Thailand Day 1 - May 23rd/24th

Wow, what an exciting 1st day. I woke up at 6AM, feeling fairly rested which is really good since I didn't go to bed very early.  I finished packing my carry on and Colin and I left at 8 to pick up Christine.  Then we headed to Lisa's to meet up with the rest of the group.

John P led us in an amazing group prayer and the guys took pictures of the group. By 9:15 we were pulling out of the driveway. It took us a little longer than normal to get to the airport, but we were ok.  Colin dropped us off at the International terminal and then we found out we had to leave from Terminal 1, the United terminal.  So, after a short train ride, a fairly uneventful check-in, and surprisingly quick security, we found ourselves at our gate with about an hour to wait.  The flight was slightly delayed, and we go off around 2pm.  (The pilot said we would make up the time in the air.)

We were ALL very thankful to have the Economy Plus seats.  That extra ~10" makes a surprising difference.  Most of us didn't really sleep.  A couple got some real rest and the others got some cat naps. So how do you fill a 13 hour flight?  Books, Movies, Making friendship bracelets and talking.  I think we each brought other things to do, but our seating arrangement made some of the things difficult.

 

photo by Amy P

We landed in Tokyo a little late but in enough time to touch base with home, get some waters, and pull ourselves together for the next part of the trip.  I think we all dreaded the thought of getting on another plane for any period of time.
The flight to Bangkok was less crowded.   Our seats were better group wise with Lisa and I on one side of an aisle, Amy and Rachel right across from us, and Christine just in front. Our plan was to stay awake for the last flight (6 hours) so that we would sleep well.  All of us ended up falling asleep for at least a couple of hours.  Even if it wasn't good sleep, our bodies needed it.

We landed just after 11PM Bangkok time on Friday night.  We exchanged a little bit of money, made it through Immigration, picked up all 5 bags! And made it to the hotel a little after 12.  I was impressed with how smooth that part went. We spent the night at the Novatel which is right at the airport.  The rooms were comfortable and we were able to call and text with our loved ones. 

Tomorrow we plan to do some site seeing, relax, and get to our official residence (the Bangkok Christian Guest House) about 5PM to meet our leader, Connie.
It is kind of surreal to realize, we are in Bangkok. 6 months ago, we each had a unique experience and agreed to this trip.  To find ourselves here, 6 months later - to know that on Saturday, we will become part of a group of 29 women who came here to serve other women.  That is mind blowing.


We continue to covet your prayers.  We can feel them and know that is why we arrived here safely.  Thank you all,
With Love and Prayers,
Karla

Less than 2 weeks to go!

In less than 2 weeks we will be in Thailand!  In 2 weeks, the Springbrook Team will have been in Thailand for 36 hours.  We will have been with the full team for 12 hours, and checked in to our guest house.    By this time, we will most likely have seen the ministry area in Bangkok for the first time. To say I don't know what to expect is an understatement.  I keep thinking of all I have to do, but then I think about what we will be doing there instead. We had a team conference call the other night.  We got our first real glimpses into the personalities of the 28 women going on this trip.  We also got a better idea of what our days will look like. So, what does our schedule look like? Well, the Springbrook team takes off from O'Hare at 1PM on Thursday, May 23rd. After a LONG flight and a layover in Tokyo, we land in Bangkok at 11:15 Pm on Friday the 24th.  We will be 12 hours ahead of our families in Central Time.

On Saturday we will have some time with just the 5 members of the Springbrook Team.  We are hoping to deliver some "Girls Around the World" dresses, but are having a hard time coordinating that. Late Saturday afternoon (5 ish) we will head back to the airport and meet up with the rest of the AIM team to start the main part of the trip. Since we will be "working nights", our mornings (once we wake up) are free.  I suspect that this is when we will touch base with home due to the time difference. We will get together with the team before lunch to talk plans and then minister in the afternoons.  The ministry afternoons will look different every day and I am not really sure what all will be included.

 In the evenings we will worship together and then go to the red light districts.  Since we have a large group we may be split up more than previous trips.  We will all spend time in prayer in the area.  Some will continue to pray during the evening.  Others will work and minister to the children that are left to wait for their parents and some will go imto the bars to speak with the women their.  They will purchase Cokes for the women to give them a 15 minute break and make a connection. Not everyone will go into the bars,andmost of us will only go in for one or two nights.  Regardless of our individual roles, we will all be working for the same purpose.  To share love and hope. We will have one "free" day during the week to do some site seeing. Our last "night" will be Saturday, June 1st.  The team starts heading home on Sunday the 1st.  Our group does not have a flight out until late Sunday night, so we will, in essence, have another free day.  We will put our feet back on US Soil on Monday morning, June 3rd at 8AM.  As we get closer, our to do lists shrink and our anxiety and excitement grow.  Please continue to pray for us and for our families.  It can't be easy on them as they plan to take over our roles and will undoubtedly be thinking about our safety. I can't wait to share what happens!   

Love,

Fun, Fabulous, and Frivolous

As we are getting closer to our trip our thoughts turn to typical travel details, clothes, packing, and.... Hair!
Seriously, we are discussing appropriate and comfortable clothes.   Here is a snap shot of this week's forecast (and our week will be hotter!)

 

Given that, we are considering ways to keep ourselves cool, including keeping our hair up and out of the way.

One of our friends, Erin, invited Christine and me over to learn to french braid. 

I braided Christine's hair!!!

 Me, Erin, and Christine

 Look, I braided my own!

So yes, it may be a little frivolous, but it adds some fun to the trip preparations!  Thanks Erin!

 

Freedom Trail Thursday

My Thailand team mate, Amy, has been blogging about our trip in her Freedom Trail Thursday posts.   Last week she interviewed our leader, Lisa; and today she told my story.  You can see it here:  http://marchingthroughlife.org/freedom-trail-thursday-more/

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,