On the Ground in Chiang Mai

By Makayla Kribs

Greetings from the 2019 ACTS crew! We made it safely to Chiang Mai, Thailand. We left Yakima, Washington Tuesday morning and drove to Bellingham to spend the night at a hotel that was about an hour away from the airport. That night we got to swim, hang out with the Hayes kiddos, relax, and watch a movie.

Wednesday morning rolled around and we said goodbye to our lovely friend Faith. After the drive we arrived at the airport and began the long process to eventually get to our gate. Our first flight from Vancouver to Beijing was 12 whole hours! Wow! Thankfully a lot of the crew got to sleep and watch movies that the airline provided. We rushed through security at Beijing and ran swiftly to our gate. We were the last ones on, but by God’s grace they waited for us. That flight felt like a breeze compared to the last one. We arrived at the airport around 9 pm. This is where it got fun. Our luggage wasn’t there because there wasn’t enough time between our flights to transport the luggage over. Thankfully, we all had a good attitude about it and just waited for it to come the next day.

We hopped on a truck that was called a “Songthaew”. The cool thing about these trucks is that two people get to ride on the back of them standing. The time difference was confusing because it technically was morning back home, but in Thailand it was the middle of the night. Once we got to our hotel we were all so tired from the flight that we all passed out. It wasn’t until the next day that we got to see how beautiful our hotel really was. There is a continental breakfast with a beautiful sitting area surrounded by all sorts of hanging plants. While you’re eating you hear a cute little waterfall flow into the pool.

After breakfast and our solitude time, we all departed into the city. We had a whole day to adjust and enjoy the culture. We walked as a group to Thapae Gate and then split into smaller groups to walk through the city. There are little market stands everywhere you go. People sell food, clothing, bags, and so much more. Another thing you will see a lot are Buddhists temples. For most of us it was a new experience, but also very interesting. There are so many things to observe while we’ve been here. In the evening we went to the Night Market for dinner. The city of Chiang Mai comes alive at night, and the night market is a very popular place to go. It was really fun to gather and talk about everything we observed from the day. Surprisingly enough, we didn’t fall asleep at dinner, which we heard is a common thing that happens to ACTS teams from jetlag. However,we did call it a night shortly after and went back to our rooms.

Around midnight our luggage arrived! Praise God! It was a very good lesson on how God provides for us. Even in something like losing our luggage it reminded us that our plans are not always God’s plans and how we need to surrender our longings and desires and trust that God has a bigger plan. It’s very encouraging that God is already working on this trip and it’s only the beginning. He is so good! We are all very excited for what He has in store for all of us and ask that you guys continue to keep us in your prayers. We hope these blogs are a helpful way to share what God is doing in Thailand and how He is using us to fulfill His will. God Bless!