Human trafficking is at epic proportions in southern Asia, and we are glad to come alongside Mark and Christa Crawford as they reach out to women and children trapped in the sex industry in Thailand.  Our team will staff a drop-in center where kids can come in off the streets to a safe and Christ-centered environment, and the women of the team will reach out to prostitutes with love and the good news of Christ.

TUESDAY, JULY 15:

Team Thailand has arrived safely at LAX this morning.  Praise God for a fruitful, yet heartbreaking ministry.  They are tired and need of some rest, but home nonetheless.

MONDAY, JULY 14:

Linda writes:

Back again, already, after some interaction with the kids and a short walk to a nearby massage parlor to visit one of the ladies from our Thursday feast.  Sadly, she was not there, or maybe gladly.  I would have liked to chat with her one last time before leaving.

The rest of Friday was spent with Carol and Michael Hart from Zoe, International.  Zoe, from the Greek letter standing for Life, is an orphanage in Chiang Mai which rescues children who are at risk of being sold.  When a report is made to Zoe about a child, a rescue team goes to the village and assesses the story for truth and researches with the community any other possibility for the care of the child by family.  If there is no family available to care for the child, or if the family member was the one selling the child, the appropriate legal forms are drawn up for Zoe to take the child with them back to Zoe.

We were shown a very compelling video about the rescue of a six year old girl.  She lived in a village two days journey away.  The report was that she was on the market to be sold by a "grandmother."  The story was verified, and the little girl was brought to Zoe.  It is wonderful to realize that all of the happy faces we saw there were once rescued from similar circumstances.  Please pray for these children who are well cared for, educated, and loved.  Nearly all graduate from high school.  Most pursue higher education and many even attend  seminary.

Saturday, most of our team visited Maesa  Elephant  Camp.  We saw many elephants, hundreds, and were even able to have a half hour ride.  We saw  mother and baby elephants in the nursery and then saw an amazing show.  Elephants were shown  working with hauling and pulling huge logs.  They played soccer, made goals, threw darts at balloons, and most surprisingly, they were able  to paint beautiful paintings. That was truly an amazing, relaxing day for all of us.

Sunday, while some went to church at the same one as last week, Chandrika led us in the preparation of an Indian feast.  Tiffany, Erin, Tami, and Linda followed Chandrika's directions, and in a matter of a few hours, the food was ready!  Once again the staff of Garden of Hope came, along with the rest of our team, and we were all delighted with the delicious and extensive meal.  Afterwards our team was able to present special gifts brought from California to the staff.

Today, after breakfast, we had a very emotional team debrief.  Songs were sung, hearts were bared, thoughts were shared, and each of us came away encouraged and affirmed in the decision we made so many months ago to come to Thailand.  We ended by singing the song "We will never be the same again," and I'm sure we won't.

There were so many praises, so many concerns expressed for the women and children, and although we truly wish we could do more to change their circumstances, we will have to leave the results with our powerful God, who knows all of their needs, cares for them in a way that is beyond any love we, in our humanness and weakness, can ever understand.  Please pray that as we return to the ordinary lives we left behind, that each of us will be faithful to share the personal story of our experiences here in Chiang Mai, always praying for the ones God has most put upon our hearts,  and recalling  the blessings we received in serving.

All of Team Thailand join together to thank each of you who have been praying for us and for the needs of those we have come to love.  We thank you for your generosity in supporting us, as well.  Thank you for being a very integral and valuable part of our team.  You are loved and treasured...each of you.

SATURDAY, JULY 12:

Linda writes:

What an amazing week it has been!  So very much accomplished, so many blessings to thank God for!  We have been involved in a whirlwind of purposeful, tightly scheduled activity for the Garden of Hope, Just Food, and outreach to the young women of Chiang Mai.

