Half time Show in Thailand!

Yesterday was our first official day off- and in accordance with having a day off I didn't post- but clearly the things I experienced need to be shared, as it isn't every day you get picked up by an elephant and live to tell about it. So here you have it folks: The Half Time show!

First up:
A stunning Songthaew drive... which was driving by the same guy Louise convinced to drive us to the Burmese factory for a worship night last Monday- He had to not only drive but sit through the worship and stay for the meal after. I'm pumped to keep running into him, and see how God uses this connection we've built.

Stop one: The Tiger Zoo *(which also has elephants, monkeys, scorpions, and pigs!?)
Highlight from here was most defiantly the 25 baht (about 75 cent) coconut drink, feeding a tiger, and having an elephant pick me up! I actually think i stopped breathing when it happened....

Stop two: A beach at a Ban San
Here we risked eating some sort of seafood on a stick- which tasted amazing! Pineapple on a stick- which was even more AMAZING! And an hour long 3 person bike ride- which we drove up and down the beach to the joy of many locals who laughed and pointed.

Stop three: a Market
and when i say market- you are probably invisioning a bartering, thai-knockoff brand, market- where I come home with a bazillion Prader sunglasses, and Guccci purses... this however was a Fish market... which smelled lovely, but made for some awesome photo ops!





















Final destination: Home
After the hour long ride home- we sat around as a joint team and talked about highs of the trip thus far and one thing we were thankful for. For myself since being here I've realized that I am and need to be even more thankful for those push and encourage me in my Christian walk back home. I've been blessed with a great number of people who speak into my life and have asked some amazing questions- and here with such a small Christian community/small base Christian leaders I've come to see in influence and impact that has had in my life. So to all of you in my life who have pushed/ encouraged/ supported/ spoke/ or prayed for me- THANK YOU!

And there you have the half time show! It was a fantastic day to relax and unwind *(and give our hosts a break from us). And experience some different aspects of Thai life.

Now lets see what happens in the second half of the game!
*(for more pictures from the day and first two weeks see here)

all in a day...

There are many ups and downs to being on the media team... this morning we were blessed to have the opportunity to wake up EARLY (5:30am) so we could reach our first shooting destination. Although the downside was the early start it was more than worth it as we found our selves weaving down the Khlong on the edge of Bangkok. It was an hour long ride of sheer photo/video BLISS

*(see here for more!)

From there it was a mad dash to a school to do a shoot of the other ACTION team teaching English in two classrooms. It was cool to see a few familiar faces of some church youth that we've been getting to know and even some of the teens that came out to the outreach from the previous weekend.

Even more exciting was being able to see and hang out with two of the youth that made a decision for Christ during that weekend outreach-

Mike (gr. 10) and Gague (gr. 10)

Both became Christians last weekend! Please pray for continued discipleship and desire to learn!

From school we got the news that a believer that Louise and Pastor Naat had lead to Christ a few weeks earlier wanted us to come and talk to her husband about Jesus... clearly we were not about to let that opportunity pass us up so we (all 15 of us) jumped in the 9 passenger van and drove to the woman's business. She owns a restaurant so we first enjoyed some Somtam *my FAVORITE Thai dish! and coconut drank... and after we refueled we started to share with her husband about how God has worked in our lives. Actually when Louise asked for people to share my heart began to race, I began to sweat *(more than I already was) and my mind became fixated on a part of my testimony I hadn't thought of in a LONG time ... it was one of those "Kristin... it's time to step out" moments...

After a few of us spoke Pastor Naat shared the gospel... and let me tell you the passion and excitement that comes out of this little woman blows me away every time I hear her share.

While she began to share not only did the woman's husband ask to receive Christ, but the two other ladies that had stopped to grab a bite to eat asked to receive Him as well! Talk about a moment from God...




Please welcome to the 3 newest believers in the Thai Church!!!

Pray they will find ways to connect in the Church and that God would stir up a desire to know Him personally.

And that draws to an end one very AMAZING day-

thanks for your prayers, support, and encouragement...

LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, LORD.

Habakkuk 3:2

Keep sharing God's story!
[k]

pho-to

Created with flickr slideshow from softsea.

Do you see what I see?!

Being on the media team has it's advantages... I've been able to see and capture where God is working here in Thailand and how He uses both LONG TERM and short term missionaries in foreign places.
It has been just over a week of being here and GOD has been making Himself known in some very exciting ways like- through the evangelical heart of the Thai people, or the passion in worship of the Burmese, the prayers and expectancy for healing, or the more than 15 people we have seen come to Christ in the last 2 days! I especially have been impacted by watching the Thai youth that we get to see a couple times a week- for those that have made decisions to follow Christ are HUNGRY to know more and share what they know with their friends- for those who have never heard about Jesus they are curious to know and understand why a bunch of Farang (foreigners) are doing talking about Him.
This last week the other ACTION team here was able to spend 2 days with some youth teaching them English, sharing their testimonies and even singing some songs... this is a quick glimpse of the afternoon of the first day

which reminded me of this verse...
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:9-10

At the end of the second day 6 youth and one mother dedicated their life to Christ...
lets just say God gets ALLLLL the glory on that one!

Subway, a Songtaew, and Chicken feet!

Yesterday was a hugely productive day for the media team!
With the help of two of our new friends Naan and Doh (youth from the Thai Church)- we made our way via Van to the Airport to shoot a scene for an ACTION video. And when I say took a van to the Airport, I mean playing a game of sardines on an 1h long trip- I think at one point we had 23 ish people in a 16 passenger van.
Now some of you might be wondering about how filming in an Airport went... as if being a group of Farang (or Foreigners) doesn't make you stick out enough- carrying video equipment- and setting up shots shouldn't draw any extra attention right?! Well... the bad news was we did get asked to leave- but the good news was that they only asked us to leave at the end of the shoot John and I may have walked into a restricted area... OOOooops!? Other then that it was SMOOOTH sailing - and we were even able to pick up Subway to celebrate!
In the afternoon we joined up with the other action team and jumped on a songtaew- a pickup truck with seats in the back- and made the hour long trek to a Burmese neighbourhood to share the gospel and worship~ and let me tell you these people know how to worship! The team was able to help in the band, share testamonies, and perform a drama. At the end of the service Pastor Isaiah (a Burmese man) asked if there was anyone who wanted to receive Christ and 10-15 people came up!!! I say 10-15 because there was at least another 5-10 that came up at the same time to ask for healing- and after praying for all that were there we rejoiced as people were saved and healed!
To end of the JOY FILLED evening we celebrated with a meal at Mo's house... and what better way to celebrate than eat a big bowl of rice, Thai esque salad and Chicken feet- which... if you don't think about what you are eating actually tastes great!

Psalm 96
Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth.
Sing to the LORD, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day.
Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples.