Pattaya

Last week, CARM DTS loaded up the vans and trucks and headed to Pattaya for a week. Pattaya is a beach about an hour and half away from Bangkok where human trafficking is huge. We went here for a week of lectures and also mini outreach. After an insane bus ride with pouring rain and hundred mile an hour driver, we thanfully made it safely. We stayed in the middle of a concrete building, imagine a parking deck but all the levels above ground are mostly building. It was a strange set up. I was in a room with Kayla and the two Thai girls, Pim and Wongduen, they were awesome roommates for the week because they are very chill and neat. We stayed on the fourth floor which was a hike up the steep stairs so that was what my exercise of the week was. It was so fun being at the beach for the week. Compared to the beaches in the states, it was very dirty, just trash everywhere, and weird rocky sand, but the sunsets over the water and being there with amazing people was perfect.

We were being lectured on evangelism during the days preparing for our street evangelism on Thursday night. We also had a workshop on Monday learning about how to evangelize specifically to children and what that looks like. That was very interesting and a definitely a good topic for us to be learning about. On Tuesday was my ministry day. We went to a Pattaya slum and taught about 15 kids about God's love for them. We sang a song, made a craft and gave them food after. It was so fun, and those kids were amazing. They were so excited to learn and meet us and just to be with us. I really hope that God plants a seed in those children and that it will continue to be watered and that one day they will truly understand and what to follow God!

On Wednesday night, we had small group. My small leaders are Jing (China), Dillon (Missouri), and Bec (Australia) and in my group is PJ (Perth), Grace (Brazil), Paula (Finland), Brandi (Nashville), Hannah (Arkansas), and Manit (Thailand). And I adore my small group, we are only supposed to have it for an hour each week, but we find ourselves staying together for like 3 or 4 hours just talking, laughing and having a great time. This week, we decided to take advantage of being a Pattaya and go have small group on the beach. We sat on the sand, Manit played worship music on the guitar as a few of us sang, some threw the frisbee around and walked around in the water. Then we came together and talked about the task ahead of us for the next night - street evangelism. We talked about how some of us had been hurt by evangelism in the past, or our fears, or our disagreements with us, and then we prayed them out. Just asking God for the words, and the ears to hear what He is telling us, and who is He telling us to speak to, we ask for boldness and just to take away any fear. I felt so much better after our time in prayer, I has been feeling nervous and just being too scared to approach complete strangers in fear of rejection or judgment. After prayer, Bec pulled me aside with a word from God she had received for me. She said to me "You have value, you have worth, you have wisdom. You think you don't because of your age or your past or something, but you do have wisdom, you just need to believe that God is speaking to you and He is using you already." That was awesome, struck a nerve and served as a great reminder as I went into the next day.

Around 5 o'clock in the evening we loaded up the sung tao to head off the the red light district of Pattaya. We got subway for dinner which was a nice surprise. Then we walked down a back alley behind the main road of the red light district to go to a communal worship time.It turned out to be only our team and two other ladies, but it was awesome. We sang out "Be bold, be strong" as we all split into our groups and headed out into the crowded streets of Pattaya. In my group was me, Meyho (Northern California) and Joy (Malaysia) \, all three of us were pretty nervous but out we went. The song God of this City (which was written in and about Pattaya) rang in my head. I kept singing it over and over, praying for a picture of someone or a sense of who to talk to. Nothing. We spoke to one lady who moved to Thailand from Russia with her boyfriend, but now she just works all the time as a travel agent and has terrible hours. We spoke to her about God and His love for her, she seemed interested but it was hard for her because was in the middle of working. So we gave her Joy's number in case she ever needed to call with questions or just someone to talk to and walked away. We continued to pray and we just walked to the mall a few blocks away from the beach. We walked through and saw two eastern men, and both Meyho and Joy felt like we should talk to them. We smiled and follow them outside the mall, where two other men joined them. Turns out they are from Pakistan and Iran and just visiting Pattaya for a vacation. We told them where we were from and when I told them I was from the States, the man standing next to me gave me a very excited, creepy look. I immediately backed up, but another guy was standing there. Meyho and Joy continued to talk to the other men, while this man pulled out his camera and insisted I take a picture with him. I refused many times but he touched my arm and my back trying to get me to come over to him. I backed up and walked over to Meyho, telling her I was very uncomfortable and wanted to leave. We ended the conversation and walked away. I didn't like that at all, I was pushed way out of my comfort zone, in a bad way, and I just wanted to go back and sleep. I was done. I felt self-protective and just violated. We were walking down by the beach again and we stepped aside and prayed for renewal of the night, just for it to be restored and for God to give us one more person, so thise night wouldn't be left on this awful note.

