God is so amazing!!!!  He started orchestrating an encounter on Monday for Friday afternoon.  I was scheduled to teach at the English class at the Tamar Center on Monday, but I was so disappointed when no one showed up.  We spent some time praying for women that will be coming at another time. On Friday the leaders asked who would like to teach at the English class and I said I would like to.  We had 2 students show up.  I sat with one of the ladies who had not been there before.  She was very excited about the class and she learned quickly.  We clicked instantly.  In the evening, we were going out to the bars again and she, Meow, (yes, as in kitty) said she was working in the evening. She worked at the Toy Beer Bar on 8th street. We were already scheduled to be on 8th street that evening. So me and the translator, Kathryn, went looking for her. When she saw us, she had the biggest smile on her face and gave me a huge hug.  This was surprising as Thai people are usually not expressive at all. We spent about 40 minutest talking with her and a few other women there in the bar.  The “bar mom” came over and was talking with us also.  Meow was showing the other girls her English lesson and telling them about the Tamar Center. Some of them seemed really excited to go for free English classes.  When we were ready to leave we talked to Meow about buying her for the evening.  She was very excited, but wanted a friend along so she wouldn’t be too nervous.  The team had only given me money for 1 lady, so I decided that I would pay for her friend to come also. When the translator was telling the bar mom that we wanted to buy Meow and another girl she got all excited and wanted to come along. When the other girls working there, about 6 of them, thought we were buying all of them and they had the biggest smile on their faces. When we explained that we only had money for 2 their faces just fell. It was so sad. I would have loved to buy them all to give them an evening off.  As we walked away and found 10 other girls waiting to spend time with them, they had huge smiles on their faces. We took them out for dinner at a very nice restaurant. We then walked to another mall where we had dessert. With our very limited Thai and their very limited English, we still had a wonderful time.  When it was time for us to leave we all said good by and there wasn’t a dry eye in the group. I was amazed how quickly our hearts bonded. She and I exchanged information so we can keep in contact. Just that morning I was asking God, why I was on this team?   Anyone could have done what I had done.  When this all happened I knew that this is why I had came to Thailand!!!         Brenda

Meow next to a human statue during our Girl's Night Out at the mall.

Each day seems to be getting increasingly hotter than the next here in Pattaya.  I don’t think I have ever appreciated water in the way that I do here!!  Yesterday, Thursday, we went to the prisons again to give water, food and clothing.  The verse kept coming to my mind about “when I was hungry, you fed me, when I was naked, you clothed me.”  We don’t know the names of all the men, women and children in those cells, but I know the One who does, and that gives me great comfort.

In the afternoon, we had time off to enjoy some of the Thai specialties.  Some of the team got Thai massages (the good kind!), and others pedicures or manicures.  All the while, we would zip in to one of the air-conditioned malls to cool off and then back out again in the sweltering heat.  In the evening, we worked with a ministry called Southern Cross.  Every Thursday night there are Chinese tourists that go to the end of the pier to get onto these large dinner and show boats.  Southern Cross team members stand at the other end of the pier with Chinese bibles and packets of literature and hand them to the tourists as they leave the pier.  So we were able to join them.  They first taught just a few phrases of mandarin that we should say to the people as we handed them the bibles.  It was just saying “Hello, Here is a free bible for you”, or something to that extent.  We were staggered a bit so that if the people didn’t take bibles from those of us in the front, by the time they got to the back, they would eventually take one. A few of us held signs in Chinese that stated what was in the packets, as well.  Let me tell you, it was like a wave of people coming down the pier towards us!  Some couldn’t take the bibles fast enough, and others were just not interested at first and then they would see their friend with one and they would come back for one of their own.  It was all happening so fast and before you would know it the wave had diminished and it was all over.  At one point,  I was holding the sign, not handing out any bibles, when a man stopped walking and asked me for a bible in English, not Chinese.  I had brought along a small bible in my purse that day, and earlier had been thinking “why did i bring this along today, I’m not going to be using it and it just making my bag heavier!”  So, without even thinking, i quickly whipped open my purse, pulled out the little bible and handed it to the man, who thanked me and walked away, looking at it.  Tears sprang to my eyes as the reality of what we were doing hit me.  We were getting Truth into the hands of those who may never have the chance to hear it.  Just, wow.

So thank you for praying for us and continue to do so as we have only 2 days left!!

