Well I'm leaving Holland for the United States in just a few hours. It has been an amazing trip. I've enjoyed my time with the Stephensons and Kaitlyn and getting to see the ministry here and getting to meet so many wonderful Dutch people and other missionaries. I am sad to leave, not only am I leaving my wonderful niece and nephew (and their parents :) ) I am also beginning to realize this marks the true end to my missions trip!

There are so many things I have learned and I firmly believe life will never be the same. I can't wait to share with you all that God has done and the things that I have learned. I don't know what is next, as far as the very near future holds, but I look forward to watching God work out the details and how He is going to move.

Thank you all for your prayers and support. Please pray for my travels. I leave for California at 2pm Holland time (5am Arizona and Cali time, 7pm Thailand time). I will be in California for less then 24 hours before I head out on a trip with my parents. I will return to California next Monday and then head back to Arizona to be in church on May 24th. Look forward to seeing you all!!!!

Prayer Requests:

As I finish up my time here in Holland I have begun the process of applying for jobs back in Arizona. Please pray that God will lead me to the right job and that I will be able to get a job quickly.

Pray for God's leading as to what my future will hold, especially in the form of missions.

Pray for my time in Holland. That it will be profitable and helpful for Stephensons. (pray for a friend of Heather's that we have spent some time with and seems to have built a good relationship with Kaitlyn)

Pray for the last bit of my support to come in. God has provided in AMAZING ways and I have been surprised at every turn as He has been SO faithful and His timing has been perfect. I am still trying to raise the the rest of the support to pay for my plane ticket.

Pray for the ministry in Thailand. They have a team in now. Pray also that the Chinese tourist will continue to travel to Thailand. With the recent political situation there have been fewer Chinese traveling to Thailand.

Thank you ALL for all of your support. I have been SO blessed by this opportunity and all that God has done in my life. I look forward to being able to share with when I get home!

It has been a crazy 10 days! Can you believe it's really been that long since I left Thailand? I sure can't! I miss it like crazy!!! But my last day in Thailand was awesome!!!

We went out to lunch as a SCPT team. Had some real Thai food which was awesome. My wonderful friends traveled around the city with me as I did last minute shopping, found my Thai tea, and mango with sticky rice! YUM YUM YUM!!!! We however failed to find my bug :( ( I guess this means I HAVE to go back!) Then we went back to hang out and wait for my ride. It was SO much fun. Several other members of the SCPT showed up with mango and sticky rice and we played telephone pictionary. And if you've never played... well you need to!

Mr. Poo arrived and it was time for me to say goodbye. It wasn't pretty lol but I finally sat in the van on my way to the airport. God has a great sense of humor as well... my trip to the airport included Thai karoke... I couldn't stop laughing. It was perfect!

At the airport I was meet with the shock of my life. I knew I was going to have to pay extra for my bags as I was traveling to Europe and not the US. I figured you know an extra $60 or something would be okay and I'd survive.... boy was I WRONG. When I first put my bags on the scale the number didn't surprise me... I thought I was only 4 kilo's over what the lady in London had told me....no it was really 14 kilo's over...and they were going to charge me for each kilo. $600 to get my stuff to Holland!?! I sat in the Bangkok airport moving my stuff around, several times! I finally ended up with all of my jeans and shorts in my purse, my pillow full of socks and my backpack crammed full of 'stuff' and still ended up paying WAY more then I wanted to. But, alas, all of my stuff and I arrived in Holland.

I've had some trouble adjusting to the time change, but I am having a blast hanging out with the Stephensons. I LOVE being Auntie Joy!!!

WOW!!!! What a week! The team from LBC has been here and we had a great time! I LOVED getting to go out and do ministry with them!!!! What a last week! I was able to go out with them for every night of distribution and just loved watching God work! He continues to amaze me and show me just how great and awesome He is and what a BIG God I get to serve.

This is the last time I will blog from within Thailand. I'm writing this with great sadness in my heart! I feel like I'm leaving home all over again! I love it here! I LOVE the ministry, I LOVE my time with God, I LOVE the people, I pretty much just love it all!

God has been amazing and has shown me great and wonderful things. He is SO faithful to us beyond anything we could imagine. He provides for all our needs, tells us we don't have to worry about anything. I was reading yesterday where Jesus told the disciples to go out, not to take food, money, extra clothes or anything, that it would all be provided for them. To have faith like that!!! But that's the God we serve...the same yesterday, today and forever! I know now more then ever that I can't go back to the same old thing... I want to live serving God forever...and where ever He leads! (Even if it ends up being some crazy 3rd world country! Which I would LOVE!!!!)

My last day will hopefully entail getting some last minute shopping done, mango with sticky rice, Thai tea, a cricket, LOTS of pictures and most importantly getting to spend time with the people who have become family to me, whom I will miss dearly!!! My life will never be the same again!!! Thank you LORD!!!!

Please pray as I say my goodbyes and travel! I'm excited to see everyone and be able to share about my time here! I will post once I get to Holland...maybe include some going away pictures! :) Thank you again for all your support and prayers! This would not have been possible without you!!!

THANK you all SO much for your prayers! UCM went great! The worship was awesome, which totally helped me get prepared for sharing. Don't ask me what I said, I really couldn't tell you. I know I went in prepared to talk about prayer and what a GREAT and BIG God we serve and how He wants us to ask and to come before Him with our requests! It was so much fun! And to top it all off... I wasn't nervous or fidgety!! When I had gotten ready that morning I had put my ring on to play with when I got nervous, so it wouldn't be so obvious.... I never had to use it! God was so awesome and just gave me peace! What made it even more special was this was my last UCM! How cool is God?!? I mean I'm not happy it was my last time to UCM but what a way to go out :)

The team arrived from my home church yesterday and blessed me SO much! They brought gifts from home that just made my day!!! (there are certain things you can't get here or cost WAY to much, that after a while you kinda start to miss and crave) Not to mention they were able to join us as one of our Thai staff was baptized yesterday! It was an AWESOME Resurrection Sunday!!! Praise God for what a great and awesome God He is!

