More photos & stuff

Hey friends! First of all, we made it home safely - praise the Lord! Second, thank you for all of your prayers and support. They made this trip possible.

And finally, thank you for your patience in waiting for some photos! So here they are!

Love & God bless,

The Thailand Express

We're Baaaaack!

We arrived safely tonight!!!! All nine travelers... All nine pieces of luggage plus one guitar...and now we are ready for bed!

I am ready to return to my comfort zone.

We have been reading a book called "Just Courage" by Gary Haugen, the founder of International Justice Mission. It tells a lot of inspiring stories about disheartening situations. It talks about our calling in life as Christians to seek justice in the world by rescuing those enslaved, loving the orphans and widows and fighting corruption, etc. The thesis of the book has been running through my mind for two weeks now. That admiration of courage and lack of adventure in my live is from a half hearted attempt at following God while remaining "safe". Brave and safe aren't compatible. I live in a cul-de-sac world that is relatively safe, and that is why I feel the need to be adventurous. I want to be brave. If you aren't living in a situation where you literally cannot function without God, then you aren't living up to your potential as a Christian. I, for one, am not. I can function "perfectly well" in my cul-de-sac without prayer. Saying that I believe in God is a lot different than living a life in which I wouldn't be able to survive if he wasn't real. I hope that makes sense. It has helped change my life.

That being said, I am ready to return home to my comfort zone. I am mentally, spiritually, and physically (and I will be even more so while recovering from the upcoming jet-lag) exhausted. From a guys perspective, this has been one of the hardest experiences I have ever lived through, bar none. And for that to be on a mission trip, where people usually come home on a "spiritual high" and say they had an "awesome time" has been a cruel twist. There have been moments that I have absolutely hated being here, and there have been moments where I have thought, "I absolutely never thought I would be doing this on a mission trip." There have also been moments when the entire team has been in tears, laughing hysterically, or somewhere in between. I wish we could have done more...I think everyone feels like that. I feel like I did more than I was capable of doing...and I think everyone thinks that, too. I have experienced every emotion in the book. When a couple of girls I had seen several times came and had lunch at the center on our last day. Utter joy. When we saw girls that we had been talking to get the glazed-over-horror look when other guys would come and try to negotiate a price while we were sitting there with them. Utter rip-my-heart-out-of-my-chest futility and depression. And everything in between.

But I know I can't stay. I can't stay in my comfort zone now. A few weeks from now, when I am no longer craving buffalo wings and missing my play-station, that restless feeling will start to creep back in. If my life is exactly the same as it was before I left, I will have wasted my life. I can do more. I need to start living my life as if I cannot survive without God. I have seen things that nobody should ever have to endure. And I, for one, can no longer live in my cul-de-sac. There is too much that needs to be done, and too many people suffering through life with no hope. Those stats on the Dateline NBC Reports and those numbers now have faces. And I have seen the face of "trapped," "no more hope," and the horror of living that night after night.

So what now?

-Ben

LEAVING SHE.....SO BITTERSWEET

Sawadeekha! Wow... Our time with the girls at SHE flew by so quickly! Today was our last day in Phuket:( We started the day out with devos. (It was my turn) I started out saying "Sawadeekha!" and our translator decided to just start translating my Thai to English. I decided to go with the flow and test out my new and extensive Thai vocabulary by saying all the phrases I knew..."Hello!" and "How are you?" That was a pretty great way to start out the day.

Mark took our team to a woman's house to "help with some gardening," which turned out to be Thai for the phrase "jungle whacking." Although it was grubby work, we made it through and had the privelage of praying for the woman and her family.

For lunch we had TWO Thai girls from the bars come and eat with us! We were so happy to see them come. I feel such a connection with some of the girls working in Patong. They have become friends to us, and if I had my way I would take them by the hand and lead them out of Patong. Leaving Patong (as dark and evil as it is) was so much tougher than I anticipated. It was hard to leave our new friends in a place like that. I know that we planted seeds, though. Please keep praying for these women and the men who are creating the demand for them.

WE'RE COMING HOME SOON! Seems like just yesterday we flew into Bangkok, and now we're back! I'm glad to be back at YWAM. Pray for safe travels for the team coming back to the states. Sawadeekha!

~Kyla (the Thai translator.)

Last Night in Patong

Yesterday was a good day for the team. We did our 'normal' routine of devotionals with the ladies at the center, breakfast, prayer walking, and a two hour time for rest, a wonderful break from routine. We wanted to be sure to get enough rest before our last night of ministry in Patong.

Prayer walking and our ministry at night was especially neat as we were able to incorporate a new team who has come to work at the center into our ministry groups. This group is from Cali and is staying about another week and a half after we leave. We took this time to pass on the things we had learned, introduce them to girls we have met so that they can continue buiding those relationships, and encourage each other. They are a wonderful team and it has been a blessing to work with them.

Our team went into the evening with a variety of emotions. This mission trip has been extremely challenging and definitely taken us all out of our comfort zones. So while there is relief that we can leave such a difficult, dark place, we also feel saddend to leave while some relationships are just starting, we feel sad that we cannot do more or stay longer, and we feel our hearts broken for the lonely men and women we have found in Patong. Last night, I think we all went in with an attitude of urgency. We knew it was our last night to make connections, to invite women to SHE, and to revisit the friends we had made. Several groups had were able to invite several women to come to SHE. Some of these women they had built relationships with during previous trips out and some of them we were meeting for the first time. It is always very encouraging to find these women and give them a choice. Other teams had more difficult nights.

