Getting to the root of things

I cannot even express to you how crazy this past week hast been. I meant to write this post on Thursday night, but due to extenuating circumstances, I didn't have time! So here I am, pretending it's Thursday night, even though it's really Saturday night, about to rehash an awesome and heart-wrenching few days.

Cory and I had been trying to work out a trip to Masat for awhile with the purpose of going to work with refugees, but it kept not working out. On Sunday night, however, Kim found a ministry in Pattaya called Tamar Center that works with women who are bar girls. Cory called them on Monday, they responded immediately, we asked them if it was too soon to come tomorrow, they said of course we can come, and we prepared to go.

To give you a little bit of background on Pattaya, it is one of the top destinations IN THE WORLD for sex tourism. It used to be a small fishing village, but during the Vietnam War, American soldiers started going there for some rest and relaxation, and from that time forward, Pattaya has more and more become a sex tourism destination. Now, although the registered population is 100,000 people, over 4 MILLION people visit it every year. Most of the women who work the bars in Pattaya are not from that city, but mostly, they are from other villages and cities. A lot of them have children, and their parents pressure them to go to Pattaya to make money and to find a foreign husband. Oftentimes, the girls don't know exactly what goes on in Pattaya, and they think that they'll be able to go, work some, and find a husband, unaware of the fact that they'll have to sell their bodies first in order to do so. Honestly, it's heart-breaking.

On Tuesday morning, Cory and I got on a bus at 10:30, and we rolled into Pattaya around 4:00. In the first hour we were there, I saw more white men than I'd seen in the previous weeks of my trip combined. It was crazy, and so different to be in a tourist destination in comparison to Korat where there are barely any tourists. The songthaew (basically, a taxi made out of a pick-up truck with benches in the back, covered with some type of roof-type thing) we were in that took us to Tamar Center had an advertisement in the back for judgment day May 21, 2011- apparently "the Bible guarantees it," although there are currently only 32 minutes left in May 21 here and I have yet to see any signs of impending judgment.

When we got there at 4:45, we walked into the first floor, where they have their bakery. We met one of the women who helped to found Tamar Center, named Eve. She told us a little bit about the ministry, and even though Tamar Center closed shortly after we got there (at 5:00), she invited us to come to a prayer meeting the next morning at 9 and to come out to the bars the next evening to talk to some of the girls and invite them to the free English classes that Tamar Center offers. We gladly accepted, and parted ways until the next day.

I woke up the next morning at 6:30 to literally THE LOUDEST thunder I have ever heard in my life. It almost made me jump out of my skin. I tried unsuccessfully to go back to sleep, and when I met Cory to try to get back to Tamar Center, we saw that the streets were SUPER flooded. Oh my goodness. It was probably mid-calf, at least. No songthaew routes go past the hotel we stayed at, so we were going to have to walk several blocks to get to the main road by the beach, but one of the women working at the hotel kindly offered to drive us. It was insane, but we got there in time to eat some breakfast at the bakery before the meeting. This picture can't fully show how flooded it was, but it gives you a good idea:

Let me take a pause to tell you more about Tamar Center. Basically, what they do is offer free job training, along with bible study, free housing, and a job, to women who want to find an alternative to working the bars. They train women in card making, jewelry making, hair dressing, computers, coffee making, and baking. They also offer free English classes (you just have to pay 50 baht for the first class, basically, less than two dollars) and free pregnancy tests and pregnancy counseling. To share their ministry with women, they go into bars to invite them to English classes and get to know them, offer promotions at their hair salon, and have banquets for women several times a year. It is an AWESOME ministry.

It was so great to join Tamar Center and other Pattaya ministries for the prayer meeting, and it was encouraging to hear what God is doing in the city! After the meeting, Cory and I just hung out and walked around until 3:30, when we went back to the first building of Tamar Center so someone could take us to the other building to meet up to go into the bars together. The second building is located on Soi 6, described by the staff at Tamar Center as "one of the darkest, saddest, most hopeless bar sections in the city." Most of the bars around are pretty open air, and it's in the open bars that they do ministry so that the pairs of people who go in can look out for the other pairs. The bars on Soi 6, however, are all closed. It's necessary to go through a door to enter, and the windows are all tinted. It was super sketchy. Girls wait outside calling customers to come into the bars. It was probably one of the darkest places I've been in my life. It was my first time in a red light district, and I was overwhelmed. I feel like I'm still processing it. I felt so much compassion for the women I saw. One of the saddest things to me is that these women really just want to be loved, but instead of love, they get used. I wanted to hug every single one of them.

