MUCH JOY

Thanks so much for praying for our trip to Nuuy’s family and the visit to her village. It was such a unique experience – very hard to put into words. Nuuy’s family was so happy to see her and by the end Nuuy’s Mother kept asking us to come back.

It was kind-of like a vacation Bible school time. Mon, Tues and Wed afternoon Marleen and I taught some basic English lessons and a game with the kids for an hour and then the Outreach Team broke the kids into groups by age and taught each group a story from the Bible, like David and Goliath, and some songs. Parents got attracted to what we were doing because of their kids’ interest. Parents and kids were especially invited for the last evening - the Outreach team prepared and served a meal, did a puppet show, shared their testimonies and performed a skit about Jesus. After dinner, two from the Team played games with the children while the rest of the Outreach Team was able to speak to the parents in smaller groups about Jesus. By the end of the last night, six people, including Nuuy’s Mother and Father, prayed for Jesus to come into their hearts. There were big smiles on their faces and tears in their eyes. It’s amazing how Nuuy’s choices (stepping out to leave the bars) back in Pattaya has created ripples of blessing to so many others :)

Many of the neighbors had heard what we were doing because we walked around the village before and after lunchtime each day visiting people. At each home, we’d sit and talk for a while and then pray for the person or family. I think the neighbors could see the sincerity on the faces of the Outreach Team as they took the time to listen, to care and to pray for each person. Among those we visited were the village store owner, a family where the grandmother could no longer walk and an older woman who’s begun really seeking spiritually (she’s concerned what will happen after she dies so she’s been giving a lot of money to the local temple in hopes of earning enough merit for a good afterlife).














PLANTING SEEDS (*name changed)

The original plan had been for Nuuy, Marleen and I to come back to Pattaya on Thursday while the Outreach Team would continue on to *Om’s village for another 2 days. I was really disappointed not to go to Om’s village – Om regularly goes on the bar outreach time in Pattaya, and we’ve gone together as a pair a few times to talk to the women. Though she doesn’t speak much English (aka, its been hard for me to learn much of her story), I really wanted to go in order to pray for Om, her family and the visit. We knew that her family wasn’t so supportive of her leaving the Bars and working at the Tamar Center (it means less money to send home to the family) and that they were potentially less open to the Gospel and the Team coming to do an outreach. I asked and was able to continue on with the Team.

The experience at Om’s village was largely different than at Nuuy’s. Her family didn’t really greet us right away and the Team was more sensitive in how they related, especially to Om’s Father. The village was also much, much larger. We did similiar walks around the village to visit people. Within the first afternoon, we met a little girl, maybe 8 years old, who was abandoned by her parents and whose grandfather is now taking care of her. Next was a 2 month old baby boy – grandmother now taking care of him. In Thailand, raising children is culturally different. It is much more common for the entire family, which typically live together or are in neighboring houses, to take roles in the care and the discipline of the child. Most of the women who are at the bars in Pattaya have children who are back home with their parents in their villages so that they can make money for the family.

Praise God for how He is at work…by the second day both of Om’s parents had long conversations with the Outreach Team. Om’s Father, especially, asked a lot of questions. At first he just thought that Christianity is like other beliefs but as the team talked with him and answered his questions, he thought more. He took a Bible – actually Om gave him her Bible – and he said he would read it and keep thinking about it. A visit that started with a grim greeting was a smiling, gracious goodbye by the time we left.

We did the children’s times – English, Bible stories and some songs – but not the Outreach to the adults on this trip. Plans are in the works to return to both Nuuy’s and Om’s villages – to encourage and help the new believers in their faith and to continue building relationships. Follow-up is a big focus of the Outreach Team – them taking turns to go to new villages in the NE area of Thailand (typically from where one of the Tamar women are from) and returning to villages that they’ve previously visited.

The work of the Outreach Team is so vital: to share who Jesus is with a community that's often never heard of Him, to connect with and to teach the families and to influence them, especially the women – all ages – that going to Pattaya or Bangkok to work in a bar isn’t the answer. All of this can hit part of the problem of the sex-for-sale industry that taints Pattaya and hopefully work towards ending the cycle of heartbreak. There are alternatives but so many don’t see it. The bars can seems like the only solution. At the bar I was at on Monday afternoon I talked with a mom and a daughter who were working together – 45 and 19 – so sad! Many of these women struggle for alternative work because they only have a 6th grade education, got married young, have children to support and their husbands have left.
Please pray with me for the work here – it is on the frontlines. There’s days that the staff seem really tired from giving, giving and giving some more. But, the Lord’s using it to make a difference – lives are being radically changed and set free.








