In the morning on Saturday November 12th my team and I are leaving debrief at San Juan del Sur in South Western Nicaragua to begin about four days of travel. We are flying from Managua, Nicaragua to Miami, to Los Angeles, to Beijing (leaving Sunday morning), to Bangkok. We are staying a night in Bangkok before making our way to far northern Thailand where we will live for the next two months. Mid-January, ministry will likely change, as the men will be spending a month together and the ladies will be doing ministry directly related to the sex industry. As of this week new ministry teams have been established and two of my teammates are taking over as squad leaders (Mae and Ross). Each team will be living in a different place (9 hours apart). My team's ministry will involve helping a new YWAM (Youth with a Mission) church become established in Chieng Mai as well as outreach to nearby hill tribes. We don't have many details yet, but are excited that God has a plan for us already! My new team is very different from the team I worked with in Nicaragua, but I am excited to dig deep with Anna Few, Micheala Finn (our leader), Haden Hallman and Jake Grant! 

 

     We, as a team, are not intending to use what we have learned in Nicaragua to carry us along in Thailand. We do not intend on giving the same effort that we gave in Nicaragua, although it was good. We are going to push hard, everyday, to continue to refine oursleves and our relationships with God. We are going to give every moment to our Master, that it might be used with purpose, as hard as that means we may work, and as much as that means we may surrender. 

 

     Tonight, during a precious time of squad worship on the beach, Haden spoke up, and his words moved me to speechlessness. I don't even know how to comprehend a big enough amen. He said,

 

"We are not going to just make a difference, the Peace Corps can make a difference, we are going to make a change on people's hearts and it is going to say, 'Jesus.' And we are not just going to go and fix some people's roofs, we are going to build fortresses of our God."

Essentially,

It's go time!

 

So I am excited!

 

Thank you all SO much for your prayers! Please continue to pray for us during this time of dramatic change for: 

 

safe travel, team unity, direction for our ministry as we begin and that the Spirit would fall heavily on Chieng Mai. 

NOTE that this blog was posted at the same time as the previous one, so keep on reading!