Please pray for the team this week and their ministry! We have the warehouse this morning and then the pier tonight! It should be awesome! Oh and it's Songkran's (The Thai New Year), I'm going to be soaked! Pretty much all week!!!! :) I'm looking forward to it :) Please also keep me in prayer, this is my last week here, leaving my home and my new friends and family is going to be SO hard and I want to focus on ministry this week and spending time with the team from LBC but also wanting to spend time with the team here before I leave! Gotta love the balancing act! Thank you again all for your amazing support and your prayers!

Funny story...very true! Yesterday (Thursday) I went to the warehouse to work with a team of ladies helping with the Tamar center. As we would be going out to the pier later that evening I need to get the truck filled with boxes. If your lucky and go early enough some of the warehouse staff will fill the truck for you, and as I was there early, I was excited that I would not be filling the truck myself! I had talked to one of the staff and asked if he needed me to move the truck to the warehouse or if he just wanted to do it. He stated he could do it so I handed him the keys. He worked on some other stuff and I went back to helping with packets. A short while later he went out to the truck.... within a few minutes he was back, but the truck hadn't moved. He came over and asked if I could move the truck for him. I complied and continued working on packets while he filled the truck. When he returned he asked me which foot you used to make the car go... why is this funny you may be asking.... see he has his own truck and motorcycle and drives quite regularly here...the difference and why he couldn't move the truck...it's an automatic :) I laugh when I think about it... He can drive a standard and a motorcycle and the vehicle that we would think the easiest of them all and automatic stumped him!

On a more serious note: Please be praying for us this next week. Wednesday morning in particular. I know in the past I have talked about attending a mid week service at UCM (United Christian Ministries) and that we gather to pray for different ministries. Each week is lead by a different ministry in the city. This week, it's SCPT's turn. I have volunteered, I think, to share. God has really laid it on my heart as of lately that we don't take prayer seriously enough. I mean over here it's easy to get really into prayer and to focus on it and to live in it, but even then I don't think we think big enough. I don't think we take God out of our box. An example... during the Chinese New Year we were handing out a certain number of boxes most nights...well I thought hey pray for more...but even when I was I was thinking to myself... pray a realistic number...really?!? Does God want us to be "realistic" and think in human terms or does He want us to think big...think about what HE can do? I was challenged as the day that I prayed for a specific number and that's what we did. A slightly larger number then before, but it wasn't a BIG number... did I limit what I thought God could do to what I thought were human expectations. In His word He tells us we do not have because we do not ask, and we do not ask believing. I've been really convicted about that lately and am trying to pray big, in a God size way, no boxes and then really really believe He CAN and WILL do big things. I mean He's GOD! Don't we believe He can heal the sick, cause the blind to see, change the hard hearts of people? Or do we only believe He could do that in Bible times? All I know is that I hope to share about the amazing power of prayer and what God CAN and WANTS to do...if only we will ask and believe. Please pray that God gives me the words to speak and moves in the hearts of the people. After I share we will be praying for the ministries and I'm going to challenge them to think God sized... I mean hello God used Gideon and 300 men to defeat an army, He doesn't need us to be realistic, He wants us to have faith and ask!

The count down begins... only I'm not looking forward to this count down! I leave Thailand in 3 weeks.... then spend 3 weeks working with Heather and Jeremy in Holland and then home. And while that seems like a lot of time before I get back to the US, for me that is just to soon to be leaving Thailand!

Last week I went to Singapore for my last "visa run" and had a good time. On the flight home I got to talking to another passenger headed to Thailand. We were getting close to the Bangkok airport and I was just so excited. I said, "I'm so glad to be home!" He gave me a strange look, as we had already talked about my being from the United States, and asked,"So Thailand really feels like 'home' to you?" "YES, very much SO!"

It feels weird to be leaving HOME to go 'home' but not really sure where my place is at 'home' or what I'm suppose to be doing next. I can't say that Thailand is where I'm called to live for the rest of my life, but I can tell you that being here has just confirmed my love and desire to be in full time missions. I feel SO alive, so at peace, so at HOME when I am on the mission field. I love watching God work in such an amazing and almost "hands on" way. I love being a part of sharing the Gospel with others and living in another culture. I love the friends I've made and I just love being able to focus so much time on prayer.

I feel bad that I don't want to come home. It's not that I don't miss everyone back home and don't love you all very much, but I LOVE it here. It's home. It just confirms for me that I am right where God wants me to be. And while I'm extremely sad to even think about leaving... I do know that if I am walking in Gods will for my life it will include amazing things and will eventually lead me somewhere in the world for ministry :) Please pray with me as I seek Gods will for my future. I really don't know what I'm suppose to do next or where I'm suppose to go from here... I just know that I am suppose to GO....

Wow! I'm realizing how long it's been since I last posted! Sorry about that :) Things are going well here! We had a team in last week and had so much fun with them. Friday morning we went prayer walking down the pier and walking street. We spent the afternoon hanging out with them, going out to lunch and then shopping. Later on we had a night of distribution at the Palladium. It was awesome! Before the team even arrived Enoch and Wes had handed out an entire box of Bibles and packets, while I held the sign and prayed. Then we had several nights at the pier with them. As always it's wonderful to see what a faithful God we have and how He just answers prayer and blesses each of us.

