Monday, February 16, 2009

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.

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