Wow. No other words to describe what I am feeling right now. With only two more days in Thailand, I cannot believe that our time has come to a close. We fly out to the States on the 19th and land in Georgia on the 20th. We will be debriefing our time for five days and then I will be in Colorado on the 27th! The past three days, we have been in a town named Hua Hin. We have been soaking up time as a squad, making new memories, pursuing one another, and getting a little bit too burnt from the sun. Those five days in the States will be time to process and reflect on this past year. I am feeling a mix of emotions about our time ending. I am both not ready to say goodbye to life overseas and the squad, but ready to say hello to my family and the future.
As we left Chiang Mai this week, we said goodbye to our ministry, TawSaeng. It was hard to say goodbye to the kids and I felt so honored for them to love on us for a month and a half. We got to plan an event with them and our team took them to a waterfall. We spent the day swimming and eating together. It was a sweet memory for me to see all the kids smile and I was able to take in that moment and lock it away in my memory bank. We said goodbye to the staff, which felt like family. I cannot believe that our last time doing [offical] ministry on the Race was just a couple of days ago. After 11 months, working with ministry partners has come to an end. But I am so excited to see which potential ministry the Lord has me in the future.
I got to say goodbye to several friends that I met during my time in Chiang Mai. Three ladies that I met during a prayer walk. Our friendship was sweet and saying goodbye to them was tough. I pray that the Lord continues to reveal Himself to these ladies and shows them His love. I also said goodbye to my cute vendor friend. She is elderly and introduced herself as Miss Mae. I got to visit with her and socialize with her a couple times, even found out that her family are Christians! As we parted ways, she gifted me with a bowl and cross that she had handmade!
It is crazy to think that this is it, our last country. I have loved getting to dive deeper into relationships with others, knowing that I will never have this in my life again. I praise the Lord for everything He did in Thailand and throughout these 11 months. Thank you all for following my amazing adventure around the world. Thank you for investing in my stories and partnering with me in building the Kingdom here on earth.
Please be in prayer for those we said goodbye to in Thailand. Pray for workers to partner with the ministries we worked with here and for the Holy Spirit to touch Thailand.
Blessings,
Joana Quintana
