sawadee ka.

once again, i must say that i am sorry that it has taken me so long to give you an update on my life in thailand. well we got here on february 4, i think. and the first few days here, we just rested and learned a little bit about the culture, ya know the what to do and what not to dos. things here are very different from anywhere we've been and its quite interesting here. but i like it for the most part. they call thailand the 'land of smiles.' that's because thais smile at literally everything, when they are happy, when they are sad, when they are mad, its just what they do. the culture is all about 'saving face' so you never do anything to make yourself or someone else look bad, ever.

the second day we were here we went to visit a school. they had arranged for us to go and meet the director of the school and he would decide if he wanted us to come and teach english the next week. we got there and met him for only like five minutes then they decided that we would come back everyday the next week and then if we did good then we would come back the following week. then immediately they sent us off to a classroom and gave us an hour to teach. well, we weren't exactly prepared, at all, for anything. we all just kind of stood in the front of the class and after we introduced ourselves, we didn't know what to do. luckily we had Jesse with us and he took over. let's say that was just the beginning. on saturday the third day we were here, we had to teach an all day english camp at the church. none of us had ever taught english before. and despite what you may think, my degree in liberal studies did not prepare me for that. it was a good thing that rob and cy helped us prepare the night before, because we didn't plan that well. although the next morning when we got there only 3 kids had come. but we had run out of things to do by lunch time, it was a good thing the pastor said that we could end the camp at that time because i don't know what else we would have done. that sunday we had church in the morning, where steven preached and then we were done for the day. we went downtown and found a wonderful coffee place and just walked around. monday was our free day. we rode elephants, which is super touristy and not as great as it sounds, at least not where we went. it was kind of sad to see them all tied up and i don't know how well they are actually taken care of. but we did meet another pastor and he invited us to go see the church they were building and we got to prayer over the church being built. so that was really cool. then later we went to this tribal place where there are people from five different tribes all living in one place and you go and see the different people. it was really weird, and i didn't like it. i don't know if any of us really wanted to go but the pastor took us and he thought that's what we wanted so we just went in anyway. it was so forced it seemed like they didn't want to be there at all, and i probably wouldn't either. needless to say, we didn't want to be "tourists" anymore.

on tuesday, the real work started. we went to the high school at 7:30 prepared to teach english to four classes that day. when we got there, the plans had already changed. the eight of us had to split off into pairs to teach classes seperately, we had planned to teach altogether and had a big lesson all planned...oh well. so scott and i went to our first class and it was alright, the second class was worse because the teacher just left us alone and the kids barely knew any english so we couldn't communicate. wallace joined us for the third and fourth classes which went pretty well. all in all it was a very interesting day. then we went back to the ywam base for the afternoon. at 6:00 we headed over to the smoothie shop ministry that we are helping with. Jesse and his wife Uab, have a smoothie shop and a ministry for the local university students. that night we went on a prayer walk around the university. it was a lot longer than we were expecting, it took almost a half hour just to walk to the university, almost another hour walking around it, and then another thirty minutes back to the shop. i was exhausted after such a long day. the next day we went back to the school and they told us after that day they didn't need us to come back because all the students really needed to study for their exams, which was alright with us because we don't really know what we're doing. that night at the smoothie shop we went to the local market and did evangelism and handed out flyers for their valentine's day party. we did the same thing on thursday night. we did dramas and dances in the marketplace. then friday night we had a really fun free party at the smoothie shop. we sang and danced and did drama and shared testimonies. it was great.

we had another english camp last saturday. it was better, but still only five people showed up. but we had a way better plan this time and the students really liked it. and we had fun too. yesterday was church again, scott and susanne preached. then the boys, or wallace rather, taught some soccer skills in the afternoon. today we went to a couple different temples. one was the white temple, it was rather extravagent, you should look it up. and it was really sad. it seems so empty and hollow and i don't understand it. that is something that is so sad here, the religion is so empty and it makes me sad for the people here.

it is so hot here. aahhh. and its the 'cold' season. let's just say i would hate to be here during the hot season. yuck. at least it cools off at night and in the morning. this week we get to go to the university everyday and eat lunch with the students and then play sports there in the afternoons. that should be fun. we've met some really great people here. some from here (thailand), some from the us, and some from australia. and we've had a lot of fun with them. although being here has been a bit hard for me, and i think for most of my team. it's reaching the end of outreach. and i know that none of us want to leave outreach on a weird note. so if you could keep us in your prayers that would be appreciated. i should get going to bed now.

peace.love.grace.

jetlagged....

so after almost 24 hours of traveling, 3 flights, 3 airplane meals, 4 movies, and only about 45 minutes of sleep we arrived in thailand! we are in Chiang Rai and i don't know the name of the city. susanne and i are staying with a lovely couple from the ywam base here, they actually used to be in the pichilemu base a few years back. and the boys have their own house. we've really only been here for a few hours but we've already eaten delicious fried rice and fried bananas and i've already rode on the back of a motorbike. i am really excited to be here and am really looking forward to everything here. it's so pretty and tropical. and hot, a big change from england. the day before we left england there was about 6 inches of snow. well that is all for now.
love.

