I Found Love in Laos (Country Recap W/ Pics)

Country/Dates- Vientiane, Laos. February 4th- February 24th. Spent one night on the island of Don Det. 

Ministry site/Host accommodations- Dream Home Hostel. Stayed in a 10 bed bedroom. Thankfully there was a pretty nice A/C unit in the room.

Weather- cool in the mornings. Pretty warm throughout the day. 

Wifi- decent wifi at the hostel.  

Food- we had free breakfast at the hostel (3 eggs, toast, tomato slice, banana, and coffee/tea). Lunch was usually fried rice or noodles from a restaurant across the street for 15,000 Kip (which is about $1.70) and dinner was usually a Raman noodle party in the room. Or you could spoil yourself with a Common Grounds salad for 33,000 Kip ($3.72) which meant you only had about 11,000 Kip left for the rest of the day. One of my goals this month was to stay within the $5 food budget per day and it was actually much easier than I thought. Halfway through the month we were given an extra 75 cents a day to help cover the cost of the bottled water we needed each day. Could I have easily spent more each day? You betcha, but the only days I allowed myself to be a little spoiled was on my Sabbaths. For the whole month I only spent $20 of personal money which mostly went towards restocking toiletry items I needed. 

Hosts- This month was ATL so we didn’t have an official host.  

Staff- Anna the hostel owner slowly opened up to us and became a fun friend. The night front desk guy, Hamin (from India), also was very sweet and kind towards us. One of our first days in Laos we met with Roger an American missionary who has been in Laos for 5 years. We ate the most amazing burger and fries as he shared his testimony and heart for the people in Laos. What a blessing he was to our team! He is the Bob Goff of Laos if there ever was one. We also did a few days of ministry with Phouty and her husband Pi. They were so sweet and have a hug heart for youth ministry. We did a few days of construction with team Mosaic and their host. Honorable mentions of some of our roomies throughout our time at the hostel: Gucci Guy, Mr. Israel, Snuggle couple, and Guitar girl

Words/Phrases- How many bowels do we need?; Lunch across the street anyone?; Nood party? (short for noodles); Poor Gucci guy; Monopoly Deal; Common Grounds for a mango salad and cookies?; 

Ministry- this ATL month, our team made a decision at the beginning to not make plans and instead let God make our plans for us each morning. Almost every morning we would wake up, pray and ask God what He has for us for the day. Sometimes someone would get something specific, sometimes no one would. Regardless, each day looked different and I’m so proud of my team and their willingness to come together and go with whatever the day held.  We did a few prayer walks, 2 days of construction, a few days of ministry with locals, a day of teaching English at a hospital, we celebrated a teammates Birthday, we ministered to a teammate whose grandma passed away, visited museums, dyed silk scarves, spent a day on the lake, and did many other random things that popped up last minute.

Exercise- I was decently consistent this month (other than the few days I was sick) of getting up around 6 and going for a run by the night market along the Mekong river. It was so nice. I would also do an occasional mini BBG workout which consisted of sets of stairs, push ups, squats, and planks. 

Holy Spirit/The Word- Finished Luke and Mark. Started reading Matthew. Continued reading in Genesis and started reading though Proverbs again. Got a few words and visions from the Lord during our morning prayers.  

Team Sea Salt- grew in a lot of beautiful areas. Had some really sweet times together in ministry and adventure days. Will always remember my first sauna experience with them on Valentine’s Day. 

Health- had my first throw up experience on the Race and it was not pleasant. Took a solid week before my stomach was ready to be reintroduce by any food other than rice and Indian Non bread.  

Defining moment- as my team stood outside a hostel ready to move down the road to another hostel, I was the only one who had a sense that we needed to wait. So we all waited. In that moment I felt bad to make my whole team wait but their response of willingness to wait with me was so… life giving. They were respecting what I felt the Lord saying to me. As a result of waiting, we made contact and plans with Roger which lifted our spirits more than anything else could have at the beginning of our time in Laos.  

Answered prayers- meeting with local believers and encouraging them in their ministry, a space to exercise, team unity, ATL improvement

Not what I expected- did not expect to feel as safe as I felt in Laos. Every morning I would go down to the park and run by myself and felt completely safe. I also felt very safe and open to read my Bible and pray with my team at the hostel.  

Areas I want to grow in next month- I want to grow in unexplainable, un-circumstantial joy. I’ve learned about myself the past few months that I too easily let others and circumstances dictate my joy level. 

Personal realizations- I like being by myself more than I thought. I found myself craving the two Sundays we had this month where I could get up early, go for a run, shower, eat a quick breakfast at the hostel, drop off my laundry down the road, and walk down to Joma Coffee and Bakery where I would spend a good 8-10 hours all to myself. I would do my quiet time, journal, listen to music, read my book, watch a movie, and spoil myself with a full $10 budget to get a large coffee, a pastry of some sort and a nice lunch. I may have gotten a little savage with a few of my teammates the second Sunday when they showed up there after in confidence I shared with them the week before where I spent my Sabbath. Never again:) Hahah! But seriously, I need my space sometimes. 

How I’ve changed/grown- I did a better job of putting my own agenda to the side and putting my team first. I’ve also grown in saying harder things to teammates when needed.  

Prayer requests for Laos- experience true joy from the Lord alone. To have signs accompany my belief (Mark 16:17-18). To receive a specific promise from the Lord about my future. Have opportunity to use more of my gifts and talents this month in ministry. 

*** And the title of this blog you ask… well, I’ll give more details in my next blog!