Whew.

So today...
It's real hot. Wow. Maybe the hottest day yet. We've been in our new home now for about 5 days.

My house is so cute. It's tiny -glorified dorm room really- but way above what I had expected. No kitchen, and a three-in-one bathroom...about the size of your coffee table. Still, my home is much above the average living conditions in my town- which I have really mixed feelings about (mostly negative, except the selfish ones that make me glad that I'm comfortable). It is on a hillside overlooking a banana plantation. I have two house lizards, one anole and one gecko. The gecko's tail looks like the Wicked Witch of the West's tights. It gives me the creeps...but it has cute little suction cup fingers and toes!

On Saturday and Sunday we went to the village that our team works in. It doesn't look like it at all but it's bigger than Central Lake - about 1,900 people live there. They have a really iffy water supply now but our team is working on a water supply project that should finish at the end of this month. It's really cool how the program is set up, Mercy Teams International (our organization) is basically loaning them the money to put it in, and they will slowly pay it back, giving them ownership over this huge project.

There is also a medical clinic, school, and children's home in this village that our team help run. This village is where I will be working. I'll be landscaping the school grounds with help from some of the older boys in the school. I'll be teaching them a little about agriculture through this landscape project. I'll also be teaching a few classes on agriculture.

My project is very overwhelming and intimidating. The area I'll be landscaping is a huge mound of dry, cracked clay, there isn't much extra water, and all the plants are foreign to me! But I was reading in Matthew this morning - the story of Jesus feeding the crowd of five thousand with just five fish and five loaves of bread - and I decided I might only have five-fish-worth of horticulture knowledge, but God will use that five-fish knowledge and multiply it enough to do the job, just as he multiplied the fish to feed the crowd. If I commit myself to Him and give Him my five-fish-knowledge, I know that something amazing will happen...and it probably will be nothing like what I expect, but way better!

Bangkok

We spent about 12 hours in Bangkok - collecting last minute things (coffee!), enjoying some pad thai, and taking a side trip to one of Thailand's biggest red light districts. In this one area, about the size of a city block there are over 4,000 prostitutes - keep in mind that the ones that were counted were the ones that could be seen. Many, many more women are kept in hiding, literally locked up in cages. And it's not just women, but also many young girls - as young as four years old.

Yes, some of these women have chosen to go into the business, but many have been sold into it at a young age (sometimes under false pretenses), and even stolen from their families and taken into these places. The majority of the women are unable to get out, they are indebted to their pimp and unable to repay their debt.

So obviously, even after all of the stories I've heard from friends who have been there, books I've read, and photos I've seen - this was really eye opening. We went in to pray for the area and simply to educate ourselves - to help make sex slavery real to us. Not just stories we read or photos we see, but real. The best part of the night was that we ended up staying with a Jesus-loving family who's whole life is devoted to giving these women an alternative. Giving them somewhere to go if they choose to (and are able to) leave. Teaching them practical skills and helping them get to a place where they can live on their own. But this is just a start...

We're flying out to Bangkok this morning! We will arrive to our new home tomorrow night, after a seven hour bus ride. Hope you all are well and I'll post another message as soon as I have the internet!

Singapore

Well, I've made it. I've been in Singapore for a few days now, after visiting my cousin in Japan. We had an amazing time - he took me all over Tokyo and up into the mountains to a volcano and a hot spring! The best part was hanging out with him and his girlfriend, Sachiko - they were great hosts and even better company.

Now I'm in Singapore for orientation. I'm staying with a fantastic host family. My host parents are my favorite part of Singapore. They are so funny and very welcoming. I feel completely at home. Plus, there is a built in espresso machine in the kitchen. What a great idea. And we've had some great food, the best being coconuts filled with vanilla ice cream!

Orientation is going well. We've been talking about safety, finances, the different places we each are working, and just generally about living amongst the poor.

It's already almost midnight here so I'd better hit it! I just wanted you all to know that I am alive and I am well!

I just finished packing...and everything fit! I thought it was probably too good to be true, and it was. My bag is about 5 lbs overweight. So I tossed some batteries, a couple books (sniffle), and some other odds and ends out...hopefully it'll be just right.

I'm leaving here (Northern Michigan) in about an hour to stay the night closer to the Detroit airport. I fly out tomorrow morning at 8 am. I fly to Tokyo to spend a couple days with my cousin, who lives there. Please just pray that everything will go smoothly and that the flight will be fairly painless. :) Thank you all for your prayers and support!

Now I'm off for my last snowmobile ride with my pops! I'll be sure to post some photos from Japan!
Bye!

two weeks!

In two weeks, I will begin my journey to southeast Asia. I will be living in border village in Thailand for a little over three months. I'll be teaching farming in an orphanage and working on landscaping the orphanage grounds.

Two nights ago my community group at Barefoot threw a going away party for me. It was great. I was able to say goodbye to some good friends, eat some real tasty Thai food, and share about my trip. I was able to talk about the orphanage and the children I am going to teach.

These children are from a forgotten people group. They aren't allowed to get passports or leave their country, but they also aren't really allowed to stay there. They are an extremely persecuted people. These children have witnessed their parents death because of their ethnicity. They have no one. This is about as much as I know now about these children, but I'm really looking forward to getting to know each of them and learning their stories as well.

Thanks for the prayers so far and please continue to pray for the children, the nations, and my team in SE Asia.