FAST FORWARD

As I took the Songthaew (truck taxi) yesterday morning to get to the Tamar Center, a line from the song “Great Is Your Faithfulness” came into my head: “All I have needed Your hand has provided…” While I don’t always feel this way, it is always true – Everything I have needed along the way of life, He has provided. Faith in Jesus gives us promises for the future: “Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.” (Psalm 16: 5-6) He’s been intimately involved in even the harder things of the last few years that I’ve really struggled with. And, in Thailand, I’ve seen Him provide for me what I’ve truly needed (maybe not always what I wanted) and what’s been best for me to learn, to grow, to experience. Sometimes its been more about me changing my perspective on something than my circumstances needing to change. More easily said than done.
So with this written, my time in Pattaya has had a shadow to it – me wondering what will be next as I return to the US. No, I don’t know yet. If you know me well, you know how much my ‘planner’ brain would love to have these answers! I am a bit weary of existing in the holding pattern I’ve felt like I’ve been in for the last 2 years with what direction I should take next. So, as I considered the words of the song this morning, I realized again that God is providing me with everything I need. So for now, I believe that I’m not supposed to know entirely what the future holds. I braced myself for this very spot before I left Colorado in April. I had the expectation of returning without knowing the specifics of my next steps. I was open to Him ‘pleasantly surprising me’ though with a neat little plan, all of the “t’s” crossed and “i’s” dotted. But, that’s not exactly where I’m at. So this last month I’ve been praying a lot that I not grab something just to feel content that I have “some” plan. Faith is believing in and trusting for what we can’t see. I can’t see the future but I know that the God that I trust is infinitely bigger than the unknown details that I can’t see. Just as He died for and unconditionally loves the women that I’ve been helping to reach here in Pattaya, he loves me. So, I will wait and trust Him as I return to the States.

As I return to the US, I am really grateful that I have the flexibility to be available to spend time and help my sister and brother-in-law and nephew Grahm with the arrival of my new nephew Wynn (planned around July 25th!). If I was able to forge ahead in my next steps, this might not be possible. This was part of “my” plan and I’m glad it’s still the course I’m headed towards!

I look forward to seeing you soon! Love, Becky

PATTAYA - PART 2

Hello! I hope you’re having a great week! It’s hard to believe it’s almost the middle of June already! Time’s moving along…here’s what I’ve been up to:

ENGLISH, ENGLISH & MORE ENGLISH

A lot of my time serving at the Tamar Center has been filled with English: planning activities and helping women with vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar worksheets. The Tamar staff, women working at the Tamar Center and women at the bars all want to know more English. Whatever English you can learn and understand seems key to more opportunities for your life in Thailand. Many women want to learn English, too, so they can help their children with it. At Eve’s request, Marleen and I have been trying to help the staff individually with English. They’re all at different places in what they’ve learned so it’s been a challenge to figure out where to start and what exercises we can do that will be effective and will help them in their day-to-day life. I’ve especially enjoyed getting to know Kaek who runs the bakery and coffee shop and Oh who leads the discipleship training. They love the Lord so much. They’re both looking for ways to expand what the Tamar Center is doing so that more women can have jobs, the training and discipleship programs can be expanded and more can come to know Jesus.


English class with women from the bars - Marleen (left) & Kath are doing a role play.


Group from the Baptist Church English class. A, at the center, invited Marleen and I to her town of Sattahip (30km south of Pattaya) for the afternoon on Tuesday. We met her husband and had a wonderful time. (We visited a park where I got to meet the cute kitty, aka Tiger.) They and most of the Baptist Church English class are believers :)





THE WOMEN OF THE TAMAR CENTER

Eight new women started working at the Tamar Center in May – leaving life at the bars behind them. So exciting! One of these women received her first paycheck from the Tamar Center on Wednesday. Marleen and I happened to be nearby after she got paid for her work. She had started crying. We didn’t know why. Eve told Marleen later that she was so happy that she received money for work that she felt proud of. The Tamar Center is really making a difference. What a privilege it is to be a part of these efforts!

