The first steps

After a week of this pilgrimage we are finally settled down in Washington D.C. where I hope to catch up on what God has been showing and teaching me through many amazing ministry leaders. We spent our first four days in Cambridge, Massachusetts at the Justice house of prayer where a lot of young people around my age and older gather to cry out to God for injustices like abortion and also for a revival in the many college campuses in the area like Harvard. One thing I never knew about Harvard was that it was founded to train ministers. Now it is far from its original purpose and is highly affected by humanism. We were also able to meet a friend of ours named Eunice who attends Harvard and holds a weekday morning prayer group with about 7 other students. These groups hope to see the Kingdom of God established and see leaders come out of Harvard that will be able to truly change the world.

We were then launched off to New Jersey where we visited the Resting House of Prayer where we were welcomed in like family. As soon as we arrived they sat us down and fed us and then let us rest until the next day. I loved seeing such an awesome group that loved Jesus and wanted to do ministry together. They were such a great example of being family in the body of Christ. They love serving the Lord and their heart is to bring healing and restoration into peoples lives in the community. I believe that this is the kind of community that everyone desires and it’s good to see it that its possible.

Next we took a trip to Lancaster P.A. where we spent a few days with a man named Corey Martin. He is an awesome man of God who truly loves telling people about Jesus like I’ve never seen before. Corey is a pastor of a church and also does a lot in the community as well as works a few jobs. I have never seen someone so passionate about sharing the gospel before. I was able to go with Corey and Chris Little to a drug and alcohol rehab meeting that Corey does ministry at. The age group was between 18 and 21 so it was a little intimidating for Chris and I to share, but Corey was so unashamed about confessing the love of Christ and didn’t hold back. Chris and I mentioned what we did in Hawaii at the Discipleship Training School and two of the guys were showing a lot of interest. They more expressed their desire to just go to Hawaii but I could tell that they hungered for a chance to have their lives changed.

Next we left Lancaster and drove to a town called Coatesville P.A. where we met up with a man named Jamie Galloway. He is a young pastor who had such a perspective on the Kingdom of Heaven that shook us up and challenged us more than anything yet. I could see how his teaching was shared in such a sincere way, but language and lack of time got in the way of a lot of understanding. I can see how instances like this this split up so many churches and denominations in the body of Christ. I am still trying the process the giant load of information that he gave us in the short time we were with him.

I now sit here in Washington D.C. wanting to process everything but overwhelmed at the thought of traveling for two months. With the Supreme Court across the street and having just read about the Heartbeat Bill I am faced with the reality that there are problems in this world that are bigger than me and my understanding, but the creator of the universe knows every day of my life. I just want to know Jesus!

"Ask where the good way is, and walk in it."

Sometimes making a choice in life is like entering a giant knotted highway (as seen above). We enter in and we have no idea how long it will take, how frustrating it will be, or where we will end up. My commitment to follow Jesus at times feels this, but as soon as I focus my eyes back on Jesus I am filled with peace and Joy. The decisions I make are so much more than Geographical steps, but they are choosing every day to acknowledge God in everything I do; choosing every day to love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength; and receiving His love before trying any of this.

It has been an amazing time of rest being home and it seems so soon but I will be leaving for Boston February 3rd. I will be traveling across the United States with some of my friends/co-staff to seek perspective of what God is doing in America and to learn from different pastors/ministry leaders. I have an amazing opportunity ahead of me and I am excited to see how these steps of faith draw me deeper into a relationship with God and with others.

We have a van, an itinerary, and plane tickets to get to Boston, but we are going to be depending on God to provide in allotting of ways. This is a big test for me and I'm sure for others. A lot of what I wanted to grow in this year was simply faith. I don't always realize what I ask for until I am required to walk in it and believing that what I asked for has been or will be given at the right time. These steps have drawn me lower and lower to a place of constant prayer for God’s presence. It's when I stop everything and seek God that I truly have peace in knowing how awesome He is.

I want to embrace the simplicity of just walking with God and communicating with Him. I recently read in a magazine about Intimacy with God. It talked about how we are made in God’s image so that we can relate to Him. I might be way behind on this understanding, but I always thought it just meant that we looked like him, but I started to understand how much he wants to communicate with us, verbally, non-verbally, or any way that we are known to communicate that we don't even realize.

We don't have to leave it up to the experts or our pastor to talk to God. He created us all to relate to Him!

Finishing strong.

Our last ministry location was in Chiang Mai, Thailand at a restoration home called "Abba House". This was such an amazing ministry that we were able to partner with for ten days and see some life changing moves of God. We worked with a group of men who were saved through the prison ministry that Abba house does in the Chiang Mai prison. We also worked with a larger group of girls that were saved out of all sorts of different situation such like trafficking or abuse.