Every night in Patong is different. Some nights other groups are able to talk to more women. Other nights it seems like people want nothing to do with us. Even though we feel more successful when we have those really good conversations, we pray and believe that our prayers are just as important as the conversations we are having.

I want to thank all of you who have been reading our blog and praying for us! I truly believe that we would not have had the same success if you had not been praying for us. It is so encouraging to hear that you are praying for us and to read your comments on our blog. Please keep praying for us! We still have a few days in Bangkok left.

Here are some things you can continue to pray for:
Our team as we continue to process our experiences and emotions. Sometimes it is very easy to despair in such a difficult place. Pray that the Lord would walk us through this time and help us to look at things from His perspective.

Traveling mercies!

Rest-even though we have been able to grab naps here and there our team is exhausted physically and emotionally.

The ladies of Patong we have met-pray that these women would have the courage to leave the bars and come to she.

The men of Patong- Bar owners, tourists, husbands and fathers who bring there families to the bars. A lot of the men we saw were very lonely and need to know the God who loves them just as much as the women we have met.

The ministry of SHE- The workers at SHE are amazing! They give so much to do this work and they do it all year round. Pray for endurance and strength in the face of trials, temptations, and weariness. Pray for continued resources for the ministry to run. Pray for times of rest and fun! Both are essential when working in this environment.


Thank you all again!

Love,
Sam Prior

P.S.- Hello family! I love you and can't wait to see you!

Buddha's Got Back

Dear Diary,

These are some things I saw today: a few elephants, a 45-meter tall sitting Buddha, fireworks, and a big cockroach on the bathroom wall that I washed down the drain with a bidet sprayer. Basically it's been the best day of my life.

In other news, 45-meter tall sitting Buddhas are quite a sight. We drove up a mountain to see it, although you can easily see it from the city streets below. Mark took us up there to pray, because he believes it is a spiritual stronghold over Phuket. One way to put it would be that it's like Big Buddha is the Mothership for all those other little Buddha shrines that fill the streets of Thailand. Except Big Buddha doesn't receive as many offerings of red Fantas as the rest.

Before I continue, let me just say that this trip has really challenged my beliefs on a lot of things. Some of my beliefs have been expanded as a result, others have become more solidified, and others have created more questions. Kind of been a spiritual rollercoaster. But it's okay - it's good to be challenged every now and then.

Okay, so going on:

Thinking about the "spiritual" world can get kind of messy for me sometimes. Some people have fears of objects being haunted or controlled by spiritual forces. I've always been of the opinion that as much as people may think such things, their thoughts or words toward an object have no effect of the properties of said object. That being said, I realized today that Big Buddha has a spiritual grip on Phuket not because it's a big piece of stone that spirits have hijacked, or because it represents something more sinister, or anything like that, but simply because people choose to give it such authority. People put their trust in this thing, as if what it represents can actually give them what they long for deep within their spirits. They are searching for enlightenment, for a way out of the cycle of the suffered life, and hoping that what this stone statue stands for will provide. In short: The people of Phuket are not being oppressed by a gigantic Buddha. They're oppressing themselves. And in more than spiritual ways, too - where does all the money for the construction of Big Buddha (not to mention Slightly-Less-Big-Golden Buddha and all his concrete cronies) come from? From the generous donations of the Thai population. The same Thai population that builds grandiose temples across the street from the tin roof and cinder block houses. People worship this object and many others like it not just when they visit it to perform rituals and light incense, but also when they pour their hard-earned money into it with that hope that it will bring them good returns in the next life. That is to say, their next go-around on Earth as somebody or something else. It's just depressing. Also depressing was the number of red lights in bars/restaurants/hotels/massage parlors that I saw on our drive from the beach last night. As was the sight of a less-than-5-year-old white girl being placed up by the dancing pole at the bar while her family encouraged her to keep dancing for their cameras.

(Do I sound like I miss home at all?)

If there's one thing I've learned from this trip about being a good husband/father, it's that you don't take your family on vacation to Patong Beach. And you shouldn't take your wife, unless it's for a mission trip. And you shouldn't go alone unless it's for the same reason. Pretty much that's the only reason I can think of that anyone should ever go to Patong. Besides, the other beaches in Phuket are much better.

Anyway, the rest of today was pretty good. We had a BBQ tonight with the girls from SHE, and we planned a bunch of after-dinner entertainment that never happened because they left before we had a chance to get started. Hey, it's their loss that they didn't get to see Ben and me perform our recently conceived "Igor & Igor" sketch. Was gonna be a hit. But I got to hang out with Mark & Sharon's adorable children, and that may have been just what I needed. Sophie told me I'm the funniest guy on the whole team! Smart kid. And later on Ben and some other people tricked me into eating a dessert they made out to be disgusting, but was just filled with marshmallow cream and chocolate. Not the best re-telling of that story, but it'll have to do for now because I'm exhausted. But what else is new?


So, um, prayer requests...for the people of Thailand to know God's prevailing truth and cast aside their idols, for our team's last night of bar ministry tomorrow night, and particularly for the men of this team (and even more particularly, the two newlywed husbands). We've all been through a lot. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: something about this mission trip is completely backwards.


...And yet...




