If you know me, you know that I don’t really cry a lot. I don’t really know how to do it. I don’t like the snot associated with it. And I especially don’t like when other people see me cry. Ergo, I have not been a very happy camper these past few days. I’ve lived in Chiang Mai, Thailand for the past 2 months. It became my home. The 18 strangers I came with became my family, a sisterhood. I will miss a lot of things about this season of my life… The kids in the slums who demonstrated unconditional joy. The girls working at Zion who joked around with me day...

Two weeks ago my team and I took a four hour ride into rural northern Thailand where the village, Mae Ai is tucked between mountains and rice paddies. When we were first notified that we would be leaving the "comforts" of Chiang Mai, and trading them for mosquito nets and squatty pottys, I naturally panicked. I assumed that the lack of cleanliness, the bugs, the labor and language barrier would all be too much for me (and at some points they were). I made the decision to keep my head down and trudge through, all the while closed off to the experience as a whole. This decision of mine...

 “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”  -Ralph Waldo Emerson After spending a week in the beautiful village of Mai Ai (see above picture) and enjoying a few days of "debriefing" (a fancy word for taking a break from ministry upon passing the halfway point of the trip to ride elephants, go bamboo rafting, and eat way too much pizza), we began normal life in Chiang Mai again today.  Rumor had it that there was a temple that had "meet a monk" time each day. And honestly,...

searching, meaning, purpose.   These words have been playing on repeat in the tape deck of my mind the past 5 days, to the point that the tape should just about be worn out.   In the red light district of Chiang Mai I see this unending, ever-winding, search.  I see men searching for instant gratification of their own desires, and women searching for a way to provide for their families.  In the Buddhist temples I see devout followers of Buddhism giving up everything they have, searching for something; unknowingly searching for God, and yet thinking Buddha is the answer.    In...

Relationship… Yup you heard it! R-E-L-A-T-I-O-N-S-H-I-P. This word is super important in this ministry! Let me lay it down for you. ·         We have two teams of three that are doing separate jobs within a day (our leader floats between each team). ·         While one team is out prayer walking down Bangla, the other is working on the land. ·         In the evening the prayer walkers then go back to Bangla to bring more of God’s Kingdom. The...

Today I am prayer walking at a Buddhist temple near where I live. Here I see where people worship a giant reclining Buddha. There are flowers to offer Buddha everywhere. The sense of incense is intoxicating. Everything is colored in gold. Donation boxes surround the place.   Yet, I stand here reminded of God’s majesty. You see, every time I look out on of the windows I see His creation. I see what He breathed into life. His ocean. His land. His villages. His trees. His flowers. His children. And His mountain that I am standing on.   I am so thankful that I don’t have to...