We ended up going into two bars, and I didn't talk much since Cory and the woman who went with us both are pretty good at Thai, and the bar girls are much more comfortable talking in Thai than in English. But it was SO GOOD to just sit down and have a conversation with these women, even though it was hard. I think that so often, these women are treated like objects, not like the precious, beautiful creations that they are.

God used this experience to break my heart, and I know his heart breaks for the city as well. In this city, it is not only acceptable, but it's expected that people go there for sex. To be honest, it makes me want to cry just thinking about it. Sex is supposed to be an expression of love and intimacy within the context of marriage, but instead, it has become a self-gratifying and selfish demand. Now, to be honest, I'm not entirely sure how big of a problem sex trafficking is in Pattaya. I asked, but since Tamar Center doesn't do legal work, they didn't really know either. I know not all women are literally forced into it, but that doesn't take away from the soul-damaging power. My heart's desire is that one day, the women of Pattaya won't be used for sex, but will know that they are treasured, honored, and deeply loved.

Every single person in Pattaya is valuable, and providing the women with a way out is noble and necessary work. Again, my heart breaks for the women who get trapped in the sex industry, and I love that people are finding healing and redemption through God's awesome love! But dealing with the problems in the city is only addressing part of the issue. I must say that now, my heart breaks for the men who go to Pattaya. Within the sex industry, there exists supply and demand, just like any other industry, and if there is no demand, there will be no need for a supply. It's easy to see this as a distant problem, but this is not a problem that is isolated to Pattaya, and I mean that not just in the sense that the sex industry exists in many, many other cities. This is a problem with roots not in Thailand only, but in the Western world. For the most part, the Western world is where the demand is. For this to change, the hearts of the men must change. It's not just the women who are working in the bars who need Jesus, but then men who come to Pattaya need Jesus too.

And with this, here come the prayer requests:

1. Pray for Tamar Center- pray for protection for its workers and that women would come, that God would use Tamar Center to transform lives!

2. Pray for the sex tourists- pray that God would change their hearts.

3. Pray for the city of Pattaya- pray that God would take over the city, and that it would no longer be known as a destination for sex tourism but as a city overwhelmed with God's love.

4. Pray for my last ten days here- pray that God would move!

THANK YOU all for your prayers and support- you are all wonderful, dear people.

That's not fair.

What things in life do we think aren't fair? When we were younger, maybe we thought it wasn't fair that our older siblings got to go places we couldn't, that our siblings got a bigger piece of cake than we did, or that we wanted to play another round in a . That wasn't fair. What kinds of things do we think aren't fair now? Maybe we think it isn't fair that we worked just as hard as our classmates on our paper, yet our classmates got a better grade than we did. A few minutes ago, I googled "things that aren't fair." Some of the things that came up were death, taxes, the fact that most CEOs are tall, the fact that our mothers have better skin than we do, and the fact that packaging makes food taste better.

Today, I went to the slum of Korat, and I found myself saying, THIS ISN'T FAIR. It was so crazy where it was located. We were just driving down a normal street in the city, surrounded by buildings with, I'm sure, both electricity and running water, we turned down a side street, and 30 seconds later, crossed the train tracks into the slum. It consisted of tin shacks, tons of trash on the ground, and people. As we drove, I didn't see a single smile. We went to help a woman with her ministry to children there, and about ten children, probably between the ages of 2 and 6, were there. Some of them didn't even have underwear. But they were adorable. And so much fun to play with. We played games, sang songs, and ran around with the kids, picking them up and swinging them around, for a couple hours.

Oh man, they were so desperate to be loved. They so desperately want someone to care for them, love them, and show them that they are valuable and worth their time. They didn't ask to be born into this situation, and they are almost powerless to get out of it. THIS ISN'T FAIR. And after we were to leave, I was told, the kids were going to go through the trash to try to find things of value. I guess that's what a lot of people do in the slums to find money. When I was their age, I was going to preschool, living in a nice house in suburban Indiana with my sister, my mom, and my dad, who had a secure job. While I also had no control over the situation I was born into, it breaks my heart that there are tons of kids in the world born into poverty.

