Can you believe that Thanksgiving 2011 is just right around the corner? I feel like so much of this year has been go-go-go...how did this holiday season get here so fast? haha
I've been working with a Christian foster care/adoption agency since September 2010. When I was hired, I committed to staying for two years no matter what. I knew God wanted to teach me about committment and not taking the easy way out. Little did I know how that would play out. At the middle or end of July, our prevention team was informed that we would be getting laid off at the end of this year's contract: August 31st. I questioned God about our 2 year plan...I kept asking Him, "now what?!" I thought maybe I thought wrong and I hadn't really heard His voice, and how foolish this was going to turn out.
I applied for jobs every day, I lost a lot of sleep because of anxiety and fear of the unknown future. He lovingly filled me with His peace, but remained silent. I then became confident that somehow I was going to stay with the agency in a different department. Nothing was coming together so that it would happen right away...but I was definitely asking God what the hold up was. Didn't he know August 31st was coming up quickly!?!?
August 31st came around and it was sobering to say goodbye to what I thought was a pretty great team of coworkers. We had been pouring ourselves into a program that we began from scratch...only to have it be snatched away from us (and the families of DFW). We turned in everything, went out to lunch and then went home. September 1st, I woke up and applied for unemployment. NOT one hour later...I get a call from HR that a caseworker has resigned and although the company was not able to financially open up a new spot, I could fill in hers. "So would you like to take the job?" YES! My benefits hadn't been terminated yet and I still had PTO, so I enjoyed a long holiday weekend and was to report back to work the next Tuesday at 9am.
Since then, my new responsibilities, my new team have been even more challenging than I experienced in the first year at Arrow. I'm now a foster care/adoption case worker serving 14 children so far. I'm privileged to be with a team of strong believers who care way beyond the superficial and constantly bring our needs and plans before God. My understanding of God has been blown to bits through teachings and conversations with our receptionist. I haven't done work worth deserving of His favor and I constantly ask him, "why?" (while at the same time uttering...but thank You don't take it away!) =P
I know many are feeling pinched financially and there's probably a lot of reasons to worry...but don't you see His loved one? Do you not know who He is and what He is capable of? This is just a glimpse of Him who is greater than the world's economy and understanding. Do not give up hope and when you know you have heard Him say "go"...don't falter, just go and don't turn back. And if you doubt or question or need a little push to keep ya going...call me! :)
Have you ever had times in your life where you go from being on a great emotional high only to fall into an intense low shortly after that? That's been the past two months in a nutshell.
At the STIRRED conference I got to enjoy an amazing reunion with maybe 1/2 of my World Race family. At home though, I was friendless. Not much changed after I got back to Texas. I missed my World Race family and I was immediately expecting the church to fill in that gap...without any effort on my part. I had a lot of excuses for holding back, but regardless, in all honesty, I was being incredibly lazy and wallowing in my own pity party for far too long.
Sad to say, it took another two months before I just couldn't take it any more. I could hear God getting restless with me, but I kept shutting Him out. I'm sorry He had to see me behave so pathetically really.
One night, I looked up nearby churches on the internet and was drawn to one that (sadly?) was only 15 minutes away from where I'm currently living. I went the next night to their college-age Bible study and since then...it's like I've made a complete 180!
God is grafting me into a community of believers that remind me a lot of my WR family, but I love that they're not. We're being intentional about fellowship and digging right in beyond the surface level chit chat. I'm actually reading my Bible again, listening to spiritual music, praying fervently and becoming more bold in a lot of areas in my life. It's as if the past two months never happened. My WR family would periodically tell me that I have a spiritual gift of speaking wisdom. These people didn't know that...and they're saying the same thing. God is using me and challenging me to do my share as a member of His body, the Church. He's also moving me into opportunities of leadership at work and with my new friends in this college ministry.
I made a commitment to God to stay with my new social work job for at least 2 years--so that means no long-term missions for awhile. However, I keep receiving the word "leadership" and my passion for missions has just intensified. Maybe I can't go long-term...but there are still options. In fact, last Thursday, I applied to lead one of AIM's Ambassadors summer trips. Since researching their trips, I haven't been able to stop thinking about their 2-week Haiti trip at the end of June. So if I get an interview, that's what I'm going for. And get this...one of my first squad leaders sent me a message on Facebook just a few hours ago saying she thought of me earlier and thought I should apply to lead an Ambassadors or RealLife trip this summer. Um....WHAT?! Did that just happen?? She had no idea that I had just applied for that maybe 4 days ago! Yay confirmation!