next stop...thailand!

well. we've been in watford since last sunday. and it's been really great. we are at a church called soul survivor, and its a lot bigger than the other churches we've been at so far and its kind of nice to be in a bigger church and not really be in the spotlight all the time. the woman who is coordinating our whole stay used to live in pichilemu, chile for a couple years and she also did her dts there too. so it's been nice to have someone else who knows what it was like on the base and to know how it is to be on outreach for this long and she just has a little better idea of what we might want or need. plus, she's just great, so sweet, and we all love her. 

some of the things we've done this week are: 

-monday was our free day, but we had dinner at a fellow YWAMer's house and got to meet a few people from the church

-tuesday we met various people in the church and had coffee and just got to talk with them. met the pastor for evangelism and talked with her. a few of us (including me) went to an after school art club which is run by a teacher who goes to soul survivor. and the rest of the team went to a prayer and intercession meeting downtown. then at night we went to different youth cell groups.

-wednesday some of the team helped with the moms and todlers group. and me and the rest of the team went to a help out in a religious education class (for the same teacher as the day before) and we helped the kids make up dramas about moses, it was really fun. then in the afternoon we did practical work around the church. at night we went to different cell groups again. the group i went to does a kind of pub ministry where they live, it was really cool and interesting. 

-thursday we had a free morning. then we helped clean up at a local community center and it was freezing outside. then we all went together to another cell group that night. and it was such a welcoming atmosphere, i almost felt like i was at a family member's house. and we did a drama for them. and they prayed over us and that was awesome.

-friday we had lunch with the four focus students, who are like student interns. it was nice to meet some other young people who are doing something a little similar to what we are doing, in that they are giving up a year of their time to work at this church. then we did 'energize cafe' which is for families with young children to come and just hang out together and play and do crafts and just socialize. at night we went to an event called 'youth across watford' where different churches youth come together for a night and do worship etc. we did a drama there and that was really good. 

-saturday the girls, so susanne, tina, and i, went to 'coffee and croissants' which is just for women and just a time to have fellowship and there was a teaching on women in leadership which was interesting and good. then the whole team went to whots (watford healing on the streets). this is something they do every saturday. basically they go to the town center and just set up a banner that says healing and they hand out leaflets and basically just pray for healing to anyone who wants it. i thought it was really cool, but it was SO COLD and we were outside for about 2 1/2 hours. then we had free time and got to hang out and watch a movie together and eat fish and chips. then had a little get together with some of the people we'd met throughout the week and played guitar hero world tour of course. 

-sunday we helped with all the kids at the morning service. then went to lunch at someones house and hung out for the afternoon. then went to the 5 pm service, and they prayed over us. then we all just hung out with different people we met throughout the week and ate. then it snowed and so we played in the snow for a bit. and we got invited to a little superbowl party, which i never would've thought would happen in england. but there are 3 or 4 young interns from california and arizona, so they were super into it. and we went for al little while but then we had to go because the game didn't start here til 11:30 pm.  

overall this has been a great week. we have met so many cool people here and have gotten to develop some relationships. especially with the interns, who are the same age as us. i think one of the things thats been so great for us about this church is that there are people that are the same age as us here, and there wasn't really at the other churches. it would nice if we could stay here a few more days, oh well. tomorrow is our last day here then its off to thailand. which is exciting, but i really have no idea what to expect. and i don't know how much internet access i will have where we will be so i don't know how often i will be able to give updates. and i could probably write a lot more but its late here and i need to get to sleep. but please keep us in your prayers. i think that spiritual warfare will be intense in thailand so prayer for that would be appreciated and also i think that we need prayer for our transition to a new place, and for team unity, for energy and rest also. it's been a long but great 6ish weeks so far, and we are about to leave for our last leg of the trip. its exciting and weird that its already here. well i love you and thank you.

love.

i can't believe it's all happening so fast!

wow. i know its been a really long time since i've actually written any details here. and i'm very sorry about that. but well, i really don't have that much time to do things here, unless i want to do things instead of sleep at night. and i find that that is not a very good option because i am always tired. but that is what i am doing right now. 

well we've been in england for 29 days now. after lichfield we went to bearwood, just outside birmingham (the second largest city in england, if i have my facts correct) for two weeks. from monday, january 12 to sunday, the 25th.  it was really good to be there. and it was really nice to be there for more than a week. we got to develop the relationships with them a little better. it was another smaller church, but they did a lot of activities to reach out to the local community, especially the kids. we helped out with pretty much every activity that they had going on for those two weeks. but it was really busy. and now we are all pretty tired, considering that we've been going almost non stop for 44 days now. its definitely a long time to be so busy. 

some of the things we did at bearwood chapel were:

 -tuesday night club for 12-15 year olds

-helping with ESOL classes which i really liked doing, it was really fun

- we went to different house groups and talked

- went to the birmingham city mission and served food and shared testimonies and just talked to people

-went to different schools, primary and secondary and shared testimonies, did dramas, taught drama

-did a drama and dance workshop for the youth in the area

- friday club, there were 2 different ones, (5-8 and 9-11) and did dramas and played 

- lead sunday school

-ran the youth group doing dramas testimonies and etc

- did a night for the Iraqi and Afghan boys around the area and just played sports, many of them are refugees or don't have any family

-did a sports day for all the kids

-lead a worship event for all the youth, we became a band for this event, steven played guitar and sang, scott played drums, david played bass, susanne and i sang, and we had help on the keyboard, and sam was like our manager almost it was fun.

