It has been long in coming, but I would like to let everyone know I am back in the US safe and sound. I arrived about two weeks ago. Since then I have visited my brother, family, and friends. I thank God for giving me the chance to go to Thailand and the chance to see everyone on my return. I will be going to Covenant College tomorrow. I am looking forward to seeing all my friends there. I am still processing all I saw and did in Thailand. What I know now is, I believe if people just knew the problems that face the world they, would be more adamant about doing something about it.

I am still in communication with some of the people I met in Thailand. Please pray those relationships continue, and those who don't know God will be given that grace.

Thank you all for your prayers, support, and emails. God is merciful and has sustained me for another day. May He do the same for you, drawing you closer to himself everyday. May He show you your sins, His holiness, and the worlds brokenness. That you may take confidence and comfort in Him, and share Him with others.

Safely Home

I am home safe and sound. My time in Bangkok is over. I will miss the places I've been and the people I have seen, but I am optimistic about the future. My time of missions has not just ended. It has barely begun. I do not know where or when God will take me on another cross-continent adventure, but I look forward to my next trip. I also look even more forward to my upcoming year at Covenant College. It will be my last year in College. I do not know what God has planned for me this year at college, but I pray it is one of learning and doing. I hope to be able to become heavily involved in the life of those in need in the projects and on the streets of Chattanooga and on Covenant College's campus.

Thank you all for following my time in Thailand this summer. Your prayers and support have been a great encouragement and strength to me this summer. I have enjoyed being a part of this team. Thank you for the privilege to serve on the front lines, and thank you for diligently supporting me behind the scenes.

Like I have said, my time in Thailand is over, but my mission is just beginning. Please be praying for me going into this year. Pray that God will be exceedingly close to me, so that I can never fathom His greatness. Pray that He is close to those around me, breaking the bonds of injustice, pride, and self-criticism that Satan so easily use against us. Pray that God will work through me to change others lives. Pray God gives me boldness, courage, creativity, and safety in this coming year. Most importantly pray He gives me the Holy Spirit. How I desperately need the Helper.

I would like to finish by saying, "Thank you God for giving me the chance to serve you in this way. Will you cultivate the seeds that were planted, and send workers to tend your garden."

Sweet Home Alabama: I'm Coming Home to You

I apologize to all my readers. It has been a long time since I last blogged. I have been super busy these past two weeks. Things seem to keep getting busier and faster as my time of departure approaches. Yes, it is approaching, and approaching fast. I will leave my house at 9 p.m. Friday night accompanied by a host of friends. I fly out of Bangkok at 12:30 a.m. Saturday morning and and into Atlanta at 7:15 p.m. (ET) Saturday afternoon. You can be in prayer for safe travels, a comfortable flight, or God's testing me through fire. Whichever you would prefer to pray upon me. I just ask that your prayers for me flow from a desire that all men will know the the I AM is God. I look forward to seeing all of my friends and family in Marshal county and in GFPC.

This week will be super busy for me, but don't feel too bad for me just yet. I will be writing multiple reports for my university, writing multiple reports for Step Ahead, and leading multiple training sessions with the Step Ahead staff. Now your wondering why I said don't feel bad for me. Well, here's the fun part: every night, I will be going to a different goodbye party. Ya, I feel pretty loved. Most of the time I wonder why, and then I remember these people are Christian, and God is in the business of loving the most unexpected characters (me being a prime example). In any case, please be praying for me to finish strong, or if you're feeling God is kind of small, pray I will at least finish. (We can only pray for what we have faith will really happen.) Most of all, pray for God to be in what I do...or that what I do will be in God (however that works).

I probably will not be writing again before I return to sweet home Alabama. If you want to hear all the stories that have not made it on this blog, call me after 7:15 p.m. (ET) Saturday and we can plan a walk, a cup of coffee, a game of soccer, or meal. Whatever you're in the mood for. We could pitch tent in the local park and share stories while watching the stars play. We could practice our Thai together and laugh when we can't get it right. Or we could just walk the streets while reminiscing about our summers. Whatever we do, lets have a good laugh, and lets both share our stories. I want to know what has been going on in your life this summer. And if we never get to talk about this summer, I hope to live out what the stories have done in my life.

Until next time, Pra Jow Oi Pon (Nope no translation. Just let the words bless your soul as they have mine.)

