Wow it has been so long!
I've been on the island now for almost 2 weeks. We have a computer but it's been down for a while and it's so slow! But allow me to give you a quick update.
The island is beautiful! We've been working at a community center here that was built after the tsunami. The center is run by a pastor and his wife and their dream is to have it all up and running and be able to do summer camps and kids programs. They have such a heart for this, they are really a blessing.
So we've been spending our days doing manual labor for the most part - digging 30 foot wells, plastering builings, painting, etc. Initially it was hard to get into it because I expected to be interacting alot more with other people. But God's really been showing me (as well as the rest of my team) that we need to be joyful in where He has placed us. This has been a great opportunity to bless these people in a tangable way.
I had my birthday here on friday. That was alot of fun. The Thai people love any reason to celebrate so they thought this was great. They got a cake with my name on it and everything. It was very sweet of them.
On thursday we are leaving here for our next location.
Pray for safe travel and health.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
bye for now
Hey!
So tomorrow my team is leaving for Koh Kho Khao! We are taking an over night bus as it is a 12 hour drive. I'm sad to be leaving bangkok but excited to see what the next location will be like. Rumore has it we may not have internet access there so i may not be updating for a while. I dont know what the circumstances will be in the third location so we will have to wait and see.
Please keep us in your prayers as we travel and adjust to another new location!
So tomorrow my team is leaving for Koh Kho Khao! We are taking an over night bus as it is a 12 hour drive. I'm sad to be leaving bangkok but excited to see what the next location will be like. Rumore has it we may not have internet access there so i may not be updating for a while. I dont know what the circumstances will be in the third location so we will have to wait and see.
Please keep us in your prayers as we travel and adjust to another new location!
Sunday, April 13, 2008
it's been a while...
Wow it feels like i havent updated ya'll in a long time!
My team has been doing some work with a ministry called MST( men in the sex trade) ans last week some of had the opportunity to go to Pattaya which is the largest red-light district in Thailand! There are some guys here who feel God is leading them to take MST to Pattaya so this was the first trip to check it out. We rode in the back of a pick up truck...sketchy! We were the first team to ever go to Pattaya with this mission in mind so that was really cool. Our goal was to pray over the city and walk through and just see what God has for it, kinda get an idea of where he wants to take this ministry. It was so so cool! We spent alot of time praying and preparing ourselves, praying that God would protect our eyes and our hearts.
We spent our evening praying on a street called walking street. I have never seen anything like that, I was shocked. I dont think anything could have prepared me for the things I saw and experienced. The whole street is rather explicit and you can just feel the emptiness in it.
The things that got me were the young girls who were hardly wearing anything and looked so lost and confused. They did not look like they wanted to be there at all. It was heart breaking! We saw children being sold, dang it was beyond anything i knew even existed!
We walked and prayed for about 3 hours. God pointed out sweet things, and it was cool when God would tell us things that the MST staff had already heard from God. It was sweet for us and good confirmation for them. We stopped and prayed for numerous people we saw as well. God pointed out a store on one of the near by streets that was to be a "headquarters" for the ministry. It was sweet because he pointed the same store out to two different groups. I love when God does that!
I am so excited for this ministry to start in Pattaya. I know it's going to be huge!
Right now the Thai people are celebrating New Years. They have this huge nation-wide water fight for three days! Yeah it's crazy and definately chaotic but it's fun.
On Tuesday we are leaving Bangkok for Koh Kho Khao, pray for safe traveling!
My team has been doing some work with a ministry called MST( men in the sex trade) ans last week some of had the opportunity to go to Pattaya which is the largest red-light district in Thailand! There are some guys here who feel God is leading them to take MST to Pattaya so this was the first trip to check it out. We rode in the back of a pick up truck...sketchy! We were the first team to ever go to Pattaya with this mission in mind so that was really cool. Our goal was to pray over the city and walk through and just see what God has for it, kinda get an idea of where he wants to take this ministry. It was so so cool! We spent alot of time praying and preparing ourselves, praying that God would protect our eyes and our hearts.
