I loved Thailand.
I think that I have written and said that millions of times, but it is true. So far, Thailand has been my favorite month on this trip. I love this country. I love most things about it. I loved the ministry we were able to be a part of while we were there. I hope to go back to this country again some day and maybe visit some of the friends we made in these bars. I loved these people we get to call friends. I loved when they were excited to see me and sad to see me go. I love that in such a short amount of time, they impacted my life greatly and hopefully I impacted there lives as well.
This month was full of emotion. Different emotions than I was expecting and some that I haven't even sorted through yet. I am so thankful that I was able to be a part of this incredible ministry. Here are a few pictures from my month in Thailand.
We will call him "Sally." Sally was one of my favorite people we met in the bars. We spent most of our time with him. Sally is a ladyboy. (For those of you who don't know what a ladyboy is, a ladyboy is a man who identifies as a woman.) He worked at one of the ladyboy bars in the red light district. He was so nice and so funny. We were able to spend several afternoons with him outside of the bars either eating pizza, shopping, or getting some ice cream. One of my favorite times with Sally was when he said to us, "i know, I know, I believe you, I know." Which what he meant by that in his broken english was, "i know I can trust you, I know we are friends."
Sally and I singing together, just for fun. 
My teammates, Trena and Anjali and I with "Mary", the owner of the bar where Sally worked. He is very intimidating and at first we thought he hated us because of how much time we were spending with Sally, but we eventually made friends with him too!
Holding the snake that "Mary" owned. This snake was in the bar everyday! And yes, it is as creepy as it looks!
We loved "Jenny". She is one of the girls that works in the red light district. Almost every time we went to visit her, she had a customer already or we would get interrupted because a customer would come in. One night after we had to leave because she had to go be with a customer, I completely lost it. I couldn't handle it anymore. I am crying right now just writing about it. It is so sad, so heartbreaking. We loved her as best we could, and I know she could feel it. She was so sweet, so kind.
Our friend "Amy". She was a bundle of life, so energetic, so adorable. She is the girl I told you about whose mother owns the bar she works at. She was so excited everytime we came to say hello and hang out for a while with them.
This little girl might be my favorite. "Marcy" and her aunt both sell flowers in the bars. One of the first nights we were there, we had about 10 people gathered at our table, half of them being little kids playing connect four with us. (There are connect four games at almost every bar.) These two were at that table with us and I loved her. One of my favorite days at the bar was when, out of nowhere, Marcy came running up to me and gave me a huge hug. It made me so happy to know that she knew how much I cared about her. After that, everytime she saw me she would run and give me a huge hug.
Playing connect four with Marcy & several other children in the bars.
Now on to some fun activities on our off days:
My teammates Lydia, Leslie, and I took a Thai food cooking class on an organic farm. It was so much fun!
Chicken Curry and Cashew Chicken. I made these amazing dishes!
Riding elephants. Yes, my wish did come true. The man even let me ride up front on the elephants head!
Thank-you so much for all of your prayers. Please pray especially for "Sally", "Amy", "Jenny", "Marcy" and her aunt, and "Mary". Please pray for then to be able to leave the bars and find a job elsewhere. Please pray that more Christians will come and seek out friendships with these girls and men. Please pray that they would feel the love of Jesus and want to know more about him.
A huge praise: while we were there, one of my teammates was able to pray with one of the women in the bars and she received Christ! Amazing. The story is incredible. Please pray that this girl is able to leave the bars as well. The organization we worked with has a change program to help the girls and men leave the life of prostitution and learn skills to find a job elsewhere. Please pray that this woman is able to find new work and grow in her walk with the Lord.
Thank-you so much! A quick financial update. Right now, I need approximately $1,600 to be fully funded! Amazing! Thank-you so much for all of your gifts! My deadline to meet this goal is July 1st. Please pray that the needed funds come in. Thank-you!