A story I wanted to share is from one night when we were without a team and the SCPT team went out to the pier for distribution:

As I've shared we are inside the 'pier house' and not out on the pier. We stand on the steps and hold signs high and yell out to the Chinese tourists that we have a gift for them, we have FREE Bibles. This particular Monday night I was holding the sign on the first step praying, while Jessia (one of our beloved Chinese translators) stood next to me calling out to the groups as they were milling about. There was this group coming down the pier and they had kind of stopped at the end of the pier before coming all the way up to the 'pier house.' Before I knew what was happening there were 3 grown men racing towards Jessia. I mean full blown, head long straight for us! It was like watching a slow motion scene in a movie as they reached us, knocking Jessia over, fighting over the Bible in her hand. Jessia up about 2 steps, landing on her wrist, all the while trying to tell them we have more and trying to get more so they could have them. It was amazing, funny, and beautiful! I mean to see the recognition on their faces that they could have a Bible, the desire to get one and the almost unbelief that ALL 3 of them could have their very own and the gratitude as they walked away! Jessia was fine... a little sore but I will never forget the sheer joy of seeing their faces! We laughed, the next night someone asked if Jessia needed a helmet just in case we had another incident.

God is working! It's amazing to be a part of His work and see the Chinese take Bibles. I'm working on my Chinese. The other night at the pier I was handing out Bibles and as a group went through I saw a young women and prayed for her. In my little Chinese I said, Bible, Free, This is a gift I give to you, and then my new favorite, Customs, no problem! She looked at me and stared... and said Free? and I said Free! With a huge smile she took the Bible and packet. Praise God!!!

Please continue to pray for us as we distribute. Over the next couple of weeks we will be working with teams that are here to work with the Tamar center. I'm excited as my days will be in the warehouse and nights at the pier! Please continue to pray for my support. I am seeing how God is blessing me and it really is a day at a time thing. I am heading to Singapore on Tuesday for my last visa run!!! God blessed me greatly by sending someone to provide this trip for me! Thank you all for your prayers and support! I pray that God is blessing you just as much as you have blessed me and as I am being blessed.

I'm DRIVING!!!

As many of you will recall I blogged the day I found out I was going to have to drive in Thailand. I started asking for prayer months before getting here. My prayer request was always that I would get here and NOT have to drive! I was so not looking forward to having to drive and prayed accordingly. Chinese New Year came and it worked out perfect, NO driving! I was happy as could be. In fact it looked like I wasn't going to have to drive here at all... but then I started having a desire to drive. I know crazy right?!? Well, last week, with the help of a friend, drove us back to our community from the pier! God was totally there making a way for me as there were very few cars on the road and it went by without incident. The next morning he let me drive to the warehouse. Again, totally awesome. So, now I'm a Thai driver!

I can say that especially after my weekend! I again went on an "Angel Adventure"... she called me Satruday and said, "Hey you want to go on an adventure?" A little hesitant after my last "adventure," I asked what it would be... she said, "my friend from church is going to the hospital to visit very sick people to pray for them and share the gospel..." Now this was an "adventure" I could get behind... not to mention she said after we could go to Starbucks and hang out... I was in!

Then she dropped the bomb... not at the warehouse but downtown and I would have to drive and pick her up by myself. First time driving alone! I totally missed my turn and had to drive "around the block" which wasn't really around the block but I made it and picked her up. We also picked up her friend and they together took me on a little driving adventure to the Thai government hospital (not the really nice one we Americans go to).

It was an awesome time, just praying for people and sharing the gospel. Several women prayed to receive Christ and we prayed for healing. It was amazing! One women when we came in couldn't hardly sit up. She had to be helped up and supported while she sat and listened. But by the time we were done talking with and praying for her and she had received Christ, she was smiling, sitting on her own, and SO animated. Before we left she looked at me and said "We are family now." It was so heart warming and awesome to see God's hand at work!

It was a WONDERFUL weekend... even with driving :) I survived and have since driven several times and actually like it! I will also say that I've also ridden on a motorbike! Nothing like facing your fears and knowing that God is completely in control. He is nothing but faithful!

If you have anything you would like me to pray about please let me know! I'm enjoying my time with God and would like to "stand in the gap" for you all! Thanks for the support and prayers! I can feel them.

A LOT of pictures!!!

Finally pictures from my "Angel Adventure" and our trip out to the village.

The village was a wonderful time of hanging out and playing games with the kids, singing songs and sharing the gospel. After we shared we handed out Bibles and packets and prayed for various people in the village. Throughout the course of the evening we prayed very specifically for healing of several people. One of the men that was prayed for said he was healed and that he had heard about Christ on the radio but never truly knew what it was about or felt God. But as they prayed for him he knew and accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior. He believed so strongly that he went and got his daughter to have her prayed for and she believed. There were 2 other salvations! Praise God! After we had dinner and had packed up everything we sat and talked with the people, allowed them to ask questions. The big thing they are struggling with is, having been raised Buddhist, how do they do both religions, or how are they supposed to act differently from when they were Buddhist. Please pray that they will see the light and know the truth, there is ONE God and only ONE truth!

The next morning we took a missionary from up in that area out to the village to meet the chief and see about continuing the ministry there. After talking with the chief he wasn't sure that he should as the chief didn't seem sure the people would want it. However, several took him to visit the man who had accepted Christ and after about 45 minutes of visiting, an appointment was made for the missionary to return to the village and start discipleship with this man and any others who choose to participate. Please be praying for this small village and the people who have already accepted Christ.














Angel and I with the rest of the group from the garden! We are standing in "no mans land" and behind us you are looking into Cambodia. The rest are from various spots we stopped.

Today I attended UCM and had an amazing time in worship and prayer. One of the songs that really hit home with me was Mighty To Save by Hillsong. This song just reminds me of the Saviour we serve and what a might God He is! Below is the chorus that I can't get out of my head that is also helping me through a tough time.

Chorus:
Saviour, He can move the mountains,
My God is Mighty to save,
He is Mighty to save.
Forever, Author of salvation,
He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conquered the grave.

Tough time?!? Well, let me share a story I really struggled over and whether or not I should share it. Please be praying for me as I continue to deal with and process the situation.

