Today, I wore a poncho...

We were supposed to be going to Patong today to do a prayer walk during the day time for all the people we meet and then head back out there at night to the bars. Since it is the rainy season, it obviously rains a lot. We grabbed a few umbrellas, and of course I got stuck with the poncho. Clearly made for a Thai person, not your average sized American. It did at least have a clear square on my left wrist so if I was wearing a watch I would be able to see the time.

It wasn't really raining when we left the house, but then began to DOWN POUR on our walk.

We headed, well ran, back to the house. I started this post, and then the rain let up so we headed to Patong by tuk tuk.

We've been going down there to walk around the streets and just pray. The bars are always empty during the day, and so we pray for the women that we met the night before. The evilness is so thick in that place. It's scary and intimidating. But our God has given us FULL authority over all evil and any enemies we have.

My team and I have learned so much from God while being here.

The bible has never been more real to me, and my team, than it is now. Psalm 27 has been holding a huge place in our hearts.

"The Lord is my light and my salvation-so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble? When evil people come to devour me, when my enemies and foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. Though a might army surrounds me, my heart will not be afraid. Even if I am attacked, I will remain confident. The one thing I ask of the Lord- the thing I seek most- is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord's perfections and meditating in his Temple. For he will conceal me there when troubles come; he will hide me in his sanctuary. He will place me out of reach on a high rock. Then I will hold my head high above my enemies who surround me. At his sanctuary I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy, singing and praising the Lord with music. Hear me as I pray, O Lord. Be merciful and answer me! My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.” And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.” Do not turn your back on me. Do not reject your servant in anger. You have always been my helper. Don’t leave me now; don’t abandon me, O God of my salvation! Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close. Teach me how to live, O Lord. Lead me along the right path, for my enemies are waiting for me. Do not let me fall into their hands. For they accuse me of things I’ve never done; with every breath they threaten me with violence. Yet I am confident I will see the Lord’s goodness while I am here in the land of the living. Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord."

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Glory to his name. I love you Yahweh.

I really dislike ants...

Hello all, if you're reading this, then you obviously know that I had a different one.

It got to be too hard and confusing to post stuff on the old one, so I created this one just for me. You can still go to the other one to see what my teammates are saying, but I will not be posting on it. Besides, I hadn't written on it since we found out our trip was going to be delayed.

It's 11:12pm and 73 degrees. We don't have a/c, so fans have become my best friends haha.

I'm currently sitting on my bed updating everyone on my well being, listening to some worship music, and asking God to prepare my heart and spirit for the things yet to come.

Since it has been forever since my last update here is a brief overview of the things that have hapened.

Wednesday morning I flew out of Kansas City and landed in Houston. Our plane arrived late into Houston, and as it was we only had a 30 minute layover. When we landed it turned into 20 minutes to get from gate B to gate E. Let me tell you, haha wasn't aware that I would need my inhaler because I was running a race. We did make our flight that was headed to Tokyo, but we were the last 3 people on the plane. That was a close call and super intense.

On all of our flights, my team and I did not get to sit together because our flights were booked one at a time based on airports and travel time. That was a bummer at first but turned into a huge blessing, for me anyways. I met THE coolest people on my flights. I went from the smallest plane I'd ever been on, to the largest plane I'd ever been on in like 2 hours. It was crazy!

On my flight to Houston I met this lady named Major Mom. (Not her real name of course, but that's what she wanted me to call her haha) She is 57 years old and quite the interesting woman. From the start I knew this ride would be cool because Major Mom was not like anyone I had ever met. For starters, she is blind. She is super talkative, and loves her country.

She told me her whole life story and I am so blessed to have heard it. M.M. (as I'll call her, too long to keep typing out) was in the Army until 1988 when an accident left her without her sight.

M.M. was a major in the Army and was well known by a lot of people. She was in on a lot of top secret missions and on the night she lost her sight, she was preparing to leave for a mission.

She told me all of this in full detail, not leaving a thing out.

She always kept a loaded 38 pistol under her pillow for security reasons. It was 4:30am and someone was knocking at her door. She said that she had a peephole and clearly knew the person because she opened the door. She said that she was then pushed back to her bed and the person grabbed her gun and held it to her left temple and told M.M. to tell them everything she knew of they were going to kill her. She said "You're not getting a word outta me!" So they shot her. The bullet went through her left temple out her right. She laid on the floor in a pool of her blood for 9 hours, waiting for someone to find her. NINE HOURS! She got pretty intense telling me this whole story. She didn't have any brain damage, just lost her sight. She keeps beating herself up though because to this day, she still can't remember who it was that came to her door. She was the coolest older woman I think I've ever met.

Alright almost midnight, headed to bed. I'll update some more late. Hopefully soon I get to the stuff that's actually happening. :)

The Lord is so good to me and my team. Thank you for all of your constant prayers. Everyone is so encouraging and I am so thankful and blessed to have a group of friends and family like you guys.

Without you, this trip would not be happening.