The HIV Community & Poverty Like I've Never Seen I Before.

This is a picture of a community of believers in Cambodia that we had the privilege of worshipping with this past sabbath. This community is supported by ASAP Ministries.  They have recently suffered the loss of their leader who recently passed away. Most of the members that belong to this church, except for a few of the children, all have HIV. If you have been diagnosed with HIV in Cambodia you are usually outcast from society. So ASAP Ministries helps fund a personal place for them to congregate and for them to worship each sabbath. They have lost many members but God has kept a remnant alive. While I was praying for them God gave me a strong picture in my mind of a foundation beneath the ground. Nothing had been built above ground level - yet all of the bricks where beneath the surface of the ground forming a large box in the earth. I was impressed that God was saying that these people would make the foundation of a church that he would rebuild, let us as a church content for this promise. I had the opportunity to share a brief message from the Bible with them and Julia O'Carey, associate director at ASAP Ministries, also shared with them her powerful testimony. Please continue to keep them in your prayers.

This woman sleeps outside one of the feed and read schools that ASAP works with and helps to support. Her story is very sad. Her son in law threw her out on the street when her daughter ran away and got remarried. She was raped several times her first night on the streets and became an outcast. She is currently homeless. It was hard to meet her like this. This is the kind of stuff that just makes me want Jesus to come back soon. Sin has done enough damage. Please pray for her.

Sri Noi

Make a Heart ! (Footage)

I met four beautiful girls from the Vietnamese school that ASAP Ministries helps to support. Na, Linh Houne and Hein all work as teachers during the day, split between two schools. They teach for a few hours at one location and then rush over to teach at another location. Then in the evening when they have finished with all their teaching and marking, they spend their spare time studying. These girls work hard. And each of the them possess remarkable stories as to how they came to work for and attend school with Mr/Pastor/Teacher Kahn. One of the girls was beaten so badly, her father would hang her upside down and abuse her. Another girl was sold away from her family, another homeless and still another abused, abandoned by family members and at risk of being trafficked. Stories like these are not uncommon.

The Vietnamese are among the worst treated people groups in Cambodia. They have no citizenship in Vietnam and therefore cannot return to their home country and they aren't warmly welcomed here in Cambodia. Politically right now in Cambodia, things are not good. There is a lot of unrest. Some nationals believe that there may be a great uprising in the next couple of weeks. If you are reading this blog please take a minute to pray for peace in Cambodia. The girls are getting ready to take their tests so that they can go to college for nursing. You can also intercede on their behalf for their success.

These girls are also super creative, they taught me how to make hearts out of fresh money bills. See footage below (and.... if you grab a bill from somewhere you can make a heart too....and send it in to support the project !)

Learning to be alone.

Being out here has taught me many valuable lessons, but I think the biggest lesson I am learning is how to be alone. Over the years I have grown so addicted to people. So much so, that It has become increasingly hard to be by myself, and this began to stunt my spiritual growth. I was restless during private worship, even if I wanted to tarry in God's presence I just couldn't wait to connect with this person or spend time with that person. And I realized that the reason why I couldn't be alone with God for too long was because I was scared to be alone with myself.

The world within can be a frightening one, and we often neglect addressing our shattered hopes, broken hearts, wounded childhoods and damaged emotions because we just can't handle the pain of facing it alone. But God is ever faithful, and to know Him is to be alone with Him. So alone with Him... that you realize that you are never alone.

Being out here in Cambodia, with everyone you love and care about thousands of miles away, leaves you with no one -  but God. It has been rough at times, but it has forced me to face hidden long suppressed issues that have gone unchecked for years. With no one to run to but God, I find myself going deeper in His Word and crying out to him more and more as my only Help - and in all actuality  even with all my friends and family He is still the only Help. I can't wait for the day that I choose to abide in God and I don't have to, like a horse who has to be bribed by bit and bridle, be coerced into spending time with Him because I have no other option.

Jesus says to me, and to all of us, "though your pain touch no responsive chord in any heart on earth, look unto Me and live." He is here with us, always, always, all the time. The Lord delays in responding to our prayers not because he is busy or angry but to teach us that prayer is no vain thing. It is not a futile exercise we engage in to gain some sort of heavenly merit. But we must learn to abide, learn to fall on our knees coming to Jesus - in the mess that we are in, with the feelings that we have - knowing that he cares and is near. Man.... Jesus is the best lover. 