So that's an update an a World Racer still trying to figure things out. There's so much more I could share. But I'm finally back to living my life and living in a spirit of expectancy as I think God wanted for me all along. :)
Last Wednesday, I drove the 12+ hours to Gainesville, Georgia to attend a conference at AIM headquarters called Stirred. It was a chance to meet with alumni, staff, friends of AIM and participate in an amazing worship experience led by Jonathan David Hessler. I registered not knowing whether or not I would actually attend because I was jobless and was only saving to go to a wedding that same weekend. Yet I could tell God wanted me there for a reason.
Stirred: A Prophetic Conference - Cultivating the Presence of God
The conference began Thursday evening under a huge tent. Clint, one of the key speakers for this event, asked us to invite God to meet with us there. He said that if we needed to ask God to be our Healer, then ask Him to be so. If we needed Him to be our Father, then ask Him to be that. As Clint went on...the word "friend" came to my mind. Now, I've been very blessed with the life that I have in Dallas...but I'm not making friends or haven't visited with old friends yet. I'm still keeping a lot to myself. I'm just very friendless these days. So that's who I asked God to be for me..."God, I need You to be my closest friend right now." Not only was I physically exhausted from the drive and lack of sleep for 2 days, but then even my heart felt heavy. I felt like I was supposed to keep giving, but I didn't think I had anything else in me to give out. That's why I was there.
Jonathan led us through a time of singing with pure hearts in His presence. I love music, so I'm not sure if you understand when I say that I like songs the way they are...because then I can sing along to them and know which lyrics are coming up next. But when you're making up songs as you go...it's about creativity, and sometimes trying to not sound awful. =P But there in that tent, one lyric came out of my mouth, "In Your eyes, it's only You and me." It's ALL that was coming to me. I probably sang that line over 50 times...and then I couldn't remember it. Instead, all that came out (along with tears) was "aaahhhh". That's it. One note. And YET, as I was belting that note from the depths of me, it was as if I heard God whisper back, "I understand you."
My one note chorus had no English language to it. Here I was giving God just one note and a lot of baggage. Despite that, God was telling me that's all He wanted, that He understood everything that was poured into that one note. It was as if my heart had it's own language and He was the only One meant to get it. I mean, how does that even happen? The last line I wrote in my journal that night reads, "How beautiful this all is to me." Indeed...how mysterious and beautiful all of God is to me.
So an encouragement to any of you who are friendless, or weary, physically tired, anything...even if all you have in you to sing is one note of "aahhh"....sing it. Because I believe in that one note, God alone understands You and will reveal His power and strength to you. It's sufficient to carry you through til tomorrow. And then tomorrow, you sing whatever comes next.
God certainly has a sense of humor when it comes to us and our plans, doesn't He?
A good portion of you who have subscribed to this blog have probably heard me say at some point in my life that "I will never move back to Dallas." Guess where I am today? AND-get this-I am CONTENT to be here. All I can say is...ONLY You God, ONLY You. =P
I was very blessed to have been given back my old job in Lubbock. I put in a lot of good work ethic and got to give a presentation about my trip at the office. I was able pay my loans back on time thanks to a steady income. I was falling in love with my gospel community at Redeemer; I loved the direction my home church was heading in. I had high expectations of pitching in with the children's ministry and plunging into acts of service. Guess you could say I had a pretty good thing goin' there. But then one night, I distinctly heard God tell me, "Marissa, your season here is over. It's time to move on."
Excuse me. What?! Wait, I couldn't have heard that right. I mean...c'mon...I JUST got back! At least here I know I can pay my bills on time and I already know who's around me. I was just starting to get comfortable, why give that up?? And yet, I wasn't telling anyone about how lonely and isolated I really felt. I wasn't jumping up at the chance to serve in the children's ministry. I was pouring a lot of dedication into my job sure, but my energy and desire to serve people face-to-face just couldn't be fueled there. By living in denial, I was trying to make it work because I was afraid of letting it all go once again. For three months, although I was trying to figure out what direction was next, I refused to consider that He wanted me anywhere else but Lubbock.
Yet I couldn't deny what I'd heard. For a weekend, I prayed and little by little....DFW actually looked...dare I think it?...appealing! Despite the initial anxiety of letting go of a solid monthly income for unknown provision, I received PEACE. The following Monday morning at work, I threw myself into a little debate with God about the "when?" and the "are You sure??" and before I knew it, I turned in my two week's notice. Doubts crept in immediately: about security, about selfishness versus obedience, etc. Hadn't I told SO MANY people that I was never going back? And yet...I'm going back? Was I just a failure then? So God rebuked me because He loves me enough to discipline me. Did I trust Him or not? Will I obey Him or not? It's a yes or no.
Two weeks later, I said goodbyes, packed everything I owned back into my car and prayed to God I wasn't screwing this up.
For several weeks I've been sending off cover letters with an updated resume, filling out applications and doing interviews and studying for my licensing exam. I felt no sense of direction about the kind of job that I should apply for. Like I explained in my last blog, my heart is just all over the place! So I made a list of my needs, then my wants, and turned those into my "qualifications" for the job I was looking for and stuck to jobs in social work. I prayed over them and I surrendered it all to God every single day I was in the waiting tank.
Last week, I was offered and accepted a job as a Parent Mentor with a Christian adoption/foster care agency. Andd wouldn't you know it...EVERY SINGLE ONE of my qualifications is met by this position with this agency. ONLY You God, ONLY You. He knows where my heart is and what it needs to keep pressing forward-it's as if this job was tailored just for me at just this season of my life. My joy has been restored.
Between the time when I moved and when I'll start earning my income, not one of my financial needs will have gone unmet. I've begun being drawn into a gospel community close to where I'm living. I attended a Beth Moore simulcast today hoping to get even more confirmation that I'm where I should be. I didn't even know what the topic would be. As I was waiting for it to start, I wrote to God about 3 ways I want to grow this year with Him. The teaching I received today was about the first thing on my list!! Some women in the church wouldn't let me sit or eat alone the entire day, and through their kindness and our discussions, God confronted the 2nd and 3rd things on my list!
All I can say right now is ONLY You God, ONLY You!
...oh, and I guess I should never say never again huh? ;)
I've recently come upon a song from Audrey Assad's beautiful album, The House You're Building, called "Restless". The chorus/bridge goes:
Still my heart, hold me close
let me hear a still small voice
let it grow, let it rise
into a shout, into a cry
and I am restless, I'm restless
til I rest in You
let me rest in You
I'm restless, I'm so restless
til I rest in You
til I rest in You, O God
let me rest in You
I love her voice, but I love these lyrics more because that's what my heart has been crying out recently. For the past few weeks I've been thinking about this whole "what next?" of my life. I graduated from high school and knew next college was the next step. After college, I knew the World Race was the next step. After the World Race, college loans needed to be paid and God provided me with a job before I even got back to Dallas. But now, I have no idea...I feel like I'm wandering through life, directionless. Restless.
I'm one of those people that could be content being a college student forever. There are so many things out there that I'm interested in learning about or attempting such as: mediation, family law, non-profit work, mentoring, long-term missions overseas, kids or women's ministry, social work, counseling, internships with International Justice Mission, Teach for America...just to name a few. The list changes often as well. It's like I can't quite put a finger on it. I'm still trying to figure myself out, but in the meantime bills need to be paid and some choices don't really become choices anymore. Do I want to live in small town West Texas? What about my grand ideas of working in the inner-cities? I said I'd never go to grad school because I don't want to think about owing more $, but what if...? What about going back to Malawi or Romania or the Philippines? Will I get to see Ian again? Am I gonna get married and adopt kids? Where does that fit in my lifeline? God, what can I, me specifically, do to bring Kingdom where I am now? There's no way that all of this learning and experiencing ends at myself. How do I use what I've got to give to others? So many things I almost want to cry because I don't see how I'll have all the time to do it? Is my debt gonna dictate the rest of my life? I'm 27 now, shouldn't I have some or most of this figured out by now?
Thankfully through prayer and seeking out wisdom from squadmates, I'm remembering where fear comes from...that it's certainly not from God. I'm remembering that it's okay to move on, to dream big, it's good to start fresh as often as I need to. It means so much to me that I have my squadmates to bounce all this off of. They get me, I get them. I'm not alone in this confusion. =P I'm definitely not alone.
Maybe I wasn't born to live the "traditional" lifestyle, the American dream? Is that so wrong?! O God, I'm restless...but my rest is found in You...not in things to do, Surely the next season will come in its due time. For now, it really feels GREAT to return to You and to have the community of believers I have now to process this with. You truly know what it takes to reach my heart. Yes, at the end of all things, it's still just me and You.
