First Experiences in Thailand

I've been in Bangkok for about 10 days so far and it already feels like home. I have my favorite street vendors to go to for fresh smoothies, my preferred 7-11 to hit up, and I'm able to ride the sky train like the best of them.

Rather than go through everything in excruciating detail, I'll simply highlight some of the things that have been going on.

• Visited the Old City and saw a number of buddhist temples and sacred sites
• Went on an outreach at night near the red light district and saw a couple of healing's and salvations and faced a bit of persecution which was more fun than anything
• Seen the largest market in southeast asia, J.J.'s, which is more of a labyrinth than anything
• Eaten some of the most amazing foods I have ever had in my life and burned my mouth in the process
• Worshiped on the top of a skyscraper
• Met with a ministry that helps to relocate girls out of prostitution
• Prayed with lady boys that are employed at a coffee house ministry (lady boys are often men whom either believe they are women trapped in a male body or have been raised by their family to believe that they are a woman)
• Connected with the Iris Ministries team that is currently long-term in Bangkok

For about the past two weeks, God has really been highlighting India to me. As such, I'll be traveling there starting the 19th, so long as my visa all comes back by then. 

At church, I had a man come up to me and invite some of us to come to his village and his wife's village whom there are no christians at and to use his bungalows and motorcycles to travel around these remote tribes and share the good word. Needless to say, reaching the unreached is precisely what I'm wanting to do and am planning on going with a few guys to the Karen people just after our trip to Isan.

Now for some of the fun things that I've been eating of since my last blog post: dog (while the head was looking back at me), pig heart, frog, dragon fruit (which is now one of my favorite foods!), and I'm currently on the lookout for some insects which I've been told will be easy to find once we travel up north.

I'll keep you all posted on more adventures as they come to pass.  Until then, enjoy the pics!

The Village of Peace

Since the last post, a lot has happened but I'll just keep it all short and sweet. The pictures can show some of the story. We helped out at a church service and sang a song in Pohnpeian and performed a skit. We've had two outreaches since then with loads of dancing, singing, hanging out and getting to know the locals. 

We also went to a Village called Peace. All I can say is that it was the most amazing time I've had while here and possibly one of the best weekends of my life. The love that the people showered on us was so humbling. They would wake up at 4 AM after having just gone to bed around 1 in order to make us food. They would pass up eating themselves and would spend all over their money to take care of us. Clothes were given to us as gifts and I have never experienced a sense of family as I did there. All the families lived together and everyone shared everything with one another. It looked as though they had nothing, but they were abundantly rich in things that are priceless. Every person we prayed for was healed including: back pains, swollen limbs that couldn't be moved, a leg grew out, the blind could see, deaf ears were opened, chest pain was taken away, and plenty more that I can't share here. The best part was we had children pray for the majority of the healings.

Side note, we've been having gold dust appear all over the place lately. It's been showing up on people's shirts, computer screens, books, guitars, hands, faces, and I too had it first appear on my hand. What a fun little treat.

Our group welcoming people to church

People receiving the love of God

Lady had her leg healed

This woman couldn't bend her neck until we prayed

Her leg grew out after we prayed and alleviated her hip and back pain

Always a good time for a coconut

Played tag with these kids for awhile 

My adopted brothers 

All the village kids sang to us while we ate

More food than I could handle

Preaching at night where loads of people were filled with joy and healed

Indescribable

The village elder

Our tribe and the village

Our translator and a wonderful leader

After we received our gifts

We had an eating contest of five pancakes. We both defeated the beasts. None others dare to attempt.

I have had such an amazing time down here and within the next 10 days I'll be heading to Bangkok for the next steps.

King of the Mountain

We are men.

I currently have chickens, puppies, kittens, and birds going around me as I type this. *edit - all the time.

My sleeping arrangements

Over the past two weeks we have had a number of speakers and visitors come through. We had Mattheus van der Steen, founder of a number of organizations including Touch, Reach, and Impact the Nations which is in Holland. Jason Lee Jones who is an amazing keyboardist and singer from the states. And this last week we had Steve and Marcy Fish who are pastors from Convergence Church located in Ft. Worth, Texas. The amount of wisdom and knowledge released from all of these people has been overwhelming and I feel full to the brim with intimacy, joy, and a desire to see others released into their destiny. 

One of the nights we had everyone form a tunnel and all of the Pohnpeians go through it while we all prayed for them and spoke different words of encouragement to them. While going through it a number of the people were touched and we saw lots of laughter, people were healed physically, touched on the inside, made a decision to know Jesus, and loads more. 