...God's doing great things.



PS
I forgot my razor at home, so I haven't shaved on this trip, and I have more hair on my face than ever before. I look like a preteen werewolf.

PPS
This is Nate.

connect 4 anyone??

So. Today. Was a good day.

It started bright and early. I shared my life with the women of SHE during our devo time and it seemed to go pretty well. A few of the ladies talked to me after so it was good. And then Kyla and I spent the next few hours making bracelets with Jum. It was a lot of fun. She doesn’t speak much English but she laughs so beautifully and her smile could brighten up a bat cave. So it was fun. I messed up a few times and had to pull off quite a number of tiny beads but it was okay. Kyla is pretty much a professional now. Her bracelt was perfect. Then we loaded up and went to a lake nearby and ate lunch. Anita had a girl come and eat with us. Her name was Toon and Anita had meet her the night before. It was very cool to see a woman come and be interested in the work we can offer here. There were also 3 other girls that came but I don’t remember their names. That’s the tough thing with the Thai people. Their names are much different than ours so it’s really hard to remember. I just have to say their names over and over and over. And still I’m not usually saying it right. But anyways. Where we ate lunch was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. For lunch we had rice with some little chicken wing type things and a hard boiled egg. It left quite a nasty smell in my mouth but luckily we returned back to our home so I could clean that out. We had about 30 minutes of down time so many of us took the opportunity to catch some ZZZ’s. it was good. The bad thing was we all woke up dripping of sweat. That was the gross part. So. We left to prayer walk Bangla Road and the surrounding areas. We got to get some Starbucks drinks so that was beautiful, but the drinks make us not look so akward as we walk and pray up and down the roads of bars. Nikki, Ben, and I walked down around Bangla Road, past the beach, and down Bangla Road. We saw some interesting stuff and had some good conversation so it was nice. Then we all met up and prepared to get on the bus.

We waited. And waited.

Then this little thing drove up. I’d say it was a few seats bigger than a squat bus but was very small. There was no room to set down, so myself, Nate, Ben, and Bond got to ride SWAT on the back. It was SO fun. Plus a lot cooler than the hot nasty body filled bus. The normal 20 minute ride took 1 hour. There had been a wreck on the mountain so traffic was awful slow and it was a tiny bus loaded down with Farangs (white people).but we had a grand ole time and made some sweet videos and got to see this spirit house. We drive by it every day, but we were stopped outside of it for quite a bit today. It’s this building on the side of the mountain that the Thai people drive past and honk to Buddha for good merit and for driving safety. Nearly every car/ motor bike honked. So, we finally made it back.

We have a lovely 2 day guest named Christine Lederle with us so it was a treat to get to see her beautiful face again. We all said our hellos and headed to the beach to do our devos. We arrived and had to walk down about 100 small steps but it was SO worth it. The sunset was beautiful. Sunsets are something special to my heart so it was a pure gift from God to see the sun slowly fall down to the softly flowing ocean. We then did some praise and worship on the beach followed by small group prayers then we headed off.

We drove to Bangla Road and were surprised with the choice of eating supper at either Subway or Burger King. A juicy cheese burger sounded too good to pass up, so I went there and enjoyed every greasy ounce of it. Then we were off to the bars.

The people in my group were Ben, Karin, Bond, Christine, and me. We started and I got to go and visit a woman I’ve grown rather close to. Her name is On. She is absolutely gorgeous. From the first day of our prayer walk I’ve known her and she’s been close to my heart. We talked a bit and was just catching up because I didn’t see her last night and she said she was very sad because the last 3 nights, she’s had to go with men. That broke my heart. Nearly shattered it right on the spot. Yet she still smiled her smile and carried on talking. No words can explain how sad/ heartbroken I was for this beautiful woman. While we were talking she said that she couldn’t come to our BBQ tomorrow night unless I wanted to pay the bar owner 500 baht ( 32 baht to the dollar. You do the math) because work starts at 5 at the bars. So I’m just praying that she can come on Thursday lunch. Anyways. I reluctantly left and traveled on with my team. We went to a few other bars and gave out the number to quite a few girls. Even though we aren’t getting flooding with women coming here, we know they deeply consider it. Life changing decisions like this take time. As we go back to bars to see how the women are doing, they’ll mention SHE and say that they’ve been talking to a group of their friends that want to come, but they just haven’t been able to yet. So, patience is defiantly a virtue around here.

So we left and did our debriefing and overall we had good spirits. Phone calls will be made tomorrow and the next so that hopefully goes well.

Prayer requests:
Deep sleep. Sleep is precious and minimal lately so our sleep needs to count big time.

Protection of our minds.

Health. Little things seem to come up everynight.

Love for these women and men we come in contact with.

Woman we’ve met to leave the bars. I’m gonna pray big for this one. Our God is mighty and he can do mighty things. I want to see those streets cleared out but it starts with one girl at a time so prayer for the woman we’ve met to come and visit.

Love you all!!!
Shout out to my family. I miss you all
Shout out to WMW peeps. 500 miles played tonight at one of the bars and I danced and thought of you all. ☺ God bless

leah

Sunday Monday fun day!

And on SUNDAY Team Thailand rested..

