We’ve been here in Thailand for three weeks now, and I’ve been thinking about how most trips – be that vacations or short-term missions – would be over and done by now. That after a couple weeks of whirlwind adventure we’d be home again to our same jobs and routines and life as usual.
but we’re just getting started. & I’m so grateful for that.
It’s taken these first few weeks to really get settled in. To adjust as a family to a brand new place and make friendships with some really incredible new people. I want to share a little more of how we spend our time here by introducing you to who we spend it with – because they truly are the ones who make this place so amazing.
John & Kim
John was the first new friend we made as we stepped off the airplane in Phuket. He & his wife Kim are the founders of Step Ahead and do a tremendous amount of work throughout Thailand. The first week here John showed us all around the Khao Lak area – from where we’d be living to the cell phone store and our route to the closest beach. He also took us on a tour of where the 2004 tsunami wiped out the entire community, and shared stories of what it was like here those first few weeks and months and years after the devastation happened. To wrap my mind around the impact it’s had on this province feels nearly impossible.
John headed back to Bangkok a week later where Kim and their four foster children live, which forced us (in a great way) to spread our wings and connect with more than just the one American-turned-Thai guy who could drive us around and translate everything for us. It was time to make some new friends – but it helped that he gave us a few names to start with.
Nat
Nat is the kindest, most wonderful woman from eastern Thailand, with a smile even bigger than she is. She runs all the Step Ahead programs in the southern Phang Nga province, including the Childhood Development Center (CDC) that we help in each week. Every Monday-Friday morning we help in a class of tiny Thai tots (ages 2-4), and all twenty of these kids have quickly stolen our hearts. My favorite part of the morning is watching Jonah and Teagan step out on their own initiative and find so many different ways to help. They set out chairs, read stories, do crafts, play soccer, pass out lunch, & even rub little backs to help the kiddos take their afternoon naps. I’m amazed watching how much they both do to love & serve in this preschool – especially when I remember that technically Teagan should still be in preschool.
Another one of Nat’s roles is running a program called Keeping Families Together (KFT), which focuses on supporting low-income families whose kids have lost one or both parents, and are at risk for being placed in institutionalized care (like an orphanage). Many of these children are currently being raised by an aunt or grandparent, and just need the support and encouragement offered by KFT to overcome the challenges they face.
Every month Nat puts together a fun day or a weekend retreat for these families, which we’re grateful to be a part of while we’re here. Last Saturday we got to take the whole crew to an outdoor water park, then out to ice cream where they could pile on all different toppings imaginable (the green sticky rice was my favorite). In March, we’ll be going with all the families to a weekend retreat near the National Park. There we’ll get the opportunity to swim and play games, as well as have teaching and reflecting time to share more about the good news of God’s grace.
Meow
Meow runs a wonderful ministry for the sea gypsy youth in Tapdawan village nearby. Her and her husband Corneel just finished building a large cement home specifically so they can live with their two boys on the second floor while using the main floor as a safe, fun place for kids in the village to come to. Meow tutors them in English, helps with homework, and every Friday night cooks dinner & hosts a big night of worship.
This friend of ours is a pretty incredible one-woman show, but is still limited to how many kids she can welcome in when it’s just her (usually only boys on Mon/Wed & girls on Tues/Thurs). Now our family is helping out afterschool every Monday and Wednesday, so all are invited. I’m teaching English to a group of older girls ages 13-17, while Scott has a full classroom of younger students ranging from 7-12. & Jonah loves playing with his new buddy Vincent (Meow’s son), who’s six, speaks three languages, and has a surplus of Legos because his dad is from Holland.
Matt & Tanita
Our first Sunday in Thailand, it was easy to decide where to go to church. All we had to do was walk downstairs and a group was gathering together to worship right here at the Step Ahead center! That was how we first met Matt & Tanita, and they have quickly become some of our very dear friends.
Matt is from Oregon. Tanita is from Bangkok. Together with their two kids Nic & Nisha they have started an awesome surfing ministry here within the community they live in. Matt & Scott are similar in a lot of ways, from a mutual love of board sports to tackling house renovation projects together. We love going out to the beach with their truckload of kids on Saturday morning or Sunday afternoon, & getting to share their boards for a little surfing practice has been a sweet added bonus God threw in for just for us.
Tanita has been the best friend to help us “live like a local.” She has taken us to her favorite restaurant where everything is 30 baht ($1) or less, shown us the best street markets to stock up on produce and the cheapest grocery stores for snacks, eggs & cheese. She totally understands our “life on a budget” mentality and is always showing us new things to try and ways to get the best deal, as well as loading us up with freshly baked bread & cinnamon rolls. She also speaks the clearest English and has been wonderful to learn from first-hand what it was like growing up in a Buddhist family and how radically her life has changed since becoming a Christian. While I write, the clan is off spending the afternoon over at Matt & Tanita’s while Scott helps extend their roof to fix some water problems. After a few weeks off, Scott is loving the hard work and manual labor (especially when it’s on someone else’s house & not our own).
Now you’ve met a few of our friends. Hopefully that helps paint a picture of what a day in the life looks like here, I know it’s a bit unconventional.
& we get asked a lot, “So, are you on a mission trip?”
not exactly, no.
“Then are you on vacation?”
well, no, we’re not.
“Then what are you doing??”
The best way I know how to answer this is to say we’re focused on living purposefully & intentionally in another part of the world. We want to invest and serve and be useful while we’re here, and we also want to spend time as a family at the beach and on excursions exploring new parts of the world. We want to create new friendships and be a blessing to those who are in the thick of it; those working hard and investing in the people here day after day, year after year. & we also want to slow down enough to create space for God to move and speak in ways we might not have been listening before.
I read a great line in a book this week talking about our motives for doing things, and it said, “To answer the question, ‘Is it about us or about God?’ I’d say, if we are about God, there’s just no issue.” – (Restless by Jennie Allen)
That resonates with me. & I know as we make new friends and visit new places and try to gain a deeper understanding of this life and our role in it, he’s part of all of it. We don’t need to try and separate the secular from the spiritual. But we are looking more closely now. We’re paying more attention to the details and the needs around us and how we can step in to those. & it feels like through it all, we’re where we’re supposed to be.
the henn adventures 