The woman who works with the children tries to get the girls out around age 12, because if they stay, they are at a high risk for being abused or trafficked into prostitution. THAT ISN'T FAIR. As I was playing with the kids, picking them up, tickling them, and running around, they seemed so carefree. There's nothing wrong with these kids, and they would be just as able to get an education, grow up, and get a job if there were someone to help. But there are few people who want to help them. I guess it's not really heard of for the Thai people to interact with the people who live in the slum. It breaks my heart. Seeing the huge need, I found myself thinking of Psalm 10:

Psalm 10

Why, LORD, do you stand far off?
   Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak,
   who are caught in the schemes he devises.
He boasts about the cravings of his heart;
   he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD.
In his pride the wicked man does not seek him;
   in all his thoughts there is no room for God. 
His ways are always prosperous;
   your laws are rejected by him;
   he sneers at all his enemies.
He says to himself, “Nothing will ever shake me.”
   He swears, “No one will ever do me harm.”
His mouth is full of lies and threats;
   trouble and evil are under his tongue.
He lies in wait near the villages;
   from ambush he murders the innocent.
His eyes watch in secret for his victims;
 like a lion in cover he lies in wait.
He lies in wait to catch the helpless;
   he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net. 
His victims are crushed, they collapse;
   they fall under his strength.
He says to himself, “God will never notice;
   he covers his face and never sees.”
Arise, LORD! Lift up your hand, O God.
   Do not forget the helpless.
Why does the wicked man revile God?
   Why does he say to himself,
   “He won’t call me to account”?
But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted;
   you consider their grief and take it in hand.
The victims commit themselves to you;
   you are the helper of the fatherless.
Break the arm of the wicked man;
   call the evildoer to account for his wickedness
   that would not otherwise be found out.
The LORD is King for ever and ever;
   the nations will perish from his land.
You, LORD, hear the desire of the afflicted;
   you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,
defending the fatherless and the oppressed,
   so that mere earthly mortals
   will never again strike terror.

I'm so thankful for the woman who is doing ministry there. She is incredibly faithful, and her love for God and desire to truly HELP these children is apparent. She's not doing this so that she can feel good about what she's doing. She makes huge sacrifices for these children. She even takes in some of the girls and helps pay for their education when she can get them out. But man, I hope that God raises up more people who care about the poor of Thailand. I know that he cares deeply about all of these children, and I know he WANTS people to intercede for them. As Gary Haugen said, "God has a plan to help bring justice to the world- and that plan is us." When I see this poverty, I think it's a grave injustice, and I wonder, where are the people who want to help? I find myself both wishing I could do more and wishing that the people here would do more. I think I feel a little bit heavy, wondering who will plead the case of the widow and defend the cause of the orphans?

It sounds simple enough- help the poor. But as humans, we're limited. There's only so much we can do, and if we help one cause, there are hundreds if not thousands or other worthy causes that we aren't helping with. How do we decide what cause to help? I think God has placed specific passions in our hearts and gifted us with talents. For me, the thing that FILLS me with righteous anger is human trafficking, specifically sex trafficking. I can't imagine the horror that women who are trafficked into brothels experience on a daily basis. As of right now, I have NO idea how God wants to use that passion in my life, and I suppose only time will tell. In the mean time, I wonder what poverty there is surrounding me in my daily life that I'm ignoring? There may not be slums in Ann Arbor, but there is certainly poverty- both physical and spiritual. I wonder what injustice I'm allowing. It's something I definitely want to think about more. I feel like I'm still processing a lot about what my response to this can be, and with time, hopefully God will show me more of what his heart is and what my role is in furthering justice in the world.

In the meantime, I have some prayer requests for you:

1. Pray for the physical needs of the slums in Thailand. Pray that people are raised up to fight for the people living there, and pray that the eyes of people in Thailand are opened to the reality of the situation.

2. Pray for the spiritual needs of the slums. It is certain that God must move for the situation to change and for the cycle to end.

3. Pray that God would open my eyes to the poverty in Ann Arbor, whether it be spiritual or physical.

That's all I have for now! I look forward to updating you again!

Foodventure: Thailand Edition

I can't really explain my obsession with taking pictures of food. Every time I try something new, I get the urge to take a picture. I think it's in my blood actually, because my sister does the same thing. Whenever we go out to eat at a place with interesting food, one or both of us will inevitably whip out a camera to document it. In the last few days, there have been many food pictures taken. Although nothing has been as "interesting" as a chicken foot, there have been some good finds. To start with, let me tell you- food served in a plastic bag can sometimes be surprisingly delicious. After working at The Centre one day, we went to the university market to grab some dinner. I decided to get sticky rice and some fried chicken and pork on a stick. Oh my goodness. It was sooooo delicious. I can't even describe it. Even though it looked like this before I ate it:

 Also, apparently Thai people eat omelettes a lot. While I got some rice with chicken and vegetables for dinner the other day, Cory got a pork omelette, served over rice. I can't really explain how or why an omelette and rice go well together, but some day soon, I'll have to try it. Maybe that would help to ease my perplexity.