Sunday also marked the halfway point of our time in Phuket. In the morning we went to a church service that is done in Thai and English. The worship songs are even sung in both languages at the same time, I was surprised at how well that worked out! After the service we went to a Thai restaurant where many of the church members usually go for Sunday lunch. The food was great and it cost less than $18 for all fourteen of us to eat! After lunch we had a couple hours of downtime. Downtime helps keep us sane, gives us a chance to rest, catch up on sleep and spend some alone time with God. We regrouped at 4:00 to plan the rest of the day. Some of us ended up going to the super market to buy ingredients for making pizza then we stopped to get a movie (interesting fact--a large block of cheese here cost as much as what I make in an 8 hour work day…moral of the story: don’t take cheese for granted). Before making the pizza and watching the movie, we went to the night market for an hour and were able to get some souvenirs. Included in the night market is a food market, we noticed that Thai seem to have a corn fetish…some sale stands sold corn right along with clothes, shoes, and jewelry. It was neat getting to experience the night market. When we got back we made the pizza, we were happy to eat something other than Thai food! Thai food is great, but of course we miss the food back home. Overall Sunday went well, it was nice to have some downtime and fun.
Oh, Sunday was also rainy like Saturday. I’m getting used to being drenched in either sweat or rain. ☺

Five more days ahead of us in Phuket, we’re excited to see what God has planned for this week!

Thank-you all for keeping us in your prayers and checking up on us through this blog! We are blessed to have you supporting us back at home!





MONDAY’s forecast: gray clouds but no rain!

Monday started with Anne sharing a devotional with the girls here at SHE. I think the girls really connected with what she had to say. Next, our team had two options: either spend some quality time baking bread with the girls (which is a part of their business here) or clear out a path for the girls to have better access to the SHE building from the road. Ben, Dustin, Leah, and I made up the path-clearing crew while the rest spent time connecting with the girls and acquiring some bread baking skills! It was a hot day for both groups, one inside by the large bread oven and the other out in the sun. But it was a productive day!

Around 2:00 we headed to Patong to prayer walk the streets and bars where we would be that night. While we were away, another mission team (from California) arrived and moved in to the SHE building, six women ranging from 16 years to about 40-years-old. We look forward to getting to know them as we all help in the ministry here. Since there are now too many of us to fit in the truck, we got to walk to the restaurant where we eat every evening. Each meal is interesting as our translator, Maun (I probably spelled her name wrong), orders new things for us to try.

After dinner, we returned to SHE to have our time of worship and preparation for the night ahead of us. I got to share with the team and encourage them with words from Joshua 1:5,9 which are also given to us in the New Testament. After having Sunday night off, I think we were ready to go back and reach out to the girls in the bars. We got in our trusty little ol’ truck/ mini cattle car [as it looks like to me ☺] and drove to Patong. Once there we split into groups and started down the busy streets. It may have been a Monday night, but that didn’t stop the many tourists and locals from frequenting the bars, it seemed as busy as any other night. For some it was a difficult night, but some of us got to see an amazing response from the girls we talked to. I was bouncing off the walls as two of the girls I talked to are genuinely interested in the work SHE is offering! Back at SHE, we shared the successes and struggles from the night. It is amazing to see what God is doing through our efforts here! It is also great to see our team grow stronger as we work through the trials of each day.

We look forward to what God has in store tomorrow! And we thank Him for giving us yet another day to reach out to the people of Thailand!

Thank-you again for your prayers and support!

PRA JAOW UAY PBON!


-Anita

Saturday

After Friday night’s experiences, many needed some time to recover emotionally. During our debriefing last night, we went around as a group and shared some prayer requests and things we were struggling with. It began innocently enough, but it turned into quite an emotional experience and several team members broke down crying. It was a good time, and it really helped our team know more about what each other needed, but we all woke up exhausted, physically, emotionally and spiritually drained.

Luckily, today was beach day.

Unfortunately, it rained all day.

That didn’t stop us from heading out to catch some waves. But it did stop us from catching very many. The water was whipping around pretty good. I hadn’t had many experiences with swimming in the rain, since usually rain is paired with lightning in Kansas, but the scene elicited memories of Forrest Gump talking about the rains during ‘Nam when “it would sometimes rain so hard it would rain up” (Completed by the image of Bubba and Forrest walking through the river, shielding their eyes from the rain splattering on the water below them). If this doesn’t make sense to you, it is probably because I am concussed. More on that later.

We persevered through the rains for a while, but eventually gave up and went to a restaurant for a late lunch. The place had a great view (at least it would have been without the obstruction of rain clouds). But it had a swimming pool right next to the dining area. I was the brave one who cannon-balled in and soaked those still sitting at the table. Although I was later informed by a super-grumpy Australian dude that “this was not a children’s playground (You hear those sirens coming? Watch out, it’s the fun-police). When the menus came, we were all pretty pumped that it included bacon-cheeseburgers and fries. Everyone was kind of ready for some comfort food. The Thai cuisine is really solid, but there are only so many meals in a row that I can eat spicy red curry on everything. Everyone else forgets to eat the fruit every meal, and as a result we have a rash of digestive issues on the team.

Then we went out to Bangla Road again in the evening. We split up into groups every night, so no two groups have exactly the same experience each night. For a lot of the group on Friday night, it was a very dark night. Several sensed a lot of spiritual oppression and had really hard times staying positive. I chose to stay home last night and be part of the intercessory group back at the compound because I was personally too overwhelmed by some of the experiences on Thursday. Saturday went much better though. Even though we arrived an hour later than normal, we still had chances to go to several bars, and since the rain was still pretty heavy, many of the bars were relatively empty, giving us a great opportunity to speak with several girls who expressed serious interest. We all felt much more upbeat and optimistic than we had the previous nights.

