Where has time gone?

This trip has gone by way to fast. We only have 4 more days in Thailand. I am really sad because I really love this country and its amazing people. I have really mixed emotions right now because I want to stay here, but I also want to go because we have the rest of DTS to finish and people to see. I would love to come back here one day.
Our time with the MST project went really well. I honestly enjoyed working with this ministry. Yes, it was hard at times, but all in all it was good. During our last week with the MST two other teams came to join us for a total of 50 people. It was good, but it got crazy at times. Because there were more of us, some were able to go out and do surveys, and the rest of us were in prayer groups.
I wanted to tell you about one of the conversations I had when I went out with MST. A group of us walk 25 min to the next red-light district. It is called Soi Cowboy. Soi Cowboy is a street that is lined with go go girl clubs and bars with love hotels up above. It is a very hard place to be. We were split into our survey groups and I was with Shea (one of the guys in our team). Anyway, we stood there like normal and asked the men walking by if they would like to take an anonymous survey. After a while, a man walked up to us and told us that he would take it. We never got his name but he spoke to us for like 45 mins about everything from prostitution to God to the Olympics. It was a really great conversation. He told us that he was from Canada and he is in the military stationed in Afghanistan. He was here in Thailand on holiday. He informed us that he was only at Soi Cowboy out of curiosity not sexual services, but a lot of men tell us that. One of the coolest parts for me was after we finished our conversation, he walked into Soi Cowboy and about 20 min later he walked out and struck up another conversation with us. I don’t know if anything we talked about changed his plans for the night, but I would like to think it did.
Over this past week, 2 more teams have joined us with the MST Project, which brings our numbers to 50 people! It has been a blessing in a way because our influence is greater, but it is also hard to work alongside people I really don’t know very well. Last night we crammed everyone into Vashi’s Tailor shop and did it in. The floor was already showing a crack but Saturday night something like a sink hole took place and the shop is basically caving in on itself. Not good! The men on our team are worked very hard to fix this crazy problem. They were able to cover the hole with wood but the bigger issue is still there.
On Sunday we went to the market! It was crazy! This market is only open on the weekend and covers 28 acres of land and has over 10,000 vendors! Yes Crazy! It is really fun and I love markets. This was like no other market I have ever been to because it had everything from food, to cute little clothing, to jewelry stores and animals. We went out in groups of 4 and all was good until we lost one of the guys in our group. It was really hard because there was nothing I could do. I miss cell phones! Thankfully, by the grace of God, we all met up right before we got taxis to come home. All in all, it was really fun.
Today we are going to the Island! I am excited! Our entire team is elated! We will only be there for 3 days but they are 3 greatly anticipated days! I don’t know anything about this place, so I don’t know it they have internet; but if they do, I will put up pics then.

Crazy Week

This week has been pretty intense. Along with working with the MST project 5 nights a week, we are also helping the YWAM Thailand base by helping them clean and do a ton of painting! It really has been a blessing to them because painting is very important but they are under staffed and can't do it without help. The first few days I was on touch up painting and painting doors! Now I am going to another office to help paint. It has been fun.
Our schedule has been insane because we have been working about 6 hours a day painting and then a 6 hour night shift with MST! God has been good and given us the strength to push on without getting sick.
Us praying in the tailor shop.
We lost one of our team members last week. :( Lacey's Grandmother went into kidney failure and her mom needed her home. It was very hard to lose Lacey and she has been greatly missed.
For Lacey's last dinner with us we went out for pizza!
On Thursday we went to Cambodia to get visas! It was a pretty long trip but it provided a lot of think time. It was kind of sad for me to get a visa for Cambodia and not be able to actually go in to the country.
Our time here has flown by I am very sad. We only have a week of ministry left and a half a week of a debrief time and then we are off! Before we left Karl told us that there was a possibility for us to have our debrief on an island! When we got here however and found out that we were going to have to make 2 visa runs to two different countries, the island was out of the question. But, God had different plans... a anonymous donor gave our team enough money to cover the rest of our outreach cost as well as our trip to the island!!!!!! We are all pretty excited and very blessed.
As we approach the end of our trip please pray that we continue to press into God and all he has for us in this time rather than just coasting to the end.

MST Project

  This last week has truly been amazing! Monday was my 20th birthday! It is pretty crazy to think that I am no longer a teenager! This was my first birthday without Martha and I missed her. I had a good birthday, plus my friends bought ice cream and sang to me! I felt pretty special. 
  Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we did 12 hour prayer for a ministry called the MST Project. MST stands for Male Sex Tourist or Men involved with the Sex Trade. This is the ministry that we are working with here in Bangkok and it was amazing to start our ministry immersed in prayer. Each team member prayed 6 hours a day. It really was a wonderful time spent with the Lord to begin to get his heart for these men and this ministry. If you would like to know more about the mst project go to:
http://www.mstproject.com/Vision.html 
  This wasn’t the ministry we all were originally planning to work with but, it became evident to our leadership that this was the ministry we were supposed to work with. To be completely honest I was pretty upset when I found out, I wanted to work with the women, they were the ones hurting and trapped not the men, they were just the creepers who keep these girls bound. That is what I thought, but it’s not true, these men are just as hurt and broken as the girls. Plus without the men there is no sex trade. These men are from all over the world and represent broken families and broken lives. Most of them are 35+ and are from Europe and the USA. There are 3 main red light districts in Bangkok and the MST Project works in all 3 but their main focus is Nana Plaza. That is where we have gone. There is a Christian tailor who has a shop right in the area of Nana Plaza, He opens his shop up at night for us to come pray and intercede before going out and while groups are out talking to the men. When we go out we go in groups of 3 with a clipboard and survey sheets. The survey is both a tool to get into conversations with the men as well as to give us a better understanding of who these men are and why they come to the red light district. The survey is anonymous and the questions range from “what country are you from?” to “What are your personal views on prostitution?” So far I have only been out for 1, 1 hour slot and I have spent the rest of the time in the tailor shop praying.