When I got pad thai with chicken, it came served also with tofu. Usually, I think food should come with either tofu or chicken, but maybe the idea is the more protein, the better?

Finally, today, I got food that literally made me cry, and not out of joy because of how tasty it was (although it was pretty good). I've always known that I'm kind of a wimp when it comes to spicy food, but when something is unexpectedly really spicy, it's a little bit embarrassing when your nose starts running and you start to cry. Even though my mouth wasn't burning too much, my body decided to react insanely, and eating my basil chicken made me cry. It came with a fried egg. I'm not sure why, but conveniently, egg yolk (and cucumber) help to ease the burning.

For the last few days, I've been mostly taking Thai lessons, giving English lessons, and hanging out around the house. I LOVE languages, so even though three weeks of Thai lessons will barely even help me to be conversational, it's always fun to me to use that part of my brain and to learn more about how another language works. Honestly, within a few weeks, I'll probably forget nearly all of the Thai I learn, but it's so fun to me! I also love talking to my teacher, Jaew. It's fun to help her with her English when I'm giving an English lesson, but it's even more fun to help her with English during my Thai lesson. I always love to turn the tables on her. As far as teaching English, even if coming here were a total flop from this point forward (which, by the way, "flop" is SO far from what I would use to describe this experience), yesterday would have made it worth it. Teaching English yesterday was really fun, and it was cool to see Not and Jaew conversing and asking me how to say things and learning how to say new things! Part of the lesson gave them a few situations to role-play to practice starting conversations (for example: You are at a party. The food is delicious.") We laughed a lot, and it was fun to see what all they said.

Yesterday, we went to a women's home as well. I don't know too much about the backgrounds of these girls, but some of them were rescued out of abuse, trafficking, or addiction. We just went to hang out with them, do a craft, and sing some songs. To prepare for the craft, Cory, Kim, and I spent a few hours cutting cardstock that the girls could use to make pictures frames. My thumb is literally still numb two days later from cutting for so long! But in the end, it was totally worth it. It was fun to walk around and see how the girls were doing with the craft, helping where I could, and interacting with them in any way I could. In spending time with them, it broke my heart to see how much they just wanted to be loved. I wish I could have gotten to know them. I wish I could learn their stories, laugh with them, cry with them, and ultimately, just share with them that they are valuable, to me and infinitely more so to God. I had no way to communicate with the women, since I have minimal knowledge of Thai. But I offered what I could- help with the craft, smiling, hugs, holding their hands. I kept thinking about that quote from The Shack about how every time we reach out and touch a life, the world changes, and how with every kindness, God's purposes are more fully accomplished. Those girls may not remember me, and that's ok. I only hope they could see Jesus in me, and that they could see God in the hope and life inside of me.

Anyway, God is definitely doing work in Thailand. I feel like being here and getting to know some missionary families has helped me to understand more of who God is and how he's the same in every country. It's so cool to think that he perfectly understands every person and every culture, and how he's sending people, including people who are natives of the culture, who want to understand the culture and truly get to know and understand the people well, and through that, to share their faith. That's all I have for now, I should probably go to bed since it's 1 AM here. But thank you all for your prayers, and lots of love to you all!

"Same God!"

Yesterday, I went to Thai church for the first time! During the Thai service, I had absolutely no idea what was going on, since the only thing I know in Thai is the greeting. But even Ronald McDonald knows the greeting, as I saw at The Mall where there's a statue of Ronald "wai"-ing (the slight bow with hands in a prayer-like fashion).

At church, Cory translated a little bit for me, but the man who gave the sermon was speaking really really fast, so it was hard to follow. What I did get though was encouraging. It seems like this church actually wants to meet the Thai people where they're at and explain things in a way that makes sense, not just imposing Western ideals and perspectives on the gospel or forcing Christian "religion" on them. The man talking talked a lot about karma, something that can often lead to a sense of hopelessness for Buddhists due to a feeling of being trapped by past sin. Instead, he offered to them relationship with Jesus as an alternative to religion and as a way out of the endless cycle of karma, since Jesus offers us salvation from past, present, and future sins as well as unconditional love and freedom from fear. Obviously, since he knows way more about Thai culture than I do, he put it in a way that the Thai people could relate to, at least I'm assuming, but this is the best picture I can give of it with my limited knowledge.