Then I smoked my head on the door while getting out of the truck. I’m pretty sure I’m not concussed, but I have a pretty serious headache to go along with the giant knot and gash on the top of my head. Kind of put a damper on the rest of the night, but the important part was finished. And my headache wasn’t going to interfere with that.

All’s well that almost end’s well. Or something like that.

When I sit up, my whole face starts to throb, so I will end with a few prayer requests.

-We are all spiritually exhausted. Pray that today (Sunday) can be a good time of rest, recuperation, and reflection as we take a night off from Bangla Road and spend some time with the girls here at the SHE house.

-Pray for the guys on this trip. Pray that God would guard our eyes and our hearts.

-Pray that we are all able to get/stay healthy. Everybody has a little wound or insect bite or something that keeps them from feeling great all the time.

-Pray for the girls that we have been meeting. Pray that the Lord works before us, with us, and after we are gone in the hearts and minds of the people we encounter.

-Pray for our contacts here as they deal with stresses every day that would drive normal people insane.

-Pray for our families back home that miss us and our supporters that are in battle with us.

Thank you so much for your prayers, support and love. We look forward to waking up each morning to see who has posted comments. We love you all and miss you.

Special shout out to my brother Seth, as he is now a certified boat driver in Missouri.

Ben

A 'SHE' DAY!

Hello everyone! Today was another amazing day that we were blessed with in Thailand. Some of us had the chance to sleep in a bit later this morning since last night was a late one. This morning Karin and myself shared our testimony's to the women of SHE. Afterwards the women went to work making jewelry, today was bracelet day so it was fun to watch. Yesterday Kyla, Leah, Anita, and myself helped some of the women make bracelets. Lets just say that most of them finished 2 and a half bracelets in the time it took us to make one. They are very quick and skilled, and do such beautiful work. It is amazing to see how full of life they are at all times during the day, they are always laughing and playing around with each other and with our team. After that the Thailand Team strapped out their tennis shoes, shorts, and t-shirts and went to work in the 'alley' behind the SHE building tearing out weeds, vines, and some very weird plants to make room for the women of SHE to build a garden. Besides the raging heat and dripping sweat we turned work time into fun time. We were all very intrigued with the numerous amounts of insects that we spotted and eventually killed and dissected. We saw about 100 centipeds that just made your body crawl by looking at their size and thickness. We also saw alot of snails, a few rats, jumping spiders, and their version of geckos which look like glow in the dark lizards that you stick on the wall. But they are very real and very fast. And have I mentioned the cockroaches, they are a breed of their own here. HUMONGOUS! After that we had some lunch and some of the bread that the women of SHE had baked earlier that morning. After that we had a little bit more down time and had some fun. Ben decided to teach us a fun game called 'Balls' which is a game you play when you want to exert as little energy as possible. I guess its only a game for guys, so all of us girls had to have male names in order for us to play :) It was one of those games that really has no point to it but brings alot of laughs which is always good to have. After that bit of fun the team headed down to Patong to do a prayer walk along the streets. We split up into three separate groups. One group walked down the street where all the bars are located, another team prayed down the street most commonly known for homosexuality, and the last team walked along the beach since after dark it is the most common spot for inappropriate behavior. We then came back to the SHE center and showered, during that time I had the chance to hear Leah play the guitar and sing some songs that she wrote herself. She has a beautiful voice and so much talent. Than the next thing on our list was dinner. We went to a little restaurant down the street where I think we have become regulars. We had some more Thai food, it tastes a little different everytime we eat it. We then came back to the SHE center for praise and worship time before heading out to the bars. Being at the bars with the women tonight was alot harder than the night before. They were more open and more friendly and as a result it made their stories so much harder to hear. Just makes your heart break listening to some of the reasons why these women feel like they need a job with these kind of descriptions. The team had dealt with a fair amount of hard challenges tonight and through out this trip.But nothing that we could not overcome together. I thank you all again for being followers of the Thailand Team and for your constant prayers and support. It feels good to know that we are always being thought of and prayed for back home. I just ask that in the next week you pray for the health of each team member, the visual struggles that some are facing, and for the safety of all of us. Hope America is great and if you could all eat a cheeseburger and fries for us we would really appreciate it. Oh how I miss American food :) Love you all

-Nikki

First Night Out

Hello Everyone!
Well, we have just finished our first full day of being at SHE! We are filled with a whole variety of emotions. From excitment to sorrow to joy to exhaustion.
This morning we woke up to do a devotion with the ladies. We then had some time to start getting to know the ladies already working here at SHE. We spent our time sampling bread (SHE is just starting to make bread and often needs taste testers!), making jewelry (you all should visit SHE's website, they have such beautiful jewelry) or going to the grocery store.