Found in a Garbage Can - Interview footage

They found Bora ( the handsome little boy in the picture) when he was only four days old in a garbage can behind a hospital in Pnom Penh. We had the privilege of meeting this family and hearing his incredible powerful story that remarkably resembles the one we see in Ezekiel 16.  See interview below.

Brief Video Tutorial on Khmer Greeting

This dog is hilarious. Just thought I would share this.

Somaly Mam !!!

Today Julia and I had the wonderful privilege of going to AFESIP. AFESIP Cambodia is a non- governmental, non-partisan, non-profit and non-religious organization established in 1996. The dire situations of thousands of victims forced into sex slavery are the reason why AFESIP exists today. They are devoted to - "humanly correct development"- in order to fight against the trafficking of women and children for sex slavery. They have 3 major locations for their safe shelters: Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Kompong Cham. We visited the Phnom Penh location.

We spent a good amount of time interviewing Sao Chhoerurth, the executive director and CEO of AFESIP Cambodia. He was very helpful and shared some insightful information.

One of the things that I am learning here is how deeply the level of political corruption and commitment runs. I have  discovered something new happening in the city. There are now some farmers and agriculturalists, people who have no expertise or experience in the field of trafficking or psychology, have gotten involved in the arena of human sex trafficking and started up NGO's not to be a part of the solution in trafficking but for the purpose of receiving funding for personal vocational enterprises. This was shocking for me but definitely helped us to see how much we need people who are dedicated and committed to truly being a part of the solution.

I have also found that, although Southeast Asia is over saturated with NGO's, we are finding them to be less effective because they refuse to work together. There are somewhere between 2000 and 2500 NGO's that are here to help fight against the problem of human trafficking and none of them have been unified. NGO jealousy and competition is an interesting phenomenon. Please pray for unity in the body of Christ in Southeast Asia, as this is one of the Stoplight Project's main objectives.

After our interview with Sao, we asked if we could take a picture with him beside the photographs taken of Somaly Mam on the wall (photographs of her meeting with Jennifer Garner, Michelle Obama, Hilary Clinton etc). He then mentioned to us that she was actually there at that location. When we realized that he was speaking about Somali Mam, both Julia and I were ecstatic and excited about the possibility of meeting this incredible woman. Check out and support http://www.somaly.org/ . He then called her on his cell phone and she said we should come up. He took us her office where she invited us to come in and sit on her couch. Oh my goodness! At this point i'm just completely amazed that I have the honor and privilege to sit before this remarkable woman. She was so open and warm. She shared with us just how much of a work and commitment this type of work requires. People want to see success right away, she said that often times we don't see promise or results for years after rescuing girls. She said, "It takes 5 minutes to rescue a girl but after those 5 minutes you have about 5 years of work with them after."

At the end of my time with her I had the opportunity to ask her one final question. I knew the exact question I wanted to ask Somaly. It was the same one I asked myself after watching the documentary Half the Sky and the same one I asked Ravi Zaccharias after his talk on "What It Means to be Human" at Trinity last fall. And it was the same question that has been pushing me, persuading me and propelling me into the global combat against sex trafficking: "After all the women and children have gone through, starting at ages as young as 5 taking up to 30 male clients a day, how can they be survivors and conquerors of trafficking, abuse and sexual violence and no longer victims? How can they, who have been treated like objects for so long feel like human persons with a sense of the God given dignity within???" she said "Love them. Love them with your hands and your heart. Love them."

Jesus said "A new command I give to you, Love each other as I have loved you, so you must love one another"

John 13:34

Above all, Love each other, because Love covers a multitude of sins

1 Peter 4:8

Julia O'carey, The Associate Director of Adventist Southeast Asia Projects Ministries, My Boss and an excellent role model, wrote a little bit about her experience and I have included it below.

I read The Road of Lost Innocence on my flight over to Southeast Asia, the true story of Somaly Mam. It touched me deeply to read of Somaly Mam's courage through her painful childhood of abuse, violence and sex trafficking. I have true respect for how she proactively went about rescuing girls in Cambodia and rejoice over the success of the rescue centers that exist today, not only in Cambodia, but in Vietnam, Laos and Thailand as well. At the conclusion of her book I had a strong impression to pray for her and told the Lord how amazing it would be if someday Somaly Mam and her girls would encounter the Master Healer, the true source of Love. I had no idea in my wildest dreams that I would be able to meet her, being an internationally known person as she is. What a joy it was to get to visit with her today and see her passion first hand...an experience I'll never forget and I thank God for.

WOW!

This is AMAZING.