From our kitchen sink, Northern Thailand's largest mountain was placed in perfect view. Every night the sunset was placed right at the peak of the mountain. We were staying in brand new buildings with nice beds and hot showers. I felt such a peace of how we were ending this trip. I could start to look back and see how God's presence was there this whole time. How beyond my struggles and my failures, God was in control and working.

We were able to do allot of work with the men and women there. We even went with them into the Chiang Mai prison got to see around 200 men give their lives to Jesus! A few days into our time with Abba house we were notified that we would be spending our last two days with the ministry three hours away in a hill tribe called the "Lahu". We spent the one day traveling to the village, spending time playing with the kids and eating meals with the people. Our second day which was our last day of ministry ended up being a Sunday which involved having 4 church services and an additional 2 services since we were going to be there. We started at six in the morning and didn't end until nine at night!

We arrived back in Bangkok and headed straight to an Island for debrief. It was a big transition from a cold hill tribe village where we slept on a concrete floor and put on most of our cloths to keep warm, to arriving on an island by speedboat and laying on the beach in the warm sun. Looking back I experienced so much of Gods presence in all of my different circumstances. Whether in Hawaii, Cambodia or Thailand I was given the strength and love that I desired from God.

"11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength." Philippians 4:11-13

Be Available

In our lack of traveling experience we had to change hotels three different times in our five days in Mae Sai. We never seemed to explain how long we wanted to the rooms for and since it was a busy time of the year they were pretty booked. We ended up finding a inexpensive but very nice hotel that overlooked Burma and was very close to the border. I was not going to allow myself to get frustrated by all of my mistakes but was going to trust in God and knowing that He works despite our mistakes.

Our whole team was with us at this point and we decided to have a time of prayer and worship one night outside of the hotel. We were praying for our team and for the city we were in and also for people that were involved in prostitution. We were asking God for His heart for these people and didn't really know what we were getting ourselves into. About a half an hour into it I looked up and saw two men taking a young girl dressed like a prostitute into the hotel and up the elevator. I knew what was going on but didn't want to interrupt our prayer time. When we were finished we decided to take a walk and prayer around the area that we knew had brothels.

The walk was very quiet since most of the brothels are behind closed doors and the streets were pretty quiet that night, but we prayed out loud and I brought my guitar and worshipped God. We got back near the hotel and decided to stop and get some snacks before heading in. Outside of the store were about 6 young adults. Some were drinking and hanging out but there was one young girl holding a baby. I stayed outside and played my guitar and the girl with the baby started speaking english to me. She began to ask me questions like my name and where I was from. I ended up finding out that a church payed for her to go to bible school and to speak around America including Ohio!

Another man was there that was also a Christian in the area and we talked about God and what we were doing. Out of nowhere the two guys and the girl I saw earlier walking into the hotel walked right up to us standing there. I was so shocked and nervous that I was standing there with these people. The girl with the baby grabbed the girl that I assumed to be a prostitute and took her home. When she came back she told us about the girl she took home, that her father had sexually abused her and that her mother passed away so she ended up on the street prostituting herself at the age of 15. Our hearts sank as we stood there embracing the reality of the area we were in. We talked more with the girl and she told us that she was praying for the girls in the area and trying to take care of them.

After all of this we stayed for a few more hours talking and also playing some worship songs that even the drunk guys were singing along with! We had no Idea what we were getting into that night but looking back I could see how we got exactly what we were asking for. We wanted to have Gods heart for the area and for the people and we got it. We were thrown right into the life of the people and the reality of their struggles. Our hearts were broken but we could see that this is what God's heart was for these people.

I had a whole new perspective on these Burmese/Thai people of this small town. I was shown that they were so hungry for the love of God and that us making ourselves available that night to just hang out with them and love on them was exactly what God wanted. Our five days in the small border town with no plans gave us the chance to just be available and see what God wanted to do. I didn't just get Gods heart but truly fell in love with the area and the people and hope to someday return to Mae Sai.

"In all their suffering he also suffered, and he personally rescued them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them. He lifted them up and carried them through all the years." Isaiah 64:9

Drop in Center

The morning of our second day in Mae Sai, Chris and I started our day by going out and getting coffee from a nearby restaurant and had no other plans for our day. We had left our students for a few days to go ahead of them and had no other plans but to pray into the rest of our outreach. On our way back to our room we stopped at the front desk to ask about doing some laundry and were met by a tour guide named Saemoon. He had been waiting in the hotel lobby for us because he had heard that there were three foreigners were staying in the hotel and he wanted to offer his tour to us. I decided to talk to him since we were planning on going into Burma and I wanted to have a guide take us in. I told him that we were Christian missionaries and what we had been doing the past two months and he was very excited. He began to tell me his testimony and and how he had been an alcoholic and in the streets until a English man named Frank came and took him in and gave him cloths and a shower. Saemoon was so excited at this point and had no desire to sell us his service as a tour guide but instead now he wanted to take Chris and I to meet frank!

