Super! Thanks for askin'!

At a WWII Memorial Bridge in Pai

Well, I have some really great news... in fact, nothing but good news for this update, but the biggest piece I am saving for the last part, so you have to read it all to get there (or some of you cheaters who just read the fun parts, it's in the Praises section).

In case you haven't figured it out yet, yes, I got to go on out reach. The last bit of money came in literally 10 minutes before we left, but God is more than faithful and provided that last bit and even a bit more! So after I got confirmation of that last bit coming in, I packed up my computer and put it in my room, then joined the rest of the team in the truck to go to the bus station. When we got there, found out we were going to Mae Hong Son. Just a quick lesson, Thailand is divided up into provinces, and the capital city of each province is named after the province. So when referring to Mae Hong Son, I am referring to the whole province, where as when we get to the main city, I'll refer to it as the city of Mae Hong Son. Check it our on this Google map.



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The Church

So first we went to Mae Sariang (Follow HWY 108 from Chiang Mai). We spent the night there because it took us from 8 am until 6 pm by bus to get there. On Monday morning we prayed together about where we should head next and got that we should continue on a little ways north. So we went on our way up towards the next city and in talking with the driver of the truck we rented found out that he is a Christian and attended a small Karin church in that area. So we ended up staying at his house and helping out at that church and in that village. During the day we worked, pulling weeds and planting flowers at the church, making and putting sandbags in a driveway so that the truck could park, and just living with the people of that village. In the evening on Monday -Wednesday we did mini worship and teaching times, and shared about our lives and how God has affected them with the children and some of the adult members of the church. Then Thursday evening we invited as many people as we could and had a big night at the church and had maybe 50 - 60 people from the village show up and worship together, sing and play games together, and hear a word from the Bible. It was awesome. The biggest thing we saw, when we didn't really expect to see much, not that we didn't expect to see anything but that the results would most likely come after we left, was that the pastor got up and shared how God used us to show Him the Holy Spirit really is active in all of our lives.

We then headed on up to the city of Mae Hong Son on Friday and spent Saturday there for our day of rest.

At a Chinese Village in Pai

Sunday afternoon we headed to Pai (HWY 1095 above). When we got there we asked around at a couple of different churches, but none of them either needed or wanted our help with everything. So we prayed again and felt like God just wanted us to spread some joy, so we spent Monday evening looking for some good spots and then Tuesday - Thursday we sang and danced on the side of the street. The songs were a mix of worship/secular hits/Christian hits. It was a good time, and had a lot of chances to just sit and talk with people. Most of them looked at us as if we were insane whenever we explained what we were doing and how we got there. But it was still pretty cool. We also made little charms that had verses of blessing on them in Thai and English. I got to talk to people (some just a few words, a couple a good conversation) from Ukraine, Israel, France, The US, Thailand and a few others that I didn't get their nationality. Pai is a weird little melting pot of culture. On Thursday afternoon we did a couple hours of touring, and then Friday morning we packed up and headed back to base.

I asked for a favor from my leaders, and when we stopped in Chiang Mai on our way back to Chiang Rai, I got to buy my ticket for two days later so I could go a surprise Annie and spend some time with her last weekend. To all my friends in Chiang Mai, sorry, lack of vehicle and someone to help Annie at the Internet cafe put a stopper on our plans to come in a see peoples.

But then I came back to base this past week to the news that this past week, enough money has come in from a few donors that my DTS fee is now covered. I am still transferring some of it, but as of this Friday, if I can get to the ATM, the DTS will be paid off. Praise God big time for that. Now all the support that still comes in will be for my living expenses. While at the base I don't have huge amounts in that area, but that will change when I move back to Chiang Mai after DTS. It will also help with me getting a new visa when I am in Cambodia next month.

Some of the Girls with
They Lady They Stayed With

Two more weeks of lectures start this Monday, then we have a conference coming to the base for all of YWAM Asia (or SE Asian, can't remember). It is called DNA and the founders of YWAM are going to the different regions to help the new leaders stay true to the foundations laid some 50 years ago. Looking forward to that and I'll have a blog about those four weeks before major outreach.

But God is amazing. Not just because he provided for everything already, but just in every way He is showing me more and more about who He is. Seeing His provision for us the past two weeks, putting us in the middle of situations where we can work for His name, one where we could immediately see some results, one where I don't know if any of us will ever know the impact we have. For the first week getting to see a friend from Chiang Mai who had moved back to Mae Hong Son and I haven't seen in a while, and the second week getting to meet a guy from the US who has been working in India the past few years spreading the word of the Lord simply because he had had run-ins with YWAMers before, and knew that the only crazy people who stand on street corners and sing praise songs in the middle of Asia are usually from YWAM. For answering my prayers even as I am praying them. The past 4 months have been amazing and a huge blessing in my life. So thank you to all of you who have been supporting me through this so that I can complete this school and continue doing the work He has for me.

Praises and Prayer requests:
~ My DTS is paid for ~
~ God is totally changing my life daily ~
~ the chance to spend 6 months devoted to my relationship with Him ~
~ The last two weeks of lectures ~
~ DNA conference ~
~ Guys retreat next weekend ~
~ The city of Chiang Mai and the rest of Thailand as they are dealing with massive flooding which is expected to get worse the next few days ~