It was just a week or so after my arrival in Thailand that I got involved in a small group Bible study among Thai doctors and nurses; professors, residents, and students. How refreshing! I’ve also been attending a Thai church that is warm and welcoming. To be honest, I never expected to want to go to a local church. I reserve my Sundays as a pure Sabbath (perhaps more on this in a future post) and anything feeling like work (including operating in a foreign language) I easily eschew. Lately, however, I’ve been desiring this fellowship. Even though I’m a new outsider, I am very welcome there. The first time I attended a senior lady said that she and her group have been praying for me – that they pray for all the cross-cultural partners there. And this was before I even met them! I was so touched! This is the Body at work!

Since I don’t have to learn a new language for this international move, I decided to start learning Russian. Da! Just so happens that the Canadian from whom I bought my motorbike is married to a Kazakh who is willing to tutor me! So I hired her for about 4 hours a week.  I want to be prepared to speak with people trafficked to/from Russian-speaking countries – unfortunately more and more of them are showing up in Asia. Russian may also come in handy next time I’m running in Moldova.

I came to Thailand with an idea of how it was supposed to go (work, visa, friends, etc) and as usual, in some respects it is quite better than I thought and in others, slower. Notice that I didn’t say worse than I expected. For me, slow is usually tantamount to being worse, even though objectively – and this is what I try to tell myself – it really isn’t worse. All timing is in God’s hands and as I press and lean into him, I can rest in his timing, laying my anxiety down. What do I know anyway? I know the Father. That is all that counts.

Even as I started composing this post over the past week, I have had several key meetings and I’m meeting new people (in unplanned meetings) every day that are interested in partnering with me. The best news: I will travel to Cambodia on the 21st with a letter of invitation from a foundation here that will enable to me apply for a different kind of visa to start the process of living and working here on a long-term basis. I may even be able to launch Relentless as an official project here! Nothing is sure until I have the papers in hand so do continue to lift up this process to the Father that I may have favor with those that grant visas and all will go smoothly. Thank you!

The people in Cambodia, I think, are secretly happy that I have had to do back there so often. I do enjoy the work there and am learning a lot as well. However, I am looking forward to developing, solidifying, and integrating relationships in this country.

Each day holds a surprise. But only if we expect it can we see, hear, or feel it when it comes to us. Let’s not be afraid to receive each day’s surprise, whether it comes to us as sorrow or as joy. It will open a new place in our hearts, a place where we can welcome new friends and celebrate more fully our shared humanity.

So, surprise me God! Your surprises are so much more rich and blessed than what I could think of! Of course I would never think of or hope for anything adverse or contrary to my goals would happen to me, but that doesn’t mean that these unbidden events are necessarily bad (although it certainly feels like it!). What I can know is that each event is not a surprise to God, and I pray for the grace to accept each one as an opportunity to grow.

This was a good word for me to start out the new year 2012. The year 2011 was full of surprises (I moved back to Thailand for one) and I have no doubt that 2012 will bring many new joys and I’m very much looking forward to seeing how it unfolds – there is a lot up in the air even now as I write. I hope you are full of anticipation as well!

I had intended to take a couple of rest days in the final week of 2011 to journal, read, reflect, and blog. What happened was that I just plain rested. It seems that 2011 and all that I did last year caught up with me and I found myself exhausted. It was all I could do to wind down so that by Friday I felt pretty good again. Although I had a few items of work to follow up, I did no heavy reading, made little use of my brain, and I certainly had no desire to sit at the computer for any length of time trying to make sense of the year through the fog of my fatigue. So, no big revelation that wraps up 2011 for me, and that’s OK. I did so much last year I don’t think that’s possible.

However, I did  I manage to finish off a couple of novels I had going – Byzantium and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (great books, both); saw two movies in the theater; and let myself sleep as long as I wanted. Of course I still managed 74 miles of running!

Speaking of running, I completed the Chiang Mai Marathon in 3:45. I was just hanging out, chatting with a friend from Kunming (surprise!) and others and running pretty conservatively as I didn’t really know what I could do since I was training through this event and didn’t taper or anything. At the half, I was feeling really good and started to pick up the pace. The hilarious thing was that this time was good for second in my age group and 4th female overall and I even got 4000 Baht ($130) as prize money! The stink of it is that I lost first by less than a minute! I had no idea! Sorry, no pics – had I known that I was going to be able to park my moto within 100 meters of the start/finish I would have brought my camera – who knew!

How is this for a Christmas present: A marathon on Christmas Day in my town! I was so excited to discover this a couple of weeks ago! Chiang Mai’s annual marathon is on 25 December! The bonus is that I get to finish my marathon by 8am and have plenty of time to clean up and take advantage of one of the Christmas buffets offered at one of the hotels in town! I’m using this as a training run for my upcoming 100k ultra, so I don’t have hopes for a PR or anything – just to have fun!

On Christmas Eve I’ve been invited to a progressive dinner >YUM!<  hosted by a friend’s house church that starts late afternoon and winds around to different homes until around midnight Loads of food, friends, and celebration. Great loading for the marathon: it’s Christmas, does it really matter what I’m loading? Unfortunately not so great for the 4am marathon start – but like I said, it’s Christmas!

I know what I just wrote about the true meaning of Christmas and all that, but I still do enjoy some Christmas decorations. Thailand loves Christmas and does a pretty good job with the glam as well as the cute. Check out these elephants at the local mall:

Wishing all of you a very warm, relaxing, and JOYFUL  Christmas!

