Passionate Pursuit

     When talking to people here and back home I find myself being asked a variation of the same question repeatedly.      "What's your favorite thing about Thailand?"      The wording of the question may vary, but this is by far the question I am asked most frequently. I'm not sure what answer people are expecting when they ask me this. Maybe my favorite place I've visited in Thailand (Ko Samet), my favorite Thai food, mode of transportation, thing to do, etc. The list of what could be my favorite thing about Thailand is never ending. Upon being asked this question my mind usually blanks and I end up saying something rather generic like, "all of it," or "the people."  I have the privilege of being surrounded by amazing people here, it's a beautiful nation, the food is good, public transportation is pretty awesome, and I never run out of things to do. So, these answers are true. I do love the people here and I enjoy most of the aspects...

     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 offic...

     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 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 fin...

     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 fam...

     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 th...