We’re in Thailand!

What a journey these past few weeks have been. We’ve bid a very difficult farewell, been reunited with our whole squad, had a 24 hour road trip which included crossing an international border on foot, and moving into the upstairs of a coffee shop in Chiang Mai.

Leaving Cambodia was bittersweet to say the least. Saying goodbye to our host family was one of the hardest goodbyes I’ve ever had to go through. At our “last supper”, as we dramatically called it, our host dad Lecru told us that whenever we come back to Cambodia we had a place to stay and that he loved all of us like daughters. There was not a single dry eye that night. The bond that we created with that family was so strong and so unique. Christ’s unconditional love showed through them as they truly took us in as their own even from the beginning of our time with them at Blessings Church. Not knowing when or if we will ever see them again made for a particularly difficult goodbye. Our host brother Jonathan seemed to find it amusing to say “see you in heaven” every time our departure was brought up. Thinking back to that last night, our last supper, makes me think of that cheesy Winnie the Pooh quote “how lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” The goodbye was only painful because we were in a community that cared about us so much. We had the opportunity to form connections and really get to know the family, the church members, our students, and the neighborhood kids. I learned so much from them. And that personal connection brought our experience in Cambodia to a deeper level and made it feel like home. I will forever be grateful for the past month and a half that I got to spend there. I hope that one day maybe I can visit again.

The day that we left our home in Serei Saophoan we drove two hours to Siem Reap (another city in Cambodia) to spend a few days processing before starting ministry again in Thailand. We were emotionally and physically drained when we arrived to Siem Reap. I know I personally was very excited to get to the hostel and take a fat nap. But of course that’s not what happened. We were taken to a church instead where we were met with the other 40 members of our squad! What a time that was! We shared a thanksgiving dinner and watched some soccer before my team finally went to the hostel to recover from the emotional whiplash that we had just endured. Life sure is never dull on the race!

We got to enjoy a few fun and relaxing days in Siem Reap, and it was so nice to be back with our friends from the other teams. It went by fast though. Before we knew it, we were loaded on a bus at 5 am, Thailand bound. Crossing the border was a nightmare because we stood in line for hours with everything we owned strapped to our backs. It had been an early morning and we knew we had a lot of hours of travel still ahead. I pulled something in my shoulder and my friend slathered tiger balm all over it. It was pretty miserable. But praise the Lord everyone made it through and we made it to our second country!

We now live in the upstairs of a coffee shop (very dangerous for our bank accounts). Our time in Thailand will be very short but I’m so excited to see what the Lord has in store for us!

Much love from Thailand,

Sophie :)