Out of a darkness, we saw a lady sitting on the curb by herself. We all felt like we should go speak to her. Turns out she was a prostitute, in a broken marriage and her children living away from her. You could see the sadness and destruction in her eyes, and my heart began to break. She didn't know how to get out of her current situation even though she wanted to so bad. We told her how much God loved her and she said she knew that all but she can't do any good works for Him to accept her but Buddha asks all these things but she can't measure up. But I told her, I have done a lot of dumb things in my past, and God still stood there with His arms wide open ready to catch me when I came running to Him. We told her He accepts you for everything, you've done and He loves you more than you could ever know. And God, He does what, to us, seems impossible, He can fix your family, He can reunite you with your children, He can get you out of this job. She thanked us, and we gave her the card of a lady who works in Pattaya and would be able to get her help if she ever needed it. As were were leaving she began to cry. We prayed over her that the Lord would just flood her with His love. It was so incredible. Needless to say, the night was restored.

Bangkok International Ten's

This weekend is the Bangkok International Ten's Rugby tournament, where teams from all around Bangkok and the world come to raise money for Nak Suu and other charities. So naturally, since we are apart of Nak Suu, we have to help work the tournament. A sports DTS from Perth flew in to help us as part of their outreach, so that was extremely helpful. Kayla, Michelle, and Tim (a member of the sports DTS), and I were in charge of selling raffle tickets for the 50/50 raffle. Where half the proceeds earned went to the winner and the other half was donated to Nak Suu. We were out in the sun, walking around all day trying to sell these tickets. The only problem is neither Kayla or I like to try and sell stuff to people we don't know, so we recruited a bunch of people to help us and in the end we got 15,000 baht worth. Hopefully tomorrow we can do better, maybe it won't be so hot.

Rugby is a really cool sport, I wish it was more popular in the States. For those of you who don't know, its basically a combination of soccer and football. They can kick the ball, throw it, and completely tackle, but there are no pads and obviously the rules are very different. The first half of today was just a little kids tournament, so some of the younger teams were playing touch but others were playing tackle. It was insane how tough some of the kids are. There were four Nak Suu kid's teams, only one did pretty well and the others struggle. But, just remember,Nak Suu is a organization that teaching kids front he slum how to play rugby, learn b about God and learn some English, because otherwise they cannot afford it. Later in the day, the men's teams played. We got to watch our Nak Suu Warriors climb to the top of the tournament, in a face off for the finals tomorrow! It was so cool watching them slide, jump, tackle,m and protect each other from the crazy huge opposing players. I am excited for tomorrow to see more men's games, especially the Warriors. Go Nak Suu!!!

Recap

Wow it has truly been weeks since I have written on here, and I am so sorry. It has been an insane couple of weeks, full of being homesick, frustration and fun times. Lets start off by doing highs and lows:

Highs:
1. Getting two packages in one week from home!!
2. Going to Cookies and Crust for small group
3. South African Community night (such amazing food)
4. Hanging out with my favorite kids from Mahathai
5. Making cupcakes
6. Having a late night jam sesssion with Kayla, Bec, and Oo
7. Being able to talk to my family, and best friends!
8. Valentines Day: made breakfast for the boys, the boys served us dinner, saw Safe Haven
9. Ice skating

Lows:
1. Homesick
2. Life gets hard when you are surrounded by the same people 24/7
3. Miscommunication
4. Boring speakers
5. Heaps of things to get done
6. The fact that I am 3 weeks behind on my journal
7. Being in the blazing sun all day at the BIT (Bangkok International Ten's, rugby tournament)
8. Hurting my shoulder while ice skating (I'm a grandma)
9. Ikea for 2 hours

I love Thailand, but right now and the past few weeks, I have really just wanted to go home, hug my family and friends, curl up on the couch with my doggies and watch movie and be home and be relaxed, and not worry about what I have to do next or whatever. It sounds terrible, I came all the way over here, nearly 10,000 miles and right now I'm miserable. But I think I'm allowed that, to be able to miss home for a bit. But I'm not letting it affect the experience, I'm staying positive that soon this funk will pass and it will all be fine.

