Anger. Righteous anger. What a valid emotional response to the issue of sex trafficking! When we hear about the abuse and damage and coercion used in the sex trade, how can we help but become angry, even outraged, at the people who are causing so much hurt in the lives of young, innocent girls??
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Hua Hin and Burma
I'm a little behind the times, so I need to start filling in the blanks! Jenny and I spent the last 4 days of our trip in Hua Hin, which is a beautiful beach town on Thailand's peninsula. We stayed with an amazing missionary family who packed everything up and moved to Thailand for a year when they found out that an Australian woman (Ruth) who works with refugees needed some help with her ministry (apparently it was only about 3 months from the time they heard about the need until the time they were IN Thailand- kudos to them for being flexible and obedient, and kudos to the three kids for having a sense of adventure and great attitudes about the move!). They now work with an orphanage for for Karen (Ka-RIN) children whose parents have either passed away or who come from extremely dysfunctional families.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Back in Bangkok!
An interesting thing about Thai culture...
It seems that everyone we meet has an amazing plan for what our day should look like. I can't tell you how many times a day, as Jon, Jenny, and I (Kirsten, obviously) are innocently trying to... get to the grocery store, for example, someone will stop us, ask us where we're going, pull out a map, and start telling us to go to this tourist information place to buy tickets to some resort or that market to buy such-and-such. In searching for a reasonable explanation for this behaviour, we have stumbled across two semi-viable possibilities: either Thai people have soundly stereotyped all tourists and are thus simply doing us a favour, or else the three of us have managed to walk around Bangkok with such distinctly discombobulated looks on our faces that not even the most detached of passer-bys could misinterpret it and walk away without lending a hand. As a team, we are now honing our "intelligent" look. We will keep you updated on the success of our endeavors.
It seems that everyone we meet has an amazing plan for what our day should look like. I can't tell you how many times a day, as Jon, Jenny, and I (Kirsten, obviously) are innocently trying to... get to the grocery store, for example, someone will stop us, ask us where we're going, pull out a map, and start telling us to go to this tourist information place to buy tickets to some resort or that market to buy such-and-such. In searching for a reasonable explanation for this behaviour, we have stumbled across two semi-viable possibilities: either Thai people have soundly stereotyped all tourists and are thus simply doing us a favour, or else the three of us have managed to walk around Bangkok with such distinctly discombobulated looks on our faces that not even the most detached of passer-bys could misinterpret it and walk away without lending a hand. As a team, we are now honing our "intelligent" look. We will keep you updated on the success of our endeavors.
Monday, August 9, 2010
When Darkness meets Light...
We visited 3 bars last night. I'll be honest... it's actually very hard to share what we experienced and learned. Words just are not enough to explain the hopelessness and deception we witnessed. Words are also not enough to explain the supernatural battle that is raging, that we can sense in those situations. But I'll try. :)
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Lessons and Thoughts from Chiang Rai
The past week has been a whirlwind of new places and new ideas. My team and I (Kirsten) are now in Phnom Penh, staying at a beautiful hostel and taking the day to recuperate a little. With a little extra time, I am going to try to condense some of our recent thoughts so that hopefully you all can benefit from what we've been learning and discussing as well.
Everybody's got a water buffalo... yes, it's true!
Phnom Penh. Craziness from start to finish.
It began with a beautiful train ride from Bangkok to the border town- we arrived at the station at 5 am by faith that there was a train was leaving at 6 (we had seen it somewhere on the internet, but had NO idea when the blog was written and if it was still correct).
It began with a beautiful train ride from Bangkok to the border town- we arrived at the station at 5 am by faith that there was a train was leaving at 6 (we had seen it somewhere on the internet, but had NO idea when the blog was written and if it was still correct).
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Destiny Rescue in Chiang Rai
We had a God-connection at the grocery store when we were buying ingredients for pizza- Jon ran into a guy named Sonny who was trying to find yoghurt. Turns out Sonny is the Kiwi Jack Bauer and is currently in Thailand doing some crazy work to rescue girls from the sex trade.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Chiang Rai
Hello everyone!
I don't have a lot of time for an update, because we're on our way to the store to buy ingredients to cook an American meal for our hosts: pizza and brownies with icecream for desert!! Sounds simple enough, but, as we've learned, things are rarely "simple" when away from home. So we're looking forward to finding out what twists and turns are awaiting us there.
As a quick summary, we are now in Chiang Rai in Nothern Thailand. We're visiting a ministry called New Generation, which works with the Akha people group (a small ethnic minority that live in Thailand and its bordering countries). Our friend, Art, runs a home for teenage Akha boys who are studyng in the city, away from their home villages. It's been an incredible experience, and I look forward to being able to fill you all in on what we learned while here! For now, though, if you're interested in hearing more about this ministry, go to akhadorm.blogspot.com.
On a more personal note, our team has been greatly blessed here. The hospitality of our hosts is incredible, the food and lodging free and delicious, the weather only mildly uncomfortable, and our unity and companionship as a team is just a lot of fun and very encouraging. We have been praying for our health, and God has certainly been protecting us! So far the most we can complain of is various rashes... which we have dubbed "the pestilence". :) God gave our team Psalm 91 while we were travelling. We take it as His promise to continue to protect and watch over us both physically and spiritually as we journey.
Thank you for your prayers! Please keep lifting us up... and watch our video blogs on youtube (get the link on the previous blog posting).
Love and peace to you all!
I don't have a lot of time for an update, because we're on our way to the store to buy ingredients to cook an American meal for our hosts: pizza and brownies with icecream for desert!! Sounds simple enough, but, as we've learned, things are rarely "simple" when away from home. So we're looking forward to finding out what twists and turns are awaiting us there.
As a quick summary, we are now in Chiang Rai in Nothern Thailand. We're visiting a ministry called New Generation, which works with the Akha people group (a small ethnic minority that live in Thailand and its bordering countries). Our friend, Art, runs a home for teenage Akha boys who are studyng in the city, away from their home villages. It's been an incredible experience, and I look forward to being able to fill you all in on what we learned while here! For now, though, if you're interested in hearing more about this ministry, go to akhadorm.blogspot.com.
On a more personal note, our team has been greatly blessed here. The hospitality of our hosts is incredible, the food and lodging free and delicious, the weather only mildly uncomfortable, and our unity and companionship as a team is just a lot of fun and very encouraging. We have been praying for our health, and God has certainly been protecting us! So far the most we can complain of is various rashes... which we have dubbed "the pestilence". :) God gave our team Psalm 91 while we were travelling. We take it as His promise to continue to protect and watch over us both physically and spiritually as we journey.
Thank you for your prayers! Please keep lifting us up... and watch our video blogs on youtube (get the link on the previous blog posting).
Love and peace to you all!
Videos
So, I (Jon) have been trying to get the videos I just uploaded to link here, but the gadget is not working (I don't know if it's the gadget's fault, or this computer's, or the internet here, etc). Anyway, I just uploaded 3 videos to http://www.youtube.com/user/trekagainsttraffick . Sadly, I couldn't fit all of trafficking in... but, you know what it means. ;)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)