We spent our evening praying on a street called walking street. I have never seen anything like that, I was shocked. I dont think anything could have prepared me for the things I saw and experienced. The whole street is rather explicit and you can just feel the emptiness in it.
The things that got me were the young girls who were hardly wearing anything and looked so lost and confused. They did not look like they wanted to be there at all. It was heart breaking! We saw children being sold, dang it was beyond anything i knew even existed!
We walked and prayed for about 3 hours. God pointed out sweet things, and it was cool when God would tell us things that the MST staff had already heard from God. It was sweet for us and good confirmation for them. We stopped and prayed for numerous people we saw as well. God pointed out a store on one of the near by streets that was to be a "headquarters" for the ministry. It was sweet because he pointed the same store out to two different groups. I love when God does that!
I am so excited for this ministry to start in Pattaya. I know it's going to be huge!
Right now the Thai people are celebrating New Years. They have this huge nation-wide water fight for three days! Yeah it's crazy and definately chaotic but it's fun.
On Tuesday we are leaving Bangkok for Koh Kho Khao, pray for safe traveling!
Sunday, April 6, 2008
just thoughts
So back when we were in Orlando, part of our mandatory schedule was quiet time every morning. This was a time set aside for God. Usually i would journal abit listen to music, pray etc. It became habit and an essential start to my day.
Since being in Bangkok I have neglected this one-on-one time with God. I've been so caught up in my new surroundings I havent made time for this part of my day. As a result I have felt quite distracted and i feel like i have a hard time focussing on why I came here in the first place. A few days ago God reminded me of one of my favorite verses - "Be still an know that I am God" (psalm 45:11). God asks us to take time out of our busy lives to chill out with Him, to be still before Him. Sometimes i think i assume that because i spend my day evangelizing and talking about God that this will make up for missing my quiet time. But it just isnt the same. Nothing compares to being able to be quiet and listen to God.
Be Still - not pray and ask for everything under the sun, not complain about life, just be still. Give God a chance to speak. This has been a struggle for me because I love being busy, I love loud, crazy, chaos. But over the past three months God has shown me the beauty in the stillness of His presence.
Know that I am God - not me but Him. It's like Gods saying "hey, I'm God, not you so let me do my job". I like to control things in my own life and figure things out for myself, but God's slowly teaching me to let Him drive. I get so caught up in making sure everything will work just right that i forget to check it with Him.
He is GOD, thats huge! He is the creator, the almighty, the everlasting, and the perfect lover.
Good things to remember.
Peace Out.
"But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
2 Corinthians 12:9-10
Since being in Bangkok I have neglected this one-on-one time with God. I've been so caught up in my new surroundings I havent made time for this part of my day. As a result I have felt quite distracted and i feel like i have a hard time focussing on why I came here in the first place. A few days ago God reminded me of one of my favorite verses - "Be still an know that I am God" (psalm 45:11). God asks us to take time out of our busy lives to chill out with Him, to be still before Him. Sometimes i think i assume that because i spend my day evangelizing and talking about God that this will make up for missing my quiet time. But it just isnt the same. Nothing compares to being able to be quiet and listen to God.
Be Still - not pray and ask for everything under the sun, not complain about life, just be still. Give God a chance to speak. This has been a struggle for me because I love being busy, I love loud, crazy, chaos. But over the past three months God has shown me the beauty in the stillness of His presence.
Know that I am God - not me but Him. It's like Gods saying "hey, I'm God, not you so let me do my job". I like to control things in my own life and figure things out for myself, but God's slowly teaching me to let Him drive. I get so caught up in making sure everything will work just right that i forget to check it with Him.
He is GOD, thats huge! He is the creator, the almighty, the everlasting, and the perfect lover.
Good things to remember.
Peace Out.
