It has been nine years, but I still remember it so clearly.

The church was crowded with students, faculty and family members. Returned student missionaries, dressed in outfits they had brought back with them, carried flags from around the world down to the front and placed them in holders. As the speaker for the mission weekend gave his appeal, his words touched my heart and moved me out of my seat. I walked down to the front and stood, making my decision to spend a year serving the Lord somewhere, anywhere.

Later that year, I gave my dad a last hug and boarded the first of three planes on my way to Thailand. Thailand! The excitement was hard to contain as I sat on the plane, waiting to see what this “Land of Smiles” had in store for me.

As I waited for my luggage in the Chiang Mai airport, two children ran up to me. They called me Miss Kelli and told me I would be their teacher that year. Benya and Eliyah Wilson were eager to become my friends, and I was just as eager to serve this missionary family however I could.

A couple of months passed. We traveled up into the mountains outside of Chiang Rai to visit a Mien village. Benya and Eliyah climbed a passion fruit tree while Duang Wilson and I visited with youth and grandmas on front porches. In the village, seeing youth become witnesses to their families and seeing the grandmas decide to give up their old ways and follow Christ, I was reminded of the reason I went. I sensed the Lord speaking to my heart, calling me to give more than just a year.

My student-missionary year flew by. I spent my time homeschooling Benya and playing with Eliyah. I also attend a Mien wedding with my friend, Att. I watch Att decide to be baptized despite her family’s opposition. Praise the Lord, her family’s hearts changed, and they accepted her decision afterward. I helped put together scripture memorization packets for Mien youth.

The Wilsons packed their bags for furlough and said goodbye. I stayed behind along with my friend Pin to take care of their house and animals and visit the Mien youth attending the Adventist academy.

One day, my phone rang. “Hey Kelli, this is Chris Sorensen. How would you feel about staying in Thailand another year? Would you like to come and help us in Surin? Pray about it and let us know.”

After a quick trip back to the States, I arrived back in Thailand and began my second year as a student missionary. The Sorensens’ Northern Khmer Project was in its first stage of language learning and cultural research. My role was to teach English, something the local people had requested, but the Sorensens didn’t have time to do.

I lived with Pastor Wanlop and P’Thongmii, and my Thai improved rapidly. I began teaching neighborhood children. They were eager pupils and enjoyed the learning games we would play. They especially loved the songs I taught them. It was so much fun! I knew this was where God wanted me.

I was invited to teach at a weeklong English camp in a different province. At first I was reluctant to leave my class of village children. However, P’Thongmii urged me to go, so I packed my bag and reluctantly boarded a bus for Roi Et. All the way there, I prayed and asked God to change my heart and make it clear that this was His will. As the bus pulled into the station in Roi Et, I still felt reluctant. “Lord, is this where You want me to be right now?” I prayed. “Please change my heart!”

I stepped off the bus and saw the lady I would be staying with and two of the youth from the church, New and Fon. Immediately I felt peace in my heart. This was where I was supposed to be for the week. “Thank you, Lord, for changing my heart!” I breathed.

The week was done before I knew it, and I had many new friends among the students and the church members. The Lord blessed my time in Roi Et.

The months of my second year passed quickly. I continued teaching English to the neighborhood children. I helped the Sorensens and Mitchells with their cultural study, editing and even researching some parts myself. We took a week off together to finish up the cultural scrapbook. Then I said goodbye to both missionary families as they left for meetings in Chiang Mai.

A few days later, Pastor Wanlop said, “Yuy just called. Her father is dying. We’re going out to be with them. Will you come, too?”

“Would you mind if I drive the motorcycle out there ahead of you?” I asked. “I would like to get there quickly to be with Yuy.”

Receiving Pastor Wanlop’s approval, I drove out to Yuy’s house. Yuy’s father lay on a mattress just inside the front door. Family members moved in and out of the room and sat in the corners. Incense smoked beside the bed. Candles flickered as the light faded outside. Yuy knelt beside her father. He was unresponsive. His eyes were closed, and he murmurs sometimes, but nothing intelligible. Yuy wiped his brow with a damp, cool cloth.

“Yuy, would you like to read the Bible to your father? I think he can still hear us,” I said.

“I don’t think I can. Would you please read to him?” she asked through tears.

I took out a book of Bible promises that had recently been published in Thai. I started to read from Revelation 21. “There was a new heaven and a new earth . . . God will wipe every tear from their eyes . . .” I looked at Yuy’s father. He was still breathing, but very faintly.

“Uncle,” I said to him, “All you need to do is choose Jesus. Do you want to be with Jesus where there is no pain and tears? Jesus loves you. All you need to do is say in your heart that you know that He is Lord, and that you choose to follow Him. You can be in heaven with Jesus someday if you will just choose Him now.”

I don’t know if he heard, but I prayed that God would preserve his hearing and understanding so he could make his choice. Pastor Wanlop had visited with Yuy’s father before and prayed for his healing. But he had never made a decision for Christ. In those final moments, I prayed that he would.

Finally, the man’s chest rose and fell a final time, and then he was still. Tears rolled down Yuy’s cheeks. I held her as she wept. Pastor Wanlop and P’Thongmii arrived and quietly talked with Yuy and her stepmother. The funeral arrangements were made, and we returned to the Surin Church. A few days later, we attended the funeral.

As my second year of student-missionary service came to an end, I returned to Chiang Mai to visit the Wilsons. Then I took a bus to Bangkok where I boarded a plane and flew back across the ocean.

My life was forever changed. So many experiences from my time as a student missionary are still vivid in my mind. It was the opportunity of a lifetime, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I know the Lord called me to be a student missionary. He is calling more people to devote a year of their life to service overseas. Please pray about this opportunity. When you feel the Lord call you, respond, “Here I am, Lord. Send me.”

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