Funerals and Ghosts

I'm down to two weeks in Thailand. I have been reading the blogs of all my fellow community development interns and laughed at how so many of them said how fast the summer has gone and how they will miss it. I laugh because I have been thinking the same thing. This week, I have thought a lot about what I want to do before I leave, and found I want to do a lot more than I can in the next two weeks. I have had to set my priorities. So here they are:

Step Ahead Internship Work
1. Start Implementing Loan Performer into Step Ahead's program.
2. Show Pi Tun, Pi Golf, and Khun Sai how to use Loan Performer so they can continue what I have started.
3. Write a short handbook for loan performer to leave with Step Ahead.
4. Write a three year scenario projections report for Step Ahead based on Microfin findings.
5. Write a short handbook for Microfin to leave with Step Ahead.
6. Write three more weekly logs, two research reports, a research design critique, and a final

Time Off Work
1. Spend as much time as possible with Chai Yo, Pi Kung, Pi Noi, and Tallia Klung Toei Church.
2. Spend at least two or three more nights with Jonah and Chris.
3. Go to Kids Club the next two Saturdays.
4. Teach English at Tallia the next two Sundays.
5. Shop for gifts for people here.

This is a ridiculously crazy list for two weeks. Please be praying for me to get everything done and to be helpful for people.

Ok so your wondering why I labeled this blog Funerals and Ghosts. Tuesday, Chai Yo's grandfather died unexpectedly. I spent Wednesday night with him and went Thursday with him to the funeral. Chai Yo's dad is the pastor of Tallia Church. The death was especially hard for the family because the grandfather is not a Christian. When pastor Suwat was a kid his dad was Christian. His dad even sent him to a Bible College in Korea where he received the call to be a church planter and pastor in Klong Toei. After that, the grandfather turned to drinking and bankrupted himself. In the face of starving he became a Buddhist monk because Buddhists give food and money to monks. That is when he died of a heart attack. Please be praying for the family as this is hard, because they know the grandfather will not be in heaven waiting for them.

Wednesday night when I was talking with Chai Yo about anything but his grandfather, he gave me a history lesson of the church. Two years ago Tallia moved to a new building. The building had previously been owned by the mafia and had a spirit house in it. When Christians buy a new house there is usually a spirit house in it. The Christian buying the house gathers some fellow Christians and they break the spirit house to pieces. Then they fast and pray in the house praying that God will cast out any demons that are in the house. Pastor Suwat did the same thing for the new church. (Pastor Suwat and his family live in the church.) Inspite of their prayers, the spirits in the spirit house stayed in the home for one year afflicting the family. There were times when Pastor Suwat was held down by four "baby Ghosts," and once he was confronted by a "big ghost with flames coming out of it." Utty, pastor Suwat's youngest son, could not go to school that year because he was made paralyzed. Chai Yo could not sleep at night because he was always very hot. During this time Pastor Suwat and the whole church prayed like crazy that God would cast these Ghosts out. Finally after a year of affliction pastor Suwat got some oil and drew crosses on every window in the church, declaring the house for God. Everything stopped. The ghosts left.

Ok so that's my crazy stories and weeks ahead of me. Its time for me to get back to chopping away at that list of things to do. Until I return pray for my endurance, diligence, wisdom, and love. Especially love. If I get everything on my list done and see many women delivered from moneylenders and have not love I am only a resounding gong. (I praise God he can even use the resounding gong I often become and can transform this resounding gong into an instrument of love for others and Him.) I have discovered the greatest love story ever and found I am in it.

Back in Bangkok

My time in Khoa Lak was so good. I feel so rested and ready to take on my last three weeks in Thailand. Wow. Three weeks. Where does time go? I will miss this place, and I have so much to do. Pray I know how to prioritize my time, and that I will be able to get all my work done. I would like to take some days walking through as many slums as possible and I would like to go to Mae Sot one more time before I leave. Pray God will show me if I should go to Mae Sot or not.

Right now I am talking to one of the servers at a coffee shop about Buddhism and Christianity. He seems so excited about the new things he is learning about Buddhism now. He wants to share them with me. We are having a deep discussion about the meaning of life, the existence of pain, and why it is that him a thai and me an american would meet right now to talk. Please pray for us.

When One Life Ends My Week Goes On

Sunday night I took the night bus to Khoa Lak. There are three types of buses in Thailand: VIP, 1st class, and 2nd class. VIP night buses cost 1000 TBH. There are only three columns of seats in the bus and lots of room to fully recline. The 1st class night buses are 550 TBH and about the equivalent to a normal bus in America. The 2nd class buses cost 400 TBH. There are four columns of seat with the rows so close your knees touch the seat in front of you and the AC may or may not work. I was recommended to take 1st class because its not to expensive, but also is comfortable; so that is what I got.

