"House of New Beginnings"

They help Thai prostitute women by giving them an opportunity to get off the streets of Bangkok. 95% of tourism in Thailand is due to the sex industry, with a large amount of Thailand's GDP coming from this. Thai women can be forced into these situations for multiple reasons, but as 95% of Thais are Buddhist, the main reason is for women to attain merit for the "next life", by being able to support their family financially. Thai men have a different option as they can become monks to gain merit for their family that way. Unfortunately this does not help the family's financial situation and since women can gain a much higher wage by going into prostitution as oppose to finishing high school, prostitution is the path that is usually taken by Thai women. There are girls that are younger then 10 years old in prostitution (and can be over 40 as well). Although prostitution is illegal in Thailand, most of the bars that the women are working in are owned by Police officials so there is nothing actively being done about it.

"House of New Beginnings" helps the women to not only get off the street, but help with their education and working through the mental and emotional struggles that these women have gone through. They provide housing for the women (when they choose to get off the street) and a new life for these women to start. Currently there are 3 Thai ladies in the center, and 2 long-term staff as well as a thai assitant. This smaller atmosphere also helps so that I will be able to try out new things and have an input into how to reach out to the ladies. The 2 long term staff (Roy and Bonita) are from California, over 40 and headed up the ministry 3 years ago. I am really excited to be able to work with them, they seem very nice and genuine in this ministry.

I will working alongside both of them. So, I will be meeting the ladies in the bars and massage parlours and such. I will also be teaching english, as that is how they get to know the ladies better induvidually. They teach basic english and learn more about their life stories and talk about God throughout most of it.

Roy and Bonita are also involved in many other organizations here in Bangkok and I am more then excited to learn from them and their outlook on ministry and life. They both have masters and have such great outlooks on major themes in life, so thank the Lord that I am where I am. I could ask for nothing more.

Thank-you so much for your prayers they have really guided me through the stressful times already... honestly

landed

safe and sound here @ home (for the time) Thailand!!

here are the highlights so far.

the bus that i was going to take to the airport was late, like 45 minutes (to the point that i was afraid that i'd miss my flight) so i told the general manager of the company that i needed a solution to get to the airport because i needed to catch my flight, and i eventually got driven to the airport, with a little bit of time to spare.

met an amazing israeli couple, probably in their 40s, with a daughter who's 3 years old on the plane from jordan to bangkok. Albi (their daughter) and i spent the whole flight from amman, jordan to abu dabi, United Arib Emirates playing... it was so fun. they gave me their address and said that if i ever went back to israel that i could stay with them.

landed in bangkok, took a taxi to my home for now. and, it turns out that the place that roy and bonita live in is absolutely amazing. it has a pool and a work-out center and is just amazingly spacious, and it's such a blessing. so, i'll be living there for now, although I plan on living with the ladies for most of my stay out here. I really want to go head in, and this will be a nice break-in, but hopefully I can spend even more time with the ladies, by living at the house.

Roy and Bonita are leaving for the USA on Saturday, so i'll be looking after the place on my own for 2 weeks, probably spending quite a bit of time at the center ("Home of New Beginnings") and just praying for the time ahead. it will be nice to also have time to get to know the surroundings, it's quite safe actually... although i probably won't go out at night on my own yet.

i also saw bonita finishing up an english class, and met the women that were there. it was really cool to see some faces of people i will be working with for the next 6 months! it was also cool to see how bonita does english classes as i will be taking over a lot of that responsiblitly... as it looks now.

while bonita and ann(the secretary/everything of the office) talked with some of the ladies about their next assignments, roy and i went out for coffee and talked about so much of what the prostitues have gone through, and not only that but just so much of thai's outlook on society and how that has changed the way that people act personally. it was so interesting. for example, a lot of thai culutre is about "saving face". so, that would mean that you have to present yourself in such a way that people see you as respectable. if you would talk loudely in a store, you look rude. but, if you have deep troubles (like after going through prostitution), a lot of the time it is looked down upon to address because you look weak and then loose respect. there are lots of examples, but those are just the ones i could think of.