"But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
2 Corinthians 12:9-10
Thursday, April 3, 2008
short and sweet
I only have a few minutes so this is going to be short and point form!
- i love it here
- i thought i might get used to the heat but i'm not and most people shower twice a day here
- i saw a man walking an elephant downtown last night...crazy!
- theres a sweet ministry here called MST, it's directed at the male sex tourists rather than the women in the sex trade. We spent some time in the red light district last night talking to the men, so cool!
- i had lunch with a lady who lives in the slums. It was cool! She really loves Jesus and it was cool to see someone with NOTHING so joyful!
- it's kinda funny how we are always called "the foreigners"
- I am learning some phrases in thai, which is alot of fun.
- God is teaching our group alot about the importance of unity in Christ, which has been hard but definately good!
That was probably the shortest and least detiled blog ever and i'm sorry. I'll have to update more at a later time!
please pray for...
energy - the heat is physically exhausting
health!
Boldness and unity
- i love it here
- i thought i might get used to the heat but i'm not and most people shower twice a day here
- i saw a man walking an elephant downtown last night...crazy!
- theres a sweet ministry here called MST, it's directed at the male sex tourists rather than the women in the sex trade. We spent some time in the red light district last night talking to the men, so cool!
- i had lunch with a lady who lives in the slums. It was cool! She really loves Jesus and it was cool to see someone with NOTHING so joyful!
- it's kinda funny how we are always called "the foreigners"
- I am learning some phrases in thai, which is alot of fun.
- God is teaching our group alot about the importance of unity in Christ, which has been hard but definately good!
That was probably the shortest and least detiled blog ever and i'm sorry. I'll have to update more at a later time!
please pray for...
energy - the heat is physically exhausting
health!
Boldness and unity
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Thailand!
Hello from Thailand!
We arrived safely with no problems and i still cant believe we're here.
The first night was hard; the heat was brutal and my body was exhausted but my mind was working overime trying desperately to proccess everything around me.
Sleeping conditions have been much better than i expected. I'm sharing a large room with 4 other girls, we each have a bed and a fan. Initially i felt a tad bit spoiled with my own fan, but the heat here is insane and the 100% humidity is harsh. One of the first things i noticed when i explored our room was that there is definately no sink in our bathroom...sketchy! Thank God for hand sanitizer and the shower! Oh yeah and the shower isnt sectioned off like it is at home, it's just a shower head on the wall in front of the toilet. So basically when you shower everything gets wet.
The driving here is insane! People drive on the opposite side of the road here...or at least they're supposed to. Everyone always seems to be in a hurry on the road so they drive wherever they need to in order to get where they're going. Our main form of transportation seems to be in the back of trucks, it's crazy how many people you can pack in there!
The food here is really good but it's pretty much all the same. I'm definately thankful I like rice since we have it usually twice a day! Theres alot of chicken and veggies as well. I've been eating pineapple for breakfast which i love! I never liked it at home but it's so fresh here it's completely different.
Yesterday we went to a bunch of buddhist temples. That was interesting.
They're incredibly beautiful but it's sad to watch people in them. I watched a little girl who couldnt have been older than 3, bowing and praying in front of a statue. It's heart breaking to watch. It's sad to think she doesnt even know what she's doing, it doesnt really mean anything to her but she'll grow up not knowing anything else. We went into one temple and a group of us started praying. The lady in the temple got pretty angry and kicked us out. There's defniately a spiritual battle here.
This morning we attended a local christian church. That was sweet. We knew the songs they were singing so we sang along. It was cool to hear the mixture of thai and english. It was a powerful thing to see the two diferent types of people all worshipping the same God, I enjoyed it. It realy expanded my view alot.
Already I know God is doing sweet things, and I'm loving it!
We arrived safely with no problems and i still cant believe we're here.
The first night was hard; the heat was brutal and my body was exhausted but my mind was working overime trying desperately to proccess everything around me.