Friday morning early my friend and I hoped in a van headed for Bangkok to start our adventure. It was 3am and not much traffic on the road. She slept in the van beside me and the other passengers were all Thai. As many of you know, I don't sleep in anything that moves! So I sat quietly looking out the dark window to the limited landscape I could see. About an hour into our trip we slowed down quite a bit. Strange, I thought, that there should be so much traffic at this time in the morning in the middle of nowhere. About that time I saw a car stopped in the lane and several people standing there. Then my eyes fell on the lone body in the road, twisted and a large pool of blood by his head. No one was attending to the body and by the looks of it, I was certain I had just seen a dead body or someone close to dying. My heart broke! How could someone be lying in the middle of the road and no one was doing anything?!? But really what could they do? And it's kind of normal for Thailand as this was a case of motorbike verses car. (motorbike accidents are one of the leading causes of death in Thailand)

No one else in the van seemed to notice. We didn't stop and life continued as if we hadn't just passed a dead body in the middle of the road. That is for everyone else. I didn't know what to say, who to tell or what to think. So I said nothing, did nothing and just let it sit there in my mind. For a week I struggled with it. Often having trouble going to sleep, as I closed my eyes the image would come to mind and so I would find something else to do to get my mind on something else, to try and erase the image.

A little history at this point is needed: In the very recent past I have been talking to people about the possibility of going back to school for nursing. I just keep thinking that a degree in nursing would totally open more doors for missions and allow me to get into any country. Not to mention help people. I've never made the clear decision that I do want to go back to school and pursue this major but it has weighed heavily on my mind since arriving here in Thailand.

After what I saw, my world has been rocked! Do I go into nursing? I mean how I wish I could have stopped to see if I could help. There's a good chance that I couldn't have done anything but doesn't everyone deserve a chance or at least to have someone care? So, I'm left wondering what does God have for me? I know He allowed me to see this for a reason, to learn, grow and stretch. A friend of mine pointed out, how much this could be likened to someone dying alone without Christ. How sad that is and how important it is for people to get out there and share so that another person doesn't have to die alone!

I don't know where I'm going from here but I know that whatever it is, it's going to involve sharing God's love! Please pray for me as I try and figure out the next steps in my future and where God wants me. The image has faded some and I am sleeping better. Thank you for your prayers and support! I know I couldn't do this on my own!

This has been a wonderful week! Monday I spent time hanging out with other members of the team in town and then we headed to the pier for distribution. As always, God is faithful and we saw Chinese take Bibles and packets. Tuesday I was out the door before 6am headed to Cambodia. This was the fastest trip ever! We were the first van at the boarder which meant I was home almost a full hour earlier then last time. Now I'm not fully sure if that is because we were the first at the boarder or because my Thai driver, well drives VERY Thai. (ie, no rules, no speed limit, turning lanes become passing lanes and the guy sitting next to me continually putting his hand out to brace or point to a car he didn't think the driver saw!) Tuesday night we were again out at the pier. Have I mentioned how much I enjoy distribution? I just enjoy watching the joy on their faces as they take Bibles. I think one of the best moments for me on Tuesday was there was a group standing off to the side of the pier house waiting for their tour guide to lead them to the bus. A few were looking at the sign but no one was coming. Then one brave soul came and took a Bible and packet. Then two women came and grabbed Bibles and packets and returned to the group. As they looked over what we were giving the rest of the group came. We couldn't hand out Bibles fast enough! I went through an entire box myself with this group!!! PRAISE GOD!!!! Chinese people are taking Bibles and it's awesome! Wednesday we had UCM (a mid week service for the Christian ministries in our city). It was a wonderful worship service and time of prayer. We broke up into groups and prayed for different things. My groups focus was that everyone in our city would come to know Christ and receive salvation and that the face of the city would be changed. (it's a city known for prostitution) After UCM we went to lunch and then I started school with one of the MK's. We had a great time. She came over to my house and we worked one on one. Afterwards I took her swimming.

Today we are heading out to a village in the northeast part of Thailand to minister to the people there. We will be hanging out with the kids after school today and tomorrow we will be introducing a missionary who works in the area to the people. This will help the people of the village as we can only get up there a couple times a year and we are eager to see these people come to know Christ! (This is the home village of one of our Thai workers.) Please pray for safe travels and fruitful ministry.

Thank you again for all of your prayers and support. I am truly being blessed!

So I wanted to post pictures from some of my trips but my computer is having some difficulties so for now I will do a short post. That and after a long day of out and about, then pier distribution tonight and getting up for a border run to Cambodia tomorrow... I'm more then ready for bed :)

Over the weekend I was able to go on a trip... my adventure to the north/east part of Thailand. We left early friday morning and road in a van to Bangkok and then joined a BUNCH of people in 4 tour buses! We boarded the bus for a very LONG trip.

There was some sight seeing, a lot of Thai food (ie fish and seafood with the heads and eyes still in tack!) that was spicy, and Thai karoke. I think I had the privilege of being on the party bus as we played games, most people took turns singing or sharing on the microphone and in general we stayed up late and made a lot of noise.

I was the only American on the trip but that proved to be helpful. On our bus several of the people sitting around us asked my friend who I was and where I was from. This opened up doors for her to share that I am a missionary here from America. She was able at one point to share her testimony! It was awesome! Made the very long hours in the bus totally worth it!

More to come on this trip! Thank you all for your prayers! I could feel the power of prayer hard at work during my meals ;) Gotta love fish heads!

Adventure

I was going to write about my time on the island this week and a rather funny story from my snorkeling trip, however, I received a phone call from a friend of mine that works with SCPT tonight asking me to go with her for an adventure.

For years everyone who has been involved with SCPT has been praying that God would open up the doors for distribution at a local garden attraction that sees many Chinese tourists. This fall God opened that door! Praise God. Well, my friend has made quite an impression on the staff at the garden and they invite her to many activities they host. And today she was invited on a tour trip and was asked to bring some of us along. As it turns out I'm the only who is able to get away.

She told me, "bring good shoes, it's going to be an adventure." I'm not sure what that means, but they are paying all our expenses while we are gone and I'm going to be at the border of 2 other countries.(IE I'm going to be able to get my passport renewed for another 15 days for free :)!!!) Praise God for how He works.