Depressing post. sorrrrry xoxo

Nuk Suu

Being a DTS student you have to be invovlved with one of the minisitries with the different kids in the community. Youth Night is on Friday night where we come together and worship and then those 12 kids spend the night, and then those same kids and bunches more join the other half of the students for Nuk Suu, a day of rugby. Today was our first day of Nuk Suu. We woke up at 7 to be ready to go and load up the trucks at 7:30, finally we got on the road, riding in the bed of the trucks. Meyho and I then traveled to Madhathai, a slum that we go to every week, to go ask more kids to come, sadly we only found one boy, Mai, who wanted to come. AFter a full morning of rugby, English class, and a messge with a craft, we ate lunch with the kids then piled back into the truck and headed home. After all the girls had gotten showers and some snacks, Sopo came over and told us if we wanted to swim in his pool we were more than welcome. At first we didnt want to because we had all just showered, but this is a one time thing so we all ran next door and jumped into the pool and had an awesome time with each other and his two youngest kids. Today has been such an awesome day. Tonight we are going out to eat at Mega Bangna with some of the staff girls and then going to see Les Mis, so everyone is very excited about that. I am loving life in Thailand so much. I am beyond blessed to be here.

Glimpse of Heaven

At a YWAM Bangkok meeting, I truly experienced what I believe Heaven will be like. The entire group; people from different cities, nations, and continents were singing together "Blessed be the name of the Lord." Then again in unison we sang the same words but both English and Thai together. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever experienced and absolutely something I will never forget. No matter our backgrounds, skin color, hardships, or even language, we can all still come together and worship a God who has never left our side through it all.

A Day in the Life

I am starting to get into the routine, but tomorrow that will all change. Tomorrow have to start waking up for 6:30 am workouts. Then continue on to morning chores, worship, school, lunch, break, work duties, dinner, study night/small group/one on ones, sleep. Its a crazy life here at CARM DTS. I am having a great time getting to know my team and connecting with them more and more each day in class or just hanging out and talking.

My team!

This week in class, we learned about the different characters of God, like holiness, justice, and faithfulness. Our speaker, Sam Sarvis, who is apart of the Bangkok Leadership Team of YWAM, shed some new light on all of those subjects especially when he talked about the sacrificed that Jesus made for us. He loved us so much that he didn't want us to suffer, it helped me think about it in a whole new way.

On Thursday night, we met our small group which we will meet together every Thursday night. My group is really great and even on the first night, we already started opening up to each other about our lives and our walks with the Lord. It was really cool to see God bond us through just a few hours together. I am really looking forward to see how that group bonds and becomes closer over the time we have together.

Riding on the back of Jerome's bike!

I also had to say goodbye to my mom a few days ago which was sad, but I am so blessed to have such an awesome mom, that she would fly to the other side of the world with me to make sure I was gonna be safe. We had such a great time exploring and seeing new things. I love you Mom!

Friday night was crazy. After dinner, everyone was playing volleyball and talking and music was playing. So Izeldi, Kayla and I went out there and of course they pulled me into the game, in which I was terrible. I even hit the ball over the 9 foot wall, so I just quit because I was hindering my team. After I quit, I decided the broken trampoline looked pretty fun, so I was jumping on it with Izeldi and doing some back handsprings and decided to do a front flip. Note: some of the springs on this trampoline were missing, so its wise to only stay on one side. So i did my flip and overturned and hit my face in two different places with the poles. One poles hit my chin and the other one hit my head. I was fine though, just a busted lip taught me to never go on that trampoline again.

