sawadika
The Thai greeting referred to as the wai (Thai: ไหว้, pronounced [wâːj]) consists of a slight bow, with the palms pressed together in a prayer-like fashion. “ SaWaDiKa “ means “Hello” in the Thai language. It expresses the kindness and hospitality of the Thai people.
its been over a month since i have been home, i’ve been traveling some more and enjoying my gap year to the fullest! i am so blessed to have the opportunities to see the world and experience so many different cultures this year. so many people have been incredibly supportive of my journey, from close family and friends to people i hardly know and i am thankful for every person who reached out to me and encouraged me throughout my travels.
after myanmar, my team and i went to thailand for a month and a half, which was incredible. thailand was split up into two different ministries that i learned so much from and really enjoyed working with. for the first half of my time in thailand we worked with a man named pat in chiang mai. the first time we met him he told us that if we died today doing ministry, its ok because he would take care of our families, and if he died then we would take care of his family. needless to say, we were all pretty stoked to work with him. pat would pick us up at 8am and sometimes we wouldn’t get home till 9pm. we rode with him in the back of his truck all day following him and doing what he does on a day to day basis. we never actually knew where we were going, we would just show up places and he would tell us to go love on people. we ended up all over the place in three weeks, from building strong relationships with the boys at his halfway home/farm, to prisons, hospitals, government orphanages, street evangelism, home visits, playing soccer with local children, preschools, praying for the sick, and so much more simply to love on people and share Jesus with them. pat really encouraged us to love people day in and day out, to stop for every person, take time and show people the love of Jesus.
working with pat was such a learning experience, he had such an impact on my life. pat would just go and go and go, he sacrificed his comfort, his money, his time, and ultimately his life to help the local people around him. he didn’t want to simply exist in his community, he wanted to live in his community. he didn’t just want to go to church, he wanted to be the church. comfort was never more important than serving The Lord and letting the Holy Spirit guide him through every detail of his day. i am so grateful for the time we were able to spend with him, the things we learned form him, and the lives we were able to touch while working with him.
the second half of thailand was spent with a ministry called outpour movement in mae sot, a truly amazing ministry filled with beautiful people. this ministry is very close to the myanmar border, it was almost like a being back in myanmar. there were many burmese people, markets, and a lot of burmese culture in mae sot. we adjusted here very quickly because we had just been in myanmar for a month and thailand for three weeks so we were familiar with the different cultures in mae sot. outpour movement does so many things for their community. they partner with a couple different children’s homes in the area, playing sports, tutoring, educating, and mainly loving on them. they do village visits, praying for people and building relationships all around mae sot, on the border, and often go into villages in myanmar. they have a bike and burger shop to help employ people in the community and sustain their ministries. they do way more than this, and we were so excited to work with them for our last couple weeks abroad.
while in mae sot my team and i did various things. we often helped clean out a construction site for the ministry, we played sports with kids from the children home, had church with them, did village visits, prayed for many people and places, built relationships, took a day trip to myanmar, spent time with girls from a local school, and much much more. during my time here in mae sot i really enjoyed visiting this one village right on the border of thailand and myanmar. there was a lovely family that we were able to visit a couple times. we called the grandparents grandma and grandpa and spent time laughing and attempting to communicate which just ends in a big ole game of charades. we went to their home a couple times, we played with the kids, printed portraits for them, ate, and laughed. we were with a missionary who goes to villages near the border, it was amazing to be a short term mission team building relationships and trust to have a long term affect for the missionaries in thailand. spending time with people and being interested in their culture and way of life brings such joy to my heart which radiates the love of Jesus to those around me.
when going down to the border/villages near the border, we would first spend as much needed time with The Lord, praying, worshiping, and glorifying Him. there wasn’t a time we went without first spending time in worship. the ministry that we worked with- outpour movement- wants ministry to be from an overflow (outpour) of the Holy Spirit, not by any human strength but solely relying on the power of the Holy Spirit, letting Him first fill us, then proceeding to do ministry so that the love of God just overflows from us wherever we step foot. being able to set aside mission work, personal problems, things to do for the day and simply let The Lord fill us was such a learning experience. days where i didn’t start my day as such, i could noticeably see a difference in my day and the way i acted. ending our trip here was so amazing because it was personally a complete learning experience for me, learning how to completely rely on the strength of God and not my own, going to show people the love of Jesus but not thinking ‘what can i do’, but first letting the Holy Spirit fill me, and then wondering ‘how can Jesus work through me’.
thailand was full of many wonderful relationships and opportunities. i appreciated all the small conversations and serving i was able to do for everyone i came in contact with. even a month and a half after being home, i am still reflecting on the small moments that have had such an impact on my heart. obviously this is a brief overview of my time in thailand, but hopefully in the time to come i will be posting more specific stories from my travels. I’m super excited for the next chapter of my life. i don’t simply want my experiences and learnings to be a six month chunk of my past, but i will reflect on those times which have impacted me and shape me into the woman God calls me to be.