What you see in the picture is the Bang Melea temple in the northeastern end of Siem Reap Cambodia. The temple was built in the Kingdom of Cambodia in the late 11th - first half of the 12th century. It's religious ancestry: the Brahamanic cult within Hinduism, main deity: Vishnu. Archaeologists assume that based on the 45 m wide moat that the temple was originally the center of a town or village. The temple is not often visited by tourists but it is quite large in size the outer enclosure of the temple is 181 m by 142m. 

Initially upon seeing the temple at a distance I assumed that it had been destroyed by invasion or by war. However as I got closer to the ruins themselves, I realised that this was not the case. Seyha, my local guide while in Siem Reap, told me that the temple didn't exist and stand for very long after it had been built. It may have only lasted for a century and then its worshippers had to vacate as the structure was seen to be unsafe. The walls, floors and columns started to crack and collapse. The temple began to fall apart because below the ground the roots of new trees started to grow beneath the temple's foundation. The roots of these trees wrapped themselves around the underground pillars and stones that kept the temple standing and began to shift its supports out of place. Bang Melea Temple, a temple erected to the deity Vishnu, was literally uprooted and destroyed by God's creation.

This taught me a valuable lesson.

God doesn't have to do much in order to destroy an idol. He doesn't have to send fire from heaven, he doesn't need to rain down brimstone, he doesn't need to send an army of soldiers to invade and destroy, it would seem that God's natural design, creation itself has an organic way of uprooting things that attempt to take away God's glory. The same goes for idols that we have in our own personal lives, God doesn't need to do much to destroy them, or bring them to ruin. idolatrous people, possessions, and positions all have a way of self destructing.

Brief Interview with Seyha: Underage Trafficking

Seyha is a tour guide here in Siem Reip Cambodia. He is the one who will be taking me to the brothel district to conduct more research and meet with the girls. He has been a tremendous help and has so kindly volunteered to share what he has seen and experienced first hand here in his home country. Enjoy. 

Pictures and Video Footage from Siem Reip

Arrival in Siem Reip

This is the City

The Market. I've never seen anything like this before.

Three of us on a moped heading to town, crazy experience!

Like Ordering Pizza

The Trafficking problem in Cambodia and Thailand is much bigger than what we have been told. I have learned a lot these last couple of days and as a result had stopped writing. In Cambodia they have what you call begging rings. These are people who are often kidnapped or deceived at the border and forced to beg for a living not because they necessarily want to but because they are forced to.

Children are found to be the biggest victims of the begging rings. As I walk through the streets of Siem Reip on almost every corner there are women holding children that are frothing at the mouth or whose eyes are rolling backwards in their heads or who are injured and bleeding or are missing a limb.... and automatically my natural response is to give money or do what ever I can to assist. However after several interviews I have found that the children these women are holding don't belong to them, and that they are not sick or ill but rather have been drugged, or are maimed and injured in some way by the Ring Leaders they work for. I have met several children like this, who have been rescued at the orphanage in Siem Reip. There is one little boy here Lao who was rescued after being arrested at the age of 3 for stealing...? I can imagine how effective the handcuffs were lol....He was in one of the largest begging rings in all of Siem Reip and stealing was what he was taught and forced to do. So when he arrived here at the Maddocks orphanage, he was always getting into trouble for stealing from other children and the staff. He is now 7 and is still addicted to stealing but people say his face has changed. That is Khmer for he "even though he steals he is different now."

The more and more research I do and the more questions I ask the deeper the problem of human trafficking becomes. There is so much more than what we have been told. So much more than Nefarious. The brothel raids are hard experiences. They are not as welcomed and liberating for the children as are imagined. Often times the children don't want to be rescued because the brothel managers whom they've been sold to have become like parents to them. It's the only life they know. They all look scared and kind of just run al over the place. Its like you have to sort chase them and garb them while you can. There are so many under age children hidden in these Karaoke bars and pubs.

Its becoming harder and harder to track down these brothels because although in some cases the girls just sit outside waiting for clients, in cases where the tourists are requesting under age children the brothel manager delivers the children to the hotels, just like you would order a pizza. I've become much closer to one of the main tourists here in town his name is Sehya. He is a Christian and has offered to set up an interview with one of the girls from the brothels in town who was trafficked at the border. She has to come to us somewhere in town we cannot go to her. The only reason we are able to interview her is because I am paying her for the hour, because we are women and because now she says that after many years it is her choice to work prostitution so she doesn't mind sharing.

On a somewhat lighter pizza note, I thought this was quite hilarious...

