Hey, y’all. I am so sorry. I am the worst at updating. I want you all to know how much I appreciate you. Seriously, God has been there for me through this whole thing and he’s used all of you whether financially, prayerfully, or encouragement. I am thankful that he has put each of you in my life. We ultimately cannot do anything without the Lord, but the amazing part is, he uses us (you) to do what he wants to do. I am learning more and more of that each day, and I hope you are, too. So once again, whether you know it or not, God is working through you. Thank you for being obedient and loving me so well.
So the last update was right before my mom came to visit me in Thailand. Thailand is so awesome. If you ever get a chance to travel, I highly recommend. I will say that it is so spiritually heavy, though. Chang Mai is covered with buddhist temples and “spirit houses” (small temples outside of homes and businesses where buddhists will provide offerings such as food, drinks, inscents, etc., to keep bad spirits away.) There is also a lot of prostitution, sex trafficking, and more. We had the opportunity to prayer walk down a very popular road that involves prostitution. I believe this road will be a huge testimony to glorify God one day. AIM (adventures in missions) has a full time group living in Chang Mai long term working with women who are in this industry. Their goal is to build relationships with them and eventually, if the women seek help, they will provide housing and mentoring to learn about the Lord as well as finding a job and saving money and learning how to live outside of their current lifestyle. As you can see, they need all the prayer they can get. I believe God will restore.
I also worked in a women’s home in Thailand called the Wildflower Home. They take in women who have been abused or abandoned. The Wildflower Home provides a safe place for the women and their children to live, work, and learn how to save money to provide for themselvesThey also do many activities together such as learning english, praying together every morning, yoga, and cooking together. Check out their website! https://www.wildflowerhomeshop.com/
Finally, the last week in Thailand, my mom came to visit! It was such an amazing experience. I don’t even know how to put it into words. It was cool because I had been living in Asia for four months already so I was kind of used to it, and she was so amazed at everything. I loved it! Through her excitement of the city, God showed me that even though we get used to things, don’t lose sight of how cool and beautiful it is. We got to worship together and hang out and talk. This was only possible through all of you. Thank you guys so much.
After Thailand, we headed to Cambodia. My team lived in a guest house in Siem Reap. We got to teach english at a school. Not only a school, but a christian school! It was really cool. We learned that most of the parents are not christian. I think it’s cool that the Lord is using that as a ministry in itself. The school is also a church where the pastor lives with his family, and about 15 other “youth” that live there. Together they go to distant villages each day and do bible study with all ages, worship, and build relationships. This was one of my favorite ministries and one place I really pray that the Lord will bring me back to. The community at this church was one of the most beautiful things I have ever experienced.
After Cambodia, we had team changes and headed to Ethiopia! Here, we lived on a compound with HopEthiopia. The entire squad lived together this month. There were other homes on the compound provided for families from the nearby village. Each home has a house mother and about 4-6 children. Some of them are family, and some of them are here alone. HopEthiopia provides a safe place for these women and children to go to school, have garunteed meals, and be loved on 24/7. This was also another favorite month. I fell completely in love with this huge family. Check them out as well. http://www.hopethiopia.com/
Last month I lived in Rwanda with the Myumba family. This was byfar my favorite month. I have a whole new family here in Rwanda. The father showed me a lot through this family and this country. Yesterday was my last day to be with the family and my heart is broken to have to leave them. The government has shut down many churches in Rwanda. The churches are required to make many updates on the building before they can re-open. My host and new spiritual father, Fred, has a church that he started in 2004. His church has been closed since February 2018. He is required to plant a garden, replace the roof, replace the windows and doors, soundproof, and paint. While we were here we helped plant grass in the garden and did a lot of prayer. We had the opportunity to live in Fred’s home. Every evening the family sings a couple songs together and reads the word together. This was such a special family. Every conversation that we had with them glorified the Lord. I have never laughed and had so much fun and been loved so hard like I know Christ loves me. Please keep this family in your prayers. This was byfar my favorite month of the race.
In a few days I will head to Kenya. For month 11, instead of being put into teams and assigned to a ministry, we got to pray into where we will go. So there will only by myself and one other person on my team next month! Her name is Vickie and we will be in Athi River, Kenya!! We will be living with a YWAM group and I am not exactly sure what we will be doing yet but I am really excited. I am interested to see what it will look like to not have a full team and also to get ready to transition into going back to the states.
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I also have an awesome friend that I have been on a team with since Nepal, Kaydan Field, who makes amazing videos of our journey on youtube. Check out his videos because I’m in a lot of them!!
https://www.youtube.com/kaydanfield
Prayer Requests:
Please pray that I would continue to lean on Christ as my cornerstone. Pray that I would contine to put him first before everything else. I am beginning to see the fruit of this and I never want to forget or fall away from it. Also pray for my transition coming back home.
Thank you guys again so so much!! I have so much more I would love to tell you! If you want to know more PLEASE feel free to email me or message me on facebook! I love you all so much. Thank you for being a part of this journey with me.
love, kaysha
