WEEK 16: Ministry Coming to an End and ELEPHANTS

LAST WEEK AT BELLA GOOSE THEN WE HEAD TO DEBRIEF!!

This week we closed off our last week at ministry. The babies were SOO cute and sweet, and I’m going to miss them. We said our goodbyes to them and the older kids on Friday morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       I actually have a new role on the team as our prayer/intercessor girl, which means I will plan worship nights and prayer. Monday night, I planned for all of us to worship together and it was soooo fire. We just did some speaker worship on the rooftop. Post worship, we just had a dance party lol.

 

 

 

 

        Tuesday, my team, our ministry host Zac and his family, our friend Lexi, other friends Joel and Charlie, Camden and Zac, and I all had dinner together at the team house we cleaned last week. We got to all chat together, then we played Murder in the Dark for two hours. Low key it felt like a freshman hangout at my house but it was awesome.

 

 

 

       We had a cute little team time this Friday where we went to a garden, grabbed a leaf, and colored over it with crayons on a piece of paper. While we were there, we met this kind, German lady named Batina who’s going to be in Thailand for a month with some friends. It was so sweet talking to her. Our friend Hope also came over that night to watch Elf with us!! It was a little sad watching it not watching with my family, but still really, really fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        This week’s adventure day was actually perfect. We drove about 2 hours down a windy mountain road to a Karen tribe village to spend time with elephants for the day!! When everyone arrived, they gave us a bunch of bananas to give to the elephants and we just got to take pictures with them for a bit. Afterwards we all got Karen shirts, and our guide, Sek, gave us some history on the elephants and a lot of different things about them. He had us pair up, then assigned us each an elephant to be with for the day. I was with Jaylynn and our elephant was named Mebutong. She’s 39 years old and SUPER tall. The first thing we did was feed her more food, which consisted of huge things of sugar cane and a bunch of grass. We learned that if elephants are happy and healthy, they are always eating. Mebutong is definitely happy and healthy haha. Post feeding the elephants, it was time to have our own lunch. We walked down to the most beautiful feast EVER, with pad thai, fried rice, different jello cakes, and the freshest fruit I’ve ever tasted. After getting all stuffed, we came back to make the elephants’ daily medicine made out of different, natural ingredients. Sek explained the 5 different ways you can tell an elephant is healthy by their eating, tears being the same length down their face, dirt on their sides to tell if they sleep laying down, sweat between their toenails, and if their stool is only hay and water. Such amazing creatures!!! We finished out the day by taking a ride on their backs up a ridge, through a forest, and down into a field. They taught us how to communicate with our elephants by saying “HUH” if we wanted them to go, “how” when we wanted them to stop, and “mellow” when it was time to have our elephant let us down. At the end we got to wash them in a small pond, then ride back. The whole time Jaylynn and I were asking each other, “how is this real?” After we changed back into our clothes, we said bye to our elephants and to our new friends of the Karen tribe, and drove back home. This wasn’t only my favorite thing we did in Thailand, but one of my top favorite things I’ve ever done. SUCH a cool experience

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       Sunday morning we went with our friend Lexi to the Jing Jai Christmas market which was a ton of fun. Lexi is absolutely amazing and I’m so grateful we got to spend time with her while we were here. I tried to take my time in spending my money because I’m pretty quick to settle on things I buy, but I ended up getting a Chiang Mai tote and a pretty bracelet hehehe. That afternoon since it was my sabbath, I hid myself away on the roof and just talked to God. WOWOWOW it was actually so cool. The night before I was making a video talking to myself, and I was just wondering why I couldn’t talk to God the same way I talk to myself. So I spent the rest of the afternoon praying and being honest with God, and I really felt like I started to hear His quiet voice. PRAISE JESUS CAUSE HUUUUUHHHHH.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     There’s so much that I’ve tried to keep from God when it comes to stuff that I want to hold onto, but literally that feeling of freedom when I spoke the truth was so insane. “The truth will set you free bruh” – Jesus. I’m at a point right now in my faith where I think I’m seeing real fruit from it and it’s the coolest thing ever. I’m not thinking the same thoughts that I was not even a month ago, and that’s not out of my own strength. Literally the only way I’ve been changed and redeemed is through Christ. I want to remain steadfast even in times of disappointment and uncertainty. God is still faithful and He always will be, so now it’s just learning to trust that He does have a plan and He will use me.

     I’m really going to miss our little hostel above Bella Goose Cafe. I’ll miss my little fairy lights hanging on my lower bunk bed and the home cooked meals in our rooftop kitchen. Being able to walk down 68 stairs to the cafe was amazing, but sometimes a little dangerous for our wallets haha. I’m REALLY going to miss our “upper roof” where I could stay up during the night sitting on the comfy chair and look at the stars. The sunsets here were some of the most beautiful I’ve seen since coming on the trip. Being near Doi Suthep mountain made it feel more like home in the city. I’ll miss our spontaneous walks to McDonald’s and boba. Even with the underlying darkness in Chiang Mai, it’s such a beautiful city and it came to feel like home. This country was a restful time for me to really focus on growing with God and understand more things about myself. Although some of my expectations weren’t met, I wouldn’t change a thing.

     I’m very thankful for this city, and even though we’ll be here for another week with debrief, I’m going to miss it. I’m excited to see everyone in my squad and for us all to come back together as a body!