Very little of my daily time, though, is with any of these women  They’re doing their jobs while I’m helping the staff or the bar girls with English or headed to the bars for outreach. I generally see them at lunch for about 30 minutes and for a few minutes here and there before work, after work and during the day. Somjit and Gay are among the few that know a little English to talk to me. With many of the others, though, it’s our smiles and a few phrases that give us a connection. When they can, and they’re around, the staff will translate for us but this is rare. Marleen amd I both want to spend time with them and love on them so we’ve been looking for ways that work with their schedules. This past Monday night we organized a movie at one of their shared housing units. We brought my laptop and a cake and watched “Bedtime Stories” (English w/ Thai subtitles). Since then, I’ve received even more hugs and hellos from many of them.



Tamar Center staff (+ volunteers)


Some of the Tamar Center ladies from our movie night

AN OPPORTUNITY OF A LIFETIME – OUTREACH TO A THAI VILLAGE

Monday to Thursday of next week Marleen and I will get to travel with Tamar’s Outreach Team to visit a village in the Northeast of Thailand! The Outreach Team travels every other week to remote villages where there the Gospel has been shared little, if any, times. I think the villages are often picked based on a woman working at the Tamar Center – the trip enables the woman to see her family and to tell them about her decision to leave the bars. We’ve been told that sometimes the reunion is incredibly emotional – the family might not have known that the woman had been working in prostitution. On this trip we’ll be going to the village of a woman who came to work at the Tamar Center in January. Nuuy’s now working as the cook at the center – she’s incredible – big smile, sweet heart. She has 2 sons.
Eve has cautioned Marleen & I that we’ll have 3 ½ day of 24/7 Thai language with very little translation and potentially all spicy food. We’ll be helping with food, clean up, playing with the kids in the village, talking to whomever we can and teaching some basic English to the children in the village. We are so excited! I’m also really looking forward to getting to better know Na, 33, a staff woman on the Outreach team. My first evening in Pattaya I ran into her at the Walmart-like store across the street – she recognized me and went around the store helping me buy everything I needed (I couldn’t read some of the all-Thai labels) and then walked me back to my guesthouse.

PRAYER REQUESTS

I especially love your prayers as I’m serving in Pattaya:
Please pray for the Lord to prepare the hearts of those we meet next week in the village during the Outreach – that they would receive the teaching as the word of God : “…When you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe…” 1 Thessalonians 2:13

Please pray for Nuuy, too, during the outreach – for her visit with her family and that they would come to know Jesus.

Please pray for the women that we’ve met and that we will meet at the Bars. That they would see love in us and be drawn to the powerful love of God: “…I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.” Jeremiah 31:3

Please pray that Marleen & I would each connect deeply with a couple of the women & be able to invest our hearts into their lives.

Thanks for your prayers! I look forward to telling you how the Outreach goes!
Love, Becky




Now I've seen it ALL! If you look real close, there's a cat on the back of this motorbike - I watched it ride down the street! It stood up, sat back down & looked around. It seemed right at home!

Transitioning Again

Okay, so I’m not so sure how people traveling overseas stay constantly on the move? Unpacking, repacking, seeing a place for only a few days? Not my style by far. I’m so glad that I was able to be in Trang for 6 weeks.

But, as I sat on the train on Saturday, tears running down my face because I was sad to leave, I could see the convenience of staying only a few days: you don’t get so attached, you don’t invest quite so much, you stay a tourist more and less of a temporary resident. There were so many different aspects to my time that have affected me – relationships with the Thai staff & learning about their lives, getting to know the other volunteers & where they are in life, boundary issues in making my placement be a good fit for me, handling the frustrations of the language, appreciating time alone and enjoying time with people. I’ve had many conversations about Christianity, Buddhism and other beliefs along the way. The consensus seems that most do not have a belief system that influences their daily life and that all roads lead to the same place. I’m grateful for opportunities I’ve had to tell new friends that Christianity is different – only faith in Jesus’ sacrifice for sin offers salvation that isn’t based on what you try to earn. He changes our hearts and then our actions – we don’t have to clean up our lives ourselves.

Since before arriving in Thailand, I was interested in an overnight train ride – sounded so fun in spite of the longer travel time. So, early Saturday night, with the help of Cha (he carted my super-heavy suitcase) and Khem (she surprised me by bringing a take-out dinner meal to our last goodbye), I settled in for my 17 hour ride. The standard cars were full so I had a seat in the Japanese car – absolutely wonderful – plenty of room. Around 9pm the porter changed the seats to beds and for the next 12 hours I had a window all to myself. I woke up through the night and looked out in the moonlight or street lights at the countryside, the towns and the train stations we were traveling through. As the sun came up, I had a wonderful view of the western outskirts of Bangkok. I read and relaxed and enjoyed the whole experience.