Kayla (Arizona) Me, Izeldi (South Africa), Karleen (Canada)

On the weekends, we have free days to do whatever we want, they give us money back every week to use for our meals which is great. But yesterday instead of all going our separate ways, we went on a little field trip. We met outside the house at 8 and jump into the back of a truck and drove a little bit to a ferry, where we got on and crossed the river. When we got to the other side of the river, we got on the back of motor bikes with one other person from our team and they took us to the water market. It was huge. We got time to walk through and see everything, this one was more of a food market, so we got to try a few different fruits and we saw some turtles and eels that you could pick and they would cook them for you, so sad. But that was really fun and cool. Then we got back on the bikes, then the ferry, then our truck and drove around and saw the Grand Palace again and then went to a huge mall downtown called Siam Paragon. We all split up and the first thing Kayla and I did was find some American food because we have eaten too much rice. We found the Pizza Company and the pizza was so delicious. Then we walked around, went in H&M, Forever 21, Gucci, Chanel and a bunch of car stores. It was two buildings with 8 floors of craziness, and so many people. After that, we met up with our team to see a movie, Jack Retcher. We were hanging out in the lobby of the movie theater when we say some of the Despicable Me minions walking around, so we ran after them and got a picture with them, it was great. The movie was great, and I learned at thai movie theater popcorn isn't as good as American movie theater popcorn, but that was okay, popcorn is popcorn. On the way home we got on the sky train and took it to a bus stop where we caught a bus which took us back to our villa and we walked home. Yesterday was so fun, and now we are just hanging around the house, some people are at church, but I'm going to go a little bit later with Kayla.

The water market!

Minion

And so it begins...

On Monday night, we had a little "get to know you" night, and we played little games to get to know the people in the group. Then we got separated into teams and we had a scavenger hunt thing around our villa (aka neighborhood). I had Gabie (from Costa Rica), Paul (From Australia), Jerome (From New Zealand), and Yoyo (From Thailand). We all ran around and had a good time, and we came in second place so that was great.

Yesterday was the first day of class. We just went through some of the basics of school and the expectations they have for us. It was a lot more than I expected. We have journals that we have to follow a certain format and turn in each week, memory verses, and three book reports for the entire time. So it was a lot of information, but helpful. Then they put us back into our teams from the night before and gave us a map and instructions to go out in the community around our villa to have a scavenger hunt. We had a list of everything we had to take pictures of in four different locations. First we went to MegaBangna which is the big mall right by our villa, that also has Ikea, we had to take a few pictures there like one in Ikea, one on a playground, and one at a karoke store. Then we were to get on a a bus and head to Central Mall. This is where the trouble began.

Ready to start our adventure!

My team left first and we were only in Mega for 15 minutes, and we had two hours to complete the tasks. So we were outside Mega waiting for a bus when Yoyo asked another Thai where to go to catch a bus, and they told us to walk to the bus stop. So we walked, and walked, and walked. Mind you, we were walking on the side of a 4 lane highway. FINALLY we found the bus stop and got on a bus and went to central where we took some pictures of us with instruments, one with the roller coaster in the back and even saw some of the staff there spying on us. Next we were told to get off at Index Mall and find "Fah Burger" and we walked down the highway again for like 20 minutes and never found it, but it was after Index Mall it was behind it. It was getting closer to the time we needed to get back, but we wanted to make it to our last stop. It was the market at Ram 2, which I had been two times before. Our task was to take a picture with the moto taxi men, go to the YWAM Bangkok base and take a picture with a man named Paw Pan there and then go into the market find some fried bugs and take a video of two of our team mates eating them.

Music store picture!

Gabie and I decided to do it. I have eaten bugs before, but never in Thailand! I was actually excited. We picked out the silk worms, and they throw them in oil with curry and then give them to you nice and warm. So Gabie and I popped them in. I was expecting them to crunchy, but they were soft and and chewy, which was gross at first but I liked the flavor of them so I ate a few, but then I realized I was eating bugs so I stopped. We got back around 6:15 which was 45 minutes after the time we were supposed to get there, but it was okay. Then we all made slideshows of our videos and pictures, and my team tied for last place which was dumb, because ours was awesome. But its okay because the experience was awesome.

Today has been a hard day. I have really being missing home and just wanting to go back. We had class again and we had two people come from the Bangkok Leadership Team come share with us a little. One thing the lady told us, which really stuck with me was "Live here, be here.God has placed these people, this place in your life right now because He knows what is best for your current season of life." I don't need to worry about missing stuff back in Charlotte, because I know the plan that God has for me on this trip is amazing and it far exceeds anything that home has for my right now. That is a big encouragement that will lsat me for the rest of this trip, and the rest of my life.