Thankful for hospitality

When we last updated, one month ago, we were in Lisbon, Portugal. Since then we have been to Morocco, Germany, and now we are in Thailand. Each of these places are so very different in many ways. The food, the pace, the culture and dress, the climate, the language, etc but we are finding one common theme as we travel from place to place. Everywhere we have gone we have found amazing hospitality. We have been welcomed into over 100 homes, hostels, albergues, hotels, and riads since we left Seattle. Most of the time by strangers who have treated us like friends.

Some of the highlights:

Morocco- We loved Morocco! Everyone told us we would, but we had also read many warnings to be careful, so we went with some concerns. We stayed within the walls of the city in Marrakech in a Riad (which is like a small hotel). We were warmly welcomed by our host Mohamed who made us feel at home. We took a three day trip to the desert, and rode camels and slept under the stars. When we came back Mohamed (who was on his day off) went out of his way to make sure we returned safely and had a good trip. He made our time in Morocco very memorable. World Cup 2026!

Germany- We left Morocco to meet my family in Germany for a reunion. My mom grew up in Bonn and her older sister still lives there as do all of my cousins and their families. We spent 8 days with family (including my brother, his wife and my niece, her husband and their adorable daughter) which was wonderful. My Tante Gilla (aunt) has the gift of hospitality! Her generosity to make sure everyone was comfortable and enjoying themselves was humbling. I don’t think she slept much the whole week. It was so wonderful to spend time with my cousins and get to know them and their families better. I loved getting to see the home my mom grew up in and the Catholic boarding school she went to and meeting some of her childhood friends. We even met one of nuns who taught her, she is now 106 years old! We loved our time in Germany and it was a bonus that Madeline and Jordan made the extra effort to join us for a couple of days in Bonn.

Thailand- We arrived in Bangkok and were warmly greeted by some new friends, the Hauptman family. Jim had met Iven once or twice briefly at our church but he didn’t know him well. I had never met them. They live in Bangkok and work with YWAM loving their neighbors and sharing life with them. They have 6 beautiful, expressive children who are fully engaged in Thai life with their parents. For 5 days we were invited in to be part of the family! We played games, read books, listened to stories of stitches and other close calls. We watched acrobatic shows, went to Thai church and played in the park. We ate food and talked about common friendships. It was delightful. In 5 days we went from strangers to family because they welcomed us into their lives.

We then came to Chiang Mai where we were welcomed again. This time it was parents of our friends from Seattle. They have become friends now too. Chaiyun and Margaret have welcomed us into their home, generously fed us (even homemade bread and granola) and helped us get around the city. In addition, they have taken time to visit with us and we have enjoyed several long evenings of conversation with them both.

These are only some of the ways and places we have experienced people’s hospitality toward us. We are both incredibly thankful and humbled by the ways we have been taken care of in these 3 1/2 months. We have extended the invitation to come to Seattle to all we have met and we hope to be able to offer to others what we have experienced here.

Filled with thanksgiving for all of you at home.

Peace

Michelle and Jim