We Cannot Afford to Make a Name for Ourselves

ZOE International is an amazing organization. They are an Evangelical based organization and have completed a huge home (Safe house Shelter) for orphans in Thailand. This was an interesting experience. When I saw all of what Zoe had done, and the enormous safe house (75 children) they had built and heard all the wonderful stories about the donors that just came along and provided, I felt uneasy and slightly jealous...okay maybe very jealous. I felt like, "Man this is not fair this was my vision, God gave this to me." Isn't it amazing how quickly self can rise to the surface. After a long talk with a really good friend of mine, I call her my Paul, although she doesn't know that, she helped me to realize that the work that they (Zoe) are doing, though it mirrors exactly what God has placed on your heart to do should serve as affirmation for this call to ministry. She also said to me "Shantel the work is so great, too great, that we cannot afford to make a name for ourselves." When I spoke with Carol the founder of the home and organization she said to me, "I am so glad you have decided to do this work, there is so much room for help. If all of us, took in all the orphans who have been abused, trafficked or abandoned there would never be enough beds." She then gave me her card and asked me to keep in touch.

I thank God for the rebuke. I thank Holy Spirit that he attacks my pride, vanity and self glory. That he did not allow these things to go unchecked in my heart, but that He is continually searching me and reading my heart. God sees us as we are and he gently reminds us that it is not about us - at all. I am not a superhero. All the courage and strength you see comes from remaining in HIM. The Stoplight project could never have gotten to where it is now if it was just me. If it was just an idea. GOD gave the vision. Gad gave the growth. And it was the help of an awesome team that has helped to bring it to fruition. 

Previously the Stoplight Project had two primary goals : 1. Create awareness in the SDA church about sex trafficking. 2. Build a Safe home/ Shelter for women and children who have been exploited abused and sex trafficked. 

I now establish a third.....

 3. Build bridges with other Christian organizations, with shared vision, so as to complete this work together as the Whole Body of Christ.

How does it happen?

Below I posted some footage of the travel up to the Hill tribe villages. Two tribes Akha and Karen. I wanted to share some of the scenery with you all, as well as some insightful conversations, I hope you can hear them clearly, but if not what I am saying is that the area that we are headed to is one where people are being trafficked from frequently.

(The Village Leader's wife, she knew I was taking the photo)

How does a person get trafficked:

Situation #1: A village family works the fields, farming, agricultural work, and does weaving in order to generate income and provide for the family. The children attend the village learning center during the day if they are not assisting their parents. Then one day a man comes to the village promising a young girl or child's family that she can make more money and have a better life than the one she currently has in the village. the family wants the child to have a better life so they agree to allow her to migrate to the city to work. The man offers them some early money telling them that they can expect that she will make this and more. The girl goes along with it expecting a better life. The offer is very enticing especially when the man has money in his hand to give the family right away. The girl has no idea she is going to work prostitution and often the family never sees her again. Not even the family is aware of what she is going to end up doing, they just want the child to have a better life and they know that if she can get a good paying job in a retail store or restaurant than she can support her family in the future as goes with Thai custom/culture.

Situation #2: the man shows up and tells the girl she can become more, and have more. Iphone, Ipad mini, Mac computer, jewelry, make up, better clothes maybe he will even be her boyfriend. She goes wanting the materialistic things. The social value is tempting and they often give after hearing of such possibilities not knowing that they will be forced to work 24 hour days taking up to 35 clients a day.

Situation #3: There is a person in the village taking money for information about where they can find little virgin boys and little virgin girls. They find out where and when the children are most vulnerable. Then the children are taken.

Trafficking Government Tensions & Risk Reduction

Early this morning I had a big meeting with the One Stop Crisis Center (OSCC). They are a government organization that works primarily in hospitals and it responsible for handling and taking care of all cases of abuse and suspected trafficking in the area. When i arrived at the hospital they were currently handling to cases: a young girl age 12 brought into the hospital who was abused sexually and violently by her father, and another case of abuse for girl in a brothel. The meeting went well. They didn't have many statistics to share, real cases to discuss or any helpful methodologies in after care trauma care therapy. Most of the children and young women that are brought to the OSCC are from Hilltribes; the most vulnerable group when it comes to labor and sex trafficking. The children often don't know how old they are, neither do they have any identification to prove that they were born in Thailand. So after running a bone test to determine the age of the individual if they cannot prove legal citizenship they often are deported back to the bordering country they migrated from and left as orphans,  which in many cases results in them being trafficked again.

