree in front of our hotel!)
Getting ready for worship at a Christmas event at a Thai church!
Serving mango sticky rice at an international food fair!
Praises!
- Safe travels to Thailand!
- We are so blessed with our living conditions here!
- Our ministry hosts are AWESOME and take such good care of us!
- The students at the English learning center are so fun to be with and to teach!
- The Christmas season is here!
- Opportunities to explore the city of Bangkok!
- Time and opportunities to build relationships with local people here!
Prayers!
- Curiosity from our students about the bible stories we teach them and that they would encounter Jesus either at the English learning center or in some other way!
- My team would have an urgency to share the gospel!
- Women’s event! My team is putting on a women’s event for local Thai women on Friday! Be praying for women to take a step of boldness to show up and that these women would encounter the Lord at this event!
- Health for myself and my team! Some of us are beginning to get sick here, so be praying for quick recovery and that the sickness doesn’t spread!
- More and more opportunities during our evangelism and ATL times to share the gospel, and that it would be received well!
- Homesickness during the holiday season!
You guys are all the best!!! Thank you for loving me and supporting me! I am truly so blessed to have this community behind me on this journey! Love you all!!
Until next time,
Alia