Part of this re-entry thing, coming back to home that had changed and continued moving forward (or the opposite) while still remembering how things used to be. Although change is intriguing and sometimes adventurous to me, I still struggle against it. I've seen God's church congregate in 11 countries over the past year. My eyes were opened to a lot of new and curious things. I've had a unique chance to step outside the American borders and then jump back in. So what about coming back to the Church in America? What is that really like?
In Dallas, I reunited with a school friend and supporter, Ryan B., when I joined him at his church 2 weeks ago. I don't really know the why of it, but I was nervous! I was nervous about my reaction: would I be judgmental? Would I be harsh? Would I feel connected? Would I feel like an outsider? Would I be critical? I think I was nervous too, because those were ways I was already feeling to some degree. But I longed to be among great fellowship, joined with the body in prayer and worship through singing and praise. Not to sound too dramatic or anything, but I craved it like my body craved oxygen. I'm apart from my World Race family, and I need to know I belong somewhere. But where?
I squad finished the World Race strong!!
We celebrated the Pentecost, which I consider probably the most mystifying event in the church today. AFTER Jesus was brutalized, crucified, buried and rose from the dead...those who believed the truth about who He was congregated. When Jesus reappeared in the flesh, he told them to stay and wait for a gift that was promised long ago. Jesus left...and they had to trust and believe in His word. During the Feast of Weeks, God's promised gift of the Holy Spirit, the Counselor, was imparted and manifested through tongues of fire on each person. Pentecost. The book of Acts goes on to tell of the beginnings of the Church we are a part of today. My heart is getting giddy because I just want to stop writing and read the whole book...it gives me chills! J
To celebrate the Pentecost, the worship band sang a song of praise while at least seven people from different nationalities and ethnicities stood on the stage. During the song, one by one, each read a passage from Acts chapter 2 in their native tongue. When they all spoke simultaneously, something powerful came over me. In the middle of a mass of strangers, and yet in the middle of my beloved Christian family, I wept. I was witnessing a glimpse of the Church as God loves it. His people, each made with perfect love and care, came together to give praise to the One who brought us all together and made us new in Christ. I no longer felt alone. I am not an outsider as I started to believe.
Right there, in the midst of His beloved bride, the Church, I am where I belong and always long to be.
Any future adventure through travel around the world is unknown to me at this point. My adventure through reuniting and meeting more in the Church and inviting others to join me continues...
...and I invite you to not just follow along, but to share your own accounts.
So I have been back in the US for just under 2 weeks now. Since getting back I've reunited with my amazing family, eaten at my favorite cajun seafood restaurant, had Thanksgiving (w/ cranberry sauce, my fave part!), caught up on the final season of LOST (sad), felt overwhelmed in loud places, gotten reacquainted with my "Dallas driving skillz", slept a lot more than I expected to, gotten sick from American food, reunited with my amazing friends and co-workers...you get the picture.
Jimmy McCarty, one of my brothers, whom I highly respect and admire for his faith, works with the World Race. He knows all about travelling and being overseas for long periods of time. He's no stranger to how the re-entry process goes. His most recent blog describes it perfectly:
"This week we will talk about re-entry. If you've never spent a significant period of time overseas, you may not be familiar with this concept, but coming home is hard to do. There's a book that likens the return home like a space ship re-entering the atmosphere. Either you "burn up" or "splash down" but either way, something dramatic happens.
It's not a bad thing to come home, but things are different. People don't understand the journey that just happened, people don't understand how dire the situation is over "there". American's seem wasteful and extravagant. Everything is more expensive, it's loud, it's bright, it's flashy.
Going abroad is not the only part of this journey that requires courage. Coming home is hard, and the journey will not be easy."
It's so true! In coming home I have had challenges. But every single time I get to talk about the work our squad did in Africa or Romania or the Philippines or anywhere else on the route...I end up reminding myself of just how amazing and powerful and perfect God is. It gets me pumped up! I get on fire when others get to hear just how far their prayers and financial support took our teams. Sometimes I start to get tears in my eyes when I remember special people I became close to. But I have to come to trust so much more in God's sovereignty...that He holds the world in His hands and can be trusted with anything and everything.
Some days have been busier than others, but I find that I still struggle with being intentional about seeking out alone time with my Father. But I love that now every single morning I'm asking God what His agenda is for me before trying to pursue my own. I have to consciously remind myself that the same God I saw working in orphanages and prisons and feedings around the world...hasn't left me or stopped using me because I came "back home". If anything...He's just getting started!
So what's next?
First, if anyone wants to meet with me to hear more about the trip, I have a new ph#: (214) 460-8630 or shoot me an e-mail at mavila01@yahoo.com.