-on the second sunday we were there we lead the church service and david did the sermon

overall a very busy two weeks, but very cool. we got to hang out with the youth a lot and that was really cool because we hadn't gotten to do that at the other churches. and some of them were very cool. on our day off we got to go to warwick castle, that was really interesting. and the country side was beautiful and it was actually sunny that day (well kind of).  

our team is doing pretty well overall. besides the fact that we are all getting pretty tired emotionally, physically, and spiritually. so your prayers would be appreciated. i got a lot closer to susanne while we were in bearwood, and that has been great. God is still showing me things and revealing things to me, sometimes i probably don't pay enough attention, but when i do i am in awe of Him and just the way He does everything and how He has everything planned out and just how perfect it all is. 

Now we are in Watford at Soul Survivor church. it's been really great so far. but i'm not gonna write about it just yet. we leave on tuesday for thailand for 25 days. i can't believe that it's almost here, this time is just flying by. and i'm trying to make the most of it and learn the most i can and just get the most out of my time here. well i really do need to go to bed, but i will do my best to update on monday probably. okay. thanks for all your prayers. i send out my love to all of you. and i pray God's peace upon your hearts.

...

i really want to give you all an update. i know that it's been a really long time. and i really do wish i could write, but i haven't had time. but as soon as i get a chance i will. but please still keep us in your prayers. we appreciate it. thanks.

everything here is brilliant and fancy! and i love it.

I'm finally in England! We arrived here on the 1st, and have had a great start to the new year. Well, the actual 'new year' was spent on a plane, and it wasn't very exciting, despite what some of you may think. We've been in Lichfield and working at Wade Street Church for the last week and a half. Susanne and I are in a house together, a real house, and we have our own room and our own bathroom! It has been so nice to be back in an actual bed, and have delicous food again. Yes, it is definitely nice to be back in a westernized country. But, it's the coldest winter that they have had here for a long time, not that I really know the difference. The cold has been a nice change from the 90+ degree weather of Santiago, Chile though and I kind of like getting all bundled up to go outside. It was icy quite a few days while we were here and of course I fell, more than once.

Okay so here's a quick rundown of the different things that we've been doing here. We got here on Thursday, January 1 and stayed in the church for one night, then the next morning some of the families made us a nice brunch, and then went to our host family's house and got to relax the rest of the day.
Saturday we went around and 'discovered' Lichfield. It's a very small town, so there was not a whole lot to see, but they do have a beautiful cathedral and some interesting history. I don't remember his name, but the first man to write an english dictionary was from here. Then my host mom cooked us all a delicous Indian meal that night and we all played wii and that was very fun.
Sunday we went to the church service and were introduced to everybody and said what we'd be doing here, etc. Then we had team time in the afternoon and went to a Covenant service at the Catholic church that night. I really liked the service.
Monday. This is where we actually start to do some real work. We did the Monday Fellowship, it's for the older foks and we sang worship songs and gave testimonies and that type of thing. Then spent the rest of the day preparing for the next day.
Tuesday. We painted the church in the morning. Then that afternoon we working with the children's club. And that night we did a 'Meet the YWAM Team' event, and we did drama and dance and worship and testimonies and talked about what ywam is etc.
Wednesday. More painting in the morning. Then we did the youth group that night.
Thursday. We helped out with the toddler group in the morning. Then went to a high school for lunch and met with the Christian Union there. Then that afternoon we did a 'questionnaire' in the shopping center, that was a flop. No one wanted to stop and talk to us. Then we got the evening to relax.
Friday. Some of us went to another high school and did the same type of thing for lunch, and some of us stayed and help with the Friday lunch club. Then we had all evening off, so all of us decided to watch a movie at someones house, that was really fun.
Saturday. We finished painting. Then the team went out to lunch for the traditional fish 'n chips, yum. And a family had a social event for us that night, they made us dinner and we had a wii tournament that they set up, so that was fun too.
Sunday. We did the entire morning church service, with a drama and testimony, and Wallace, our leader, gave the sermon. It went very well. Then at night we did this thing called Resonate, where all the youth from the different churches get together once every other month and have a service. So we shared a little testimony and did a drama for them, and that was really fun.

Now today, we are leaving to go to a new church in Birmingham, and we will be there for 2 weeks. I've really enjoyed our time here and I'm still learning a lot and I know that God still wants to teach me, and mold me, and continue to shape me while I am here. I've been building good relationships with the people on my team as well. Please keep us in your prayers, we really appreciate it. I wish that I could write more, but I am out of time.

Love.