PATTAYA

Via the train, subway, skytrain & government bus, I arrived into Pattaya Sunday afternoon around 3pm. Eve, one of the leaders of the Tamar Center with YWAM/Project LIFE, picked me up from the bus station. Sunday was a perfect arrival day – that night I joined a farewell party for a Thai woman who was leaving the Tamar Center to work at a local church. Over forty women and a couple of husbands (there’s few men around the Tamar Center b/c of the sensitivity for women leaving bars & prostitution) gathered to thank this woman for her influence in their lives. I could understand very little b/c most everything was spoken in Thai but I could see the emotion on their faces. The majority of the women gathered had left the bars – some just recently – and now work with one of the ministries of the Tamar Center. The Tamar Center has a bakery, hair salon, coffee shop (street photo shows sign for coffee shop) and card making business. Different women provide training and then jobs to girls coming out of the bars so they can support themselves.

Immediately there have been Thai women who have greeted me, smiled and hugged me and women, newer to the Center, that seemed resistant and cautious. Typical, I’m sure, as the Tamar Center has lots of short-term teams & people going in and out. It has helped so much that I have a few Thai phrases & words – it seems to open them up that I know some Thai with which to start friendships. Of course, I’m frustrated that I don’t know more but glad for what I do know. I listen with envy at Eve (Dutch) and Katherine (English) who so easily speak Thai.






FITTING IN?

So, what will I really DO here? Well, I’m not completely sure. So far I’ve helped teach English with Marleen, another volunteer, at a local Baptist church for the last 2 mornings (photo of me with two ladies), I went to a bar yesterday to invite women to an English class we’ll have tomorrow afternoon and this afternoon we went to the beach with a big sign offering prayer. The last 2 things seemed pretty strange to the people around us – we stick out like sore thumbs – BUT it has generated conversations and opportunities. At the bar yesterday, Becky (American from California who’s been in Thailand serving at a local church), Ali (DTS outreach YWAMer from Australia) and I struck up conversations with a couple of bar girls. There were about 12 of us that went together from the Tamar Center. We broke up into smaller groups so we had someone who’s gone before & someone who speaks Thai in each group. We sat at the counter and bought sodas while we took up the girls’ time. There were 4 girls working at the bar we sat at. The atmosphere felt dark: forced smiles and hollow eyes, evil was cheap and available everywhere. Becky and I talked with a 21 year old girl who arrived about 1 month ago. She said she calls her family everyday but that it’s okay that she’s here. She’d like to go home but it’s a full-day trip and she needs to stay. Most of the bars have games, like Connect 4, to play at the counters – easy way to make conversation and small talk for hesitant buyers. We used the games to break the ice and ask about the girls, where there from, what their interests are. We invited them to the English class tomorrow. At the beach today Katherine and I spoke with two 19 year old girls – they looked more like 15 – one all dolled up with fake eyelashes and circles of blush on her cheeks. They said they’d come tomorrow to the English class. Please pray with me for the Lord to bring these women to the Tamar Center and for opportunities for them to find hope in Jesus. There’s another world available to them but the enemy is fighting not to lose ground.

A HUGE blessing to me is Marleen, a Dutch volunteer who’s been here for a month. I’ve been able to join her in what she’s doing and I’m grateful for her explanations along the way as the staff are very busy. Marleen had been praying for the volunteer to arrive – me – that we would become good friends and that we could serve and have fun together. This is so great! I hope to sit down with Eve in the next day or so to go over the schedule & learn additional ways I can help out.

Internet access is less frequent for me but I’ll try to keep you up to date. I miss you guys and love that you’re standing by me on this journey! Becky

Winding down in Trang

Less than a week left in Trang with Cross Cultural Solutions! I can’t believe it. I’m not looking forward to saying goodbye, especially to the CCS Trang staff – Khem, Jack, On, Mama T, Cha . They have created my impression of Thai people. They’ve freely given me their time, their help with the culture, re-pronounced the same basic words and answered my never-ending list of questions. Sight-seeing is so different than partnering with people in another country to accomplish a shared goal. Serving together raises questions and situations that allow you to see and experience the norms of another culture while having someone available to help you understand it from their perspective. I’m so grateful for how they’ve come alongside me these last 5 weeks…

