Finally the time had come for us to start our teams assigned ministry. We are partnering with a local organization that helps free and employ sex trafficking survivors. Some of these women work at Bella Goose, the coffee shop that we are staying at, and others work for an additional shop called the Mosaic Market. All of the proceeds from this market goes toward the women who need to be supported as they transition. Our first task was to clean a building that our hosts had recently purchased, and help them turn it into a functional church and housing space. It's a narrow 3 story building tucked on to a side road. We got to clean everything up, and then were sent to the store to buy decorations to make the space look comfortable and inviting. We dee cleaned the kitchen and were once again sent to the store to stock it with plates, utensils, cups and other essential items. We moved a table that was the same size as the hallways from the second story, around a couple corners and finally down to the kitchen to be the main table.

The rest of the week I unfortunately had to stay back and work on logistics for the squad as we had a debrief right around the corner. Debrief is a time for the squad to rest. We have 2 married couples who serve as coaches for our squad. They provide wisdom and perspective as they are slightly more removed from all the happenings of the World Race, and help to keep us grounded. We also have 2 mentors that work with our squad more closely. These are two people, Ari and Aaron, who have previously completed the World Race, and then led a team through the Race. As mentors, they check in with my squads current leaders, and provide any support our leadership needs. Mentors also book our international flights and manage our budgets! During debrief, our coaches and mentors will fly in from the US and spend about 10 days with us, talking through all of the ministry work we've done. They also talk to us about our team relationships and dynamics as we've been sharing a bedroom with the same 7 other girls since October. The idea is that all 54 of us will be in the same location for the whole debrief in Bangkok. The problem is that every hostel, hotel, campground, and many other possible locations all max out at 30 people for their total capacity. We need nearly double what any space in Bangkok can hold. This left me to call and email to double check with every location that I could find so that we will be able to have a debrief. I also had to arrange for transportation for both sets of coaches, and our mentors as they all arrive on different dates. We also have to arrange lodging and transportations for our upcoming country change. Each day we would look at more options for our upcoming debrief on hostel sites, and through AirBNB but we have yet to find a place large enough to accommodate everyone. We spent all of Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday looking with no success. The only breaks that we would take would be to out for lunch with my team. We found a place that served Khao Soi for less than $1 so it was in budget! We ate at the same Khao Soi restaurant every lunch for nearly our entire stay in Chiang Mai. We became friends with the restaurant owner and they would look forward to seeing us everyday!

On Friday I did get to go to the church's first service that we cleaned on Monday. It was so beautiful and it gave us the opportunity to make more connections with the women. We got to hear a little more of their stories and learn what we can be doing to support them more. They told us about their journey finding Christ after their rough start. They had been with the foundation for many years and were just now ready to take their next steps into independence. They were finding work so they could provide their own incomes and our ministry hosts had helped them to find long term housing. They are some of the strongest people I have ever met.

Finally there is no ministry on the weekends meaning logistics is set down until Monday morning. With my weekend free, I got to go once again exploring! A few of my friends and I got a roedang for the day and started to head out. First we stopped at a local waterfall and got to hike around a little. It was significantly smaller than sticky falls but still beautiful!! Next we got to drive the rest of the way out to the Elephant poopoo paper park! This is a park that shows you have to make paper out of elephant poo. We learned that after elephant poop is cleaned boiled, it's similar to coconut fibers. Then they grind down the fibers to a paste like substance and make a ball for it to cool. The ball is then spread over a screen and dipped in water. Once the screen drives you have a fresh piece of elephant poo paper!! My friends and I got to make bookmarks out of elephant poo!!

December 12- December 17 2023