(Every name and picture used has not been taken or used without the consent of the individual recorded or photographed)

I had the opportunity to meet with Pee Ko who currently works for TRAFFCORE an organization dedicated to rescuing and investigating cases of persons trafficked. My meeting with him was very insightful. Before coming to work for TRAFFCORE he formally worked as an undercover investigative agent for an NGO in Thailand. He worked in the regional police department as well as for the NGO. He also spent time working with the police department. While working with the police department he saw many levels of corruption. Many of the police officers were married to or affiliated with in different ways many of the Karaoke bar, Pub, and restaurant owners. He found that almost on every level bribery with money was involved. According toe Pee Ko, it is often the police who warn the brother managers when a raid is about to go down and so they tell them to hide all the underage children/workers that they have.

Pee Ko has been working in the are of human trafficking for the last 10 years shifting into different specified areas of interest but has never left the field human trafficking. He said that his work is very sad but that someone must do it. When he first got involved in the work he did undercover visits to the brothel auctions and Karaoke bars and wrote up reports to submit to higher trustworthy government officials as evidence for what was taking place. He said that this work was difficult because often while working with a case (a child trafficked into a brothel unwillingly) within days of him writing and submitting his report the child would be moved and disappear forever.

He made a very good point: Most NGO's often try and assist at the end of the problem - when the situation is at its worst  - when a person has have been trafficked - but  there are several leading causes that work towards a young child or teenager being trafficked. He says trafficking is the end of the problem it is better that we work to alleviate the initial causes. (poverty, lack of awareness, little to no education or knowledge)

It has been tiring and frustrating meeting with some of the government officials. Trying to track down information or get statistics or even understand the problem more clearly is difficult. The trafficking problem becomes more and more complex the more i hear stories in the villages and sit down with officials. But i have come to realize that little to no information is a lot of information.

(On the way up into the mountains)

Girls at risk, Rescued. A Day in the Village.

Today I went to the village with Joy and Julia, two of the workers with ADRA. I met a little girl named  Phone, she is from Mong, one of the hill tribes in Chiang Rai. Girls from the Hill tribe region are especially vulnerable to trafficking since many of the girls have no education and live in extreme cases of poverty. Also since they are hill tribe they tend to not have any Identification, so if they go missing, or if they are kidnapped no one will come looking for them.

Phone is the one to the far right. 

Phone is 12 years old and she currently is living with her grandmother and attending one of the rural schools. She was sponsored by ADRA 10 Baht a day so she could attend. Her grandmother shared with me that her mother and father used to live in the bamboo house next door but eventually separated cause the couple could not get a long. Phone used to witness her father beating her mother often. Eventually the father left the two of them behind, and then the mother abandoned the daughter to the  grandmother. She is now working prostitution in Chiang Mai. It wasn't hard hearing the facts of the story so much as it was hard looking at Phone. She never smiled, not once, and when I spoke with her teacher she said the same thing "Phone never smiles, she has a sad face all the time." While spending time with her, it was like her sadness was just emanating towards me. I just wanted to cry but in Thai culture that is seen to be a sign of weakness.

Nam, even though we are not supposed tot have favorites was probably one of my favorite girls in the children's shelter at KGS. She would always wake me and hug me and grab me around my waist. She was also the one who taught me most of the Thai words and sentences that I know. She helps me confuse people on the street who expect me not to know Thai. She is absolutely beautiful. She was brought to the home because he father and her father's friend, are heavy into heroine and other kinds of drug abuse. They used to watch porn with the kids and Nam was often left alone with her father's friends unprotected. She doesn't share much about what happened to her but we assume sexual abuse.

Nam is center with the purple attire.

Chiang Mai

I was welcomed in Chiang Mai by Julia Symes who is hails from Australia, and currently works with ADRA Thailand as the program Director. ADRA is doing some great work out here, I've been learning a lot about the administrative aspect behind the projects which has been extremely helpful, in working to develop culturally sensitive and contextually relevant programs for The Stoplight Prpject. she has also been feeding me really well. Kin Kao ! "Eat rice!"

Anyways after much research we headed to an orphanage in Chiang Mai, specifically for the mentally disabled. The orphanage works primarily with children who are autistic and or have down syndrome.  Sadly because Thailand functions within a hierarchal system, it is looked down upon for the Thai people to work with such communities, leaving room for those with refugee status, or those from Hill tribes, or those who are seeking asylum, with opportunity to work. It was very hard for me to be there at the orphanage not just because of the language barrier but because I just didn't know what to do or how to be. Finally one little boy just came over and grabbed me by the arm and made me ride the swing with him, I was really nervous but when I finally let loose it was good times.

