I've always loved working with young people! ("always" meaning on the average day, some days youth ministry, counseling, and leading interns gave me a run for my money, I can admit that! and "young" meaning people under 30 like myself!) There's just so much LIFE and POTENTIAL and excitement, the possibilities for their futures are endless!
I'll be the first to admit that when Convoy of Hope decided to shut down their internship program that I was bummed, angry, sad, disappointed, and a bit lost and confused. I LOVED doing life with those interns, watching them soak up life lessons, and Jesus, and new cultures, missions, and watching them give until hurt!
Being a missionary to Thailand was never on my radar, especially not without young adults in tow! I was always taught never to do ministry alone, you should always have a "Timothy" along with you learning and replicating. Plus, what on earth would I fill my time with without 20 interns in tow?! (Naps, movies, hanging with friends that I don't have to count when we get into a vehicle to go home, some more questionable adventures that I just couldn't bring myself to do because the possibility of having to notify someone's family that their kid died while crawling across a dilapidated rope bridge over a raging river!) Needless to say I've figured it out to a degree! But it's still part of my DNA, I still wish my chickens, my sweet lil minions were here with me.
In the near future, we are hoping to start an English center and church here. We spent the morning doing a prayer walk around the campus. I ventured in and out of the dining area that was buzzing with students, I peeked in class rooms to see that Thai college students aren't much different than American students, as there were a couple sleeping, several on Facebook, or texting on their phones, and some were even engaged in learning! 
Like most places here in Thailand, the classroom is a place where you discard your shoes outside the door before walking in! I actually LOVE that part of the culture here because it means I get to teach and sit in church barefoot! The only thing better could be wearing my cowboy boots! Even though it's a sight I see everyday now, I was struck by all their shoes.
I kept thinking about Dr. Seuss' , "Oh the places You'll Go!"
Here's an excerpt from the good Dr. , but if you have time google it and read the whole thing!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.
On the one hand I am so excited for them because they have so much ahead of them and on the other hand they have SO MUCH ahead of them! So many choices to make, so many roads to navigate, and so many mountains to climb.
Life is hard; life without the help and hope of Jesus; I shudder at the thought!
I see all their shoes lining every hallway and stairway and I know statistically speaking over 95% of them do not know Jesus. I sigh at the thought, but hope fills my soul as I think about the coming English center and church or churches to follow, I think about the feet that will fill these shoes learning of Christ and choosing to follow Him and oh the places they'll go, the people they will take Him to! I immediately think of the verse that says, "how beautiful are the feet of those who bring Good News," and get excited that some of the shoes in front of me could belong to such feet. The Lord shifts my gaze to my own feet in my Yellow Box flip flops, I crinkle my toes at His imply, it may be the only time I've ever wished for bigger shoes.
I realized then that Thailand was not just a "blip" on the radar of my life and that I may never have another blonde "Timothy" in tow, but how beautiful would a long line of dark hair and brown eyes be when I stand before the Lord? I LOVE my students and hope that when you pray for me that you will pray for them!
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