Tuesday morning found us divided into two teams, culinary and prayer walk.  After our delicious breakfast, the culinary team began the preparations for the next three day's work.  Christa has long envisioned a way of teaching girls involved in prostitution the art of preparing and serving western cuisine.  This would provide them with an alternative to their current lifestyle.  Inspired by Christa's dream, Chandrika, Erin, Tiffiny, Tami, and Linda began the task of planning and shopping for a feast with a "Birthday Party" theme.  What better way to celebrate Tiffiny's birthday on Thursday?  Food and supplies of all sorts were purchased at two unique stores here in Chiang Mai.  One was a baking store with a fairly traditional style of neat aisles, posted prices, and well stocked shelves of familiar items.  The next was an unbelievable, semi-open air bazaar, which totally bombarded all our senses.  It was a feast for our eyes and noses, as we wove in and out of irregularly placed stands and stalls of prepared food, fresh fruits and vegetables of both the ordinary variety, as well as the most unfamiliar sort.  All about us there were people preparing regional favorites on small hibachis and larger grills.  Incredible to behold and far too much to take in on a first visit. 

Both teams came together once again at the Garden of Hope for a fascinating talk about Buddhism and the effect it has on Thai Culture.  It must be very difficult for a Thai person to see the value of our thinking when it is so very different than their own.  This is certainly an important concern to pray about.  Our only really viable expression to draw The Thai Buddhist to the Lord...is our love.  Pray that we would be faithful in this regard.

The center quite literally came to life as the many children began to arrive.  They were welcomed, washed, fed, taught, played with, hugged, and loved.  Language lessons and homework for those enrolled in Thai schools were well completed.  Our team was smiled at, played with, jumped on, and generally worn out until all but a few kids remained.  We were then involved in a short debrief, followed by the short two block walk back to our hotel.  Exhausted, and thoroughly blessed, we fell into bed only after our second, or third, shower for the long hot day.  Thanking our faithful Lord for the joy of serving and loving our ministry friends and the beautiful Thai children.  God is good.

Wednesday morning, breakfast, the same, and once again, the split into two teams.  Our prayer walkers' prayers are most assuredly effective.  Expecting three girls to participate in the culinary classes, asking God for six, we ended up with nine.  Amazing, and yet so like our God to give us more than we could ever think or ask.  Classes went well, we accomplished much and got to know the girls.  Such sweet and lovely spirits...so teachable and not at all hard in their heart.  After they left, the team remained for several more hours, finishing the preparations for the big day.  Too tuckered out to join the others at the Garden, we returned to Vipa House.  Meanwhile the other team members, Ed, Jason, Sonya, Cindy, and Abby literally "held down the fort" at the center.  They were quite exhausted themselves after all they had done on prayer walk, and then a full evening of raucous interaction with the kids.  There were more than forty kids that night.  All ten of us slept like logs.

It is now 1:30 am Chiang Mai time.  Must get some sleep.  Our Vipa House host awaits my exit from Internet connection so he can retire also.  Thanking God for energy, joy, kids, and His faithful care every day.  Asking Him for sustained strength, and the eyes of our hearts, and their hearts, to be open.  Praising Him for giving us this incredible opportunity.  Thanking you for your prayers and your sweet support.  

Sonya and Linda write:

We divided into two teams yesterday, one to discuss the chef training plans for the week and the other to go on a prayer walk around the red light district.  The training team, made up of  Chandrika, Erin, Tiffiny, Tami, Linda and Christa, decided on a theme and which foods to teach our Thai girls how to prepare.  We decided on a birthday theme because it will be Tiffiny's birthday on Thursday, the day of our feast. 

The morning prayer walk team walked through the neighborhood and prayed as led, and though the night time activity was not present the dark and heavy forces were evident.  They prayed at bars, hotels, the medical clinic and the Buddhist temple.

Then we left the city and went some miles out into the more rural area to a place called the Garden.  There we began our instruction in the Thai language.  None of us were especially adept in the multi-tonal Thai language, but we all had a good time. 