Please pray for me over the next couple of days as I do believe I will be the only American among many Thai. My friend speaks wonderful English but I know that we will be interacting a lot with the people from the garden and others. I'm praying that it will open more doors at the garden and will allow my friend and I to share God with those around us.

Squaty

You know when you're on a missions trip that God is going to stretch you and that sometimes you do things that you wouldn't normally do, nor want to do. On my trip home from Cambodia God decided to stretch me in a way I was really hoping he wouldn't!

The Saturday before my run for the border the whole team had gone out to celebrate a great CNY. While we sat around the table this picture began to circulate around the table. One of our LTV's had gone to Buddha mountain and there found that the only facilities were a squaty potty. As this was his first time out of the country, I'm sure this was his first encounter with this delightful instrument of comic relief. A picture of him standing on it shortly followed. We passed the picture around and all had a good laugh and shared stories of experiences with them.

I sat quietly laughing as I, too, had never used a squaty! And at that point never thought I would. God must have been sitting there laughing at me knowing that in just a few days I would encounter my first squaty.

On our way home from Cambodia we stopped at a gas station for snacks and bathroom break. I quickly walked to the bathroom and was stopped dead in my tracks. It was a squaty potty! Had I really just been laughing about not having to ever use one?!? It was tile all around, and me in my Old Navy flip flops that slide at the first touch of water. And yep there was water all right...with squaty pottys you don't use toilet paper and they don't have a nice little handle to flush...no there is a tub of water you use for all of the above!

Well, lucky for me I always carry an emergency stash of toilet paper and figured out a way to use it without falling and breaking my neck. I laughed and laughed. Upon returning home I shared my story with some of the other missionaries. They thought it was great, and I found out that outside of the city, or any tourist town that is all you will find in Thailand. In fact on our way to retreat I was told it would probably be my only choice til we got onto the Island! Way to stretch.

Retreat

Every year after CNY the SCPT and volunteers that are around go for a retreat. A time of resting and relaxing after the busy CNY and a time to reflect on what God has done.

This year we went to Koh Chang, an island in the south east. It was an amazing couple of days. The island was beautiful, the fellowship wonderful and the time relaxing.

We were able to talk about what went well, some things that might need to change in the future and we shared what God had done in our lives personally. For me that focused mostly on Gods faithfulness. He continues to show me over and over just how faithful He is and how much every part of our life matters to Him. One of the most wonderful things has been to watch as God answers specific prayers. I can remember so many times praying for a specific person or family, that they would take a Bible and packet and as I would watch them walk I'd see them maybe pass the first volunteer, so I'd pray even harder and you know we serve the most faithful God. Again and again I watched as people, families took Bibles.

God has been faithful in so many other areas of my life as well. Getting here was a huge struggle for me. I knew I was supposed to come and I knew this was where God wanted me but leaving family, friends, my church, my job and trusting in support coming in. Through it all God has been right by my side. While my support is not where it should be and I am daily struggling with trusting God to provide for me. But during retreat God just reminded me through our fellowship, my Bible study and just quite time with Him that He is in control and will provide for all my needs. God is not surprised by where my support is, He wasn't surprised that I was going to have to make runs for the border and He knows where the support is going to come from.

In trusting Him it is causing my faith to be stretched and reminding me of His faithfulness. If you would like to help support me you can send checks to my church, Laveen Baptist Church 5036 West Dobbins Road, Laveen AZ 85339

Please make checks out to the church as this will allow you to receive tax credit. Please attach a note indicating that it is support for my trip. Again thank you all so much for you support both in finical but especially in prayer! The God we serve is SO faithful and may He bless you beyond anything you could imagine!

Enjoy some pictures from my retreat. I will also be posting later about one of my more "exciting" days on the island.

Running for the Border

What a day!!! I woke up thinking how funny it was that I was having to make a trip to the border, I was going to be going to Cambodia. Now, I'd been told I wouldn't actually be going into Cambodia but more into a "no mans land," a space between Cambodia and Thailand.

There were 8 of us being collected in my van to head to the border. At an hour in which the sun had yet to rise, which I like to call "O dark thirty" I was given a call stating that they would be at my home in the next 5-10 minutes and I needed to be waiting outside. I was the 3rd person picked up. After gathering up our group, we headed to Cambodia.

As our guide turned to tell us good morning and that it would be a 3 hour trip... I couldn't help think of the Gilligan Island song that started out with a "3 hour tour." As our driving weaved in and out of traffic, I thought I might just find myself ship wrecked somewhere. Insert lots of prayer!!! :)

We arrived safely and proceeded to get our passports stamped stating we were leaving the great country of Thailand. I walked across the bridge, passing a sign welcoming me to Cambodia. I was pointed in the direction of "no mans land" and to my awaiting lunch. After lunch I returned to the Cambodian immigration office to claim my processed passport.( You have no idea how hard it is to hand your passport over to someone for them to process it for you, insert faith and prayer!)

I walked back across the bridge past a sign welcoming me to Thailand. I waited in line at the Thai immigration to get my passport stamped and a new visa. While walking to the van I looked over my passport and saw to my great distress that my new visa was only good for 2 weeks! What?!? I thought it was good for 30 days, but no it expires in 2 weeks. I went and talked to several people and found that a new law was passed stating that if you are traveling my air, you get 30 day visas but if you come by land(IE a visa run) you only get 15 days. Insert praying on the phone with my mom!!!

I got back in the van and tried to rest in God. I know He has a plan and for that I'm thankful! Please join me in praying that we can find a better solution to my visa problem. Not only would I like not to have to make a run for the border every 2 weeks, it will also be very costly! Please pray for my support as I'm also not a full support and with these new expenses I'm feeling my faith being stretched. I know God is in control and I have seen how faithful He is and how quickly He can answer our prayers.

PS. Anna, Jamie from Georgia's daughter, is doing better and Jamie and Nina were able to get on an earlier flight to get home. Thank you for your prayers!

