Dear Diary,

I never kept a diary.

I tried. Really, really hard.

But there was always that one day. That one day that was so eventful, so full of stories, that at the end of it, I was just too tired to re-live it all in my diary. 


I'll do it tomorrow I promised myself. 


Two weeks later... it all pilled up and there was simply to much to write. That was the end of my diary. 


That's my excuse for not blogging in the past week. How do you re-cap two weeks of awesome-ness into a blog that doesn't tire you to read and me to write? I didn't know, ( and still don't) so, naturally, I put it off. 


But it wont be the end of my blog!  


To and a half weeks ago I embarked on a Journey to Bangkok with 5 other girls. To out pleasant surprise, our flight was not nearly as unfortunate as Matt's was. While there were no TV's, we had great  air conditioning, and most of us either happily read or slept the whole way. There was no circling of Bangkok before landing, no lost luggage and we actually arrived a little early. 


We stayed in a nice, little and very Thai hotel. We were primarily thankful for the air conditioning and the free breakfast!! 


Pat DeWit, our contact and leader for the next 10 days, had our days all planned out. Upon arrival we were given our schedule which included everything from early morning prayer walks through the city, lunches and dinners with many local business owners, walks through the very rich and very poor parts of the city to late nights experiencing Thai  night life. 


Pat's passion is that we would leave with a heart for Bangkok. Mission accomplished! Everything we did was driven with a purpose that we would experience a different aspect of Bangkok. Not as tourists, but as the locals would. 


I'd like to introduce you to 4 people I met along the way that have changed my life. 


On our first day we went into China Town with a lady named Dao (Daow). She is a very small lady, but WOW! she is such a power house! She has an amazing ministry with the girls who are working on the streets as prostitutes. To be honest, when we first started walking around, I didn't notice any girls that I thought would be working the streets. My eyes drifted only to corners and searching out women with no clothes on. There were none. Then Dao told us that most of the prostitutes will look like very normal girls sitting or standing around holding a purse. It's often easy to mistake them because they look like they are just waiting for a friend. Then suddenly my eyes started noticing a lot more girls. I was a little shocked. But what stuck me more than the number of girls, was how Dao interacted with them. She knew them. She cared for them. She looked deep into their eyes and spoke truth into their hearts. It was chilling to see her boldness and love with these girls. We asked one girl why she is working on the street even though she didn't want to be there. "I have a child to feed", she replied. It dawned on me that while some women choose it because they love it, others don't have a choice. Desperate. 

The team and Dao

Dao and a lady we met who makes pillowcases

Another day, we ate lunch with a man named Alex who owns his own Vietnamese restaurant. We went to one of the two locations he owns located in the food court of a university. Most of us were just happy to be there for the great food, but then he shared his heart with us. As it turns out, Alex used to own a huge hotel along the coast of Thailand. Not long before opening day in 2004, he was called inland to a meeting. While he was was away from his hotel, the Tsunami hit the coast of Thailand and took with it everything he had, except his life. He ended up marrying the woman that called him for a meeting. He believes she saved his life. Together they opened the restaurant and are doing very well with it. The beautiful thing about this couple is that, they choose to only hire employees who cannot find work anywhere else. Sometimes even at a risk to himself. He'll even hire refugees and former prostitutes wanting a new start at life. It is very important to Alex and his wife that their employees are paid well. So much so that they take less profit for themselves so they have more to give. Selfless.

First Time trying Vietnamese Food!

Alex and his Wife

  One day after church we went to an event called Big Bite. It was an event put on by a man name Dwight where many different local food vendors (including Alex) came and set up their booths and sold their food! However, they gave all the proceeds to help support the refugees who have fled to Thailand from Vietnam, Cambodia, Burma ect. In the previous blog, Matt talked about our experience meeting with one of these families. Dwight works tirelessly with the refugees in Thailand to ensure they have a safe place to live, food to eat and clothes to wear. Compassionate.

Tim owns an organic produce store. Handed down for generations, Adam's Organics has been in his family for years. They work to provide healthy, fresh, organic produce and supply it to many of the local grocery stores and markets. He does very well for himself. But he is not simply concerned with selling a good, quality product. They have worked very hard to own the farms where the produce is grown and ensure the workers are paid more than fair. He also opens up the space in front of his store and gives it to a Christian coffee stand that gives it's proceeds to the refugees. Adam's Organic's is located in a bit of a sketchier part of town with little Christian influence; Tim hopes their presence will be a light in a dark world. We left with bags full of free produce for the refugee family. Loving.

The Team and Tim and one of his employees.

Coffee Shop outside Adam's Organic. 

I could tell you about many other experiences, both fun and hard, and many other people, but these 4 have really taught me something special and life changing. 


Dao, Alex, Dwight, Tim are all changing lives, doing the Lord's work, furthering His Kingdom. Neither one is in full time ministry. Neither one is a missionary who moved here with a purpose to start a ministry. In fact, they all have full time jobs and a locals in Bangkok. They taught me that we dont have to be in "full time ministry"  to serve God. Somehow, somewhere along the way, I got that idea in my head. In order for me to serve God with all my life, I need to be working in a church or move away as a missionary. Serving God is not a vocation, or a trade. You can't go to school to learn how. It's a life style. Its how you choose to do business. It's the relationships you choose to form. It's the poor and the broken that you give food and shelter to. 


 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,  I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Matthew 25:34-40