For different reasons I feel a connection with each of them: I love Khem’s wisdom in leading the staff and the volunteers as our Program Director. She’s a single woman balancing her career, responsibilities to her parents, she’s active with her friends and she looks toward the future with hopes for that special someone. Jack, our Assistant Director, has planned our cultural activities & group outings. He’s also spent lots of extra time with us in the evenings – going into Trang town & sharing his favorite hang-outs. I think Jesus shines out of him so much – he always has a smile on his face, a laugh and he continually seeks to serve us. It’s the time that Jack spends with us volunteers that makes me feel like we’re not work to him – “his job” – rather, he wants to be with us and he looks forward it. On, our Admin Asst, also loves kitties and cute things. I’ve shown her photos of the miscellaneous kitties I’ve met around Thailand. The day I walked around Trang town I ran into her downtown. As a stranger in town, it was so fun to have her call out my name as I strolled down the unfamiliar sidewalks. Mama T is normally the first person to the Homebase each morning and she greets me with a huge smile while I’m eating breakfast. Because of her I know many more useful Thai sayings. Cha drives me to my placement each day. We know about the same amount of English & Thai comparatively but that hasn’t stopped us from trying to communicate. He’s willingly quizzed me on the Thai names for fruits and colors and instructions that I can use at the Daycare. He’s one of many examples to me that language can be overcome as a barrier.
I’ve really come to love these new friends and I will miss them very much. I picture it like I arrived in Trang with my heart on a platter – ready to dive in and give it all I’ve got. I did & as I prepare to go, some of me will be left behind. I decided to stay in Trang for an extra day so I’ll have a little more time with the staff before I head off to Pattaya.



FUN LITTLE FACES
Here’s some photos of the cute kiddos I enjoy teaching and playing with each day. Heather, a new volunteer, has joined me at the Daycare so last week I started helping Khruu (Teacher) Ja with her group of children. Ja doesn’t speak much English but I have loved working with her because she finds ways to incorporate me into whatever she’s doing. To help her, I bring simple games & activities with written instructions that my CCS staff has translated into Thai. The kids are precious - among my favorites are Kong (cute smile) & Mo (with me).





A BREATH OF FRESH AIR

I have loved having new volunteers join us at the Homebase! Our house is more full & there’s always something happening to be a part of or a conversation going on. It was a blast to head to Koh Lanta this past weekend with four of them – Matt (New York), Evan, Tomas (Argentina) & Heather (Canada).






ANSWERED PRAYERS

I felt some personal breakthroughs lately as I’ve experienced new ways that the Lord is restoring and refreshing my heart and soul. It boils down to some basic things: I’m different because I know Jesus Christ. He’s transformed my heart and what comes out of it. Like 2 Corinthians 5:17 says: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” There will always be an element of ‘fitting in” to the world that doesn’t happen once we put our faith in Christ’s death on the cross for salvation because He has so deeply changed our hearts. At the same time, though, because Christ was so sacrificial in what He did for me, my heart has become more fully given to the people around me – friends that I want to know Jesus. I want them to have what I have. I long for Him to be glorified and for empty ways to be exposed because they fall so short of all the perks that can only be found in Him. These truths aren’t new to me but the renewal of them has felt critical in the steps that I’m taking forward in life. THANK YOU for your prayers for me!!

Miss you! Love, Becky

~ brief message to you ~

Hello!
Eight new volunteers arrived to CCS Trang last Saturday. It's been a blast getting to know them and spending time with them.
I leave in the morning for the island of Koh Lanta for my last weekend in Trang with 4 of the volunteers.
I hope to send a longer update on Sunday or Monday night since I won't be taking my computer this weekend.
Thinkin' of you! Becky

Settlin' In At The Daycare

The last week has been great! I’m very happy to be at the Daycare, serving the kids and the staff. My role is to look & find needs, providing an extra set of hands to help in all aspects of what the kids are doing. Typical morning begins with a crying fest of the children who are struggling with separation anxiety from their moms…sadly a few of these kiddos cry the whole morning that I’m there…Hai is one example. No matter how much I’ve tried getting him interested in a game, a toy, an activity, he wails unendingly and, if he can, he’ll take my hand and pull me towards the door, pitifully whining “Pai! Pai!) (Go! Go!) The ‘criers’ seem to struggle the most on Monday and get a little more adjusted as each day of the week goes along.

