Bangkok

During our first week in Thailand, we had orientation in Bangkok, where we also had our first prayer walk.
We took a bus, a boat and a tuk-tuk around the city to different temples and interceded.
Walking into the first temple, we all removed our shoes and distributed ourselves among the steps.
I was curious to know how many people came to the temple, so naturally, I kept count.  I forget how long we were in the temple, but it was somewhere around 15-20 minutes.
And about 50-odd people had shuffled in and out during that time.
This is when I first started to feel God's heart for this nation.
A Thai woman walked up to the shrine with flowers and money.  She put the money between her hands, knelt down in front of a small bench and prayed.  She bent her head down to touch the bench repeatedly and did this many times.  When she was done, she gave her money and left.
I wondered what she was praying for and who she thought she was praying too.  All around this temple were paintings of a dancing Buddha and I thought "She's praying to an image that cannot hear her, that cannot answer her, doesn't love her, doesn't know her, that cannot help her no matter how many offerings she gives, no matter how much she prays."
God's heart says, "I know her, and I love her.  Even though she doesn't know me."  
Going to Thailand, I was prepared to see poverty, worship of false gods, sickness, spiritual darkness, and I was also aware that I would see a lot of things that were completely new to me, but until I was in this midst of it, my heart didn't necessarily break for it or at least to the extent that it did for me that day.

Revelation 21:22-23

I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.  The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.

God gave me this verse this other day and it just encouraged me when writing that my prayers in the temple that day are going to be fulfilled.  The name of Jesus will be known among the Earth and the strongholds that the enemy has, will come down.  There will be no temples, no false gods, and no fear. It's so amazing to be reminded of how glorious and sovereign He is. 

Sawatdee Kha

When we arrived in Bangkok, we were given an orientation about the culture, what to do, what not to do, and what to expect - some of which we were taught prior to arrival.  During a lot of our outreach preparation, we agreed to embrace all the new and different experiences that this nation would be throwing our way.
This is important because when you embrace another culture, you learn how to love it, and how to be respectful, which opens door for conversation and relationship.

1 Corinthians 9:19-23

19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law),so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

Greeting - When greeting someone you say, "Sawatdee" (and add "Kha" if you are a woman or Krap" if you are a man) and Wai - A Wai is Thailand's equivalent of a handshake.  
We practiced basic greetings and phrases previous to arriving and all felt pretty silly until we had to introduce ourselves to some of the Thai staff in Bangkok and started asking each other "Wait, how do you Wai?  Am I pronouncing this correctly?"

Feet - they are the lowest part of the body, so not do anything that involves pointing your feet at someone, touching someone with your foot, moving something with your foot... just avoiding anything foot involved is safest.

Head - the head is the highest part of the body, so simply touching someones hair or patting someone on the head would be demeaning and disrespectful.  Unless you're a friend or have asked permission first.

The King - When asked any questions about the King, we were told to respond, "The King is good," and change the subject to avoid offending someone accidently.  Seems legit.

Squattie potties - they are a thing.  Being American, you don't realize how much you'll miss a western toilet until you don't have one.

Traffic - Death defying.  The whole driving-on-the-left-side-of-the-road thing isn't a big adjustment compared to the speeding cars, buses, scooters, song taos, and tuk-tuks that pass each other like it's a race.  And for this girl, motion sickness got very real.
Also, crossing the street whenever you want is pretty normal.  Vehicles will either stop or hope you pass before they have to slow down.  While all drivers are seemingly aware, it didn't ever redeem the fear I had for my life every time I crossed the road or got into yet another vehicle.

Food - We were often given 50 Baht and told to go find our own meals.  50 baht is almost $1.50USD, which seems like very little, but Thai food is extremely inexpensive.  Which is why a lot of Thai people who come to America end up broke.  They are used buying all of their meals.
Buying your own food in another country, where you don't speak the language is pretty overwhelming -and albeit scary- initially, but you learn to embrace your inner cave man by speaking in grunts, nods, various awkward gestures and so on.  
And you get used not knowing exactly what it is you're eating - the whole embracing the culture thought.


Keeping face - This means that in social situations, it is important for each person to maintain respect and dignity from who they interact with.  It is first social, because you want others to respect you and think highly of you. Second, face is an impression.  It doesn’t matter what their real impressions are, as long as you are treated and treat people with respect.

"To be Thai is to be Buddhist."

The biggest difference between cultures are the religious beliefs.
Everywhere you walk, there is a Buddhist statue, shrine, or temple.
I'm not an expert on Buddhism by any means and what I did learned about it is that when asking questions, someone will always either give a different answer than the last person or they can't give one.  Buddhism, from what I have witnessed, is a generational belief system.  They do what they think they should do or are told they should do.
It would seem that everything they do as a form of worship is done out of fear that they will have bad luck, bad health, etc.  They believe in Karma and gaining merit by doing good things, giving money, and praying to unknown numbers of spirits.  By doing all of this, it determines the outcome of their after-life.
The country is somewhere around 1% populated by Christians and over 95% Buddhist.
This makes sharing the Gospel quite different than in America, which I'll will obviously be sharing as well.