A few more glimpses...

Prayer walk through poorer part of Ambergris Caye, Belize




















View along the shore by our YWAM base













Scrumptious bugs in the Thai marketplace




















Walking in Bangkok & South Korean meal

And we're leaving Bangkok...

This afternoon we found out we'll be leaving Bangkok tomorrow morning at 6:30 am to catch an 11 hour bus ride up to the northern part of Thailand. We're going to be staying at an orphanage outside of Mae Sot, which borders Burma. For our first half of our outreach we'll be helping out at the orphanage, digging wells, working alongside some schools, and partaking in ministry with some hill tribes. As people have been praying for our outreach they have received words such as "saturate." We are hoping for God to allow us to saturate people with love, joy, and truth.

Since arriving in Thailand we've had some time to rest and adjust to the time change. We are twelve hours ahead of Central Standard Time. We've also been introduced to the "squatty potty." The three rules we were given during our orientation were
1. Do not sit on it.
2. Do not jump on it.
3. Do not put toilet paper in it.

I'll let you figure out why these rules are so important.

Random Info:
-The currency in Thailand is the baht. 1 US dollar = 31 Baht
-We are all LOVING Thai food, and are attempting to master the chopsticks
-It is offensive to touch anyone on the head or to point the bottom of your foot at someone

The beginnings of Outreach...

The past few weeks have been pretty hectic as we've officially transitioned into Outreach Phase. Our first two weeks we spent doing local outreaches on Ambergris Caye, Belize. We had opportunities to teach Sunday school, lead youth group and Bible studies, tutor at the local school, and help out with manual labor at our YWAM base and at our neighbor's small grocery store. I think we all appreciated being able to spend some time reaching out in different ways to local people and ministries.

After our local outreach the "sailing" students and the "diving" students combined to form the "Mexico" team and the "Thailand" team. We have 15 students and 2 staff on our Thailand team. On Tuesday we left the Destination Paradise base to take two different water taxis to get us to the Belize/Mexico border. After crossing the border we took buses and taxis to get to Cancun, Mexico. From Cancun we flew to LA, then to Seoul, South Korea. From Seoul into Bangkok, Thailand. One of our teammates has a family friend who lives in South Korea and was actually able to meet up with us at the airport. We were able to see some of the city, go to the market, and eat a Korean meal before heading back to the airport to catch our next flight. We were all pretty pumped to be able to get out into the city instead of sitting in the airport all day. Little did we know how much of a different climate we were heading into... We left the 90 degree Belize weather in Belize and walked out into the 35 degree South Korean weather! My flip flops didn't do much to keep my toes warm that day. After four days of travel we finally are at our first stop in Thailand. We're staying at another YWAM base for the first few nights to rest and to learn more about the culture.
So, we've officially begun outreach, something we have all been looking forward to. It will be exciting to see what all God has in store for us as we join Him in the ministry He is doing in Thailand.