Throughout the whole service, though, I had the urge to shout "Same God!" but knew that nobody would understand, for two reasons- one, that most people didn't speak English, and two, that nobody else had gone on the South Carolina spring break trip with New Life. But it's true regardless- the same God who's working in America is also working in Thailand. Also, another crazy thought- God speaks every language! We did get some more Thai food at church, topped with plenty of cilantro! Honestly, I have no idea what it was though- I think just rice and some chicken and tofu and vegetables. I also tried some mango and sticky rice! It's funny the things that they eat for dessert here- including corn with sweetened condensed milk and gummy bears.

Today, though, was my first day teaching the English class- or so I thought. Unfortunately, the class got canceled because some students backed out literally at the last minute. I did, however, get to start taking Thai lessons with a Thai woman who works at the Centre, so I'm learning just a little bit! I did end up getting to teach some English though, ironically enough to the woman who is teaching me Thai and her husband. I don't really have any idea what I'm doing, but I think it went well enough for the first day! I was starting to feel a little bit purposeless today, because there hasn't been as much activity as I was expecting. I'm enjoying everything I'm doing, and I love the family I'm staying with, but it's a little bit strange that a lot of things have started to fall through, and I'm really unsure of what God is doing or what he wants to teach me through this.

When I was reading in a book called ¨The Shack" today though, I came across this quote: "If anything matters, then everything matters. Because you are important, everything you do is important. Every time you forgive, the universe changes; every time you reach out and touch a heart or a life, the world changes; with every kindness and service, seen or unseen, my purposes are accomplished and nothing will ever be the same again." It's so true though. I have no idea what God is doing, but because he loves me and because I am important to him, what I do matters, even if I can't see it. So keep praying that God would do work!

One of these things is not like the others...

I'm convinced that I'm the only natural blonde in Thailand. I have yet to see another real blonde. It makes sense, since people in Thailand have naturally brown hair. But it definitely makes me stand out.

These past few days, I've just been taking it pretty slowly. Yesterday, I went into The Centre with Cory, and I got to work on painting the block M that's in one of the classrooms! It's SO awesome, I can't wait to put up some pictures! I love how Michigan can leave its mark even halfway across the globe. After we left The Centre, Cory and one of his daughters took me driving around Korat to see some of the city. We ended up downtown at the monument for Thao Suranari, or Lady Mo, where there was some kind of plant market going on. While we were there, we grabbed some food. It was delicious, with a few minor exceptions..

That thing on top? A chicken's foot. That black thing on the bottom? Congealed chicken blood. Seriously, having the word "congealed" in the name of a food should be enough to signify that it is something you should avoid. Gross. Needless to say, I did not eat either of those things.

As we walking around, we came to some statues for Lady Mo. Just for some background, she is credited with saving the city of Korat from Laotian troops in 1826. She is deeply honored in the city, and her name, "Thao Suranari," means "The Brave Lady." Here are some pictures, one of her leading the charge, and one just of her.

In Thailand, the major religion is Buddhism, but it has taken on large portions of animism, and is also very accepting of other religions or pieces of religions. Because of that, in Thailand, certain people are literally worshiped, including Lady Mo. At her statue, people were praying and giving offerings. Near to the statue, there was a stand set up specifically for people to buy gifts to offer to the statue of Lady Mo. It totally reminded me of when Jesus drives out of the temple people selling offerings, saying that they're turning the temple into a "den of robbers." By selling offerings specifically for the statue so close by, it seems like they're taking advantage of the people going there to find hope and favor. Now, I agree that she is someone to be honored. After all, she was crucial in saving the city of Korat from utter destruction. However, it grieves my soul to see people worshiping another human being and looking to her for hope and favor. Humans are limited, and we aren't strong enough to save ourselves or others from hopelessness on our own. God is unlimited though, and He is strong enough to save the world from hopelessness. Not only this, but He longs to show us His favor and love..how could this undeserved favor and unconditional love even compare to the hope or favor we could hope to gain from another human?

