I thought you fell off the face of the earth

Much has happened since my last blog.  It’s been a season of transition for
me.

 

1.     
At the beginning of December I was
invited to step into a new role as a squad leader.  Michael Perez and I are honored and so
blessed to be placed in leadership over the R Squad!  Seriously, this squad is full of incredible
people who are passionate about following Jesus and seeing His Kingdom expand
across the world.  We spent December
being mentored in our new role by alumni squad leaders, Tim Dixon and Di
Dinnis.  Tim and Di have laid a solid
foundation for our squad over the past 4 months.  I’ve seen God moving, changing, growing,
challenging, and refining the squad and it’s been beautiful.  I cannot wait to see what the next 7 months
hold for each one of us!!!

 

2.     
R Squad spent December on the
gorgeous island of Phuket, Thailand working with a fantastic ministry.  Days were spent doing construction and
spending time with women at the ministry. 
We spent our evenings in the bars on Bangla Road – an area known for sex
tourism. We built relationships with men and women in the bars spreading the
hope, freedom, and love that is found in Jesus alone.  The ministry we worked with provides a place
for former prostitutes to be discipled and taught a trade (baking, jewelry
making) so they can make a living without prostituting themselves.  It is a beautiful thing!  We saw many relationships grow between women in
the bars and members of the squad.  One
woman made the decision to come out of the bars and to be trained by the
ministry!!  Yay Jesus!  Another highlight was an opportunity to put a
band together from our squad to worship in a bar on Bangla Road!!  The presence of God was strongly felt and it
was a glorious thing to hear praises to Jesus being sung in a place that is
typically full of darkness. 

 

3.     
We had a fantastic Christmas in
Phuket.  Ashley Robichaud and Chelsea
Hoffman put much time and energy into creating a memorable Christmas away from
home for the squad!  A highlight for me
was opening a handwritten letter from my Mom, and seeing a professional photo
of my brother Paul’s wedding for the first time!  Fantastic Christmas gifts!!!  We exchanged secret Santa gifts and sang
Christmas carols.  Christmas dinner was a
BBQ at a nearby dam.  The day was
completed by a trip to the movies.  It
was an unconventional Christmas, but a great day for our squad!!  A huge thank you to Ashley and Chelsea!!

 

4.     
We finished out December with a 4
day debrief in Bangkok where we rested, processed our 4 months in Asia, shared
testimonies and what God is teaching us, celebrated Heidi Tobe’s birthday, rang
in 2011, and said good bye to Tim and Di.