I spent the month of August in Thailand on a mission trip with World Race: Semesters! Everyone on our trip had a blog through that organization, and this is really where I started to love blogging (and the reason I now have this website!) So here is the link to that site, and here are some overviews of my posts there if you want to check them out.
The first few days of a World Race Semesters trip occur in Gainesville, Georgia, out in the middle of nowhere. Some highlights: bucket showers, eating curry with our hands, worship nights, waking up at 3 am to go to the airport and watching the stars on the driveway, meeting my team, porch journaling, and prepping to follow Jesus to the nations!
We actually left the US on the Fourth of July, and we landed in Bangkok early on the morning of the 6th. We were only traveling (in the air and layovers) for 21 hours, so we did some time travel and skipped a whole day somewhere in there. Highlights: training camp, free coffee, Romans 8:15, and a day-by-day training camp recap.
One amazing ministry on the World Race is called Ask the Lord ministry, and God really really spoke to me through this! This is one of my favorite stories from Thailand, so if there's any post to read, it's this one!! Highlights: God literally guiding us through the streets of Bangkok, English speakers, market adventures, and Grandma T.
Something God really spoke to me in Thailand was that every day is such an adventure with Him. That's a lot of my motivation for this blog-- to share some everyday adventures, thoughts, and experiences, because there's so much to learn being present where my feet are! This post really shows how self-doubt is such a lie and how God works through us in the simplest ways. Highlights: Place of Grace, discipleship groups, fears, car accidents, and second-guessing only to find I was right after all.
Another crazy example of how well God provides! This weekend excursion to the Ancient City was one of my favorite things that I did in Thailand. It's a giant park that shows Thai history-- but through actual buildings from the second century on (real and painstaking replicas.) If you go to Bangkok and don't go here, you are missing out! Highlights: being a tourist, biking around, team generosity, beautiful buildings, and elephants!
This is a more serious post about the ways Jesus worked in and changed my heart during my month in Thailand. I grew so much in my confidence in myself due to finally understanding that my identity lies in Him. I feel a lot more peace in being bold about my faith and not hiding it. I used to be so scared to "act Christian" depending on who I was around, but I've come to understand how beautiful it is to live out life with Christ and find my purpose in that. Highlights: identity, rooftop workouts, and sharing the Gospel.
Our last day at Place of Grace was beautiful but those were some tough goodbyes! I vlogged this day, so there's a video here, but the post has a ton more details about what we did with the kids. Some highlights: baking, teaching English, power washing concrete, Pinterest crafts, Bible skits, and holding hands.
Coming home was difficult, especially as I learned to adapt what I'd discovered in Thailand to life back in America. Highlights: mango sticky rice, cooking fails, air conditioning, and some goodbyes.
I had the most incredible time on my trip and felt God move in such incredible ways! If you've got any sort of questions about Jesus, Thailand, or World Race Semesters, please ask in that little comment box-- I am happy to answer them! That month was so life changing and it was so beautiful to get to share that with everyone!