AIM is sending teams to the border of Haiti on Wednesday and Thursday.  We will be helping out in the hospitals and camps as thousands of refugees flood the Dominican Republic.  Here's the latest from what we've heard on the ground:

People are still being rescued - Daniel Woolley, of Compassion International, is rescued from the Montana Hotel, where he spent 65 hours pinned under rubble. Touching his face is Mondesir Luckson, a bellboy who was also trapped in the ruins and with whom he was able to communicate.

Thousands, however, are still trapped and may not survive.  

 

And in the midst of all this, the tenacity of many's faith, is being shown.    While the earthquake demolished their church, these Haitians simply met in a nearby park.  Watch the CNN video for that at the bottom.  "One reporter seemed almost incredulous at the faith he had encountered.  "Everyone we've spoken to - they're not questioning God; they're thanking God."  You can read the full article at Ron Hutchcraft's blog. 

 

 

As we posted earlier, Miguel encountered a school where a thousand children died when it collapsed last Thursday.  If you haven't gotten a chance to watch the video, you may do so at the bottom of this blog.

 

Please pray for Marcia Borg and her son Sam as they touch down on Wednesday.  The World Race Alum group touches down on Thursday.  We will keep you apprised in real time as information comes through.

Funds are still greatly needed.  If you'd like to continue to give, you may do so here.

 

 

By this time it's no surprise that Haiti was hit with a 7.0 magnitude earthquake last night, one of the worst earthquakes that the country has experienced in decades. Many people have been asking how they can help. Thankfully, AIM missionaries Miguel and Kristen Shaul are on the field in the Dominican Republic right now and are headed to Haiti as soon as possible to begin providing some much needed relief and help to the country. Here is the latest from the Shauls:

How you can help:

Click here to give a tax-deductible financial gift for the purchase of supplies needed for first response (food, blankets, shelters, basic health care, etc.).

 

Continue to pray over the country of Haiti, over the ministry that we're establishing down there, and for physical and spiritual restoration.

 

I just found out about this today as I have been online, but wanted to make my blog community aware, too.  The sale and exploitation of people is some of the worst evil that the Enemy and human beings are capaeble of, and it is an injustice that grieves our Father's heart immensely. 

 

Below are excerpts from an email sent by a former co-worker who is now on the front lines of ministry to exploited children in Cambodia.  So, as you go about your normal routine today, let us be aware of the reality that millions of women and children find themselves in at this very moment.  Please take a few minutes to read these stories below and ask God what your response should be.  Our prayers matter.  Our hearts toward injustice matter.

 

 

I am sitting by the window in the quiet of my friends' cute little house here in Redding, CA.  From my perch, I can see the angora goats and chickens coming out for their morning feed.  I smile as I look around at the little farm my friends have created, take a deep breath and slowly exhale, feeling months of tension begin to lift.  I am thankful to be here.

 

the backyard of my home for the next month.        Freddie, one of the critters on the farm.       

3.) Seeking my next steps.  While this is the last place I wanted to find myself in, I have confidence that I have a good Father who has good plans for this life of mine.  I just want to position myself in a place to hear Him clearly.  And walk in a place of confidence and obedience, no matter what that thing is.  Even if it means leaving full time ministry for a while.  My friends living out here are attending a ministry school at Bethel Church. It is a place full of hungry people seeking after the face of God and expecting Him to move in the fullness of everything He is.  And some pretty amazing things happen.  I can't think of a better atmosphere to immerse myself in as I press into these questions.

 

 

 Please, I covet your prayers..  This is not a time I am taking lightly or as a vacation.  I see it as a threshold into a new thing God is doing.  Pray that I don't squander a bit of it, but make the most of every opportunity He gives me here.  I appreciate it more than you know.

I am sitting in the Seoul airport (which, by the by, I think is my new favorite.  Free wifi+comfly lounge area for transfers=two thumbs up from this weary international traveler), waiting for my connecting flight to ATL.  My final days in Bangkok went from slight chaos to quiet mundane, most of it spent holed up in my new friend Liz's apartment, watching copious amounts of ER on DVD.  Not really going out with a bang or trumpet of farewell, but somehow I perferred it that way.  I have never been great at ending things.  Slipping out seems to be my forte'.

 

I did have a sweet send off from my Well peeps, complete with encouraging words, prayer, and of course Mister Donut (the official good-bye treat of Thailand).  The kiddos were especially sweet to me the entire day, coming up and giving lots of hugs and kisses.  I will miss all their dear faces.

 

 

 So, here I go: back to the land of red GA clay, free refills on my drinks, and not throwing my toliet paper in the trashcan (even though I am sure I will the first few days).  Honestly, I don't think I have ever been this excited to come back from overseas.  I am ready to help my mom decorate for Christmas and play with my niece and nephews.  Excited to spend a few days before Christmas in FL with my sister, and head out for some personal respite with some dear friends and the little farm they have created in Northern Cali at the New Year.  Anticipating some space, some time: to reflect, to ask questions that had a hard time forming these past months.  I definitely need a debrief of the last few months, and look forward to a spacious place with the Lord to do so.  Look for more blogs along those lines to come.