Sleeping conditions have been much better than i expected. I'm sharing a large room with 4 other girls, we each have a bed and a fan. Initially i felt a tad bit spoiled with my own fan, but the heat here is insane and the 100% humidity is harsh. One of the first things i noticed when i explored our room was that there is definately no sink in our bathroom...sketchy! Thank God for hand sanitizer and the shower! Oh yeah and the shower isnt sectioned off like it is at home, it's just a shower head on the wall in front of the toilet. So basically when you shower everything gets wet.
The driving here is insane! People drive on the opposite side of the road here...or at least they're supposed to. Everyone always seems to be in a hurry on the road so they drive wherever they need to in order to get where they're going. Our main form of transportation seems to be in the back of trucks, it's crazy how many people you can pack in there!
The food here is really good but it's pretty much all the same. I'm definately thankful I like rice since we have it usually twice a day! Theres alot of chicken and veggies as well. I've been eating pineapple for breakfast which i love! I never liked it at home but it's so fresh here it's completely different.
Yesterday we went to a bunch of buddhist temples. That was interesting.
They're incredibly beautiful but it's sad to watch people in them. I watched a little girl who couldnt have been older than 3, bowing and praying in front of a statue. It's heart breaking to watch. It's sad to think she doesnt even know what she's doing, it doesnt really mean anything to her but she'll grow up not knowing anything else. We went into one temple and a group of us started praying. The lady in the temple got pretty angry and kicked us out. There's defniately a spiritual battle here.
This morning we attended a local christian church. That was sweet. We knew the songs they were singing so we sang along. It was cool to hear the mixture of thai and english. It was a powerful thing to see the two diferent types of people all worshipping the same God, I enjoyed it. It realy expanded my view alot.
Already I know God is doing sweet things, and I'm loving it!
Monday, March 24, 2008
South Africa support
In my time here I have been praying that God would show me what I am to do when I get home and if it will involve YWAM.
Just this past Friday I was offered an opportunity to do mercy ministry in South Africa! This would take place at the end of June. Initially I said I couldnt because I dont have time to plan for it as I will be in Thailand for the next two months and it seemed like a very big decision to make so fast. But since then I have not been able to stop thinking about it. I believe God has placed this on my heart for a reason and I have decided to go!
The trip is from June 17 until July 5 and I will be staying in Orlando after Thailand until then.
For this to be possible I am asking for your support - both in prayer and financially. The ground fees (for accomadations and building supplies) is $1400 and then there will be a plane ticket on top of that.
If you are interested in supporting me financially you can send money to 13020 117 street T5E 5K1. If you are sending a check please make it out to me.
I will not be available by phone until the end of May but if you have any questions you can contact my mom (Nancy) at 473 6084 or email her at erinas@telusplanet.net.
Please pray that God will bring the money in as i need the money by the beginning of june and I will be gone until the end of May. Also prayer for my trip to Thailand would be greatly appreciated!
Until ALL have heard!
Just this past Friday I was offered an opportunity to do mercy ministry in South Africa! This would take place at the end of June. Initially I said I couldnt because I dont have time to plan for it as I will be in Thailand for the next two months and it seemed like a very big decision to make so fast. But since then I have not been able to stop thinking about it. I believe God has placed this on my heart for a reason and I have decided to go!
The trip is from June 17 until July 5 and I will be staying in Orlando after Thailand until then.
For this to be possible I am asking for your support - both in prayer and financially. The ground fees (for accomadations and building supplies) is $1400 and then there will be a plane ticket on top of that.
If you are interested in supporting me financially you can send money to 13020 117 street T5E 5K1. If you are sending a check please make it out to me.
I will not be available by phone until the end of May but if you have any questions you can contact my mom (Nancy) at 473 6084 or email her at erinas@telusplanet.net.
Please pray that God will bring the money in as i need the money by the beginning of june and I will be gone until the end of May. Also prayer for my trip to Thailand would be greatly appreciated!
Until ALL have heard!
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