We then spent the afternoon going to Bangla Road. This is the section of Phuket that houses about 200 bars each with about 6 different "waitresses" (do the math - there are about 1200 girls working here in the bars in one night). When we first arrived, some of us got some Starbucks while the rest of us had some ice cream. I must say the Green Tea ice cream is MIGHTY tasty!!!! We then spent about 2 hours going up and down the side streets prayer walking. This was a pretty tough time. We all really felt a lot of evil lurking. The bars are all closed and vacant except for the occasional bar owner setting up for business that night. It was a great time of prayer as we really opened our hearts and mind to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

We then came back to SHE, had dinner, then spent about 30 minutes in praise and worship. We then got our things and hit the road back to Bangla Road. This time, things we a lot more lively on Bangla Road. There were tons of tourists and tons of girls walking the streets asking us to come to their bars. They were pleading... Everytime we walked down a different side street, we were consumed thai women yelling at us.

We split up in to a few groups with each going to different bars and side streets. We spent time speaking with the girls and playing games. It isn't too hard initiate a conversation with the girls since they have it in their job description to speak to us! We even learned a few new games. One I won't even attempt to describe, the other was a game where you and some friends gather around a tree trunk slab and hammer in a nail. You then pass around these pointed hammers and take turns hitting your nail in an attempt to get it into the wood first. I didn't really do too well at this...not that I expected to, though! Overall, I think I can say that we had a really good time, well, as good of a time as we can have while seeing such tough things. We got to tell a few girls about SHE and hopefully some of them will come to lunch with us here at the centre.


Prayer Requests:
Pray for us as we learn to adjust to this heat and humidity - its a little tough!
Pray for a discerning spirit as we walk through these bars that we may speak to right girls at the right times.
Pray for open doors as we go out.
Pray for us to continue to grow as a united group as we experience new things together
Pray for energy. Our schdule is pretty crazy. We try to get naps in, but still...
Pray for a protection to come over our minds. We are seeing some very tough stuff.
Pray for our health. A few of us are not really feeling too well.

PRAISE:
Safe travels - Thailand is a bit dangerous when it comes to the crazy motorists!
The Prayer Warriors we have! - We are feeling all your prayers. They come at the right time and we really feel them!
New relationships - Thank the Lord for the relationships that we have begun!

Love you all!

A Day With the Buddhas

Welcome aboard the Thailand Express,
This is day 2 of our amazing journey, and we've already gotten to do so much. Our day started out at 7:30 where we had breakfast. Karin thought it would be funny to have us try some unique Thai food, so one of the things she got for us was Corn & Red Beans Yogurt...pretty disgusting. Most of us wanted to throw up after trying it. One of the people here told us that they really like to put corn in just about everything, so it's not unusual to see it in some like yogurt.
Then we headed off for a day of seeing the Buddhist temples. We got on a bus and rode that part of the way. Then we hopped onto a subway, and rode that part way. And the last thing that we rode on the way to the temple was a long narrow boat, so the trip down there was just full of fun transportation. Then we went to The Grand Palace. This is home to one of the most famous and impressive of all buildings in Thailand known as Wat Phra Kaew or the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. This temple has some pretty amazing art work. It was all so vibrant and full of color. We spent an hour there looking at all of the stuff, and I feel like there was so much that I still didn't see. There were so many neat statues and buildings, that words can't even describe. We all took tons of pictures, so I'm sure you'll see and hear a lot more about it once we get home.
From there we headed to Wat Saket or The Temple of the Golden Mount. To get there we got to ride a fun little cart called a tuk-tuk. It's pretty much like a 3 wheeled motorcycle that has a seat on the back that can hold about 3 passengers. They were really fun, and the drivers made them pretty exciting :)
Once at the temple, we climbed about 320 steps to get clear to the top where you could get a panoramic view of the city of Bangkok. There were tons of people that were at both temples praying and worshiping their gods, and it was truly sad to see how lost some of these people were, going back time and time again to these temples, just to be let down by their false gods. The only thing that was even sadder than that was that most of the adults had their children with them there practicing in this false religion.
From there we went to a very large mall in the middle of Bangkok and ate some Thai food (or at least most of us did).
After that we headed back to the YWAM building, which required another long bus ride back. We got there and had a little bit to rest before we got back on the road and headed for the airport. We hoped on a plane and flew down to Phuket, where we'll be for the next 9 or so days. We got to eat some authentic Thai food again tonight for supper. Some of it was pretty spicy, but it was really good as well.
We wrapped up our day with a debriefing and discuss how the temples and such had affected us. Many of us felt heartbroken and sad while at the temples because of the lost souls that were looking for a void in their life to be filled, but they were looking in all of the wrong places to have it filled.
So as i said before, it was a pretty amazing day. We got to ride about every form of Thai transportation in just one day (and I think that most of us are getting tired of all of the transportation, so it's nice to finally be somewhere for awhile) and got to see some really awesome stuff!
I can't wait to tell you all more about it when we return!
พระเจ้าให้ศีลคุณ (GOD Bless You)
I love you all!
Dustin (DJ)

