I have arrived in Thailand safe and sound! Thank you for your prayers.

Here is the house I will be living in with my five other teammates.

Also, here is the lovely bathroom.

Here is where I take my showers every morning..

Pretty awesome, right?

And then some of the other teams on my squad have air conditioned apartments with workout rooms, beds, and beaches.

This is one of their views

So at first, I was pretty upset. I had a bad attitude. I had the "why me?" perspective. I sent a few emails...and complained about it.

But then I stopped myself and said, "Why am I really on this trip?".. "What has God really called me to?

 To live in my comfort zone? NO. I am called to live completely out of my comfort zone..in things that I am not completely in love with.

I am called to wake up every day and die to myself and my worldly desires. I am called to live in Thailand..Not mentally at home..Not in the future. Just to live day by day and moment by moment.

God has put me here for a very specific reason.

I am called to CHOOSE IN. To choose to be present in this place and to invest in every part of it. To invest in the kids that I encounter and to love on them. It is one of the biggest lessons I have learned on this trip.  Choosing in is key because once you do it..you fall in love. Choose the hard things because that is where you experience God at one of the deepest levels. You become one with the tragedy of the cross. You experience growth. You put down yourself and pick up the cross. You embrace what it means to be courageous. Blessings will overflow. You bring something to that table that others can't...you bring CHANGE. 

My ministry is to go around to 17 different schools...and to teach English.

Thailand is 98% buddhist.

So there is a catch..at every school we go to we can share the gospel for 30 minutes. 

I get to open the ears of so many kids..to share of the love, grace, and hope that I am given every single day.

I have taught one week at my first school...It has been a challenge to get around the language barrier considering we do not have a translator. But I have already got to pray with a few different boys and girls! ..I am having faith that God is going to move past the language barrier and change lives!

Here is one of my classes!...

Here is a little video of my class and I doing declarations..I had them stand up on their chairs and speak truth over themsevles. Got to love a little empowerment! These kids deserve to be believed in and to believe in themselves.

God bless.