 

But, until then, I will sleep off my jet lag, hug people's necks I have not seen in months, and eat some Chick-fil A.  Thank you for taking this journey with me-through finances, support, prayer, long distance skype convos, or any combo in between.  I'll see you all on the other side of the international date line :)

"E" hadn't been around the last couple of times we hung out at her bar, so I was glad to see her the other day as we approached Sheba's in Soi Cowboy.  I immediately noticed she was in street clothes, and had no make-up on, making her look even younger and more fragile than usual.  She was sitting and eating food with two white guys.  She jumped up when she saw us and ran over to give hugs.  "You look different", I smiled and said to her.  "I am not working here tonight", she replied.  "You aren't supposed to come into work on your day off", I joked with her.  She gestured to the guys still sitting and eating.  She said she had been with them for the last 10 days up in Chang Mai.  I then realized that it really wasn't her day off.  She had been "working" for the last 10 days.  She said she had been having lots of fun traveling around with them, and did not know when she would be coming back to the bar.  She kept glancing over her shoulder back to them as she talked to us.  One in particular seemed to be her main guy.  She referred to him as "my customer".  After a few minutes she had to get back to him, but said she would come back.  Nikki and I sat there, quietly discussing the situation.  The guys had Australian accents and looked to be around early forties.  E kept looking over at us, smiling, looking like she would rather be hanging out with us.  After a little while, since the bar was mostly empty except for them, we decided to head to another bar we frequent. 

 

We caught E's eye and said we were heading out.  She came over for more hugs.  The man she called her customer approached us smiling, and introduced himself.  We ended up talking to him for about 30 minutes.  At first he told us he was a doctor, working with orphanages along the Burmese border.  Later it was brought up he was in the Australian army.  So, and Australian army doctor? Not sure..

 He was very interested in the work we were doing with the bar women, and said he was wanting to help women get out of here as well.  I kept glancing down at his left hand and the wedding band on his third finger.  When I asked him about it, he said he had never been married, just wears it here at the bars.  I never quite followed his logic.  That was pretty much how the rest of the conversation went: everything he said just didn't add up.  He confessed to us that he had never "had" a Thai girl before, and after spending time with E, he thinks that she is the one. He wants to marry her.  We asked him how long he had known E, and he said two weeks.  We didn't quite know how to respond, saying that, yes,  E was a wonderful girl.  Had he spoken to her about this?  I kept thinking of the word she used to refer to him: customer. Not boyfriend, not potential husband, but customer.  Money. Maybe a ticket out of the life she is currently in.  A warped, twisted version of her knight in shining armor. He looks at her and sees beauty.  Submission (the customer is always right, yeah?). And someone to fill that lonely space in his life.  Whatever these two might be to one another, I can't help but think that love has little to do with it.

 

My roommate here in Bangkok, Nikki, saw E one final time a couple of weeks ago.  It was her last day at the bar.  She was leaving to be with the aussie doctor.  She said he was getting her a job in a hair salon he owns.  (So now he is an Australian army doctor who works with orphans AND owns hair salons? hmmm...)  Nikki told me that E looked her straight in the eye and asked, "Do you think he is a good man?"  Nikki didn't quite know how to respond.  She said she didn't know him well enough to know that.  E was strangely adamant though, saying "Yes, you do know.  Is he a good man?"  It was like she was almost pleading for permission,  blessing, or to be reassured.  Nikki said, "I really don't know. I hope he is."

 

I was sad to have missed saying good-bye to E (my wisdom teeth were taken out that day, and I was unable to go out).  My prayers echo Nikki's.  I do hope, for both of their sakes, that he is a good man.  That God will protect E.  She always wore a cross around her neck, one I think an old customer gave her.  I asked her one night if she knew what it meant, and ended up sharing the gospel with her.  How much of that was lost in broken Thai and English, only God can know-and cultivate as He sees fit.  What the enemy intends for evil, God loves turning around to good-so that He is glorified.  I can only pray for God's goodness in the life of my friend and this man. 

 

 

*pics do not depict any persons mentioned in this blog*

 

I walked into the kitchen area of our Center this morning and found *Nan leaning over the sink, whimpering and sobbing.  She hasn't showed up to work for the past three days and I was concerned about her.   I touch her arm and she flinches, then turns around.  As she shows me the inside of her mouth, I see her back molar is cracked and swollen with infection.  "I want it out" she says to me as she turns back to the sink and I realize I walked up on her trying to pull it out with her bare hands.  Yikes.  I go get Jim and she starts explaining to him more detail in Thai.  We decide that she needs dental attention stat and I offer to take her.  Off we go to catch a song tau down the street to the clinic.  After being examined, Nan is told she cannot have anything done today b/c the infection is too swollen around the tooth.  We get her some pain meds prescribed by the doctor and I think that is it for the day.  But it was only the beginning.