I am enjoying time with my family and friends in the Dallas area until the end of this month. In June I will head back to Lubbock, TX and return to my previous job at ARMtech. God has blessed me so much through awesome people there and I'm excited about serving there again. In His goodness to me, God has already provided me with a car, temporary/summer housing and a job before I even set foot in America. I know He's sending me to Lubbock for this next season to continue bringing Kingdom to that city. Not sure entirely what that looks like...but I've let go of demanding the whole picture. It's much more exciting not knowing everything up front. I have some "kingdom dreams" brewing in my head, and I'm excited to see how it all plays out.
I'm working on organizing pictures and video. Thanks to Warren, he put together a video to recap our past year...enjoy!
The entire squad is reunited and resting close to the beach in Hua Hin, Thailand for FINAL DEBRIEF!!!!!
Kimi petting a pony at the beach
It's been 11 amazing, difficult, challenging, rewarding, blessed months of travelling across the globe. God only knows how many lives have been changed forever in addition to those of us on I-Squad. It's been a crazy race...but I know all too well, that it never really ends.
Bit of a recap:
* I am now FULLY FUNDED thanks to all of you wonderful readers, prayer warriors and financial givers. Thanks to you, I no longer carry the burden of raising support after I've returned from this trip.
* On my last visit the red light district of Chiang Mai, I was able to share some tearful goodbyes with my new friends at Shamrock Pub. I know in my heart that what our team shared with them has been received and that God is just beginning to reveal Himself in their lives. Although I did not get to say goodbye to Nan, I learned that she decided to travel back to live with her family. God has taken her out of the darkness and I believe He is providing for His daughter in an amazing way. She was a captive and has now been set free!!!
I'm going to miss the many scenic drives I've been on
What lies ahead for me:
As of right now, our squad will arrive in LAX on Thursday, April 29th! I'll be staying with my sister, Damaris, to catch up and get some rest for a couple of days. I get back to the promised land of Texas on May 1st, hehe. I plan on being in the Dallas area for most of May and makin' a road trip to Georgia to help with the next World Race training camp. I'm really excited about getting to serve, equip, and empower the next squads heading out overseas! It will be interesting to see this fresh army head out into the unknown...having just come off my own adventure. But this will also be a chance to reunite with some squadmates. :)
but not gonna lie...kinda ready to empty my backpack for a few weeks
After that I plan to head back to Lubbock. Although God and I haven't worked out the finer details of my own kingdom dreams, I look forward to serving someone else in their pursuit of theirs for the time being. I honestly have no idea what to expect or what this really looks like. I have a sense that God is moving things around and soon enough I'll know my role in it. No rush and no worries. He has already been providing me with work, housing, transportation and funds to make the transition smoother. He is blowing me away these days!
Prayer:
My squadmates have become like a second family to me. Although I'm enjoying fun and sun here in Thailand, it's also an emotional rollercoaster knowing that I'm going to be saying goodbye. I'm excited and ready to see my family and friends back home again, but sad that this chapter is ending as well. We've lived and travelled and been through so much with each other 24/7 for almost a whole year. Please pray for all of us during this transition.
After some rest and time with my family, I look forward to sharing more pictures and stories in person. I'll give updated contact info after I get back.
There's a short, mellow song by Rosie Thomas called "Death Already Came and Got Me". Sounds depressing, but I like 2/3rds of the lyrics:
And who am I supposed to be?
Everybody seems to see except for me.
Who cares anyway?
'Cause when it's over, it's all over
And what you gained, you throw away.
And will my love ever find me?
All my life all I've craved is to be seen.
Who cares anyway?
'Cause when it's over, all that matters
is the love you gave away.
Monday night I went back to the bar to visit again and heard that Nam's birthday was April 20th. Later, she came up to me and showed me her ID. I looked down and there was a picture of a young man who looked probably 15 or 16. Nam is a "ladyboy" who works at this bar as a prostitute and turns 19 this year. (Lady boys are men who have or have not, had surgeries to become women.
Some of them have the female body parts, some do not. Some only dress
like women while others, it could be hard to tell that they are not
women.) All night I thought about Nam and wanted to find a way to bless her on her birthday.
Unfortunately now that I'm at the end of this crazy adventure in missions, I'm also getting to be really low on funds. A lot of my
thoughts lately have been about our final debrief. What kind of fun
stuff can I treat myself to? Will I be able to enjoy my last little
bit of fun with the squad but not really have the money to do a lot of
things? But then this month and these friendships at Shamrock Pub turned my
world upside down. More and more, my thoughts have turned to: how can
I bless these workers? What can I say to turn their lives around?
