The wai.

"Wai" is the Thai greeting, a slight bow with palms pressed together.  

Allow us to introduce ourselves.

 Cole, Hannah, Michael, Alyssa, Jacob

If we are nothing else, we are servants of Christ. 

We are full of doubts and fears and insecurities and struggles and pasts, and there is no reason to believe we could be of any use to God.  But He is just that big and just that powerful, and He does want to use us.  This summer, He's given us work to do in Thailand!

There's no real beginning to our story, because it is so high above us. Somehow we all ended up together at the University Christian Ministry (UCM) in Tuscaloosa last fall and quickly and easily started forming friendships. In September, the Let's Start Talking (LST) program first began recruiting our campus ministry. They've run a program for 30 years sending college students and adults all over the world to teach English lessons and to plant seeds about Christ. Each of our initial reactions to the opportunity was different. 

Jacob had felt unmistakably called to Thailand during a Religion class and saw LST as the doorway he needed to step into his calling. 

Alyssa was confused.  She wanted to support Jacob in his excitement but felt like she needed a clear sign from God to assure her that it was His call for her as well. 

Hannah didn't know what to think, but she tried to keep an open mind about it.  She kept the info card on her fridge where she'd see it every night and consider it. 

Michael bluntly rejected the idea.  LST had recruited at UCM for years and he was simply not interested.  But when Jacob and Alyssa showed interest, he gave it another look.

Cole was initially going to spend the summer in Honduras, but that fell through. Then summer school didn't work out. Our campus ministers saw him as the final piece to completing our team and spurred him on in the direction of Thailand. 

Here we are, together. 

Our flight leaves for Bangkok in a few weeks, June 13. God must know what He's doing. 

One more thing for now: 

This is probably painfully cheesy, but give it a chance. 

I love that the Thai greeting is called the wai and Christ's church is called The Way.  We want to greet everyone in the name of Christ, knowing that they are part of His Kingdom no matter where on this earth they are.  We want to bow to them in humility and put our hands together prayerfully for them.  Call me crazy, but there's just so much symbolism there.

Wai from the Way.