there are 3 types of people

SAWASDEE KAH! We are here livin’ it up in Thailand. It is day one and it’s been a spectacular day. We got up this morning and went for coffee at 9:30 at the YWAM (youth with a mission) café. We all got either hot or cold coffee drinks with a toast sandwich with jam or peanut butter and bananas. It was SO good! After that, we had an orientation time at the YWAM center. Then we ate lunch at the Turtle Café. When we got there, our plates were set with rice piled up in the shape of a turtle. We had about 3 different types of chicken, a stir-fry, and an egg omelet to try with our rice. The crowd favorite was the cashew chicken but Sam and I favored the omelet. Then we were set off in groups of 4 to go on a scavenger hunt. In my group was Nikki, Ben, and Karin. We started off going back to the Turtle Café and buying the cheapest desert and sharing it. For 15 baht we got a dessert the size of maybe a half dollar to share. It was rather funny sharing it with four people. The dessert was good. It tasted like a lemon frosting thingy. And then we moved on to find another coffee shop, which we didn’t find for a long time. On the way though we were walking and a dog jumped out right in front of Karin which scared me quite a bit and then 3 other dogs came out from under the truck we were walking past. It is crazy how many stray dogs are just running around here. But we kept moving on and we found this grocery store and went into it to find the names of some whitening cream. It is ridiculous how many skin whitening products there are here. The girls here desire to have white skin which is kinda ironic considering I go outside to tan and these girls walk around with umbrellas so they don’t tan. Kyla and I were talking later about how weird it is to have all these skin whitening stuff, but then realized how we have the same except to be tan. Funny stuff. Back to the scavenger hunt, we found the skin stuff and next we had to find the market. So, we decided to ask a Thai person where it was. I tried to ask where it was in Thai and got no response. The woman just walked away. We were a bit confused, then realized she was looking for a person who could speak English. Then we got directions and went on our way. The market was interesting. There was a lot of fruit and then in the second market, there were lots of fish and meat. The odor there was almost intolerable. After buying some dried mango strips and 4 dragon fruit, we left the market area and came back to YWAM. We had a little bit of down time then until we went to eat with at this little YWAM building. It was a building but where we were at was a room with no walls, open to the outside. Kyla, Anita, Nikki, and I played a game with the people who were all about high school to college age. We aren’t quite for sure what we were playing or how to play, but all we knew was we had to throw these 2 lb. iron balls in this dirt pit and try to hit the green target. It was fun. Anita, Nikki, and I were on a team with a girl named A and we hadn’t been doing to well so we had a huddle, she talked a bit to us, and then had us put our hands together and say “SU” which means victory. I think we won the next round, but overall we lost. We ate, the same meal as earlier, but it was still good. Following that, we had a time of worship. It was fun. Some songs were in Thai and some in English so it was interesting but still fun to watch the Thai people worship. We sang a few that made me think of good old SC and WMW so it was a treat to my soul. And now we’re all getting ready for bed. Thanks for all your prayers. Tomorrow will be a treat. We are touring 2 temples and then fly out for Phuket where the real fun begins.

If you’re still reading, this probably means you are a person I love and miss.
Love you family, WMW pals, SISTER, sisters, brother and anyone else reading.

Leah

We made it!

Hello Everyone!

We made it to Thailand today! It is now 2:01 am here on Tuesday, July 7 and boy are we tired of flying!!! We had some really long flights (a 12 hour followed by a 6 hour) and can't wait to crash into our beds in a few minutes.

All our luggage arrived as well, so thanks for all the safe travel prayers. We will be at the YWAM base for two days here in Bangkok and then travel down to Phuket.

Love!
Team Thailand

Miss Kyla Renfro

Hello all! My name is Kyla Renfro and I am going to be a junior at Sterling College. I play volleyball and enjoy cooking, reading, and spending lots of time with friends and family. I am super excited about the Thailand mission trip! I have only been out of the country one time, and that was my junior year of high school on a mission trip to Mexico. I'm pretty excited to fly internationally. I know God has great things planned for Thailand! Mission training was intense but so great and our team bonded so much. I think we're a unified front, ready to be Jesus's hands and feet in Thailand! Ready or not, here we come! :)

NIKKI :)

Hello everyone! First off I want you all to know how extremely excited I am to be apart of this trip and of this team. I never thought I would be taking part in an experience like this. This is my first mission trip and I cannot think of better individuals to go with. I transferred into Sterling College in the fall of 2008 on a soccer scholarship as a junior, majoring in Criminal Justice. As soon as I heard about this opportunity I knew I wanted to be apart of it. Thanks to my very generous family, friends, and team all of this came true for me. I am very excited to not only strengthen my relationship with God but to do the same for the people of Thailand. I am not a very serious person, I enjoy goofing my way through anything I possibly can. Soccer has been my life since before I can remember, and I plan to keep getting my soccer fix through coaching. I love all kinds of sports, but mostly I just like the idea of being outdoors, being active, and having fun. I would like to think that meeting new people, and making others laugh is a strong quality of mine. Although I do not know what to expect out of this Thailand trip I know that it will be one of the most positive experiences in my life, and that’s all I can ask for. One of my favorite quotes to live by is, “If God meant for today to be perfect, he would not give us tomorrow!”

Anita

Hey all!

First off, want to say that I am very thankful to be a part of this team! I am excited for what God has planned for us! I hope and pray that through our efforts and God's power, lives will be changed in Thailand!

This will be my first missions trip! I grew up around missions as an MK, but have never been a part of a team! I am excited and slightly nervous, wondering how God will use me to reach out to the people of Thailand!

I transferred into Sterling this year and am working towards an Art & Design major. I get to play my favorite sport here at Sterling--volleyball! I enjoy most things outdoors like hiking, biking, camping, cliff jumping, jet skiing, etc. I love music and singing. I have a passion for photography. I like meeting new people. And I love putting smiles on people's faces! I dream that someday and even now, God will use all my passions to make a difference in people's lives for His glory!

