Life in Bangkok
Sawadee Ka Tukkon! สวัสดีค่ะทุกคน! Hello Everyone!
It has already been over two months of living in Bangkok, and it’s time to share how things are going. Right now it’s 25°C (77°F) which, according to everyone around us, is freezing, lol. Christmas season has officially begun, people are getting cozy, putting on sweatshirts, and acting like it’s blizzarding. Meanwhile, Alek and I are thriving because it’s PERFECT outside and, for once, we are not sweating nonstop. 77°F is one of the warmer summer days in San Francisco, so watching everyone bundle up is cracking us up. Clearly we’re not Thai enough yet; give us some time!
Other than the weather, we’re settling into our cute little condo and making it feel more like home bit by bit. We’re getting to know our neighborhood and the lovely street vendors who are literally steps from our building. Routine is kicking in too - work commute, work rhythms, exercise (I AM DOING MUAY THAI YES I AM!!!), Bible study, church, Thai class, and nutrition.
Anyways… Life here has been really beautiful. If you know me (Alyssa), you know that living abroad and serving God has been a lifelong dream—one I honestly wasn’t sure would ever take shape. As I got older (I know I’m not that old, don’t roll your eyes… or do, I don’t care haha), settled down, bought a house, married a dude, and grew in my career, everything started feeling more and more cemented. I was not sure of how on earth this dream of mine would happen. But God knows my heart, and made a promise to me, and He is FAITHFUL. And where there is God’s will, He will make a way. Sooo, now I am just living my dream out here with my dream husband serving the most epic organization alongside the most outstanding human beings, doing something meaningful and real and important all in Jesus’ name!
Dreams, of course, are not without challenges. Romanticizing something for so long makes it hard to admit the reality isn’t perfect. But honestly, that’s also ironically a part of the dream: living abroad, immersing in a new culture, learning, stretching, and being humbled. And we definitely have been humbled. Not knowing the language, the culture, the values… It sometimes leaves us feeling wobbly. But in the shakiness, Alek and I have found such a beautiful invitation to anchor ourselves again in Jesus.
Jesus has genuinely become the cornerstone of our lives here… In our marriage, our new as well as long distance friendships, and our work. In all the change and instability we feel at times, He has become and is becoming our peace. IJM Thailand’s verse of the year says, “The LORD will give strength to His people; the LORD will bless His people with peace.” (Psalm 29:11). We feel blessed with deep peace, truly! And the journey is just beginning.
How is the work?
We spent our first few weeks just getting our footing - learning from our peers, meeting people across the office, and absorbing as much reading material as we could. As one says, it was drinking from a firehose. But it was also incredibly interesting: learning about the work itself, the purpose behind it, and the strategy and tools our team uses every day. Throughout our onboarding and even still, people have gone above and beyond to include us, teach us, and let us shadow their work. That gave us such an impactful window into the heartbeat of what IJM is doing here in Thailand.
We were also able to join two especially powerful trips with the team.
First, we had the privilege of accompanying our investigations and casework team to the border to support victims of forced labor, specifically forced scamming, during an emergent situation. The IJM team was assisting the government with identifying, processing, and supporting victims of human trafficking - and truly did so much more than that, honestly a million things behind the scenes. Alek and I got to meet many survivors, sit in on interviews, watch our team work with police and embassies from all over. It was a lot to take in and emotional at times, but really important for us to see. We also got to support the team on the comms side - prepping interview material and talking points as journalists started reaching out about the situation, which made us feel like we were actually contributing something real.
We also joined the survivor services team for their annual camp for survivors of human trafficking in Thailand. It was incredibly moving to meet people who had been trafficked, see where they are now, and watch them use their voices to strengthen the justice system. Watching this team truly be the hands and feet of Jesus, serving survivors and partnering with them, was so impactful.
Beyond that, we’ve had opportunities to shadow various teams and additionally support them from a communications, photography, and media perspective. It has all helped to paint a picture of this beautiful team and their work. This has already helped us establish a deep understanding of the work and will continue to help us as we move forward this year with our many projects.
All in all, the work has been so fulfilling and a bit challenging. IJM has lofty goals - and that can feel a bit daunting at times. But God’s timing just feels so evident. We walked in during a season of transition and growth, and it feels like we were put on this team at the exact right moment. Our plates are already full (honestly overflowing lol), but it’s exciting, stimulating, and energizing. It feels like the purpose I’ve been personally longing for in my career. I’m so grateful that everything we do here matters - every task, big or small, is a part of protecting millions of vulnerable migrant workers from violence. It is so epic honestly! OK last thing I will say on the work for now is this: The people we work with are AMAZING. Many are also pastors (Paul tentmaker style), and so many are ministers of the gospel and soooo full of the holy spirit. Everyone inspires us and shows us what it means to be the hands and feet of God, and to be co-laborers with Christ in making JUSTICE FLOW LIKE A RIVER. It feels like we get to be surrounded by people we want to be more like, and that is so precious to us!
How is the church/faith?
Our church is so lovely. We have gotten plugged into such an international and beautiful and honestly hilarious group of people, all with such mature, loving, and selfless hearts. It really feels like everyone in our group is here in Thailand on a mission to share the love of God in the world; and it is so selfless and inspiring - I honestly feel like being surrounded by them is going to shape me this year. There are 15-20 people in our Thursday life group, and we meet every week. We just had our Christmas party last night and it was so fun, full of hilarious skits, headstands, a wild white elephant exchange, and delicious pot luck, representing food from so many places!
Alek has gotten involved in the business fellowship too, and I think has been really enjoying the fellowship and teachings of our church.
Sidebar - I have been able to see Alek in a really cool light where we are super clearly seeing his teaching gift come out! We are able to about once a month share a devotional with the group during our corporate prayer time (everyone else does too, it is such a precious time). Watching him share, I’ve realized that he is truly blessed with the spiritual gift of teaching - so much so that I had to take a picture when I had an “aha” moment and realized his gift is definitely teaching.
How is the food? How is learning Thai going?
To keep this last section brief for now, the food is epic as you’d expect, our spice tolerance is improving (one of our key goals this year lol), and Thai lessons are 1) so fun, 2) so helpful, and 3) a bit exhausting. It has been starting to click a bit more, we’ve been practicing with our coworkers, feel free to call us and we can practice with you lol :)
How can you pray for us?
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One of the most senior team members of the IJM Bangkok office found out earlier this year that he has late stage cancer. The whole team here is praying for him daily, and several members of the team have taken the lead on bringing him to different doctors appointments, bringing him food, and generally supporting as much as they can. The latest update that we have, though, is that there is no longer anything the doctors can do. Healing from this point on will have to be miraculous and from God. Please pray for him, and for the IJM team members who are helping to support and care for him as he is in and out of the hospital.
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we have been struck recently by the verse "the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few". There is a huge need to help the vulnerable here, and the team in Thailand is trying to grow their office enough to accomplish the goals that they have set. The issue slowing this down significantly, however, is that Thailand is 94% Buddhist, and less than 2% Christian. Since IJM is a Christian organization, it makes hiring the right person very difficult. Pray for IJM to be able to find and hire the right people to help them with their goals.
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He injured his hip last month and we want full recovery ASAP so he can exercise again like normal.
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Pray for our discernment with how we navigate our very full plates at work
Pray for our continued growth spiritually and connection to God
Pray that we would be a blessing to each other in our marriage
Pray that we would be a blessing to those in the office
Pray for the success and impact of our work
