Thailand Missions (2018) "Post Trip Reflections"
3 Unmet Expectations
- The architecture and layout of The Centre: Unmet
Before the trip, I imagined The Centre to be much bigger, whiter, and modern-looking. Thankfully, it was not like that at all. When I first walked into The Centre, I immediately felt a warm feeling. It was not too big, it had many different colors, and looked more like a home. Because of the design, it was less formal and scary, and was more welcoming and warm. - Living conditions: Unmet
Even though Whitney and I spent a lot of time with the fly swatter, our AirBnb was honestly not as bad as I thought it would be so PTL for that! I learned that it is important to always have a home where I could go back to and find rest after a long day of work. - Cold contact: Unmet
Growing up, I mostly learned to evangelize through “cold contact”, or basically sharing the gospel with strangers I encounter on the street or a set location. I thought I would be doing the same in Chiang Mai. However, during this whole trip, I was encouraged to establish a friendship with the students first and start by asking about their spiritual lives, about what they believed in, if I could pray for them, and eventually if I could share my own faith and story with them. I found this method to be a lot more intentional and impactful. It gave the students an opportunity to see Christ’s love for them through us, our words, and our actions.
3 Things I Learned About Myself and/or Missions
- Faith
It is important to keep my own faith strong during missions whether it’s through devotions, personal time, prayer, or worship. Allowing God to pour into me through His Word ultimately allowed me to pour into the students from God’s overflowing love. - Energy
Managing energy is extremely difficult for me. This past year, I have been constantly struggling with this. Most days, I would be happy, energetic, and joyful which are qualities that people usually describe me as. However, there are some days when stress catches up and I begin to feel antisocial and just need time to myself. When these rare moments happen, others think something is extremely wrong, but I really just need some “me time”. - Love
God’s love for us is unashamed, uncontained, a light for all the world to see, not anxious, not passive, never disengaged, not broken, and pure. During this trip, I was reminded that I should be doing missions out of love for God’s people. I shouldn’t be ashamed or shy about God’s love for me and should feel compelled to share about it. God doesn’t give his heart in pieces, so we should mirror this and give our hearts completely. Jesus’s name has power and is such a marvelous mystery that needs to be known.
I want to thank our supporters for faithfully praying for us once again. Here are some more prayer requests:
- Pray that the Lord will continue to sustain Alisa and Noreen’s energy while they are in Chiang Rai and that they would not become weary, but find joy in the work that they do.
- Pray for our team that we would find time to rest and reflect on our trip at the same time so that we would not forget what we have done the past two weeks.
- Pray for Vincent, a monk that Melody, Denise, and I were able to talk to while we were visiting a temple. He became a monk at the age of 9 and firmly believes that his parents abandoned him there. He has a different perspective of love that probably came from the betrayal he felt from his parents. He also thinks life is like a game where you need to eliminate all potential rivals so that you may be happy in the future. Keep him in your prayers that he may come to know the true love of God and may be healed from his brokenness.
- Cocoa Melody
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