The bus left at 8 pm from Bangkok. I fell asleep at 9 pm. I was woken up by a load crashing noise and us coming to a screeching halt at 10 pm. Confused at what had just happened I looked out the window with the rest of the people on the bus. I could make out a broken motorcycle on the other side of the road just behind us and pieces of the bike lying on the road. We sat there for 10 min as I tried to process what just happened. right before we left, it hit me to look for the driver. As I looked only to see something farther behind us lying motionless on the road. And then to my horror, as we were pulling away, another truck came by and ran over the seemingly mangled body. At 12 am the bus stopped and everyone had to get out. Another bus arrived at 1am and we all loaded up to leave. Five minutes later we stopped at the same place as before, were told to get out again, and waited another hour for another bus. At 2 am we loaded up on a 2nd class bus and traveled the remaining 9 hours in that.

All in all I left the bus ride very tired, soar, emotionally drained, and dreading my ride back to Bangkok Friday. In all of this what haunts me the most is that our bus driver killed a man. We were late, because we killed someone. I know it was not my fault, and I know I could not have done anything to help, but the fact that the bus I was on killed someone is...heavy. And I can't believe the bus driver didn't even have the decency to pull the body off to the side of the road.

So now that I have dropped a heavy story on you, I am going to share what I am doing in Khoa Lak this week. If it feels odd reading about the lighter parts of life that I am about to share right after reading about someone dying, then you may feel something of what I feel living it after experiencing a life lost.

I will be in Khoa Lak until Friday. Each day, I will be teaching English with two other instructors to 25ish students for 1 1/2 hours. I will be visiting Step Ahead's four preschools, homestays, and Thai Totes projects. I was told there was a lot of manual labor planned for me to do as well but it has rained a lot lately inhibiting me from working. The rain has been a blessing from God because it has allowed me to get a lot of much needed R&R. Tuesday I hiked through the jungle to a small remote beach with some friends. We made our own track an field competition where I made first in the shot-put and runner-up in the long jump and the 100 meter(ish) race. Today I rode an elephant. I have also had some time to sit and read. It is so nice to have that time. John John is letting me borrow a book called Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne. It is a must read for anyone who has ever asked the question, "What does it mean to be a Christian?" or "What is it that God wants a Christian to do in life?" or have thought, "I know what it means to be saved, now I want to know what it means to follow Jesus."

Please pray for the driver of the motorbike and his or her family and friends. Also for the driver of the bus. I can imagine it would be easy for him to let the guilt of hitting the motorbike haunt him or to completely write his actions off as no problem at all. Pray he finds the proper middle. Life is short and you never know when it is going to end. Nothing in life is safe, so live recklessly for God who is eternal and whose rewards are eternal. We all have to suffer someway, I choose to suffer for God. We all have to die someway, I choose to die for God. Through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour I know I will be raised from the dead so what should I fear in life. Nothing and no one can hurt me unless my Father wills for him to. So if Christ is for us who can be against us.

Khoa Lak

An update for all those following my time in Thailand. I will be leaving tomorrow night via night bus to Khoa Lak. Khoa Lak is a beach city 12 hrs by bus south of Bangkok. Step Ahead has four preschools; English, German, and Computer classes; and a purse manufacturing ministry there. I will be going to learn about the different development techniques and to help with the different ministries. I am not sure yet what I will be doing, but I have been asked to come and help for 1 week. I am looking forward to getting out of Bangkok again. With last week traveling to the mountains and this week traveling to the beach I will be well refreshed to finish my last three weeks in the office strong. Pray God will use me in Khoa Lak: That I will be given the words to speak, will do the activities I should do, and meet the people I should meet.

Friday was a momentous day for my internship because it was Timmy's, my fellow intern, last day of work. We were able to get the business modeling system up and running for modeling before he left, which was a huge answer to prayer. Now I will be modelling different scenarios for Step Ahead and writing reports on them for future planning. When I return from Khoa Lak I will begin transferring accounting and loan tracking data from the old system to the new one I have been working on. Please pray that goes well and is successful. Pray these programs help Step Ahead sustainably help the women and men in the Bangkok slums.

Finally for this post, tomorrow I will be sharing with the international church I went to Mae Sot with about our trip. Please pray that God would give me wisdom to say what I ought to spur fellow believers on to the future actions they should take to minister to the refugees in Mae Sot. After that I am teaching English at Tallia as usual and then headed to the bus station. I am not sure when the bus leaves; so pray it leaves after 7 and that I can buy tickets for it as late as 6:30 tomorrow. I really want to teach English all the way to 5 when the class ends and then it is about an hour drive to the bus station. Pray I get on a bus, and can sleep during the night.