1st of Several

The team of LTV's. Our last Sunday all together.


Our last team from Texas. Five first timers!! We had a lot of fun with them.

Wow! It has been an amazing Chinese New Year! Not so much in how many Bibles that we gave out, as it's not about the numbers, but in the joy of seeing the way God works. He was so faithful to answer prayer and to teach. This past Sunday we gathered in the warehouse for our last service with our last CNY team. It was a wonderful time of sharing and hearing what God was doing in individual lives and in the things we witnessed God do.

One of the stories shared was about a young boy and his family. Apparently he had been allowed to take a packet and one of our LTV's went over to this boy, his mother and aunt and tried talking to them. The mom spoke a little English but not much. In the packet we hand out a track called "The Four Spiritual Laws." This track is in Mandarin on one side and English on the other. The LTV had the young boy read out loud in Mandarin and at the end the LTV prayed with the young man and his family to receive Christ. In the mothers limited English she asked for help finding a church when she returned home! Praise God!!

During the service a passage was shared that stuck with me. I pray that I would always be ready and that these words would spur me on as I continue to work. "Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ for which I am also in chains, that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one." Colossians 4:2-6. It is important to be in prayer and also to be prepared.

In my own studying I was touched by the words of Jeremiah, "Then I said, 'I will not make mention of Him, Nor speak anymore in His name.' But His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not." Jeremiah 20:9 God's word was not meant to be kept to ourselves. He wants us to share it with the world!

To that we talked a lot about being obedient to God and His call and demand in our lives. He wants us to live and to share always. You don't have to be in another country to do it either, but if God is calling you to go, don't ignore it! The best place to be is to be in the center of God's will for you.

My Georgia team! John, Chris, Nina, Skip, Jamie and I. This was their last night working with us. We distributed at the Palladium. What a wonderful time. And praise God Jamie and Nina were able to get on an earlier flight!!!


This morning I had a break in activities and was able to go swimming in the amazing pool in my community! Isn’t it beautiful?!?


I recently realized during a conversation with my mom that most people don’t actually know what a baht bus is. As I tried to explain to my mom that “no it’s not actually a bus” and to a friend that “no they don’t have seatbelts,” I figured the best thing I could do would be post a few pictures. Baht buses are actually trucks with a row of seats on either side of the bed of the truck. In the picture below you can see one of the teams from Virginia is piled in the back, and yes those two women were standing on little steps they have for the entire ride!

Various parts of the ministry: Handing out Bibles at the pier, the many boxes at the warehouse that have been put together, waiting for Chinese to come back from the Island to hand out at the beach, and putting packets and boxes together for later distribution.

Blessings!

You know when you meet people and you know within minutes that you have been blessed to meet them and that they will forever remain in your heart. Over the last week and a half I have gotten to know a team of people from Georgia who have just endeared themselves to my heart. Their team leader is Nina, the sweetest lady, who you can't help but give a hug to. Jamie who has the biggest heart. Please pray for Jamie as it has been a rough year. She lost both of her parents and then her 10 year old daughter Anna has been really sick. She had a fever up to 104.6 for over a month and the doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong. She had been doing better so Jamie decided to come on the trip, and Anna had said, "Momma if you don't go tell the Chinese people, who will?" On Monday night Jamie got a call that the fever had returned. Please pray for them. And then there is Skip. What an amazing man!! He is 77 1/2 and out serving the Lord with the biggest smile! I hope that I can be half as active as he is and do it with as must gusto and joy. John injured his knee right before coming but hasn't let that slow him down a bit. Last night I was so touched by his continued prayer and reading of scripture, even in between waves! Lastly there is Chris. This was his first trip and he was so helpful and seemed to really enjoy it. When we worked in the warehouse Chris was so helpful, moving boxes, taping boxes, pretty much whatever we needed him to do.

Well, tonight is my last night with them. I will get to spend time with them at church and then later tonight I will be going out to help them distribute and then they will be leaving.(Pray that God opens the door for Nina and Jamie to get on an earlier flight to get back to Anna) I have been so blessed by them. It has really made the time fly by. I am sad to see them go, but I know that they will take home an amazing story and will share their blessings with their families and churches!

I have continued to stay busy. A full day out at the garden, followed by a night at the pier. Church was a day of rest and spending time with Jessia, one of our Chinese translators. (I taught her how to do eye makeup :) ) I continue to lead teams in prayer walking, had a full day in the warehouse, followed by a night out at the pier.

The Chinese continue to take Bibles and so many children and families with children have taken Bibles! What a blessing to be a part of this amazing ministry. The smiles alone on their faces has been worth the trip. Thank you for your continued prayers. Please pray that we finish out the Chinese New Year well. We will be down to our last 2 teams in the morning.

This week!

" All the nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord; and shall glorify Your name." Psalms 86:9 This has been my prayer this week for the Chinese people, for the nation of China.

This week began with a morning worship service at one of the hotels with the four teams that were in, the team of translators, the LTV's and the missionaries. It was a wonderful time of worshipping and sharing together. There were testimonies of what God had done to get various members here and things that God was already doing showing and teaching.

The rest of the afternoon was spent taking a visiting missionary sight seeing (ie getting lost on baht buses!).

Monday was Chinese New Year! It was crazy down by the pier. The parking lot was closed, the one way street was now a two way street, performers everywhere and there were LOTS of Chinese!!! We had a wonderful time passing out Bibles and praying.

Tuesday was much of the same as far as the craziness goes. My day was spent leading teams in prayer walking down "walking street" and the pier. It was a very powerful day! "Walking street" for those of you who don't know is full of bars, clubs, places for prostitution. During the day it is mostly closed down and very few shops are open but as evening approaches it becomes a street of sin. It was hard to lead a team down the street knowing what lay ahead but also knowing the need for prayer. We talked at the end of the street about how sad it was to see the sin and to see families walking with their children. It was a powerful night of prayer and we the group handing out Bibles handed out more then we had any other night! Praise God.

