Rejoicing in Chiang Mai

Hello hello again!

I am currently in Chiang Mai Thailand! We flew into Bangkok and then took a 12 hr train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai which was pretty much the coolest thing ever. I got to wake up and sit next to the open window watching the mountains and jungle go by while reading about how the earth sings the praises of God in the Psalms. Top 10 life experience for sure. While we are here in Thailand we are staying in a hostel on top of a coffee shop, and let me tell you the water pressure is incredible, the city is incredible, and the 3x a day coffee runs are incredible. God has really provided rest and abundance here.

My ministry here is with a bookstore called ActsCo Bookhouse. They are a christian bookstore with multiple locations throughout Asia. They are open to the public and they also provide texts and bibles for a lot of missionaries here. Our work is sorting all the books and bibles that have been donated to them into genres. They have these huge shipping containers full of books, and don’t even open them until teams come because there are so so many books and only two of them. It’s definitely a little different than I was originally expecting for ministry but it’s been good! It’s been awesome to see very tangibly the way we are helping. We get to do the work behind the scenes in order for others to share the word, and praise God for that! I’ve really enjoyed spending a lot of quality time with my team and with our ministry host Apen.

Last weekend me and a friend went on a hike to one of the bigger Buddhist temples here. The hike was lovely and made me miss the summertime in Montana. The temple was a very interesting and very heavy place. It’s so crazy to me that these people devote their lives to these idols. They put so much emphasis on the beauty around us without acknowledging the creator of it all.

I’ve been enjoying my quiet times here in the evenings, I think the Lord has been teaching me a lot about our role here on earth. We are made to be his witnesses and we are made to rejoice! Rejoice in trembling, rejoice in suffering, rejoice because he is good. I hope you all are having a great summer, I am starting to miss you all lots and I can’t wait to get back and see you all again! Love you all!