What can I give or leave behind that they'll remember? What will they
remember about our team there? I've been asking God to please multiply all resources so that I could bless everyone at that bar before I left. And then I saw the cheesecakes...
oh so good: brownie, raspberry, cherry and blueberry cake for all!
At Wongen, Nook (Emmi's sister) makes amazing cheesecakes. I spent some food money to buy an entire tray and got them decorated for Nam to have a birthday cake at work. (Like with Nan, if I can make even one night different...it's enough to make real change happen.) I managed to get there just before Nam did and Mai, the owner, and I were able to hide it so we could surprise her later.
Mai made a sweet drink, decorated the cake with candles, turned off the loud, raunchy music and the entire bar sang "Happy Birthday" to Nam. She loved it all! I was worried that I wouldn't have enough cake for everyone...but God answered my prayer. Everyone got to enjoy some cake and felt full! There were big pieces still leftover that we were able to give to some street kids that come into the bars every night to sell flowers. And after two kids had pieces that filled the palm of their hands, there were still some good bites left.
I know God was pleased to see that smile
I got to see this small group of people really enjoy a time of celebration and sharing instead of another night of competition over the next customer that walks by. The rest of the night we played pool, snakes & ladders, connect 4, mazes, etc. It was such a night of laidback, fun and games--a nice birthday party in the heart of the red light district.
let's eat!
God is just blowing me away out here. Each time I just step out in faith and let go of what I tend to hold onto...He takes that act of generosity and faith and multiplies it so that many are blessed--and He gets the glory. :)
At this point, it won't matter what adventurous things I do just before I get back to the States...all that matters is the love I gave away.
To my supporters:
I pray that you especially know how grateful I am for your generosity through prayers and financial gifts this past year. This is just another example of how the funds I've received from you have been prayed over and mulitplied so that many others are blessed. It's no small thing you did, whether you've been giving $1 or $1000, you made this happen too. As you can see...I want to finish this Race strong. I now lack just $404.50 left to be fully funded!! Your participation in my ministry has already proven fruitful. I'm asking you to help me end this trip 100% funded in the next 9 days. I'm excited about updating you to celebrate God's provision!
It's REALLY hot here in Chiang Mai. We're in the hottest season of the year in Thailand; tonight my thermometer in our room reads 90 degrees w/ 39% humidity. It can be a bit much...oh west Texas dry heat, how I miss you! Thankfully though, the Thai New Year just so happened to be last week.
The entire country celebrates with a water festival that lasts for 3-4 days! So from Tuesday (although most kids couldn't resist a Monday off from school) through Thursday, everywhere we went outside, we had to be prepared to get wet!
Here's how my brother Matt describes our brothers' Songkran experience in Pak Chong:
Here's
how it works: All eight of us guys (and sometime a bunch more), pile
into the back of a pickup truck. We grab all of the squirt guns, water
pails, and at least one large trash can or bin we have previously
purchased. Make sure everything is loaded with water and then head out
to the middle of town. First thing you do once you've made it in town
is stop by a person who is selling large chunks of ice and proceed to
buy at least two. Stir the large can or bin that contains the water
and ice and then drive slowly down the main strip squirting, throwing
water, and jumping in and out of the bed of the pickup. The street is
so congested that the vehicles just crawl along while people are
throwing water everywhere and laughing. All along the way there are
stations where people are filling back up on water and buying ice. The
Thai people also like to come up to you and gently smear a mixture of
flower and food coloring (and sometimes incense oil) on your face.
After a few hours of this you get pretty tired, but it has been quite
the experience and a lot of fun.
This month our days are spent helping the staff at Wongen Kafe, just across the street from Chiang Mai University. The owner (and our host here), Emmi Khanthana, has opened this cafe as a place where customers (like university students) can come to practice their English conversation skills, enjoy some amazing smoothies and also have the chance to begin to know the humble Christian staff members. When we're not serving brownies and smoothies, we're using time to pray, worship, sing to the Lord and then go over to campus for lunch and to make new friends.
Leigh @ Wongen Kafe
For Songkran, we prepared thousands of little baggies with candies and tiny cards from Wongen. So while the cafe was closed for the New Year holiday, we took to the wet streets to pass out goodies and spread the word.
pics that Tiffany took of Songkran...it looks like crazy fun right?!?!
Happy Thai New Year, hehe....I think we should do this in America this summer...who's up for a water fight when I get back?!
