Malawi, here we come!!!
So I am currently in Toronto, sitting in a nice comfy hotel bed,soaking up all the squishy-ness,cozy-ness and pillows. It may be my last comfortable bed for the next two weeks. Especially tomorrow night as it will be spent on the plane. I must say, after all this traveling, planes are kinda loosing their appeal and I also seem to be loosing my ability to sleep well on planes. Oh well!
Yet again, it wasn't too fun saying goodbye to hubbs, but as our good friend Clark said, there is a certain peace and excitement that comes when you are leaving to do something that God is calling you too." so we're just excited to see what God has instore. we will definitely miss each other, but distance makes the heart grow fonder! :)
We have an awesome team! It was so great to finally meet everyone! We have girls from age 13-22! It's so diverse and really fun team. Two of the girls fundraiser all summer and raised an overwhelming amount of money to give to the village of hope for uniforms and a new water heater. Other girls had birthday parties and asked for donations for the kids in the village rather than birthday presents for herself. We have sooooooooooooooo many donations to bring to the missionaries, all really awesome, fantastic stuff. We're so excited to see their faces!
I'm excited to be co-leading this team and learning from Kim. It's going to be a stretching experienceand I am so excited to learn from her. I'm hoping, if all goes well, that I'll be able to lead more teams in the future. That would be a dream come true!!
Please keep us in your thougts and prayers, especially for safe travel and health.
Again, I will not be able to post while I am in Malawi, but please check the tattered tiaras website for daily blogs and you'll be updated on our daily adventures and get to see pictures from our day. Www.tatteredtiaras.com
Talk to you soon!
Monday, August 13, 2012
Monday, July 30, 2012
Malawi
In case you have ever wondered if a life following God would be boring, take it from be, it's everything but boring. Rather, it's a wonderful, exciting adventure!!!
I am still in Thailand. I came here 4 weeks ago with a Tattered Tiaras leadership team and remained here after the team left to stay with my husband who is completing an internship with long term Bangkok missionary, Peter DeWit. It has been an incredible month learning God's heart for Bangkok, doing life in community with their church NewSong, Teaching English at a local School, and following Peter and his wife, Pat, as they serve selflessly in their local community. I could go on forever about the lessons we have learned, and maybe one day i will, but right now i want to talk to you about the next adventure God has for me.
In only two weeks i am scheduled to leave Toronto, ON, to make my way to Malawi, Africa. Tattered Tiaras will be taking another team of girls, this time ranging from 13-22 in age, to the Village of Hope. The Village of Hope is an orphanage for at risk children and is located in 5 countries throughout Africa, including Malawi. The VOH works to "bring lasting hope to children at risk so they can embrace adulthood as independent and contributing members of society"(VOH webpage). The VOH in Malawi provides proper nutrition, education, healthcare and shelter to over 70 children who would otherwise have little to no future.
We will be working with missionaries Connie and Dave Buzikievich who are the National Directors of the Village of Hope. The focus of the trip will working in the city of Lilongwe and surrounding villages with children and mothers. Malawi will give the team members an opportunity to see a part of the world they may have never had the opportunity to see. However, this trip will not be sightseeing. We want the girls on the team to understand that each one of them, youngest to oldest, has the potential to make an difference in their own world, and the world around them. We want them to learn that it doesn't take much to change the life of one person, not only in a foreign country, but in their own as well. The girls will teach children’s programs, play with children and assist families with daily activities. I will be the assistant leader on the team along side the founder and director of Tattered Tiaras, Kim Moran. I will be "in training" during this trip as I anticipate leading other teams (possibly by myself) in the following years. (Learn more about Tattered Tiaras!)
Matt and I firmly believe that this is the next step in God's plan for my life and are so excited to see what he has in store. I am still quite short in funding for this trip however and my non-refundable plane ticket has already been purchased. :) I strongly believe that God does not call us to something that He will not make the provisions for, and I also know that He uses other people to provide. However He chooses to provide this money, I just ask that you would be open to hearing from Him if you are to support me in this. If you would like to donate, you will find a secure PayPal donation button just up a little bit and to your right where you can use any method of payment. Please be assured that 100% of all donations go directly into the Malawi fund. It is no small amount that we are believing in God for, but I know that nothing is too great for my God.
If you are unable to support me financially, I equally need people praying for myself and the team that we would have safe travels, for health, good and effective teamwork, courage and boldness and of course, finances.
If you would like to stay updated while I am in Malawi, please continue to check the Tattered Tiaras Blog for daily updates from the team.
If you have just stumbled across our blog for the first time, please join our e-mail list (to the right) to ensure you don't miss an update! More reflections from Thailand coming soon!
We will be working with missionaries Connie and Dave Buzikievich who are the National Directors of the Village of Hope. The focus of the trip will working in the city of Lilongwe and surrounding villages with children and mothers. Malawi will give the team members an opportunity to see a part of the world they may have never had the opportunity to see. However, this trip will not be sightseeing. We want the girls on the team to understand that each one of them, youngest to oldest, has the potential to make an difference in their own world, and the world around them. We want them to learn that it doesn't take much to change the life of one person, not only in a foreign country, but in their own as well. The girls will teach children’s programs, play with children and assist families with daily activities. I will be the assistant leader on the team along side the founder and director of Tattered Tiaras, Kim Moran. I will be "in training" during this trip as I anticipate leading other teams (possibly by myself) in the following years. (Learn more about Tattered Tiaras!)
Matt and I firmly believe that this is the next step in God's plan for my life and are so excited to see what he has in store. I am still quite short in funding for this trip however and my non-refundable plane ticket has already been purchased. :) I strongly believe that God does not call us to something that He will not make the provisions for, and I also know that He uses other people to provide. However He chooses to provide this money, I just ask that you would be open to hearing from Him if you are to support me in this. If you would like to donate, you will find a secure PayPal donation button just up a little bit and to your right where you can use any method of payment. Please be assured that 100% of all donations go directly into the Malawi fund. It is no small amount that we are believing in God for, but I know that nothing is too great for my God.
If you are unable to support me financially, I equally need people praying for myself and the team that we would have safe travels, for health, good and effective teamwork, courage and boldness and of course, finances.
If you would like to stay updated while I am in Malawi, please continue to check the Tattered Tiaras Blog for daily updates from the team.
If you have just stumbled across our blog for the first time, please join our e-mail list (to the right) to ensure you don't miss an update! More reflections from Thailand coming soon!
 |
| VOH Malawi |
Thursday, July 26, 2012
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.
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.
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.
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
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)