Country/Dates- Udan Thani, Thailand. February 24th – March 15 (16th-18th in Bangkok)
Ministry site/Host accommodations- Christian Fellowship Deaf Church. The girls slept together in a room on the third floor. The boys shared a room in the storage room. Daniel McNair joined our team for the first part of the month.
Weather- pretty warm. Got up to 101 two or three days. Had some really nice evening weather a few times.
Wifi- good free wifi at the church.
Food- Haley and I went in on breakfast together. We did an alteration between banana oat pancakes and breakfast trash (potatoes, garlic, onions, carrots, spinach, eggs). It came out to be less than $1.50 per breakfast so it was perfect. For lunches and dinner we either went to the night market for chicken strips, sticky rice, sushi, fruit and smoothies or to Annie’s restaurant for Pad Thai. It was way cheaper than buying groceries and cooking at the church. It was easy to stay within the $5 a day food budget.
Hosts- Ben and Wendy Mcclure
Staff- Pick helps at the church and helps with some of the children’s ministries in the villages. We have also worked with Jade who speaks great English. We spent three days with Sister Oy in Bon Phue.
Words/Phrases- Pick, Pick Pick (chant); chicken strip ladies; *cough*… Corona;
Ministry- the first week we did a VBS in the afternoons/evenings in a village about 30 minutes away. We really enjoyed our time there with the 10-30 kids that would show up. We spent three days with Sister Oy passing out gospel books in villages and schools. She was a mix of my Grandma Bullard and missionary, Debbie Capps. We got there and within 15 minutes she was ready to head out and minister. Our time there got cut short sadly by the passing of her brother while we were there. Our last three days in Udan Thani were suppose to be spent in She Sang Mi doing a VBS with Pick, Jade and Joopjip but because of the Corona and getting pulled from the field we had to get to Bangkok as soon as possible to get ready to fly out.
Exercise- since there was no great space to workout or run by the church, I joined a gym that was about a 5 minute walk away. It was so nice having the gym! I got a lot of really good workouts in and was able to continue getting my miles in. It was worth every $3.13 per visit. A gym is my kind of spoiling.
Holy Spirit/The Word- Finished reading Matthew. Finished Genesis and started Exodus. Got a few words and visions from the Lord during our morning prayers.
Team Sea Salt- started out pretty strong at the beginning of the month then about half way we started letting some negativity and hurt feelings distract us. Overall it was still a great month and we had some great times together.
Health- since being in Asia, I’ve noticed that more than usual my hair has been falling out. This month has been the worst. Alarmingly worse. Every time I would shower, I was loosing a chunk of hair. I started taking Biotin to hopefully help. Other than a few mornings of runny noses and not sleeping the greatest this month, I’ve been very healthy.
Defining moment- there was a pretty rowdy boy at our first VBS so the second day, during the lesson, I sat him in my lap and did my best to keep him from distracting everyone else. He was pretty wild at first, but then he started settling down and just sat there in my lap while I rubbed his arm. He was a completely different kid. I think he just needed someone’s full attention and love and to tell him the way he was previously acting was not ok. Man I miss that little booger now.
Answered prayers- health; ministry hosts; a sabbath every week; relationships with locals.
Not what I expected- I did not expect there to be so little space in the church which caused morning quiet times to be less than quiet with six other bodies so close by. A few mornings I had to go to a coffee shop nearby to get an hour or two by myself to recharge. Did not expect to be so close to a very American-ish mall. Did not expect to love the night market and find myself there basically every night as a regular at four or five different food booths.
Areas I want to grow in next month- availability; patience (as always)
Personal realizations- I get scared! This month I’ve thought more about my post Race plans than ever before. The three possible options I’ve thought about all scare me. Literally, I let fear take over and push me into a quiet box of submission. I acted like I could hide those fears and thoughts from the Lord and did so for a few days before finally breaking down before Him and admitting my fears. I felt so much better afterwards and visually saw myself become more joyful, expressive and free. (Crazy that I wrote this a few days before I knew we were being sent home.)
How I’ve changed/grown- I chose joy this month. Consciously, several times throughout the day, I chose joy. My prayer is that others saw my example and were encouraged and challenged by it.
Prayer requests for return to the U.S. – I know the Lord has something better for me here in Oklahoma these next three months than I would have experienced in South America. Which is hard to believe but I’m clinging to the promises of Scripture. I’m believing God is going to use this hard time to display his wonders. Like in Exodus with the plagues. God hardened Pharaoh’s heart SO THAT His wonders would be multiplied. Pray for breakthroughs, pray for the Lord to speak to me clearly and specifically of how He wants to use me in this next season. Pray as I transition back to life at home that I display grace and patience.