We were walking down the streets following Seamoon into the red light area near the border to meet some man named Frank and had no idea what to expect. We arrived at a large building and walked in to a see people of all ages hanging out watching "Mr. Bean" and eating lunch. We met Frank who was an older English man. He sat down on the floor with us and began to tell us all about the Drop in Center and how God gave him a heart for the people in the area of the border and especially the children that hang out on the bridge. The kids are sent out by their parents to beg for money that is usually to support their own drug habits rather than pay for food. Often times if the kids don't bring back enough money they will be physically abused. Many kids also have problems with sniffing glue.

Frank wants to give the kids a safe place to come and stay whenever they want that is safe. He feeds the kids as well as teaches them the bible. The building is four stories with allot of space and Frank wants to use the top two floors for discipleship training and to be sending them back into Burma. This was such an amazing day of seeing a glimpse of what God is doing in this area and how there is a light shining in the midst darkness.

If you would like more information about the drop in center or if you would like to help support you can email Frank at frank@supportingheart.com

Our Shelter

Chris, Sarah-jo, and I arrived in Mae Sai after a five and a thirteen hour bus ride. We decided to leave the students for a few days and go ahead of them. It was 7am and we didn't even know where to say. We had a taxi driver take us to a guest house and hoped and prayed for God to bless us. He drove straight up to the border checkpoint and then took the last road on the left down into the market area which was a small China town. Literally in the middle of a crammed market area we were dropped off at the guest house. As we climbed the four floors with our luggage all I could think about was getting sleep, and after 18.5 hours on a bus with no sleep I was very motivated to climb those stairs.

We entered the room and were immediately blown away by the view of the mountains of Burma. With just a tiny river separating us from the closed nation of Burma a.k.a Myanmar, we were as close as you can get with a birds eye view. I went straight to bed and woke up after having a pretty crazy dream about being bitten by snakes. Chris also had some crazy dreams and we realized that our location was a huge spiritual stronghold and we needed to cover each other with prayer and create an environment in our room that was soaked in Gods presence. After staying in locations that were covered in prayer for the past two months we realized it was our turn especially if we wanted to have any joy or peace in this place of Spiritual chaos.

The rest of our team will join us on Friday and we will then go across the border to Burma so we can get visas for our last couple weeks in Thailand. We will do our best to soak this place in prayer and get perspective for the rest of our time in Thailand. It's overwhelming coming to places like this where there seems to be no glimmer of hope or sign of progress but, sitting in Gods presence and remembering who it is that we serve brings more hope than I could ever create.

"The number of Burmese women and girls travelling to Thailand through Mae Sai to enter the sex industry is increasing. 60% of them are under 18 years of age." (Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, "Influx of Burmese sex workers via Mae Sai on the rise," Bangkok Post, 2 June 1997)

"20,000-30,000 Burmese women are in prostitution in Thailand." (CATW - Asia Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific)

The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.
I will protect those who trust in my name.
When they call on me, I will answer;
I will be with them in trouble.
I will rescue and honor them.
I will reward them with a long life
and give them my salvation.”
Psalm 91:14-16

My prayer is that the people of Burma will know God and cry out to him.

Straining toward whats ahead

Our time in Cambodia has ended and our work in Thailand has just began. Leaving Battambang was a very sad time. We had a great time of ministry there and many friendships were formed. We were able to plant many seeds and see authentic interest in a relationship with Jesus. It's almost too easy to see God moving there. You get a real sense of how much God loves people and is seeking a people that are desperate for Him.

There were at least 20 of our friends at the house the morning we left Battambang. We were able to stay at a pastors house the whole time where we were cooked delicious khmer dishes and soups. They really treated us like family and dealt with our loud Western culture for 7 weeks. I started to feel at home sharing a bedroom with my co-leader Chris Little, making coffee every morning at 4:30am and enjoying the presence of God in our room covered with pink tile all over the walls. It was a huge 3 story house that was mainly built to house all of the YWAM teams that were there serving. We would have our prayer and worship times on the empty open roof space where we would have all the loud city noises including the metal workshop that was next door.

Getting into Thailand was like leaving a spiritual warzone. Phisically and spiritually I could feel the diffence of the atmosphere of the two countries. It's almost a relief to be in Thailand right now but the biggest challenge is to keep focus and have perspective that outreach is not over in any way. This is a mentally challenging time because most of us want to start talking about Christmas and home.

We are working at a local church in Kantharalak, Thailand. Teaching english, sharing testimonies, doing dramas, and giving out bibles. It is amazing getting to go into the schools and talk about Jesus and his love to hundreds of young Thai kids. After our time here we will go up to Mai Sia which is the very north of Thailand and Serve in a wedding!

Well my prayer this next month is Philippians 3:14 "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Alot has happened so far but my eyes need to stay on the prize!