Wednesday morning we attended the worship service at UCM (United Christian Ministries). It was wonderful to again hear about the ministries in the city and how God was answering prayers. I again lead a team in prayer walking, this time it was just for the distribution. All I can say is WOW!!!! God brought more Chinese then we could imagine and so many of them took Bibles!!! We handed out again more Bibles then we had previously. God just kept moving and it was awesome to see Him answer prayers right on the spot. I watched as children walked away thumbing through Bibles and whole families had Bibles.

Today I worked with a wonderful team from Georgia in the warehouse. We packed boxes with Bibles and packets and did so many that we ran out of boxes. We ended the day putting together packets to fill more boxes. I was able to get some fun pictures that I will post later.

Please continue to pray for the Chinese that come and for the tour guides that they would not lead them away from us. Pray for the teams as we have had several people who have been sick and just that they would be blessed. Thank you and my you be blessed today!

Pictures

Here are some pictures from my time here so far. The first two should be of the city that I am ministering in. They are looking down from a mountain top at the city below and the pier and building we are working from. The last three pictures are from the garden. The last two trips here we prayer walked through the garden, asking that God would change the owners heart and allow us to distribute from there. This fall the doors were opened and we now have a team staying there and are distributing almost daily!! Praise God!!!

Distribution

We started distrabution this week and have already started having teams come in for the Chinese New Year(CNY). On Wednesday the SCPT(Southern Cross Project) team and the LTV's went to the pier to distrubite as we had heard there were going to be a lot of Chinese tourists. We had a wonderful night of handing out Bibles but could see that satan was attempting to attack. We hadn't been there very long when a police officer approached us and told us that we weren't allowed to even be in the building handing out Bibles. As God is all knowing, a missionary from northern Thailand had been down visiting and she was able to talk to him in Thai, as the missionaries now leading SCPT are still learning Thai. Anyways, they were able to get him on the phone with the owner and he was told we CAN hand out Bibles but that we are not allowed to leave the building. Continue to pray for that we can go back out on the pier!

Thursday we meet our first team...and where should they be from?!? Peoria, Arizona! We had a good time that night handing out Bibles at the Palladium. Friday morning we met the next team staying at the Garden! Friday night they headed to the Palladium with some of the LTV's and I headed to the Pier with the team from Arizona. God continues to be faithful as we hand out Bibles.

One of the exciting things for me was to watch as many Chinese brought their children with them. In my previous trips we have seen very few, if any, children. I was so excited to see many of these families take Bibles and even a few of the kids were allowed to take one of their own! Praise God!!!

Tonight(ie when your waking up) we will be out at the pier for distrabution. This is the begining of the activities for the CNY. The mayor of the city will be giving a speech at the stage right by the pier. They are expecting a lot of tourists, which means a lot of Chinese to give Bibles out to!!! Please pray that they will be open and unafraid to take the Bibles. Also pray for the tour guides that they will not lead them away from us. Thanks!

Tuesday

I'm still adjusting to the time change and have found that here I am quite the morning person! I've enjoyed getting up and getting the day started early. It has allowed me to do things that normally I wouldn't have done in the morning or put so much time and effort into. I actually think I like being a morning person :)

After breakfast I went down to the warehouse for our team meeting. It was so nice to see Jessia (our Chinese translator) who I haven't seen since April. She seemed so excited to see me and we did a quick catch up before our meeting. As we had a meeting on Monday to go over schedule the focus of Tuesday's meeting was to pray for the teams that are coming and the Chinese tourists that will be coming.

We have 8 teams with a total of 54 people coming over the next 3 weeks or so. I'm excited to work with them and minister to the Chinese people alongside of them. One of the things I will be doing a lot of and focusing on is prayer walking with the teams. I will be leading on one day three different teams to prayer walk the pier and 'walking street.' I am SO excited!!!! I love to pray and am so excited to share that passion with the teams that come and watch God work!

After our time of prayer we relaxed for the afternoon and then went down to the pier for distrabution. We had only one wave of Chinese coming through and there were going to be 200 people. We were able to hand out 50 Bibles! Praise God!!!

Please pray as tonight (Wed) we will be going back down to the pier where there are suppose to be over 1,000 Chinese tourists tonight. Pray for the tour guides, that their hearts would be soft and they would allow their groups to come through and get Bibles. We had a tour guide last night turn away his entire bus and discourage them from taking Bibles. Because of this none of the Chinese on his bus took Bibles. We know that God can change hearts and lives and we continue to pray for them. Also, one of the reasons it was so easy to turn them away from us is that we are currently not allowed to distrubite from on the pier. We wait in the building at the end of the pier and most of the time the Chinese will walk through the building to the buses however if the guide stops them at the pier they can be directed around the building. Pray that we are again allowed to distrubite on the pier! Thank you all for your prayers and support.

Church and Driving

Today was a wonderful day! I woke up so excited for church. I find that the worship and time of fellowship with believers of other countries is so refreshing and uplifting. Today was much as I expected! We arrived to find the small church rather full. We found seats where ever we could and joined in with the church in song. For me joining meant to sit and listen to the Thai people sing and worship God. It was beautiful! We did sing a few songs that had English words to them as this is an international church. The only one I knew was Blessed Be the Lord God Almighty. It was awesome! One of the things I admire so much about this group of believers is that time is not important when they are worshiping God. After singing they took time to share what God was doing and how He was moving in various lives. One lady shared about a women who has been moved to come to church and how she was encouraged by the church and has shared with her brother who is beginning to open up his heart to God. After sharing about several people and presenting prayer requests they prayed. The whole church at one time began to pray aloud for the requests and for those who are lost.