Until next time,

Shannon

Well, it’s Thursday here, and it’s been a full week so far.   I began the week desiring God to speak to me, and asking for His heart for the people of this city.   The first few days, as we went to each place, I felt a bit numb to the situations around me. I was wondering why, as I usually feel things very deeply and have a lot of mercy and compassion.
Last night as we walked up and down the streets praying, I began to think and wonder… “What do these women think or feel?”  They probably have felt rejection, comparison, hopes dashed, looking, longing for someone or something to bail them out of their current condition or situation.  I began thinking of the beauty of love and sex, and what it is to be in a marriage situation as God intended it, and my heart broke.   I can hardly describe really what I felt, but as the tears fell, I knew that God was allowing me to catch a glimpse of his heart for these beautiful women, and the people of this city.  They need to know their worth, and it is much much greater than what any man can offer them on the street.
We so appreciate your prayers for each of us as we continue to go about each day and as we have opportunity to interact with the women.  We also are asking for continued wisdom for the ministries here and for what they can do to reach this place with the good news of Jesus.  Pray also for us to know what our roles are to play in the future.

Blessings and Love,
Alissa ☺

A lot has happened since we arrived in Pattaya. On Monday morning we went to the Tamar Center where Katherine, one of the Tamar staff members, gave us a bit of an orientation and showed us around the center.

The Tamar Center has a cafe/bakery and hair salon where some of the girls who have left the bars, work. We also met some of the women who make the cards and the jewelry that the Tamar Center sells. These women, who once worked in the environment described by Sammi in “Night Life of Pattaya”, were so full of life and joy. It was such an encouragement being there and witnessing the wonderful things that are taking place at the Tamar Center.

During the afternoon some of the team helped with the English class that the Tamar Center has for the women that they meet in the bars (unfortunately no one showed up that afternoon, but they had a good time of prayer for the girls) and the rest of us worked on preparing for some of the things we will be doing later on this week.

As Sammi discussed in her post, that evening we went to the bars and talked with the women there. We all had different experiences and emotions during our evening, however, I think I can speak for the team when I say that we all experienced in a way God’s heart for these women in the bars (and the men that go there).

After supper the rest of the evening was spent getting some rest and processing our time at the bars as well as preparing for the rest of the week.

On Tuesday we saw a few different aspects of Pattaya. In the morning we worked with the Mercy Center and their prison ministry. After making pbj sandwiches we went with one of the Mercy Center staff members, Tip, to two of Pattaya’s prison holding cells. The first place had four holding cells and we handed out the sandwiches, water and some vitamins. Most of the people in the cells were arrested because of illegal immigration, drugs or theft. In one of the 10 by 10 cells there were fourteen women and children (yes, young children!), who had illegally come over to work from Cambodia.

The prisoners receive one cup of rice a day and no water-and they may be held in these cells up to a week before they are moved to Bangkok where they will go on trial.

Once again, I found myself holding back tears as we left, the image of these small children behind bars still in my mind. At the second prison it was a little cleaner and they seemed to have a better facility. Again, it was a mixture of old and young, men, women and children.

After that we had lunch and some down time in city, mostly spent in the air conditioned mall.

Late afternoon we headed to the Pattaya Slum Ministry Center, where one of the staff members, Angela, took us to a local slum to help with one of the Kids Clubs that they do there. The people in slums collect garbage to sell to recycling companies and will even pull their children out of school in fifth grade so that they can help collect garbage. A lot of the children are sponsored by World Vision and Compassion.

We helped trim and clean the children’s finger nails and made balloon animals before doing a Bible story, songs and a craft (Mothers Day is today, so they made mothers day cards). Following that we handed out suppers for each child.

The rest of the night we had off and most of us crashed around nine getting a long well-needed, nights sleep.

This morning we went to the Mercy Center and played with the children at the orphanage there, which Tina shared in her post “Hello, Everyone..”

This evening we will be watching the Mothers Day parade in addition to do a prayer walk through parts of the city.

Everyone is holding up well, despite the extreme heat and intense experiences. Thank you for your prayers! Pictures to come….

Signing out for today,

Marisa

Wow..what an experience so far. We have had an opportunity to be involved in a handful of ministries while we are here. The bar ministry  at the Tamar Center, a food ministry for prisoner, a children’s ministry in the slums, and at the Mercy Center Orphanage. We have a couple others that we haven’t done, yet.

Today is Mother’s Day and this is a pretty big holiday. The Thai people respect and love their royalty here, so everything is shutdown and we will be going downtown observing all of the festivities for the Queen this evening. Fun!