I am looking forward to the hot, tropical weather of Thailand and experiencing the Thai culture! Can't wait to update you all after our time in Thailand! Thanks for your prayers and support! God bless!

DMJ

Hi,

My name is Dustin M. Johnson and I'm a junior at Sterling College. I'm majoring in Communication of Mass Media.

This trip will be my first mission trip with Sterling College. I'm really excited for what God has in store for me on this trip!!! :)

I'm also really excited to see what God has for the awesome group of people that are going with me as well!!!

Here are a few things about me: I love football, playing the bagpipes, wearing my kilt, and puttin' on some warpaint...and if you put all of those together, you have one heck of a person to Rowdy at an SC football game!

I also love movies, and have a nice little collection of them in my dorm room :)

Benjamin

Hi friends, Thanks for following our trip to the land of luscious jungles and buddhist temples. I am really privileged to have an opportunity to serve on TWO trips with Sterling College this coming summer. I am leading the trip to Peru, which arrives back in the States about 2 days before we leave for Thailand. I am excited to be a part of this trip to be with some great people, including my soon-to-be-wife, and also to not have any real leadership responsibilities. I just get to be along as the hired muscle. The work we will be doing in Thailand is really humbling and it is an honor to be included in God's plan in this way.

A little about me.... I graduated from Sterling in December with a major in History and a minor in Religion and Phiolosophy. I get married on graduation day (April 25) and couldn't stand being apart from my new wife for a whole month, so I decided to come along. Good thing I got a job with the college for next year, or it would be tough to get a month off during the summer. I like fantasy baseball, college football, grunge music, flannel pearl snap shirts, buffalo wings and reading books.

I also went to the state spelling bee in seventh grade.

I also can't wait to update you all on our trip.

Nate!

Well, I wanted to start with a joke, so I tried looking up some Thai jokes because all the ones I tried to come up with were lame. But it turns out that I don't really get Thai jokes. Hopefully that will change...

Hey, I'm Nate Prior! That's me clinging to the side of a volcano in Nicaragua, on my first SC mission trip last summer. Well, it's not actually the side of the volcano, more of a like a lookout post..and I'm not actually clinging...Anyway, I'm graduating from Sterling in 4 weeks, and I'm so excited to be going to Thailand as an assistant team leader (or is that 'assistant to the team leader'?). And I'm a little bit more excited that Miss Regier will become Mrs. Prior about halfway between these two events. It's just one of those summers!

Things I am looking forward to most about Thailand: Thai people, Thai food, hot season, rain, sweat, 8-foot spiders, diarrhea, relationships, Thai food, smiles, tonal languages, playing "Balls", serving Jesus, seeing the world, experiencing God's grace, showing God's grace, living God's grace, mountains, beaches, and Thai food.

Things I am looking forward to least about Thailand: 10-foot spiders, Imodium AD, wet towels

Basically, I can't wait to go. God has been extremely faithful to our team thus far (no surprise, really), and He's going to carry us through in typically amazing fashion. All aboard the Thailand Express!

LEAH

Hello everybody! My name is Leah Grace Frees. I am currently a sophomore at Sterling College studing Youth Ministries. I am SO excited to go to Thailand this summer. This will be my first missions trip ever and I don't think I could be going with any better people.

I am so looking forward to the things we will learn in Thailand and the way God will use us. God has showered me with mercy and His redemption for all of us is so sweet. I can not wait to share that everlasting love with the people of Thailand.

But.... one interesting thing about me is, I am a giant. If you couldn't tell from my picture, I'm rather tall. That is a joke :) I'm just setting on my friend's baby mini pony. Also, I absolutely love music. I love to sing and try to create my own music that will show God's love to those who hear it.

Well. That's it for now. I ask for your continuing prayers as we prepare for this amazing experience. Talk to ya later Gator.

~Samantha~

Hey all, Sam here. I am a senior at Sterling College and am excited to graduate in April. I'm an assistant team leader for this trip-a responsibility that humbles me and challenges me, but I absolutely love it! This is my first mission trip with the college and my first time in leadership on a trip. I went to South East Asia last summer and am so excited that I am able to go back again, especially with such a wonderful group!
Some important things about me:
I love God and am learning more and more what it means to love Him, follow Him, and love His children.
I am getting married in May, to Nate Prior, the other assistant team leader for this team (you'll hear more from him later). Woot!
Ever since I was young I've had a fascination with Asian cultures and religions.
I like to tap dance.
I love awkward kids! This typically means Jr. high kids, but sometimes awkwardness lasts for a long time.

~Karin~

Hi Everyone! My name is Karin and I have the amazing opportunity to serve as the team leader of this group of amazing men and women. I am a Sterling College graduate and am currently working in the Marketing Communications office at Sterling.

This is my sixth trip with Sterling College and second time serving as a team leader. I ask for your continued prayers and support of this trip! We are ready to love like Jesus loves. We are ready to serve as Jesus serves. Mostly, we are just honored to have this chance to be an example of Jesus Christ to the people of Thailand!

Oh, I love donkeys. I love my family. I love cupcakes. I love Africa.

We're on a train to Bangkok...

...aboard the Thailand express!

Sorry for the classic rock reference, everyone, but this is the only song with Thailand in it that I really know, and Rush is great, so...anyway, our blog is up and running! Stay tuned for Team Thailand introductions!

dêe-o jer gun èek! (See you later!)

-Nate