To bring it back up to the surface, today was Saturday, and hence, we spent most of the day just hanging out. I went with the girls to their ballet lessons this morning, and afterward, we came back and all ate lunch together and played a game. Let me tell you- this family LOVES games. And I love games too, so I've thoroughly enjoyed playing games with them! At lunch every day, someone gets to pick a game to play! I've already learned a few new games that I really enjoy, the most recent being "Shadows of Camelot."

I went this evening with Kim and the girls to a HUGE flea market, called Saveone Flea Market. They had basically anything you could think of there, from dogs to power tools to clothes to toothbrushes. Guess what this is:

If you guessed that it's two things of live worms to feed animals, you're right! It was pretty gross. We also saw some other things though, like baby bunny rabbits that they'd dressed up in little dresses. To wrap up, I do have a few prayer requests:

1. Pray for my health- I've had a cold since I've gotten here that I can't seem to kick!

2. Pray for boldness- I'll be teaching the English class mostly by myself and could definitely use some prayer for that since I'm not really sure how to go about teaching!

3. Continue to pray that I would be open to what God wants to do and what He wants to teach me.


On a lighter note, I did manage to find another blonde in Thailand:

Sooooo much better than No Thai

After nearly 48 hours of traveling, I FINALLY arrived in Korat yesterday afternoon. When I arrived at the house, the girls had written me a lovely note, complete with a map of Thailand:

Most of my first day here was spent around the house, except for when we went to "The Mall" (a mall literally called "The Mall") to go grocery shopping. Parking was insane! People are SUPPOSED to double park! The people that park not in parking spots leave their cars in neutral and security guards walk around and push the cars around so that people can get out. Since I don't have to deal with that every time I go to the mall, I mostly found it humorous. I wish I had taken a picture so I could fully communicate the insanity.

I tried my best last night to stay awake until a normal time so I could try to beat the jet lag. I was exhausted yesterday even on the bus ride back to Korat from Bangkok (12pm to 3pm...definitely NOT bed time) but somehow managed to stay awake until 11 last night and slept until about 9 am today, ready for my first full day in Korat!

There wasn't a ton of activity until the afternoon, when I went into The Centre for the first time with Cory. There aren't any students this week because all of the universities are on holiday, so The Centre took a break. I did get to meet the rest of the staff at The Centre. This one has only been open for a few months (the one in Chiang Mai has been open for 16 years!), so they're working on establishing themselves still and there are only 4 staff members. Side note- recently, a team of staff from Ohio State was here and they painted one of the rooms at The Centre with a block M. Awesome.  Anyway, the staff just gave me a small orientation about Thai culture and religion and I got introduced to the curriculum for the English classes. I'll be teaching a class of 3 students starting on Monday. It's funny, because one of my students will be the woman from whom I am getting Thai lessons (5 hours a week!).

I'm definitely still getting into the swing of things. I did, however, try real Thai food for the first time today. Oh my goodness. SOOOOOO much better than No Thai. I'm not longer worried about becoming addicted to No Thai this summer because it just won't even compare. I had fried rice, and let me tell you, I had no idea something so simple could be this good. I even took a picture of it:

The restaurant we ate in was a typical Thai restaurant, open-air essentially covered by tarps. I took a few pictures of it as well:

Notice the 7-11 in the background. They're all over in Thailand. Who would have thought?? Keep praying for me, and I can't wait to share with you more of what God does this month!

It's Tuesday...I think?

I just arrived in Japan about half an hour ago, and pretty soon I'll be boarding my flight to Bangkok! Even before I've arrived, my internal clock is messed up. I think it's Tuesday, or at least that's what my computer is telling me, but it's also still set on Michigan/Indiana time, so it says 4:12 AM even though (I think) it's 5:12 PM.

After discovering this morning (or yesterday morning?) that my bags were a total of ten pounds overweight, and then proceeding to rearrange that ten extra pounds into my carry-on bags, I left my house around 7:30 AM, and I've been going ever since. Nothing really exciting has happened yet. Did you know that you have to pay for the internet though? I'm online with a price- $6! Crazy. But, I wanted to give you all a quick update.

I should be in Bangkok in about 7 hours. Keep praying for safe travels (although you're probably all sleeping right now!) I appreciate all of your prayers so far! I'm getting more excited than nervous. I still don't really know what to expect, so I guess I have nothing to be worried about. By the time I arrive in Korat, it will be Wednesday, but I honestly have no idea what time it will be at home. Probably Wednesday morning. Who knows! Lots of love to you all!