I wanted to let each of you know that my team is safe in the midst of all the red shirt protests. Since leaving Bangkok a little over a week ago, the fights have seriously escalated in the form of gunshots, bombs, and killings. The one team we had located in Bangkok has been pulled out and moved to a safer location. Apparently though, many of the red shirts in Bangkok come from the area we are staying and are now protesting in town about half an hour away from us. However, we feel completely safe and there is no need for concern. Contrary to the news you may be hearing back at home, the red shirts are NOT targeting tourists. We have nothing to do with the political unrest here in the country so they are leaving us alone.
With that being said, I did have a couple encounters with the red shirts at the beginning of this month. My squad and I spent a couple days together in Bangkok before spreading out across the country to begin our ministries. We went on a prayer walk one morning where we visited and prayed over the Reclining Buddha Temple. Transportation for the day consisted of various buses, 2 boats, and a sky train. In the process of getting home it began to DOWNPOUR and we found ourselves on a rocky boat in the middle of a thunderstorm. After getting off the boat, we ran like crazy people through the streets drenched from head to toe in an attempt to catch our next bus. We ended up smack dab in the middle of a “red shirt” protest. We ran through their barricades built using tires and bamboo spears without even realizing what was going on around us. This was the third red site location I had seen and appeared to be the most peaceful. The red shirts were actually quite calm and most of them were not even wearing red in the midst of their protest. They offered a dry place for us to stand out of the rain for a couple minutes. Our translator told us afterwards that breaking through their barricades is not something that is normally allowed to happen. Sometimes being American works out well for us. We certainly had an adventurous day to look back on and laugh at. Running through the rain was fun. Maybe even worth all the wet, ruined possessions in my purse.