Given their short attention spans, I’ve been picking low commitment activities to do with them to help the staff – counting objects in Thai, telling them colors, playing “Ring Around the Rosie”. The kids are usually divided into either 3 or 4 groups, about 8 to 12 per group, with a staff person responsible for each group. I’ve been helping Khruu (Teacher) Yuun since I’ve been coming. Yuun is in charge of the Daycare and speaks the most English of the teachers. I’m happy to do whatever I can to help ~ this afternoon I raided the kids section of the Lotus/Tesco store (similar to a Walmart) in Trang for some more teaching aids. I picked up some balloons, plastic fruits w/ 2 halves to match together, little bowling pins & extra crayons. Along with some photocopies of paper activities, I’m armed for the week ahead :)


The BODY of CHRIST

Last Tuesday was a holiday in Thailand – celebration of Coronation Day – to mark the 59th anniversary of the Coronation of the King Bhumibol Adulyadej in the Kingdom. For me it was wonderful – extra day off to catch up on some things and to continue exploring the town of Trang. I woke early and took one of the CCS bikes into Trang. I covered a lot of ground quickly – had breakfast by the Train Station, got times & prices for traveling for the weekend, stopped by some stores…but the highlight was stopping by a coffee shop. I had passed it earlier & noticed the sign “Grace & Peace”. Hmm, I thought, wonder if they’re Christians…?

I’ve been looking for a nearby place (and there’s really not a lot that’s too nearby to the CCS Homebase) where I could meet Kwan, the woman from the church who wanted me to help her with her English exam. Grace & Peace is owned by a Christian Thai couple who have two children – Grace (a girl, about 9) and Peace (a boy, about 7). Instantly they welcomed me into their store & we had a conversation about our faith in the Lord. Mana, the wife, studied English at the University about 10 years ago, and though she feels rusty, we managed quite well. She was so happy for us to have met & asked if we could pray together right then – which we did. I left so encouraged & have been back twice – first with James to get an afternoon Iced Mocha before a CCS meeting & then to meet Kwan to practice English.

What struck me was how similar it felt to the weekend my Thailand plans were becoming official: I shared my concerns & the unknowns about my plans with a few believers and they made some calls, sent some emails & prayed with me that the Lord would coordinate the details. Likewise, I asked Jack about going to church in Trang & within a few days new friendships have opened up that I sense are among the reasons that I’m in Thailand. None of it has been about my efforts - it’s the Body of Christ working in harmony to accomplish the Lord’s purposes. I’m so grateful to receive these blessings and the renewal it’s brought to my heart.

Coronation Day also gave me the opportunity to see a Thai Dance ceremony - menora dancing.

WAIT A SECOND, ANOTHER BOUNDARY TO SET?

Just after finding a better balance of my time and stress with my Volunteer Placement, I received another new “boundary” opportunity….seems to be a theme lately! Long story that I’ll abbreviate: I was asked to select the color schemes for a group of chalet resort rooms in Trang. Now, isn’t it funny that I’ve left my interior design career in the US only to have this opportunity on the other side of the world? My heart is to serve people – which sometimes isn’t so good because I can commit to things that I shouldn’t. So, especially lately, I’ve been seeking greater discernment in my ‘yeses’ and my “nos”. The man that asked me to help him is the same great Christian gentleman from the church who invited me last Sunday night for dinner with his family.

So, “why is a boundary needed here?”, you might wonder…Well, I was immediately concerned that this project might not be little in terms of the time commitment. To serve him well, I would need to visit the rooms, consider the type & amount of lighting, take into account any existing furniture or furniture to be purchased, see how the exterior building colors would relate to the spaces, select paint colors and their placement within the rooms (and, oh, did I mention that he’d like different schemes in the rooms, not just the same for all of the rooms?). Would there be additional materials to select too?
The whole opportunity for me to help him had an air of concern to me about it. “Becky, don’t just say yes to this” were the words loud & clear in my head. So, after praying & considering some of what I did know about the opportunity, I wrote an email expressing my desire to help but also my concerns. I gave some options of how I could help him with more reduced time on my part but which would allow my expertise to give direction to his overall goals. The gentlemen very graciously wrote me back, letting me know he sees my concerns, is fine if I can’t help at all but will accept whatever amount of help my schedule and desire allows for. So, still a few decisions to make but I’m headed in the right direction…

Koh Mook

I made a solo journey to Koh Mook this weekend, an island off the coast of Thailand, about 2 hours (minivan & ferry) from Trang. It being low season, there were very few tourists & very few people that spoke any English. It was quiet and kind of empty; I felt lonely and got a little stir-crazy! But, it was beautiful & I took advantage of time in the ocean & the sun, time to read , pray & journal. Definitely wished you were there! Becky :-)