It was then that Christa began to share about  prostitution in Thailand.  We all think of prostitution as something that people enter into willingly, but that is far from the case here.  Poverty drives families into such desperate circumstances that they we will do unthinkable things to survive.  There are no other options for some.  It is such a sad situation.  We were all grieved as we watched a video about young Burmese girls' true stories of how they made their desperate decision to become prostitutes in Thailand.  The heaviness of their stories showed us their deep, deep sorrow over their life. 

Thanks for all your prayers as we serve God in this needy place.

SUNDAY, JULY 6:

Abby and Linda write:

We arrived in Chiang Mai at 11:50 pm on July 4th.  None of our flights were delayed and all of our connections were made. Korean Airlines was a wonderful experience.  The food provided was great, and the service was polite and attentive.  After customs, we met up with Tami, who arrived on an earlier flight.  Everyone is healthy and we are all happy now that we are here. 

We arrived at Vipa House about 1am on the 5th and found our accommodations were very nice.  While most everyone went immediately to their rooms, three of us accompanied Christa Crawford (our missionary from Garden of Hope) on a short walk through the neighborhood.  Sonya, Linda and Tiffiny saw a bit of the night life and were rewarded with a sighting of a small elephant being ridden down the street.  They were all amazed.

Immediately after breakfast the next day, we walked about two miles to another very fancy hotel for a Cordon Bleu cooking presentation.  We were invited because of Garden of Hope's plan to educate women in the food industry.   

We rode one of the local red taxis to our next destination (think a covered pickup truck bed with bench seats and an open back).   It was an adventure in itself.  Traffic is congested and chaotic, especially with the large number of motor scooters weaving in and out on the narrow roads, sometimes going the wrong way.  Here in Thailand, the direction of traffic is flipped, as in England with the driver's side on the right.  Christa took us to an open air restaurant down on the Mae Ping river, where we discussed our plans for the week.  Christa's husband Mark and their son, Ahm, joined us there and Mark added  insightful information on Thai culture.  Apparently, the Thai people feel that Americans don't bathe frequently enough.  They are offended by body odors, and often bathe several times per day.  He gently encouraged us to do likewise.  Mark and Ahm taught us the Thai greeting (called a wai), which is a joining of the hands in prayer fashion just below the chin, punctuated with a slight bow.

Later that evening, we traveled by van to a cultural dinner-theater event.  We began by removing our shoes and sitting at low tables on the floor with a lowered area beneath the table where are legs were comfortably hidden (sitting like at a regular table but on the floor, nonetheless).  The evening's entertainment began with music being played on Thai instruments.  The musicians were joined by a troupe of dancers who were beautifully robed in traditional Thai costumes.  The dancers often joined us in the audience and posed for pictures.  The dancing was not so much dependent on fast-moving feet as Western dance often does, but rather slow, deliberate poses, using flexed hands and feet.  During the last dance, the dancers solicited audience participation, which Chandrika and Erin were selected for.  They went up on stage and truly seemed to enjoy their adventure in the spotlight.  Afterward, we all returned home for a much-needed night's rest.

Sunday morning we were taken to a local missionary church, where service was conducted in English and we sang familiar worship songs.  The sermon dealt with serving God in His kingdom here on earth.  A recurring idea was embodied in the quote by John Stott, "A person does not become a missionary by crossing the sea, but by seeing the cross." It was very encouraging to all of us.

Our official work with the Drop in Center and Garden will begin tomorrow.  The cooking team (Tiffiny, Erin, Chandrika and others who wish to participate) will meet tomorrow morning for planning the week's activities.  As always, Ed has been an amazing leader for our team.  He keeps Linda from being run over as she walks in the street instead of on the very uneven sidewalks.  He makes sure we all know the schedule and are on time for everything. 

We are thanking God for the cooler weather, the blessings of fellowship with our teammates, and for your faithful prayers as we serve here in Thailand.

Abby called from the airport in Thailand to report that the team arrived safe and sound, and was looking to connect with the Crawfords, our missionary partners. They are eager to begin their ministry over the weekend.