This morning, because the Tamar Center is closed, we were able to go to The Mercy Center. This is an Orphanage in Pattaya were children live due to different circumstances, such as being abandoned or their parents are too poor to provide care for them etc. We had a great time playing with the children. We took some things along like bubbles, (which the kids loved), balloons, balls, and snacks. We played outside in their playground chasing them all around and kicking balls.  I’m not sure I’ve ever experienced heat quite like today! The kids don’t seem to mind it at all but us American adults sure did! Some of the girls played a board game with a few of the older kids. One of the young girls spoke pretty good English and she was happy to teach some of us how to count to ten in Thai.  I know we enjoyed their company as much as they enjoyed ours. We ended our stay with a big group photo.

We did go out to the open bars on Monday evening and we will again on Friday night, as well as a prayer walk through the bars tonight. I was not prepared at all for the intensity of the whole atmosphere. There were so many bars, blocks of them, all open, side by side, with working girls EVERYWHERE! It was all right in your face. The girls were mostly very eager to talk with us and we had some great experiences. I was uncontrollably nervous and uncomfortable. I’m hoping now that the initial shock of the whole first experience of it all is over I can be more relaxed on Friday night!

Keep checking in for more updates from us all. Would love to write more but I’m late for our team meeting.

Tina Emery

by Sammi Jones

It was the most enthralling as well as horrifying experience of my life.  There’s not much I could do to prepare but trust in God and follow His footsteps.  It was Monday evening in Pattaya just before the dark came to envelop the night.  Each member of our team was assigned to team up with a staff member from the Tamar Center to go out together to the bars on the streets of Pattaya to talk to the “bar girls” that are looking for their next desperate & lonely customer for the night.  There was so much to take in.  I’m sure everyone on the team would give you a different story but I thought I would share a little of what I absorbed that night in Pattaya.

The atmosphere would be very hard for anyone with morals to stomach.   But there was something inside of me that took over that was stronger than my defenses.  I felt such compassion for these love-starved people (both the prostitutes & the men) that any smile I received or conversation I had was enough to make my heart dance.   It took my hope and faith in God to a whole new level.  I felt how precious God’s thoughts are toward his children and I desperately wanted to portray that.  Since language is a barrier, I really had to count on showing his love by acts of kindness.  I’m so anxious to see what redemption God has in store for this city.  Which reminds me of a song that is dear to my heart; a promise for Pattaya, Thailand.

“Greater things are yet to come, greater things are still to be done in this city.”

So I shall hold on to that promise, and the hope that great wonders of God lie ahead.

Praise God for His goodness!

Sammi, signing off…

On Sunday we did our Bangkok Temple tour. The purpose of this tour was to gain a better understanding of Thai culture and their beliefs. It also provides ways of specifically praying for the Thai people.

To begin this tour we took a bus to get to the train station, the train to get to the boat, the boat to get to our first temple… And that was JUST to reach the first temple.

The first temple we visited was Wat Arun-Temple of the Dawn. Walking around Wat-Arun we were struck by the ornate and intricate architecture and the beautifully manicured grounds. There were many statues and Buddha’s where people would pray and give offerings of candles, incense sticks, and flowers.

Wat-Arun is known for its 79 meter pagoda. While our various modes of transportation may have at times seemed less than safe, climbing the narrow steps of the pagoda caused me to actually fear for my life for the first time on the trip. The pictures don’t capture the steepness of these steps, nor the height. Add to that many of us were wearing long skirts and flip flops. All I could think was I do not want to die at a Buddhist Temple! However, we all made it up and down safely and lived to continue the tour.

We left Wat Arun via another boat and went to Wat PO-Temple of the Reclining Buddha. The unique feature of Wat PO is the 46 meter reclining Buddha. As you enter the large hall with the Reclining Buddha you remove your shoes and are instantly greeted with the sound of tinkling. To earn merit people drop small coins (which are donations to the temple) into a row of bowls.

From Wat Arun we went to our last temple, Wat Saket-Temple of the Golden Mount. However, this time we did not take a boat, train or bus, we took a tuk tuk. A tuk tuk, as shown in the pictures below, is like a motorcycle attached to a cart. Once in the tuk tuk we weaved in and out of traffic and I was left to wonder how in the world we traveled so fast, so close to other moving objects and yet arrived without a single scratch. There were a few times, where even I was pushing my foot down for an imaginary brake. However, it was one of the favorite modes of transportation that we’ve taken so far.