 

Nan's story is incredible, in that horiffic sort of way.  Trafficked into the Chang Mai bar scene at age 12, Nan spent many of her formative years pouring drinks and becoming the object of lust for the western men that frequented her bars.  Before being trafficked, her home scene wasn't the Brady bunch either, from what I can gather.  She has four young children, one fathered by a French boyfriend that is now long gone.  Drug addiction, sketchy boyfriends, and poor health are permanent fixtures in her life.  We want to move her and her children over to Center 1 to live, but are afraid she might have TB and need to get her tested before we expose our other students.  Jim says her story and background is the worst he has encountered after 5 years working with this population.  She is a hard worker, but comes into work late (or not at all) with explanations that just don't add up.  Today, after we were done at the clinic, Nan was told not to come back to work, that she needed to rest and she had no showed the three days prior anyway.  She proceeds to become semi hysterical saying she can't go home, that she owes people money there, and that she has to work today so she could earn that money.  Bea (the Thai woman that is one of the head staff here at the Well) was firm in her stance, but asked me to give her 150 baht so her kids would have food that night.  She could show back up the next day.  I stood outside the dentist office with Nan, uncertain of what to do.  She was pretty inconsolable and adamant about not going home.  She speaks pretty good English, but between the language barrier, her hysteria, and not knowing the whole story, I didn't know what to do.  I finally allowed her to come back to the center with me to talk to Jim.  I left her with him, hoping he could get through to her.  When I returned from lunch, Nan seemed to be  gone.   About an hour later, Jim motioned for me to come outside.  "This would be good for you to observe", he said.

 

I found Nan out under one of our covered benches, looking almost catatonic.  Jim told me she went over to one of our student's houses and pretty much broke down.  Now, she just looked exhausted, sprawled on the bench not responding to anything I said.  I sat with her for awhile, just rubbing her back, praying in the Spirit-words were few at that point.  Jim came and sat down across from us.  "This is exactly why we need a place for some of these girls to go.  To rest, heal, and just be.   Right now, we are just setting her up for failure, because at this point she is not capeable of living up to the expectations we have set for our students.  She needs something more."  "Like a restoration home?" I replied.  "Yeah, I would kill for a place like that.  It is a great need that is just not being met here."

 

I am at this weird place of discovering need, while in the midst trying to decipher what God's intentions of showing me this need is.  Is it for me to pray?  That I can do.  Make others aware? Likely.  Start a restoration home for the most broken women of Thailand? Umm....

 I am asking you to join me in prayer.  For a remnant in the Body to rise up and be Isaiah 61 to Nan and the many, many other women that need time, space and grace to pick up the pieces and be restored.

 

*name has been changed.

 

UPDATE: We ended up giving Nan the 250 baht she said she desperately needed to repay her debt.  She promised to be into work the next day (today).   She has yet to return.  Pray that she will.

 I was jamming out to my ipod today as I took on the monumental task of organizing the work shelves at The Well.  Kim Walker's album came on.  I love her music, mostly for the spontaneity of it.  Half of her songs on this particular album are labeled simply Spontaneous Song 1, 2, etc.  One phrase struck me today and I have been meditating on it.

 

Do you dare look into the eyes of love?

 

I was reminded of the risk we take when we pursue the very heart of God.  A few years ago I was totally smacked in the face with the reality of this risk.  Basically I was at a critical threshold and God was asking "Will you let Me love you in the fullness of who I am?"  Below is a journal entry/blog from 2006 that describes my response. 

 

What is the alternative, though?  Sure, I could run back to my buddy Christ and fling myself into his arms.  I can try to find comfort in that version of Jesus once again.  I am sure he would welcome me back  Maybe I would be comforted for awhile.  But I would know that this Jesus I am clinging to is just my own taylor- made opiate for the masses.  I am just burning more offerings on the altar of idolatry.  That's right.  Idolatry.  It is not some golden calf or wooden statue, but it is not Him in His fullness.  Accepting anything less is not accepting Him.      

Sawadee ka, friends!

 

I have every good intention on writing a blog with more substance soon.  Like tomorrow. Maybe.  But I thought that perhaps some of my blog readers needed a laugh and a brief glimpse into the wacky, confusing thing called Asian culture.  A normal grocery store run for some cheese (which is like gold in Thailand, ps.  You pay dearly for it) resulted in this gem of a sighting.   Somehow, they are still able to look adorable doing it. Could you imagine the workers at the local Piggly Wiggly back in the States pulling this off?

 

Enjoy!