When we went to the night market, initially I hadn't realized that it was such a touristy area. However  as we went further into the market it became more and more clear that this is where the westerners hung out. It was close to midnight when we started for home and as we drove along the strip to head back I saw Karaoke bars, nightclubs and restaurants with young women and young girls, who were seated outside, lined up to entertain tourists. They had prices flashing everywhere for girls who were a younger age and girls who were older. It still hasn't fully registered, but my trip just more real everyday.

I also had the privilege to meet Abigail. A little girl who was rescued from her father who was seeking to traffick her for income because of poverty. Her mother died giving birth to her in the jungle, while fleeeing the Burmese army as a refugee. They have five other children ahead of Abigail making it difficult for her father to provide as a single parent. It became even harder when Abigail grew ill. She had contracted worms and poverty had overtaken her little body. She was only being fed sugar water. The only thing the father could think of was to sell her to a brothel so that she could provide income. But when a near by orphanage, hearing of the situation and condition of the child, asked if there would be anyone in the Adventist church who would be willing to help take care of her, a South African couple volunteered to do so temporarily. Growing attached to Abigail they decided they wanted to adopt. They helped restore her back to health and she is now a living breathing walking emobodiment of God's goodness. The adoption process is very long and very expensive in Thailand so please keep Abigail and her new parents in prayer.

I left Chiang Mai, and am currently in Chiang Rai whereThe Keep Girl's Safe home is located. These are girls that were at risk of being trafficked, either because their parents are very poor and needed some income or because they were left as orphans on the treat for anyone to exploit. Thus the shelter volunteers to take them in and provide them with education and a safe place to live. I like it better here because I get to stay with the girls. Sleep with them, eat with them, play with them and learn with them. They all call me Pee Santi which means "Big sister Peace." I love it ! Their stories are very sad, too sad to share, right away my feelings are still in progress. Below we have Nam, Beer and Teedah.

A Good Report

This post is inspired by my big sister Bernie, she stayed up with me the night before leaving when I was feeling afraid, thank you B, I love you.

When the children of Israel where in the wilderness of Paran waiting for the next plan of action The Lord said to Moses "Send out men to explore the land, GO, see what the land is like, are the people there weak or strong? are they few or many? is the land good or bad? do thier towns have walls, or are they unprotected like open camps (mercy!)." When they returned they brought back a heavy cluster of fruit, so heavy that it took two men to carry it. (AWESOME GOD). But as they began to share with the rest of the Israelite community about what they had seen, the peoples hearts grew faint for although they had spoken much about the greatness and fullness of the land they also spoke much negativity about the peoples ability to attain it. They spoke so much negativity that Caleb tried to quiet the people with words of encouragement and exhortation, but it was too late. The words had sown much fear in the hearts of the people. For they said "We can't go up against them! They are stronger than we are!" So they spread this bad report about the land and the whole community began weeping and crying aloud all through the night.

This story breaks my heart. God had given the people the land. There was much fruit to be gained, there was plenty of territory to conquer, but because of the dibah ( bad report, defmation, evil words), because of the giants in the land, because it didn't seem possible to them, or realistic to them, they lifted thier voices, wept all night and would not go forward with what God had instructed them to do.

I've seen the same discouragement, defiance and disbelief at work in my own life, because of the varying reports and evil sayings people have shared with me or that I have shared with myself. Feeling like I could never be good enough for anything or anyone, because of my own fears, inabilities and shortcomings. It seemed impossible and unrealistic at times to be who He wanted me to be,to grow up as a mature woman in Christ. But thats when I realized that there is a BIG difference between being given something.....and taking possession of it. It all boils down to faith. I must believe it not because I feel it but because it is. We must begin to say we are  healed, we are restored, we are forgiven, we are not alone, and we will conquer the land that has been given to us. Whether in our personal lives with sin, or in the ministry God has called us to (It is not a matter or more prayer but more faith).

No matter what I may experience over on the other side of the world I have determined to bring back a good report. That there are many girls to be rescued from sex slavery, much land to conquer and build on, great clusters of fruit to harvest (too great for any one person to manage) and that our God is ABLE. It is becausee God has said "GO!" that no matter how big and scary the giants may be He has already given the Stoplight Project and its supporters the land, it is now about taking posession.

Be very strong and very courageous, have I not commanded you.

Will touch base in a few days when I arrive in Thailand.
I love you all very much.

Shanti