At Wat Saket we walked 318 steps to the top of Bangkoks only hill. Wat Saket felt the least touristy as there were many people praying, bowing and offering incense and less people taking pictures and talking. We also had to remove our shoes to enter.

From Wat Saket we took another boat down a canal and then squeezed ourselves on a bus. When I say squeezed, I mean literally squeezed. The bus was packed so for the majority of the trip you simply grabbed the metal bar above you and held on.

We spent a little down time back at the base before packing up and taking a van down to Pattaya. My first impression of Pattaya is that it reminds me of a beach town (it is close to the beach so I guess this makes sense) and while it is still very Thai, it is a lot more touristy. In Pattaya we are staying a motel near the Tamar Center. The rest of our evening was spent unpacking, eating yet another delicious Thai meal and having a team meeting.

We are all so excited to be in Pattaya and ready to work with the Tamar Center.

Signing out for today,

Marisa

Last evening, we safely arrived in Bangkok, Thailand.  The flights were long, but we made it!  And all of our luggage arrived! Praise God!

As soon as we got off the plane, we were able to experience a new and different kind of transportation….a songtaew…imagine a small pickup truck with a truck camper in the bed…but instead of a camper, it’s an open-air cart of sorts…yeah you’re probably totally lost…hopefully we’ll have pictures of the actual truck up soon. Until then, you’ll just have to check out the pictures of us ON the songtaew Anyway…we travelled down the highway in this pickup/cart going normal highway speeds. It was very refreshing to be speeding down the highway with the humid air swirling all around us.  

Here's one side of the songtaew...

...and the other side.

View from the back of the songtaew

This motorcycle was so close that we thought he was going to drive up INTO the songtaew with us!

A 30 minute trip in the songtaew brought us to the YWAM Thailand base in Bangkok where we will be staying for two nights before we head to Pattaya.  Since we got here very late (12:30am Thai Time; 11:30am PA time) , we all went straight to bed.  

This morning we had orientation with Paul, one of the staff members here at the base.  Paul taught us the basics about Thai culture and a few comical cultural expectations:

1) Do not make out with the monks If a monk is touched by a woman, he has to go through a two-week cleansing period.

2) Don’t jump on the squatty potties (What’s a squatty potty?  pictures coming soon…)

3) Expect questions from Thai people like “Why are you so fat?” “Why are you not married yet? and “What kind of birth control do you use?”

Let’s just say orientation was quite entertaining

After orientation, we went out to eat our first authentic Thai meal at Daow Bakery...DELICIOUS!  

Lunch at Daow Bakery..Daow = turtle

Following lunch, we split into two groups to go on a Scavenger Hunt.  We each had a list of specific tasks we had to do, including buying exotic fruit, finding skin whitening cream (In Thailand, the whiter your skin is, the more beautiful…POWER TO THE RED HEADS! ) and finding fried insects. Unfortunately (I guess unfortunately) we were unsuccessful in finding the insects…but our search is not over yet!

Rambutan (Ngo) - Green & red hairy pod, sweet fruit.

Overall, everyone seems to be adapting well to Thailand.  Some of us are still pretty sleepy, some are concerned about the interesting bathroom situation, and others are excited & anxious about our outreach in Pattaya.  

Signing off for today…

Marisa & Nicole

We are leave today! I can’t believe this day has finally come after months of waiting.

We are flying out of Harrisburg at 10:20 am today and will arrive in Bangkok at 10:10 pm Thai time (it will be 11:10 am PA time) on August 7. 

I am so excited for what God has ahead of us. Please keep us in your prayers as we travel. 

Until Thailand,

Marisa

I hate that sticky, suffocating effect that humidity seems to have as soon as you step outside. However, for perhaps the first time in my life, I am thankful for the recent humidity because I know it is preparing me (in a small way) for the extreme humidity of Thailand. So I embrace the humidity and count down the days till we leave! Just one of the many daily reminders of our approaching adventure =)

It seems like every day I have the opportunity to share about my trip and I am so encouraged at how supportive everyone has been and the excitement that they have for what we will be doing.

When some of us were commissioned out of DOVE E-town on Sunday, family and friends came up to pray for us.  As they stood behind us and surrounded us, it gave me a wonderful visual of what will happen as we head for Thailand.  As we go forth,  it is not just our little team of eleven women.  Many more are going with us as they stand strongly behind us in the place of prayer.  That is such an encouragement to me as we prepare to leave! 

Only two more sleeps!