but, yeah, things are going good.

tomorrow

hey everyone. i'm leaving for thailand tomorrow. it's been a good last couple of days, just getting ready (mentally more then anything) to go. thank-you for all the love and support already and just for being there for me.

jordan's been good. just chilling here in amman and waiting to go to thailand. i've been haning out w/ the New Zealand snowboarders Y school as they are doing their outreach in Amman, Jordan. so, it's been nice to see how they are doing and enjoying every moment with them.

i'm excited/nervous/don't know what to think about tomorrow. just prayers for safety as i will be traveling all day and then from the airport to the house on my own... it will be during the day, but still i just want things to go relatively smoothly. i'm @ peace about all of it, and am just learning what it truly is to lie in Jesus' arms and allow him to lead and guide me, yet taking initiative on where to go. things are working out well, and even though i become anxious, i know that it will all be okay. this is mainly to your prayers, and i truly want to thank-you all from the bottom of my heart, saying i could not be doing this without your support.

with thoughts and love

amman

hey, amman jordan's pretty good. i'm safe and well. we went to petra, one of the 7 wonders of the world, as they carved their trading center city into the rock... it's absolutely amazing. 50 meter tall buildings, carved out of rock, in 1BC... amazing. we also went to a Wadi (valley), by the city called "Wadi Rum" and stayed the night under the desert stars. it's amazing.

i'm off to thailand on the 7th. so soon! thanks for all your prayers and support.

on the run

hey everyone. first of all, i miss you guys. i hope that school and work and home and play is all going well back in (mainly) canada. anyways, things are pretty good. i'm in tel aviv, israel leaving for jordan tomorrow. the whole thai visa thing is annoying as the visas that i wanted didn't work out. the businness visa has too much red tape behind it to even see it, so i'll just be going on a tourist visa and then, if i take any thai classes i could get a different visa with it. the only thing is that it costs quite a bit of money, and it also depends if it is worth learning thai for the time that i will be there, as it will only be 1/2 a year as things are looking right now. but, anyways, i would love your prayers on clarification of what i should do in that regards, and as i travel jordan for safety and a great time!

love all of you

p.s. i just got facebook, so if you want to look me up, please do!

israel.

israel is amazing. it seems as though i've seen so much and been so busy trying to take everything in... it's been so great. we were in tel aviv for the first couple of days and then since that the rubber has hit the road in jerusalem. we've been to the dead sea, the mount of beatitudes, the (two spots) of Christ crucifiction, down the "via delarosa" (the walk that Jesus took with the cross), shindler's grave (from shindler's list), and so much else. it's just so amazing to be here. everytime i think about it i just can't believe it. it's been a dream and a desire of mine so long, and i never fully thought that it could happen... and now here i am. thank-you Lord. it's just absolutely mindblowing. thank-you all so much for your support throughout this whole time. your prayers have guided and allowed me to come this far. they mean so much to me, and just the thoughts and the cares you have for me are so great. i want to thank-you all from the bottom of my heart. and to remember that my thoughts are with you and i really care about all of you. thanks.

cambodia down!

hey everyone! things are good out here in Cambodia. we were working with a church, teaching english for the first week. it was good, although i got sick the first couple of days.

the next week we were working with an organization called "Campuse Crusade". We basically would talk to different students about what they beleived and everything. it was probably the most challenging ministry time ever, because i was sick and because i find that ministry kind of frustrating at times.

and today we went to Angkor Wat... it was amazing. it was 6 hrs. drive from Phnom Phen, but it was alright. it was totally worth it!

anyways, i gtg. but, i'm meeting the people that i am going to hopefully stay with in Thailand in 2 days, so that is rather stressful. and, then we are meeting the rest of the school in about a week. so, it's all closing in to an end so fast. so, i kinda am getting nervous about the whole thing, but i know that it'll all work out and be okay.

i actually just bought my ticket for thailand! it is official, i'm actually going.