On a typical mission trip of ten days, you hit the ground running and have very little time to rest. The adrenaline rush of activities, new sights, smells and tastes helps you get over jet-lag quickly but it can be exhausting. During this month of mission service, we are learning the importance of balancing mission experiences along with rest and taking care of daily needs. We all have to buy groceries, keep up with correspondence, monthly reports and our budget. To get it all done you have to learn a healthy balance.
Our decision to serve for a month came out of a desire to experience mission as life and not just a trip. A mission trip can be like a 400-meter race. It happens so fast, if you blink you miss it. It’s a challenge to recall the people and places you meet in a week on mission. If you don’t keep notes and take pictures you can easily forget what happened and all of the ways God worked.
Life on mission is a more like a marathon. You have the same excitement over new experiences, new places, and wonderful people as you experience on a mission trip, but they take place over a longer span of time. This gives you time to process, reflect and re-connect before the trip home. Life can get messy at times no matter where you are. You have to take time to shop, to learn how to navigate public transportation, to take care of medical needs and to rest. Our missionary asked us on the first week, when would we take a sabbath day. That was an important reminder. You can’t run a marathon without adequate rest days between training days. Life on mission is the same.
Here is a snapshot of the week and our prayer list.
– Visited five refugee families to share nutritious food and the Hope of Jesus.
– Met with the IMB city team to worship, pray and train on Entry strategies.
– Ate meals with three missionaries to learn about their work and encourage each-other.
– Joined a mission team on Eye Glass Ministry training with a local church.
– Visited two Thai churches and sang at Calvary International Baptist Church.
– Used the BTS, MRT, Grab, Tuk-tuks and Muvmi to get around the city.
– Time to rest, enjoy good food and go shopping.
Thanks for your prayers as we wrap up our final ten days in Bangkok.
Pray for meaningful conversations with our local friends and missionaries.
Pray for several opportunities for Encore Mission volunteers here in the city.
Pray we end our time well rested and not exhausted from it all!
