Ready, set, Sawadee-kah...except, this time, I mean goodbye.

Well, well...what to say? It's the start of the final countdown to the end of our time here in Thailand and I've managed to avoid blogging for almost the entire last half of the trip. Fail on my part. There's plenty to share and tons to say, but finding the right words for it all...that's the hard part. First, let's play a little bit of catch-up.
      We've been in Chiang Mai (northern Thailand and the second largest city) for about 4 weeks. We have been working/volunteering at a RAD as all get out coffee shop that stand right across the street from Chiang Mai University. It goes by the name of Wongen Kafe and it's run by an amazing Thai lady named Emmi. Ready for a cool little story? Well, as it happens, about a week before my team decided to leave Phuket and come up here, before we ever got in contact with Emmi, Emmi had a dream/vision that there would be a random team of 8 people coming to Wongen soon. Teams normally book weeks or months in advance. A few days after her dream, we called asking if there was room for us to come up there on just about a weeks notice. What could Emmi say but yes? God had told her we would come and awesomely enough, there was room for us! So, we've been living above the cafe at night, and during the day serving food, helping out with open mic nights, worship nights, and just getting to know and hanging out with all the cool people that come to the coffee shop. Also, we are still doing our bar ministry here, as well as, helping out occasionally with English clinics at the university and going to a poorer part of the city ("slums") to hang out with the people there and play with kids, paint their faces, etc. It's been such a sweet sweet sweet time here! Also, Chiang Mai isn't as humid as Phuket, so we aren't constantly wondering around in a state of sweaty misery. It's fantastic.
       Just 7 more days and we begin our debrief period. Three or so "free" days here in Chiang Mai then we head to Bangkok for 3 days (where I plan on hiding indoors at our hotel the whole time due to the overly hot and humid weather that resides in that smoggy city.) and then it's back to New Zealand to be reunited with the rest of our DTS outreach teams!! It's insane to think it's been 3 months...it's insane to think that it's all coming to an end, and it's insane to think back on all the crazy things that God has done during our time here. It's also insane to think that I started out on this journey almost 6 months ago doubting the very existence of God. But after everything that's happened, I have no doubt in my mind that God is, well...God. And He's amazing. And, that is that for me.