In Thailand! End of week one

Hello everyone,

Apologies for my lack of frequency in updates. Now that I am in Thailand however I hope to be making an update for you every week. To start from the top, myself and the team have been here since Sunday, June 20th, so for 9 days now. All flights went smoothly getting here and none of us felt too jet-lagged. The first 2 1/2 days were spent in Bangkok at the OMF Bangkok Mission Home which is a small complex that serves as a sort of national headquarters for their mission work in Thailand. While there we got to explore Bangkok, experience some Thai culture, eat our first bit of street food, and learn how to live with the heat/humidity.With the help of some OMF missionaries we toured the Thai Royal Palace, where we saw large Buddhist temples filled with golden statues of Buddha, along with hundreds and thousands of gold ornaments and decorations. The Thai people bowed down to worship the Buddha statue, in hope of making merit for another life. All of this served as a sobering reminder of the Thai peoples need for Jesus and gave me a very distinct picture of outward idols that are still worshiped in a very real way today.

The next 3 1/2 days were spent at a hotel where OMF was hosting their annual conference for all of their Thailand missionaries. While there, myself and the team got to take part in providing child care for about 110 kids from age 0-18. I had the privilege to take care of sixteen 6-7 years olds along with two others. The experience was a great learning one for me (I'm not the best with 1st graders =) ) and it was a great blessing to be able to meet and talk to so many missionaries who came from all parts of the world and many of whom had been faithfully serving the Lord in Thailand for decades.

On Sunday night we arrived in our condotel, where we will be staying for the next 6 weeks. The first thing we did was go to the local church we will be working with which is only a half block away. At first glance the church looked like a restaurant as it was simply a small hole-in-the-wall type place along the street, however upstairs there were chairs for about 30 and a pulpit to preach from (we will be significantly adding to the size of the congregation). The Thai church members here have been a huge blessing, helping us get settled in, showing us how to use local transportation, and showing us around the poor areas where we will be ministering. It is a great privilege to be able to come here and to witness to the Thai people about Jesus, many of them not knowing a thing about the gospel. In closing, please pray for

Reny-a Buddhist monk who we talked to for about 30 minutes at the palace. In his mind Jesus was a good teacher who's moral teachings should be added to those of the Buddha, in order to garner greater knowledge.

Physical health-our team has had some slight trouble adjusting to the food here in SE Asia, and one of our members had to stay back today due to stomach problems.

Boldness with the gospel-The Word tells us that the gospel is the power of salvation to everyone who believes. There can be no greater message, please pray for us to be bold, joyful, and faithful in sharing the gospel with the Thai people whom we meet.

Teamwork and love-Please pray for our team, that we will all have grace and patience with another. Jesus' disciples are to be known by the way they love one another, and this has potential to be perhaps one of our most powerful testimonies to the gospel in Thailand.

Thanks so much, thanking God for all of you,

Erik

Get Ready, Get Set.......

Hello everyone,
So I've just returned from OMF's pre-field training in Colorado and it was amazing! While there I met my team along with many other participants who are going to different countries with OMF this summer on trips like my own. Here is a picture of my team at one of our "team times" at night where we had a chance to share testimonies and discuss fears and expectations of our coming trip.

While in Colorado I was also able to meet many former missionaries and learn so much from great conversations with people who are passionately pursuing God. On top of that I was very blessed to hear great teachings with titles like "The Story of God's Glory" and "God's Passionate Pursuit of East Asia". As a whole the weekend was very humbling and reminded me just how big and great God is and how much He loves people all over the world. As I get ready to leave in a couple of weeks I would ask for much prayer for myself and the whole team, as this trip will be a huge of experience for all of us. Thanks so much for reading and here are a few other pictures of gorgeous Colorado.

The beautiful retreat center we stayed at.

Prayer

Hello everyone,

So I have just returned from USC InterVarsity's summer conference on Catalina Island for the past week. After a great study on Philippians, I am excited to be off to Colorado for pre-field training for Thailand this Friday! While at Catalina however, I often overlooked my prayers for this summer and for support as I was very busy. Lo and behold, my support last week flat-lined. This has further caused me to realize how much more I need to depend on God, without whom nothing is possible. I thank Him for that little kick in the butt and for the reminder to "not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Phil 4: 6-7)

The political situation in Thailand has also become somewhat unstable of late, and so I would ask for your prayers for stability in the government there, and for grace for our team to be equipped to deal with whatever comes our way. Thank you for continued support and prayers!

Here is a short video on how prayer causes things to happen.

Trust

Hello! If you are reading this thanks so much for checking out my blog and being interested in my summer in Thailand. On Monday I finally finished up addressing/packaging/stamping all of my prayer/support letters. All together the process took most of my Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and was fairly exhausting mentally and physically. While I never expected it to take this long I am glad that it is finally done. Here is a picture of my little envelope addressing station I set up in my living room.

Now that I am actually done with my letters however things have started to feel a bit funny. I have realized that at least at the moment there isn't much more I can do to make sure I receive all of my financial support for the summer. I simply sent the letters out, and now I get to wait and trust that God will provide. On some levels this makes me nervous, and I wish I could say that there isn't a part of me that is afraid but there is. Because of that I am sure that God is going to use this experience to increase my dependence on Him and to increase my faith in His provisions. Thanks so much for taking the time to check out my blog, and may God grant us all the grace to trust in Him more!


God is God. Because He is God, He is worthy of my trust and obedience. I will find rest nowhere but in His holy will, a will that is unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what He is up to. 

-Elisabeth Elliot