Passionate Pursuit

     Merry Christmas and Happy New Years! I want to again thank everyone for their love, prayer, support, and encouragement during this time. I am beyond blessed to have such an amazing support system behind me. I am thankful for each and every one of you and all that you have done for me, the things I'm aware of and the things I don't know about, thank you.      I can't believe that my time here is already half way over. In some ways it feels like I've been in Thailand for years and in others it feels like I stepped off the plan just yesterday. My time here so far as been amazing and in some ways indescribable. It has been difficult, emotional, stretching, incredible, and rewarding all at the same time. Being able to come here and serve has been a true blessing. I love being here and I love the people I get the opportunity to serve and work with. I am blessed with beautiful friendships with fellow expats as well as the Thai women I work with in the office. I am const

     Today I was giving a tour to a team that was visiting. We met and I told them about NL; how it was started and what we do and how we reach out to women. We're located in one Bangkok's many red light districts and usually after a tour the visiting team and I will walk to the offices. Often I hear teams express their shock at how out in the open and tolerated exploitation is in these areas. I watch their faces as we pass by various places and people in the middle of the afternoon on a week day. Things that should shock me, but I walk past them every day. Things that maybe they're being exposed to for the first time, but between my short time here and volunteering back in the states things I have known about or I have seen first hand multiple times. Does my heart really break the way it should? Have I become so used to the darkness around me that it doesn't phase me the way it used to?      I remember reading a blog post  from Love146  where they talk about having th

     Just in case you missed it. I finished my month of training with ISM and I am now at my internship. I am so thankful for my amazing month with ISM. I was able to learn so much and grow with an amazing group of people. The likelihood of falling flat on my face without the help of ISM would be much greater than it is now that I was able to spend that time in training and transition. However, I am so happy to finally be at Nightlight working and serving. I serve in the office as an office assistant, but within that role I am blessed to be able to do a number of different things. I do some data entry, work sales, clean the showroom, give tours, attend outreach, I have the opportunity to teach English once a week for some of the women, and I help with whatever else needs to be done.      Some times working in an office or cleaning a room can seem mundane and pointless, but when I truly stop and think about the reality of where I am and what I'm doing I find myself being blown away

     Hi Everyone! Can you believe I've been in Thailand almost three weeks? It's been an amazing time or learning and adjusting so far. I am enjoying the immersion in a totally new culture. Being able to experience a new language, food, and practices is stretching and challenging at time and other times it's exciting and fun; often it's a mixture of all four. Even though they don't have a whole lot with this post I'm throwing in random pictures just so you can see what I've been up to with your own eyes.     There are six of us going through a month of training at Impact School of Missions in preparation for various internships across South East Asia. We have classes and training up until the end of the month; in October we all officially move on to our internships! Our month at ISM consists of classes involving classes on the culture, language, effective ways to minister and serve, culture shock/stress, learning about ourselves, and many more. We explore

     Hello all! I have officially arrived in Bangkok. It was a long ride here but I have finally made it. I wanted to take this time to thank all of you. Thank you for sending me money, for praying for me, encouraging me, and supporting me all around. I wouldn't be here without you. I won't lie being here is nerve wracking and I'm already homesick, but I'm also excited for the things in store and all that I know God is going to do in my time here. You have all made this possible and that's incredible.      Special thanks to everyone who has provided enough cards and letters of encouragement to last me my whole trip. I don't even know everyone that gave Brooke cards to give to me but I am so excited to open them. I know each of them will be divinely timed and I will receive so much from them. I get to open the first one Monday!       Church Family: I want to say thank you to everyone at LWC for being the most incredible and loving church family. I can't bel

     I received my visa for Thailand today. I got it much faster than expected, to be honest I wasn't even sure that I sent off for it in time. I was told that on average it takes a few weeks to be processed but from the day my information landed in their mailbox to my visa landing in mine was exactly one week. Talk about a miracle.      To be honest over the last few months I have completely lost my enthusiasm for this trip. I started thinking about everything that could go wrong. Everything from not raising enough money, to getting lost, to being in danger, etc. I started stressing over everything I still have to do in preparation. I started having to say goodbye to people. How am I going to go six months without seeing my family? How in the world am I going to survive overseas without my best friend? I know relatively no Thai and to make matters worse I can't find my phrase book that I purchased. I hate flying, what if I miss a flight or get lost in the airport. The world

Dear Friends and Family,      I want to take the time to thank all of you for the prayer and support I've received as I prepare for my trip to Thailand. You have been a blessing in my life and I appreciate all of you. I am thankful for the opportunities I've been given to come speak to various people and churches and share my heart and vision for this trip.      Thanks to all of you I have been able to purchase my plane ticket and send in part of my money for my training at Impact School of missions. These are very exciting things and I wouldn't have been able to get this far without your help. I have been given the opportunity to work some of the upcoming missions fundraisers being hosted by my church and will be able to receive a small amount of fund through this avenue.      I am still raising money for overseas health insurance, living expenses, the rest of my tuition for Impact School of Missions, and various items such as luggage, clothes for outreach, etc. T

Hello Friends, So, I'm still fundraising and preparing for Thailand. It's getting closer every day and I am so excited. If you've been interested in helping me prepare for this trip but aren't able to help financially maybe you can help me out with some supplies! I have a list of things I need to get; maybe you have some of these items you're willing to help me out with. Luggage- I have one suitcase and it's really small and not in great shape. I'm packing for 6 months of living so I'm need of some large luggage. Books - I have a list of required reading and I need to obtain and read them is a semi short amount of time. If you have one of these books you would be willing to let me borrow that would be great! When Helping Hurts by Steven Corbett & Brian Fikkert Serving With Eyes Wide Open by David A. Livermore Unearth: Exploring A Land With No Name by Christy Vidrine & Autumn Rogers Buddhism In The Light of Christ by Esther Baker Dream

     I'm now selling shirts as a way to raise money for my trip. These super cool shirts were designed by me and only available through March 23 so make sure and get yours ASAP. If you like them enough to order one talk your friends into purchasing one too. There has to be an order of at least 5 in order for them to be printed so make sure and spread the word. This is a fantastic way to support missions! Check out  the shirts and order a shirt for everyone you know!

     Lately things in life have been rough. I feel like every plan I've had has fallen apart; my personal life is stressful, circumstances overwhelming, and fundraising and Thailand prep have not been going as I had imagined they would be by this point. There are several times since the new year when I've thrown my hands up in the air saying, "I am in over my head I can't do this." I kept focusing on what wasn't happening in my life regarding Thailand and every other situation instead of focusing on who God is and how he's capable of the impossible.     This past Sunday during worship I was praising. As I was singing I began to pray over various people and circumstances in my life. The last song in worship service was Great I Am (which happens to be my favorite. If you've never heard it click  here  and give it a listen.). As I sang this song and begged God to cover and provide, in all the ways I wanted of course, I felt urged to go down to the altar.