The Great Taste of Saltwater

I have been so busy the past week that I haven't been able to make it to an Internet cafe for more than a few minutes until now...my apologies!

I'm on the island of Ko Samet right now and it is absolutely beautiful. We got here today after an 8 hour bus ride from Kantharalak followed by a 3 hour van ride and finally a 15 minute boat ride to the island. When we got off the boat, we had to wade up to the shore and as I stepped off I fell in, drenching myself and the bag that I'll be living from for the next few days. Haha, go figure. :) Everyone has been saying to me all day, "Remember that time in Thailand when you fell in the ocean?" Yup. That's me. :)

Anyways, it was pretty cloudy all day, but beautiful nonetheless, and we had tons of fun jumping into the crashing waves (and consequently swallowing a lot of saltwater). We are going snorkeling tomorrow, and it's nice to have a few days of relaxation after all the work we've done the past two weeks during our ministry. I miss it already, though.

We only spent 6 days in Kantharalak, and when we left it felt like we just got there. On the day we arrived, we returned to the waterfall that we all jumped off of last year. But we didn't jump this time around, because apparently 10 people have died in the last year from jumping off it. :/ Instead we swam under the waterfall and then walked a little way downstream where there were some rapids. A few of us decided to dive in and let the swirling current carry us over and around the sharp, slippery rocks...it was like white water rafting, minus the raft...but it was such a rush!

During our stay, we were able to teach at 4 different schools throughout the week (a primary school, a Khmer school, a high school, and a Catholic school where there were Thai nuns as teachers!) We spent one day painting the walls of the church and we also visited a fish farm and prayed with the family, as well as 2 cell groups/house churches. These few weeks have given me a chance to meet so many people and encounter so many of the things that people struggle with in Thailand. Since we weren't just at schools this year, I had the opportunity to witness the needs of the people here, not just the children, but the sick and the elderly, too. I listened to a schoolteacher tell me about a homeless woman who lives at the school and eats scraps from the children's lunch and sits in on classes to learn. I paid more attention to the strands of lights hung from storefronts after hours where prostitution takes place even in small villages like Kantharalak every night.

But I also saw hope. While we have been in Thailand, we have prayed over people and seen God heal them! We have seen not just children, but adults young and old, raise their hands after a salvation call. We have had the chance to help lay a foundation for a ministry in Chaiyaphum that will touch so many lives. Our friend Ram's vision for her YWAM base includes a children's home, a church, rice fields to provide jobs and food, and job training for women so that they can be spared from a life of prostitution.

I am once again amazed at the work God is doing in Thailand and in the lives of Thai people and I'm so grateful to have had the chance to be part of it once more. Again I am sad to leave the friends that I made and I truly do hope to return next year. Thailand is becoming like a second home to me, and I can't believe I'll be leaving here in just a couple of days...but soon I will be on my way home, where I hope I can bring back some of God's fire and spirit that is moving through Thailand and spread it around. :)