The pastor's sermon was wonderful. He shared from 1 Timothy 1. He focused on being rooted in Christ, on having a strong foundation. He talked about how Paul had a firm foundation in Christ and how his friendship with Timothy had it's foundation in Christ. He challenged us to have our foundation in Christ and our relationships founded in Christ, that we might be able to influence others for Christ. Later in the chapter it also talks about false doctrines and how we need to know the word of God so well that we can know when we are being taught or faced with false doctrines, no matter how good they may look. He shared several video clips to help get his point across. It was a very interesting use but you could see that the Thai people enjoyed it and it helped them understand in a visual way. Some of it was one of the "My that's different" nature. ( 'My that's different' for those of you who don't know is something we are taught in orientation to help avoid culture shock. It's a way to look at things that are not as we are used to and might think strange, but don't want to pass judgement on other cultures.)

As the pastor had talked about being firmly rooted in the Word, the church puts some of it into action by having a memory verse every week. This week it was Colossians 3:17. The entire Thai body recited it in unison three times. It was wonderful. Then we did it in English. That was slightly entertaining as we all had different versions and thus it was a little less in unison :) But all the same it was nice to apply a little of what the pastor had talked about.

After the message there were other prayer requests shared. One of the LTV's (long term volunteer) that I am working with shared that a young girl from his church was diagnosed with leukemia on Friday. Her name is Hannah and he asked for prayer for her and her family. Again the church all prayed for Hannah and her family. It was beautiful.

Speaking of prayer requests, please be praying for me a lot in the next couple of days. I will be driving here, I had been hoping and praying that there would be enough LTV's that I wouldn't have to drive but it doesn't look like I'm getting out of it. I went out driving with Phil and Mark yesterday, and by driving I mean I rode in the back and Phil helped Mark with learning his way around the city. I now feel quite comfortable with the directions part. What I didn't realize was that I was going to be driving a manual! I have only driven a stick shift a very few times in my life, and those who have ridden in the car with me will tell you that I don't really drive a stick shift! And not only is it learning to drive a stick shift because the drivers seat is on the right, the stick is on your left! Talk about stretching! Pray for God's peace and my quick learning. Thank you all again for the support and encouragement you've been to me!!!

Thailand!!!

I'm here!!! And what a trip it was!!! Well, as you can tell from previous post I had a wonderful time in Holland. On Wednesday we went to Amsterdam to see the replica of Noah's Ark. It was amazing! It is a small scale version and on the inside they have animals but also have many different Bible stories represented. It was cool to see how it goes from creation to the cross!

Jeremy, Kaylie and Keiric needed to get their resident permits in Hoofddrop which is one train stop past the airport. Originally we had planned on all of us going but as we neared the stop for the airport I decided to get out and just check my luggage in early as it was getting close to 4pm and my flight took off at 7pm. We agreed to meet at "the Meeting Place" after they were done and I had checked all of my luggage in and had my boarding pass. Sounds easy enough right?!?

When I got to the counter I was informed that flights to London were being delayed because of fog. I knew I only had a 2 hour window in London before my flight to Thailand so I started praying. The lady at the counter was very nice and put me on an earlier flight that had been delayed and hopefully would get me into London on time. The problem was it was boarding at 4:30pm. I ran back to the 'Meeting Place' praying that I would see them. No luck! I waited a little bit until I realized I HAD to get to the gate. I rushed through immigration and headed to my gate. I was glad I had given the kids hugs on the train "just in case," but sad that I hadn't gotten to say a proper goodbye!

At the gate I found very few people and no agents. I wondered if I had the wrong gate or had missed the flight all together. Shortly after an agent arrived and stated the flight had been delayed even longer and in fact she didn't know when the plane would be arriving from London. She thought I would have time to go back out and try and see the Stephensons. I again rushed through the airport, out through immigration(now 2 stamps for Holland!) and ran to see if I could find them. I got to the spot and they weren't there. I wondered around and decided to sit where I could keep an eye on the clock, just then I saw the family of 4 headed my way :)

We had a very Dutch dinner of frites (french fries with sauce of your choice on top) and talked. They walked me to the check point. It was so nice to have a proper goodbye. I headed through immigration and to my gate. My flight ended up being delayed another 2 hours. Again with the praying as our depature time was almost an hour after my original flight was suppose to take off. This didn't leave me much time in London where I had to switch terminals and get a boarding pass!

We landed in London and found ourselves exiting the back of the plane onto the tarmac and getting on buses to take us to the terminal. I rushed to the next bus to head from terminal 1 to terminal 4. At the counter I was informed that because I wasn't flying from the US I was actually only allowed half the weight that I had taken. However, the lady at the counter was kind and let it go. She said for my return flight I would have to pay extra if I tried to bring home as much! (God was looking out for me!)

I rushed to the gate and found myself with less then 30 minutes to boarding. Of course once we got on the plane we waited for over an hour. Due to late passangers, trouble with another plane earlier and the fog we were not cleared to take off until almost an hour after our scheduled departure time. Knowing I had a driver waiting to pick me up in Bangkok I prayed that we would make up some of the time and get to Thailand quickly!

God anwered my prayers! We arrived about 10 minutes before my driver was suppose to meet me. I rushed out of the plane, through immigration, exchanged some cash and was able to get my luggage. (which was about the 4 and 5 pieces out!!!) I went through customs and out to find my driver. I looked and looked for my name with no luck. I waited thinking that maybe they had accounted for the plane getting in late. I walked up and down looking and looking. After an hour I called the missionaries and was told that due to some new regulations that only certain drivers are allowed past a certain point...I had not walked that far! I dragged all of my luggage down to the "meeting point" and found my name.

1 1/2 hours later I was at their home. They along with another couple who had just flown in took me over to my new home! I crashed shortly after arriving as I don't sleep on planes :)

I had breakfast with the two couples and we went shopping for food and various supplies. We will be joining up again tonight for dinner and to talk about the schedule for the Chinese New Year.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support. I look forward to sharing more with you and the time I have here to minister!

More Pictures

Here are some pictures from my time in Holland. They range from hanging out at the house, going out on the ice, to heading to Amsterdam and then leaving at the airport. Please enjoy!