...to know the love of Christ, which surpasses all understanding...

Greetings from Thailand. The last few days have been a beautiful reflection of Christ's love here at Beginnings. 

Friday night, we were able to take the girls out to dinner at a fancy buffet restaurant. And in saying we, that includes all of you who have supported us financially and are supporting us in prayer. This was an experience the girls have never had before, and would not get to experience otherwise. Janette wrote a fabulous blog about it, I would recommend reading it, because her words sum up exactly what that moment was for all of us. Beginnings in Bangkok Here are some of my photos from the evening!

All of the girls of Beginnings, along with the summer intern team, Bonita, and Roy.

It is wonderful to see the Lord's provision for these girls, and how He turns the most dire, hopeless situations into something beautiful. He has broken chains of addiction and cycles of abusive relationships to get these girls to this point and He continues to work in and through each of their lives. 

I would like to invite you all to celebrate with me as one of our girls has, today, decided to follow Jesus Christ. As scripture promises in 2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." Today, this dear sweet girl, who has endured more in her 17 years of life than what most of us will ever even go through in a lifetime, has surrendered her heart to the only one who can heal those wounds. The Lord promises that she will be made new. Its beautiful to be able to witness the beginning of this transformation. As she offered the prayer for our dinner tonight, speaking with affectionate words to her Savior, my heart was overwhelmed with joy and excitement for this daughter of the King, who will forever be captured by His love.  

That's all for now! I love you all dearly, thanks for your continued prayers. As I write this, I am somewhat sad that the end of my time in Bangkok is drawing close.  However, I am confident the Lord still has a lot of work to do here. I'll keep you all posted!

A slow start...

Hello friends & followers! The last few days have been relaxing, which has been nice. Friday night, I made my first trip into the Bangkok nightlife. Bonita, Jit, and I ventured to Soi Cowboy. It was a difficult experience, although I'm glad I got to see it firsthand. I won't go into detail, but I will say that it is really horrible how these women are exploited. The Lord was definitely with me through the entire experience, and I could feel His calming presence in my life during those moments.

Saturday, we spent the afternoon and evening at Roy and Bonita's apartment. It was a beautiful place, and they took us out for Mexican food. Who knew that you could find delicious tacos in Thailand? I had my doubts, but the place ended up being fantastic! We spent the evening sharing about our experiences thus far, and talking about global missions, and the concept of God writing eternity on the hearts of men. We finished off the evening with mangoes and sticky rice (our new favorite dessert!) and headed back to Beginnings for a night of rest.

Sunday, we had the day to ourselves. Most of the girls went home to visit their families, since Monday-Wednesday were days off of school/work for a Buddhist holiday. Roy and Bonita were so gracious to allow us over to use their swimming pool. Sad day that my bathing suit is still sitting on my bed at my Ferncliff Drive residence in Lynchburg :/ I ended up having some beautiful time to myself to spend with the Lord, and to journal as well. The Lord has really taught me to just be still and know that He is God during this trip. It seems like in America, we always go, go, go, and yes, I spend time with the Lord but it is very scheduled. On this trip, there have been many moments of downtime. I am really learning to treasure these quiet moments and am really learning to let the Lord speak to me. It's been beautiful.

We also were able to go to an extremely nice spa on Sunday and get massages. Bonita encouraged us to have some time just to pamper ourselves, because the work we are doing is draining in a lot of ways, and we need to have time for ourselves. I must say, Thai massages are INCREDIBLE. The one I got was a 4 hand foot massage...but in Thailand, when you get a foot massage, you also get your head, neck and shoulders too. It was a wonderful hour, and extremely relaxing. We finished out the evening at the night bazaar, and I picked up a few more souvenirs.

Yesterday, again, was slow. Our morning and afternoon were uneventful. Our evening, Courtney and I went to Hillary Bar II, which is down the street from our current residence. It is a pool bar, and we've gone on 2 previous occasions in the afternoon to just hang out with some of the girls, and build relationships with them. The girls have really seemed to enjoy our company, and last night brought a handful of more great opportunities, and we are excited to see where the Lord takes those. I cannot believe we have almost finished 2 weeks here. I love it here, and I am loving what the Lord is doing in my life! Sawatdee ka (that's goodbye in Thai)!

A few reflections...

So I'm sitting on my bed right now, preparing to go out into the bars tonight. This will be the first time I've gone out into the Bangkok nightlife, and I am trying to absorb all that Bonita has told us, as well as what Lynds and Janette have both shared with me. If you want to know more about what goes on in the bars, Janette gave a pretty good picture in her last blog so please read it! 

Anyway, so I'm just praying for wisdom, for a mask so I don't show my discontent with the situation these girls are living in, and more than anything, praying that the Lord will soften their hearts to what we are sharing tonight. Now would be a good time to mention that I'm listening to Shane & Shane on random on my i-pod. A song came on by them that I wasn't familiar with, even though I've probably heard it multiple times. It struck a chord in me this afternoon. I realized this is what the Lord ultimately wants for each of these beautiful daughters of His, who are forced to sell their dignity day in and day out. Its awesome to recognize that even in our states of brokenness and disarray, the Lord still pursues a relationship with us, just so He can display his boundless love. Here are the lyrics & the scripture it is based on. 

ACRES OF HOPE

by Shane Barnard and Robbie Seay

He will allure her
He will pursue her
And call her out
To wilderness with flowers in His hand
She is responding
Beat up and hurting
Deserving death
But offerings of life are found instead

She will sing
She will sing
Oh, to You
She will sing as in the days of youth
As You lead her away
To valleys low
To acres of hope
Acres of hope

Here in the valley
Walk close beside me
Don’t look back
For love is growing vineyards up ahead
You have called me master
And though you’re in the dark here
Call me friend
And call me lover and marry me for good

She will sing
She will sing
Oh, to You
She will sing as in the days of youth
As You lead her away
To valleys low
To acres of hope
Acres of hope

How the story ends is
Love and tenderness in Him
Not safe, but worth it
So the valley’s up ahead
Or the ones we live
We’ll sing together
We’ll sing together

We will sing
We will sing
Oh, to You
We will sing as in the days of youth
As You lead us away
To valleys low
To acres of hope
Acres of hope

“Lord, sustain me in the valley. Give me ears to hear Your sweet tender voice and lead me in to acres of hope in this dry and weary land." 

"Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt. ‘In that day,’ declares the LORD,’you will call me 'my husband'; you will no longer call me 'my master. (Hosea 2:14-16)