Traveling

Oh my goodness my friends! It has been way too long. We officially began outreach a month ago. What the heck?! I cannot believe it.  If you have been keeping up with email updates it was definitely an interesting beginning for my outreach team. We felt God was speaking a specific destination to us in Asia. We are in Asia, but not quite where we expected.

For a quick recap. Due to difficulties in the visa process and lack of finances my team of originally 20 said our good byes to the Eastern Europe team, Inida/Nepal and Central Asia team as we were left behind grounded in Herrnhut for an extra week and a half. It was a very rough week personally convincing myself we were actually on outreach and getting used to new living arrangements and schedules, but it was such a great learning experience serving in practical ways and seeing God get his glory from acts of such simplicity. In this time the Europeans and Canadians on our team received their visas and as a team we decided to send them to Asia in faith and we would join them soon after. Soon after we were told that we were officially declined in our attempts to get our visas. That was a pretty big deal. Haha So again we went back to the Lord in prayer for direction. A few short days later we repacked our packs in preparation to head to Thailand. We had another week or so of waiting for our visas to return from the states and fighting for finances for flight money to Thailand. We decided to make a few calls to Dresden in search for ministry opportunities. We were connected with a great church and a day before we left God  provided a place for the remaining 13 of us to stay. For a week we were incredibly blessed and were able to bless others in Dresden. We were able to disciple youth, help with practical maintenance work, encourage and pray for local art ministries, bless families with family portraits and visit a local children’s hospital with music and dance to cheer them up. From Dresden we began the near 24hr journey to Thailand! By train we traveled to the Munich airport and I survived my first airport sleepover! We caught a plane to Beijing and hopped on another to Bangkok, Thailand. We were able to somewhat settle into the Thailand culture the couple of days we stayed at the Bangkok Y.W.A.M. base. But it wasn’t long after our arrival that we caught a 10 hour night bus to Chiang Mai, Thailand.  And here we are!

We have been here a week now. We are so honored to be working with a ministry know as Lighthouse In Action. The week that we have been involved in the ministry definitely needs a blog all of its own, which I will be posting soon! Pinky promise!

The Lord has shown us how to lay our expectations down at His feet. He has shown us just how much greater His plans are for us than our own expectations. Our keyword these days has been flexibility! I have been stretched and broken these last few weeks, but completely encouraged and filled up at the same time. Our God is so good and so worthy of praise! No matter the location or the work I am doing, He alone is worthy and only he can fill your heart with everlasting abundance.

“I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness;
I will take you by the hand and keep you;
I will give you as a covenant for the people,
a light for the nations,
7 to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness.
8 I am the LORD; that is my name;
my glory I give to no other,

Isaiah 42:6-8

Until next time, enjoy the photos! =)

Last days in Herrnhut snow!

In the attic repacking for Thailand!

The one and only Jessie Tyree and I sporting the traveling fedoras. Waiting on our bus to Chiang Mai.

Market in Bangkok. A bit of culture shock watching your food being killed right in front of you. yum!

My favorite drink from the land of Thai =) 

Downtown Bangkok!

Traveling to the bus station! Song Tau is the only way to go.

Scenery from the Song Tau.

My first authentic chicken fried rice in Thailand. If you know me, I am in heaven on earth.

Motorbikes are the way to go in Thailand. Unfortunately they're off limits to us =( 

Our home in Bangkok.

First ever Song Tau ride from the airport in Thailand.

View from the Beijing airport.

Just landed in Beijing.

Agh, the stack of letters my flat mates sent each other off with for the outreach plane ride!

First sleepover in an airport. Munich.

Snapshot on the train.

Christmas musical we witnessed in Dresden.

The ladies praying over families!

Makeshift studio for family portraits!

So, I attempted to get a little creative. haha

Waiting at the bus station to finally leave Herrnhut!!

Our home in Chiang Mai.

Saying goodbye to Bangkok.

Traffic in Bangkok.

Our view from the church we stayed at in Dresden.

Anna, the adorable little girl of our contact in Dresden. Face paint from the Christmas party we helped with.