Team Details - A Blessing

After my last post, where I expressed how I missing knowing the details, but trusting God to get me through - I was rewarded by an awesome, detail filled email from our leader Connie!

I thought I would share part of the email here as it will interest some of my readers.


Yes, the hotel has beds. You do not need to bring linens or a sleeping bag. And you will have electricity, so you will be able to plug in whatever you need to.

Lodging: We will be staying at a Christian Guesthouse in the central government district of Bangkok. There will be 2-5 people per room, and each room has beds, air conditioning, a small refrigerator, and a complete bathroom. Because this team is made of 3 groups and a bunch of individuals, I’ll be assigning rooms so you get to know one another. There are computers downstairs where you can access the internet for a low cost, and the guesthouse provides pure water for us to drink. From a physical perspective, this trip will probably be one of the comfortable missions trips (as far as lodging is concerned). That is a huge blessing, because the mental, emotional, and spiritual aspect of this trip is can be intense.
 
I will be providing instructions daily and nightly. There will be team meetings, worship, and prayer. There will be tears, frustration, fear, anger, joy, and laughter. This trip will change you more than it will change anyone in Bangkok. AND that’s OK! When we leave, we will NOT have saved anyone or taken them out of their current situation, but instead...done something much greater! Brought the love of Christ, joy, compassion...and peace. We will not judge woman, children, or even the men. He died for us all. Amen!

Ministry: A large portion of our ministry will be in the afternoons and evenings, when the bars open. (Great for us night folks) For this reason, our schedule will be slightly different than on a lot of trips. We’ll start later in the day, because we’ll be out later at night. Our primary ministry will be in two bar districts, Pat Pong and Nana District, working with two different ministries, Rabah Ministries Thailand and Nightlight...and a bunch of ministry one our own.

We will be able to walk through these areas and talk with people we meet—tourists, bar owners, customers, dancers, pimps, vendors...etc. We can go in, purchase Coca-Colas for the girls (ironically, Coke is more expensive than beer there), which will allow us to “buy” time with them, so we can talk with them.

There will also be one day that is a “free day” where you can go to a market or to a tourist attraction in Thailand (floating market, riding elephants, the Tiger Temple, etc).

Clothing: It will be hot in Thailand. It is important that we drink water constantly to replenish what we will be losing. Appropriate clothing to AIM trips are shirts with short sleeves that fully cover the stomach (being able to raise your arms or touch your toes without showing skin), knee-length shorts, knee length skirts, or long pants. You can bring sandals, Chacos, closed toed shoes, etc. MODEST tank tops are allowed on the “free day” and around the floors on which we will be staying.

Communication: As was mentioned above, there are computers where you can get online downstairs for a low fee. Also, please tell your family and friends about this blog: http://thailand.myadventures.org/. They can go to this site and sign up for email alerts when a new post has been made. We will post throughout the trip so that they can see and know how to pray.


Ministry: I will prepare you before each time of ministry, letting you know what to expect and what appropriate reactions/actions are. This is highly important because of the sensitive type of ministry we are doing. Afterwards, we will debrief every time, helping us process what we saw/experienced and what God did, both in us and through us. While we will not have an interpreter, many of the girls speak at least some English. Granted... some of it are words we won’t be saying because they are sexual in nature, but many of them speak broken conversational English. This is always something that we see God really work through... that while there might be a language barrier, HE speaks. And love is a universal language that doesn’t mean the same words. And the cool thing is that when it happens, we know that it had nothing to do with us and everything to do with Him.

Preparation for Ministry: The best way to prepare for ministry is prayer. Our ministry will be highly Spirit led... going where He leads us to go and asking what He wants to say to the women we meet.

Nothing about our ministry will be easy. A lot of time it brings things up in us, memories we’d forgotten or things we thought we’d worked through. We will be transparent with each other in our team time and create a safe environment for us to share our hearts and responses where we know what we say will be confidential and we will be prayed for an encouraged.

Again, I will slowly introduce you to the area...and walk you through how to minister. DO NOT jump ahead. Everything will be based in prayer. Get that prayer support built up!


Thank you once again for your support.  Colin and I appreciate knowing that you are praying for both of us and your words of encouragement help keep me going when things seem difficult.

Love,
Karla

Oh wow, the details!

We have exactly ONE month to go!!

So for those who know me in real life, you know that I am a bit detail focused (i.e. ANAL).  It's a gift that works well with my engineering side, but doesn't flow well with all aspects of my life.

All of that to say, this trip has been an exercise for me in terms of the details.

First, I love writing the lists and crossing things off - you know:
*Need skirts - DONE
*Need a power converter - DONE
*Pick up travel size bug spray, etc - Not Done - YET!

But, on the other side, this is the first trip, in a very, very long time where I have not had anything to do with the planning.  So, for me to not know things like - how are we getting to the airport? what are we doing each day, where will I buy.....?  My heart just goes pitty-pat in a very fast rhythm! 

