Thailand!

hello all from Bangkok! gosh it's crazy to think that i'm finally here! this week has gone by so fast, as i'm sure the rest of our outreach will.
let me fill you in on a few of the things we've done so far ..
we flew out last thursday and after a 14 hour flight followed by a 6 hour flight, we landed in Bangkok minutes before the clock officially struck midnight to bring in the new year -- what a way to start off 2011! the next day we recovered from jet lag and explored our new location!
everything is so different here, but i love it. we ventured out and discovered the market that is a couple blocks away from us, and that is where we eat every night. i was only here about 10 hours before jo tricked me into eating mashed up cockroach .. it was an experience for sure. but they have the best fruit smoothies here and its always an adventure stepping outside our front door.
sunday we went into inner city Bangkok and toured a lot of the Buddhist temples and religious sites. although there is an obvious hurt for the people here who don't know any better, I was more broken hearted for the Christians. Let me explain, Lydia and I were chatting and she said how she doesn't understand how people can have such an empty religion, where they pray to their gods and never get a response or see miracles happen or anything along those lines. they also live in constant fear that what they are doing isn't enough to save them from their hells -- but how many Christians, especially in America, live in that same fear? I know that a lot of my life was lived that way -- I was completely unaware of how awesome the God I served is, how much He loves me, and how He speaks to me all of the time. How often did I do the right things or say the right things in hopes that I was doing enough to earn enough grace so that Jesus would take mercy on me? But that isn't the way that it is supposed to be at all. So my heart ached for those who live like I used to, those who are "saved" but don't live in a relationship with the living God at all. Because there is so much more in living a "Christian" life that isn't just going to church on Sundays and Wednesdays, it's about a life of freedom. It's about a life dedicated to being like Jesus and serving Him because of His goodness and the love that He has already given to us although we are so undeserving of it, and no matter how hard we try to earn grace, there is nothing we can do to make this wonderful God love us any more or any less.

That's just been a lot of my thoughts this week, I apologize if there is any confusion for you because a lot of what i'm thinking is still being processed in my own head. In fact, I am right now apologizing for any odd statements I may make on this due to lack of processing, there is a lot that God is revealing to me about Himself, myself, and what that means in my heart attitude and actions.

Anyway, back to what the team has been doing this week ..
We are staying right across from one of the universities in Bangkok, and we are apart of an organization called BJD (I'm not quite sure how to spell the real Thai words, but in Thai, it means "House of One Heart"). BJD was formed 15 years ago through YWAM and it provides inexpensive housing for college students. We try to build relationships with students on campus and then by loving them, ultimately show them Christ's love. Currently, BJD has about 30 students living in their housing, all of them fairly new Christians. Pretty much everyone who gets involved in BJD ends up loving Jesus. So, that's what we do. We love people and pray that the Holy Spirit moves in their lives so they will choose to love Jesus. Since we are living in the same place that the students are, it is really easy for us to minister to them and to serve them in everyday living type things. Then, almost every night there is some sort of activity that we get involved in on the base, whether it be worship services, game nights, playing soccer, or sitting there playing cards and giggling with each other about language barriers for 4 hours straight, it is all about relationship, discipleship, and learning together through love.

But please keep on praying, there have been a few setbacks. Sweet Mike is in the hospital for the second night tonight fighting pneumonia that he hasn't been able to kick for the entire week, and Steven got into a fight with an escalator at the hospital and lost, resulting in stitches for his big toe. Other than that, there has been several different lingering sicknesses and things of that nature for a few of the students the past couple weeks, so be praying! Thankfully, I have not been one of those students, but please be praying that God eliminates sickness from our group.

I'll try to update as much as possible until we go to Vietnam! Thank you for all your prayers and know that we are also praying for you!