Truly He taught us to love one another;

His law is love and His gospel is peace.

Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother;

And in His name all oppression shall cease.

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise us,

Let all within us praise His holy name.

Here is the direct translation from the original French version:

The Redeemer has overcome every obstacle:

The Earth is free and Heaven is open.

He sees a brother where there was only a slave,

Love unites those that iron had chained.

Who will tell Him of our gratitude,

For all of us He is born, He suffers and dies.

Jesus came to live and die for the redemption of ALL and setting all slaves – our brothers and sisters – free.  Please allow the words of this hymn resonate with you today, the season, and throughout the year.

With those thoughts, we move on into our daily lives, which we all much do. One of the disciplines that I’ve been working on is what will be the background to my days? Will it be the grace and hope of O Holy Night, or will it be other messages that our world would give us? Despite the central theme of this season, it can be difficult to rest in the grace it gives us.

In Asia, the Christmas season – oh and there is definitely a commercial Christmas season here – doesn’t even have the benefit of starting with the Christian celebration of Christ’s incarnation. I’m in Phnom Penh this week and the tinsel is also everywhere here!  I would not be surprised to see a monk with a Santa hat (but I haven’t). There are indeed opportunities to share the the true story of Christmas as one has opportunities to talk with friends and strangers curious about this Western holiday that is so bright and cheery and full of glam and tinsel.

Maintaining an ‘O Holy Night’ background to your days helps you be in tune with these sometimes not-so-straightforward opportunities to share.

Rejoicing with you,

Katherine

I want to encourage you to sign up to get Relentless posts to your email inbox, especially if you read this blog for info about trafficking in persons.

Thanks! Appreciate your support!

I’m happy to announce the launch of Relentless! As I move in this new chapter of life and work, I’ve developed, with a lot of help, a new professional identity. Hopefully, this website, introduction and information will help sort out all the things that I’ve been doing and the places I’ve been going. While my main focus is in counter-trafficking interventions, I remain committed to serving at the intersection of health and justice, no matter what form or issue is leading. Here is the site for Relentless.

Relentless, as you can see, is really just another blog on WordPress (I’m not able to manage the inner workings of a website) and I’ll post everything about work there. I’ll continue to post updates here, and of course link to Relentless for the work-related posts. I’m not exactly sure how that’s gonna work out, but I’ll find a way. Anyway, A Just Walk readers won’t miss out one bit! But you may consider signing up for both blogs just in case.

More to come!

I continue to be amazed at the number of people interested in working against human trafficking – especially the health professionals! There is work to be done for sure, but developing the projects and preparing an effective ministry platform is not always easy – I can’t keep up with all the people! Another thing that struck me is the interest people have to get involved in counter-trafficking efforts happening locally. YAY! This is an area that you can more easily (although not more easy or lazy than hitting the “donate” button) do in your every day life. I really need to write a separate blog about this but there are a couple ways to help – basically: Find out who is working against the sex or labor trade of people in your city/region. There is usually a counter-trafficking coalition or a point person or NGO working somewhere nearby. Another way to act locally for impact globally is to shop smart. Here is an old post on the subject, but you get the idea. I’ve heard of a few interventions being planned to help intercept traffickers and trafficked people leading up to the Super Bowl in Indianapolis – check it out if you are interested. Way more to say about these matters when I get more time!

When I got back to Thailand I went all-out to get moved in and settled into my house I am renting. I’m now pretty much set – the stuff that needs to get done I can do while living here. Here are some pics of my two bedroom, 2 bath, 2 door bungalow in Chiang Mai. I know that I’m probably making my friends in China jealous, but I am so blessed to be in this place!

Now as I settle in, I continue to work on developing professional and personal relationships here. The major projects I have been working on internationally are still going on, but where and how do I plug into what is going on here will take a bit of time. There is plenty to do, that is for sure!

In just a few days, I’ll be set to launch RELENTLESS! Relentless is a project I’ve been working on for several months and I’m very excited about it! Stay tuned!

No mishaps, no adventures, no excitement save running a steady and strong race to finish in 10:22! This year, the race director decided to measure the course and 50 miles turned to 52.8, which makes my time even better! While I was celebrating not having to run anymore, the co-race director came up with my finisher’s medal and told me I was “the first girl!” I like still being in the “girl” category, and I like being the first one even more!

I’ll spare you the race and trail details and the breakdown of my hydration and nutrition strategy, but things just came together and I’ll have to remember what I did so I can do it again. Yep. You heard me. Again!

Early on I found a comfortable pace, within range of my goal pace. I didn’t know if I was going to be able to hold it or not, but that is what it is all about – you won’t know what you are capable of unless you try. About mile 42 I hit a mental wall. Knees aching, ankle throbbing, knowing that I had more than 10 miles to go rather than only 8. At the aid station I popped some ibuprofen, sucked down some Coke and reached even deeper inside. I just needed to dig deeper, to push my boundaries beyond what I’ve known to do and be more.

Although I ran this race by myself, I carried with me all the people who were lifting up thoughts and prayers for me and I sent them right back up. I also thought of my buddies who were running other races that day, including a 100 miler! All of us need to inspire one another. This human race we are in requires us to support one another so we all finish well!

Alas! No photos to show you! I was by myself and was so focused on running well that I couldn’t be bothered to take the time to get photos. Next time!