A bit of Singapore!

Pastor Phamor and Ying's house

In the villages, being and hippy for a night, and chiang mai church

Fun at the beach

Helllllooooo everyone!!! I know it's been a while and I apologize for that. There's so much to say so I'll just mention a few of the highlights of the past month and a half. Here's the super condensed version of my time. Once February started Rob and I took a much need weekend break to the beach. We rode the bus/train for a total of about 30 hours within 4 days to get to the beach and back, but it was totally worth it. We were able to meet up with the new student missionaries in Bangkok. After the beach weekend I finished up my videos and we headed to the villages again. I was definitely ready to be back in the jungle. I had some amazing experiences there. We visited Akha and Karen villages, and once again traveled hours to get to them. The last weekend of Feb. the Bangkok SM's came up to visit our home in Chiang Mai for a weekend. We showed them around and I think we all had a good time. Last week I flew out to Singapore and it was a lot of fun. Singapore is a complete contrast of Thailand (open/clean/expensive city), but it was nice to have a change. Now I'm back in Bangkok hanging out with the Brandan, Cory, and Robin the rest of the week. I'm not sure what happens next but I'm enjoying every minute here.

Jesus for Asia Promo

Here's a short promotional video for the organization I work for that I helped put together.

Working hard

This week Brian, Rob, and I moved into our own house nearby Pastor's house. We even have chickens and roosters running around the yard. It's nice to have our own place. It makes working a lot easier. The past few weeks have been pretty good. We went to a nearby city named Lamphun for about a week. I would rather be in the villages b/c I spend too much money in the cities (it's hard to resist a $3/hour massage). Anyway, we've been working on some video stuff and sometimes work seems to go slow, but that's just how the video editing process goes. My computer battery might die in a few minutes so next time I get on I'll try to post a short video for you to see...thanks for reading. I miss you all!

Back in THAILAND!

So Brian and I got back to Thailand yesterday and it feels nice to be back. We arrived into Bangkok in the afternoon and took an overnight bus to Chiang Mai (it was about a 9 or 10 hour ride). We reunited with the rest of the group and it was really good to see everyone. Everyone else went to Cambodia and Vietnam so we told stories of some of our experiences. I loved Indonesia and definitely plan to go back someday, but I'm definitely gonna enjoy the rest of my time here in Thailand. This month will be spent editing video at our home base in Chiang Mai (that's the plan as of right now). I'm just so grateful that God is allowing me to have this experience and has kept me safe throughout the whole time so far. Please keep me in your prayers and don't be afraid to write to me!

Some More Pictures from Indo

The Holidays

So these holidays have been very different from any other holiday I've experienced but it's been really good. Some highlights of my trip to Indonesia are going to a safari, going to a studio to play drums (I miss the drums!), going to a friend's wedding, meeting so many amazing people, and much more. Brian and I got to speak to students at UNAI, the Adventist University in Indonesia, about being a missionary. I've done a lot in Indonesia and in a few days I go back to Thailand to meet up with the rest of our group. It's kinda sad to leave Indo because there is so much to do here but it's time to get back to work. It's hard to post pictures here because of the internet situation but I posted 3 so far and I'm working on some more. I miss everyone! Merry Christmas and Happy New year!

Bandung, Indonesia

Indonesia

Hey everybody!!! I think I've found a new favorite country.  I love Indonesia, it's awesome in every way.  The food, the people, the scenery; it just keeps getting better and better.  Brian and I flew in last friday and we've been here for about a week so far.  We have been staying at people's houses the whole time.  Right now we're at a University in Bandung and we talked to a few groups of students about being a missionary.  It's hot in the city but now we're in the mountains so the weather is more tolerable.  The rest of our group went to Cambodia today so we'll meet up with them in about a month or so.  I will post pictures as soon as I get them off my camera.  I will update soon!

Back to Civilization

Hey everyone! I'm back in Chiang Mai now and the past month has been really awesome.  We lived in a little Karen village and I definitely saw a lot there. I got to do some cool stuff while we were there. We harvested rice and peanuts, went on an elephant trek, constantly ate with our hands (Karen custom), and met a lot of people.  Even though I can't speak to most of the people I meet, after spending a month with them it feels like I know them.  So me and Brian got back last night.  We've been editing nonstop the past few weeks.  I've finished 2 episodes of the TV show and a promotional video.  I'll try to post some of it but I'm not sure if it'll work.  So my visa expires on Saturday so I have to be out of the country by then. Brian and I have a flight booked to Indonesia but I don't know if that'll work out.  The airport in Bangkok is shut down and they don't know when it will open back up.  If it doesn't open then we'll have to go to Cambodia.  So pray that I can go to Indonesia!!! I miss everyone at home, especially with the holiday season now. Christmas definitely won't be the same. No snow this year!!!!!! Ok I'm gonna try to post some pictures and write some more sometime soon! Thanks for reading friends!

The Village

OK so I got to come back to the city because Brian and I have to get our visas extended for 30 more days. We went to the immigrations office today and they gave us all the paperwork. Tomorrow we'll turn it in and hopefully be allowed to stay til December (then Indonesia!). But the past week in the village has been really awesome. We are in a Karen village (one of the hill tribes in Thailand), so a lot of the villagers don't even speak Thai! Communication can get frustrating but we have a great translator who speaks Karen. Some villagers came by and sold us some of clothing and things that they made by hand. So we got some really nice stuff. We have a house in the village for ourselves and the church is nearby. It's on the side of a mountain so they can't even drive cars down there or else they would get stuck. Yesterday Brian and I actually had to go help push someone who tried to drive down and got their truck stuck in the mud. I've been getting a lot of video done lately, which is realllllly good because I've felt behind up until this point. Now that I'm getting caught up I feel less stressed and I'm enjoying myself more. OH YEAH...yesterday we got to harvest rice! We went to the rice fields with some villagers and helped them harvest. It was really cool. I didn't stay the whole time because I went back to edit videos but it was fun for the time that I stayed. I'll be sure to post pictures when I can. I'm in a little internet cafe right now so I'm not using my computer to post pics. I'm not sure when the next time I'll be able to post is but so far so good in this village! Miss you all, thanks for your feedback!

On the road

We've had a lot of time in different villages. I've seen so much over the last 2 weeks. My first week was in a village called Panakok. It was a really cool village and everyone there was so friendly. We did medical training and made some house visits. One thing we need to teach the people in the village is how to clean and be sanitary! I have hand sanitizer everywhere I go. My second week my group was supposed to go out to a remote village but plans changed last second and we ended up meeting up with the other group in their village.  So the past week has been awesome. Now I have soooo much video to look through, but I'll have lots and lots of time. Within the next few days I'm going to be going to a very remote village with 3 other people. It's kinda bad because I won't even have electricity or internet for the first week.  Then the next month I will have electricity, but no phone or internet.  So wish me luck.  This will be the biggest test of my patience and hopefully I will be able to keep my sanity. I will probably be reading a lot, and learn to like it. The plan as of right now is that I am returning to civilization around December 6 or so. But until then just pray for me. I think about you guys at home all the time and thanks for checking up on me!!! It really means a lot to me. Miss you!!!!!

ok wow, the past week was pretty awesome! I got a lot of good footage and had a video camera all the time. sorry i don't have much time to write but i will update everyone as soon as i can. i'll try to post some pics for now....