"Intimacy is the key to unlock the doors of eternity." - Jason Lee Jones

The mountain survival this past weekend was more of a thriving session of seeing the beauty the island has to offer and enjoyed a good hike as well. The first night we hiked to a cave to sleep. However, on the way there, one of our group members had to go back as she was sick and couldn't make it. That made things a little interesting as we had no vehicles nor cell phones. While the guide was hiking back to drop off the sick one, a couple of the locals decided to try and find the trail through the jungle and we  only discovered several hours later that they were lost as the guide tracked them and saw they went the wrong way. Note to all - stick together!!!! I'll get off my soapbox. 

The next day we went up the harder path which took us across the mountain ridges. When we reached the top there were clouds covering the entire view out. We prayed for some parting of the clouds and a couple of minutes later it all opened up and it was gorgeous to see all around the island. 

At night, Ullie and I built a shelter that was different than a couple of the ones that the guide had already built previously. As such, none of the Pohnpeians thought it would hold and what do you know, it worked like a charm! Scouts for the win. 

We also ate loads of palm heart which was tasted a lot like cabbage and required an entire cutting down of the palm tree for us to eat, but oh was it worth it.

Most of the hike was gorgeous and just extremely muddy and slippery. I'm definitely learning to embrace the mud and being covered with bugs on top of it. One of the mornings I awoke to bugs crawling in the beard. What a delicious breakfast.

The guide with us before they all got lost

Why not?

Kill the whole tree for a couple bites of food

This is what happens after the heat and no food

These are my clean legs

I may have eaten some good sized pancakes here after the hike.

One of the nights we did an outreach with the locals which included dancing, dramas, songs, and a brief sermon where a number of locals received the gift of Christ and were healed from a number of ailments.

The attitudes of all the group members was superb which kept it enjoyable for the whole time too. 

On our hike back down we ran across some kids playing in the street surrounded by dirt and broken down cars. At least one of the kids was wearing a Mizzou shirt. I'm shocked at the number of people wearing KC and Mizzou shirts. Who woulda thunk?!

"If you don't live by the praises of people, then you won't die by their criticisms either." - Mattheus van der Steen

Additionally, I have been spending a lot of time reading. Who would have thought? The words of CS Lewis continually hit me to the core and unlock things I never would have dreamed about knowing in another way. "Every joy is beyond all others. The fruit we are eating is always the best fruit of all."

Went kayaking for awhile a coupe days ago and went through a mangrove forest and the scenery is something you'd imagine seeing as you go through the amazon. The water was still as glass and I half expected some blow darts or arrows to shoot out at me. 

Anyways, our rice is ready for lunch. Have I mentioned I've eaten lots and lots of rice... can't wait for the change of food in Thailand. Fruits and veggies... mmm... 

Much love to you all.

Life Unplugged

This last week has been more than I could have ever imagined. 

A handful of us went on a scouting mission to scope out some rock climbing routes and get a good hike in. The hike ended up being quite extreme and I had brought about 40 pounds worth of climbing gear on my pack on the chance we'd be able to climb. As it turned out, we had to do a strenuous hike and there was a climb involved as well that we didn't quite have to rope off to. Part of the hike we had to hold on to a rope and use our feet as friction to climb sideways.  The view at the top was stunning. 

My group this weekend explored the island of Pohnpei. We visited some old Japanese bunkers and artillery stations from World Was II. 

We hiked up the other side of the mountain I hiked earlier in the week, Sokehs. 

That night we ate some sea turtle which was kept alive all day so it would be freak to cook... Some of the locals ripped out the heart and took a bite out of it just as it was killed. A bit barbaric for my liking. Doesn't taste half bad though. 

We visited a river that is where the locals worship eels. We placed some chum in the water and a bunch of large eels swam upstream to come feed. 

We had another long hike over multiple river crossings, through the jungles of Jurassic Park, and eventually ended up at a beautiful waterfall where we could do a 35ft cliff jump which of course I had to do a few times. 

Of course I figured out a way to swim against the current of the waterfall and climb up it only to jump again. Glorious! And only banged up one of my knees. Not shabby. 

Here's a picture of the prehistoric jungle. 

Our last stop was Nan Madol which is the site of 1000 year old ruins that was made with rocks not native to this island at all. Legend holds it that wizards flew the giant black boulders across the ocean. The front three stones of one of the temples are all magnetic and the only ones there as well so compasses go berserk when there. All of the walls of the buildings are aligned perfectly with the four cardinal directions. 

And just before writing this I had one of my life long dreams occur. I was blessed enough to scuba dive all day out here on the Great Barrier Reef. We went to Manta Road to dive but sadly saw no mantas. I'm so fortunate to be in a place where I can have multiple dreams that have been birthed come to fruition. 

This next weekend we'll be going up the largest mountain here and doing mountain survival. Can't wait for the next adventure. I can't describe how much I feel as though I'm in my element and with like minded people. 

This week I also bought my plane ticket for Thailand following this school. As of now there will be at least a handful of us for sure going but I feel as though there will be several more. 

Much love from the second rainiest place on earth.