I have said since the beginning that I know God will use this trip to teach me things.  I am starting to realize that one of those is to LET GO.  Let go of the details, let go of the uncertainty, let go of the need to be in control. 

As I do, I see blessings in new ways.  There is less stress in general and small unexpected joys like free extended leg room on our flights!

To top that off, our team of 5 is fully funded and we found out we have a full team of 25 (plus 2 leaders) for our trip!

You can learn more about our leaders and see their previous trips at Connie's or Kristen's blogs. 

Oh, and if you think about it, pray for our sanity as we prepare to use "squatty potties"....  :-)  If you don't know what that is, you can see one explanation here. 

Lots of love,
Karla

Things are really moving!

Oh wow! Things are REALLY moving! 

Our whole team is starting to get excited and nervous at the same time!!  Let me share what is happening.

1) I think we have now all gotten our shots (this was a big deal.)  We are supposed to all have Hep A, Hep B, and Tetanus along with Typhoid and some other exotic sounding shot. (The last two are optional.)

I was really concerned about my insurance covering them, and accoring to the call I made, the 1st three are completely covered!  The typhoid might be, it depends on how it is submitted, so I will talk to my doctor next week about it and the anti-maleria pills and generic antibiotic it is suggested that we take. 

Ok, not for my shot story :)

Mostly I can think it is funny but it also includes a list of oh nos!

So I had already called my insurance on most of the vaccines, but not on the typhoid.  I called this morning and was told, well, it depends on how they submit it!  Apparently, if it is submitted as a "injectible drug" it's not covered unless I pay my deductable first (hah!) but it is submitted as a vaccine, it is.  Ok - I just thought I would ask how they would submit it.

So I went on the Walgreens Take Care website and told it I wanted an appointment.  It asked what shots I wanted and I put in the A, B, Tetnus, and Typhoid.  It popped back up with an appointment slot for 11:20 today at the walgreens at 95th and Book.  This seemed to be a good sign.

When I got there, they didn't have any record of my appointment.  Since there wasn't a wait they helped me fill out the paperwork .  When I did both the Hep A and Tetnus consent forms asked if I had ever had a reaction so some Aluminum Sulfate.  I don't know that I have, but I do have an allergy to antibiotics made with Sulfa.  So - that set the RN off because she didn't know if I could have the two shots!

After 15 minutes of discussion between the RN and the Walgreens pharamcist they decided that because I had never had a reaction to a tetnus shot before (2 times before) and because the antibiotics don't use the same medicine as the shot - it was ok.  BUT, they wouldn't give me all three shots in the same limb.  So - after all of that, I walked out with one shot in each arm and one in my left leg.  They also told me what my total would have been without insurance (OUCH!)

As an end to the story - I have had absolutely NO reaction to the Hep A or Hep B.  My Tetanus site is swollen and red, but that is normal for me and there haven't been any changes or worsening.  If I remember correctly from 10 years ago, it should start to go down in the next day or so.

2) Late this last week I received an update on my funding.  May I just say that it is SO awesome how God is working through all of you!! 

As of the last email I received, I am over the goal and sitting around $3300!  This overage helps to cover some of the extras we are paying for on the airline tickets and some necessary expeditures that we had not originally planned for!

Some of those expeditures will include one hotel night (our flights actually get in on Friday night because we couldn't figure out how to arrive on Saturday in the time AIM suggested without paying for much more expensive flights.  It should also help cover anything with the shots that insurance doesn't cover as well as extra expenses once we arrive in Thailand.

Speaking of funding, I OWE many you Thank You notes.  They are in process and should go out very soon.  Please do not take my delays as a lack of Thanks!  I know that this trip would not be possible without all of the people who are supporting us.  We know that beyond the funding there are prayers easing every step of the way as well as the words of encouragement that keep coming in!

3) I want to share another site with you.  One of the other women going with us, Amy, has her own website http://marchingthroughlife.org/.  Each Thursday she will be sharing a little more about the trip and when appropriate including thoughts from us.  I will try to remember to link to her on Thursdays - but if you get a chance, I suggest you stop by and say Hi to Amy.

4) Finally, I had mentioned that we would be working with our Church Chili cookoff and doing a Thailand table. 

Here is a view of our table with some of the trip attendees (me, Rachel, Christine, and Amy).  Rachel made an amazing Thai Chicken Chili.  Christine, Rachel, and I all worked to decorate the table telling people about our trip.  <Note: Rachel WON the prize for the "best" table/chili!>


So what is next?   The magic date is May 23rd.  I still have a doctors appointment to take care of last minute items.  In addition we have some training sessions and final questions that need to be answered.  (Things like clothing, will our credit cards work :), and other minor items...)


With much love,