Video Self-Evaluation

I had to smile as I watched the video the EMBARK young leaders describing their first Sunday in Thailand. You can watch that video here:

Our First Sunday

They so loved the day. They loved their time in the Thai church. They loved the freedom of their afternoon. They loved some rest after a very busy first four days in Thailand. They loved grocery shopping. They loved our team dinner.

In so many ways, watching the video was encouraging. These young women are loving their EMBARK experience. They have growing confidence. I see them taking risks. It is exciting.

However, as I watched the video, I also felt like a failure. The words that rang out to me were McDonalds, Subway, and Starbucks. I cringed at the thought that they believe Rimping is a typical Thai grocery store. The video felt like a mirror being held up in front of me and I was not sure I liked what I saw. I felt the picture that was painted showed a very Western, sterilized version of life in Thailand.

Is this the world I have created for them? If students become like their teachers, is this the world I have created for myself in Thailand? Is this the full picture of their lives here?

I was so thankful for the video. I find it funny and endearing and reflective of the joy these women are experiencing in their lives here. It was also a good evaluation tool for me to really stop and think about how I have structured EMBARK.

My conclusion was that it is not the full picture, but it is a good picture. This video didn’t capture the time spent at the Doi Saket Tuesday night market as we ate octopus on a stick, salad in a bag, coconut rounds, sesame beef jerky, or cream-filled donuts while practicing our Thai and falling further in love with the Thai people.

The video was not talking about the hike to the temple in Doi Saket through our neighborhoods while we prayed and talked about what we had learned about the animistic, Hindu, and Buddhist aspects of the Thai faith.

What was not seen is the cyclical conversations we are having about risk, suffering, failure, and identity or the depth of relationships being formed just by the shear amount of time spent together.

This wasn’t a video to talk about how we are being stretched in our faith and praying God will give us opportunity to share our faith with others, both here in Thailand and around the world.

These women had one goal in the production of this video, to describe their first Sunday in Thailand and they did it beautifully. It is full of laughter, discovery, and delight. I am thrilled this is what they are learning in their experience here. I am also thankful it is not the whole picture because what God is weaving together is a beautiful tapestry that makes me excited and humbled to be in the position to shape their learning.

Leading them is making me more like Jesus. It is pointing me to His priorities and challenging the way I think. If that continues to hold true, it will be a privilege to have these students become like their teachers, even if that includes Sunday afternoons at Starbucks.