Taking it all in with one deep breath...

So finally some pics to share...although this doesn't do justice to what you see in Bangkok or what we experienced today. This beats any city I have ever experienced. It is by far the most colorful, chaotic overwhelming mess of a city, and I am head over heels wrecked by love for this place! I told one of the girls, that since I stepped off the plane, this deep satisfaction has overtaken me and I feel this contentment and purpose of being here like no other.

CLICK ON THE PICTURES TO SEE BIGGER SIZE...
(Here's a few snap shots of the city this afternoon I got to snap)

Today started with me automatically waking up at 6:30am, cold shower (which feels great here!), a walk through the city with some of the girls on a hunt for fresh fruit and the most sugary coffee drinks you can imagine. Beats starbucks! and returned back to the base to meet up with the team to pile into a truck like taxi and head roughly about 45 min towards the middle of the city.

(here are some pics of the team squeezed in... and some of the scenery along the way!)

Our main plan for the day was to meet up with Night Light and get a feel for what their ministry does in this city with providing jobs for girls who want to get out of the bars. Got to hear the heart behind Night Light, the real statistics behind the scenes of prostitution here in Bangkok and testimonies from the hospitality director and meet up with Janie (for those who don't know, another local Central Coaster, who works with Night Light and come to Thailand more long term!) Of course just hearing the testimonies you could feel the Holy Spirit just increase in the room as each of our hearts broke and expanded. Although we aren't here for a long period of time it's becoming more evident we are coming along side to bless and pour into the ministries here in hopes to really see where in the future we can partner more in depth. We got to pray/encourage the director, really asking the Father for things they want to see their ministry grow and gain. There was so much love in the room!


To learn more of what specifically Night Light is and does, it would be better to hear it directly on their website: www.nightlightbangkok.com . You are able to purchase jewelry handmade by the girls online with USD money.

(here are some snap shots of us meeting and getting to tour the place and even buy some of the jewelry these girls make. Due to discretion for the girls sake, wasn't able to take too many photos of them working, but you can see a bit of the stations, and their jewelry shop.)

After a few hours of absorbing Night Light, Janie led us to a great cheap place to eat a few blocks down. Just wanted to share a few snaps of the team and us super excited to eat some grub.

Sorry no pics of the food... we were pretty toasted and hungry at this point, although Naomi looks pretty happy! These guys are such a humble flexible team. Enjoying so far just the ease and flow of hanging and connecting with them.

Lastly our drive home was quite an experience. Instead of taking a truck taxi back altogether we split into separate taxis. Yonnie, Carrie and I all took one, and said we'd meet back at the base... unfortunately NONE of us knew Thai and thought we explained what part of town we needed to go and found out 20 minutes later we were headed in the opposite direction... so here is a picture of our happy taxi man dropping us off at at the base who thought it was hysterical we had to pay him 400 baht (which is roughly $10-12 USD). To say the least, us 3 girls weren't to stoked and bargained him down, but still a costly loss. Lesson 2 learned... write down address of place staying to give to transportation. You can really see why they call this place "the land of smiles!" I think I might fit in quite well here.
























Lastly we spent the rest of the afternoon resting a bit, and then spending sometime in prayer and worship for the city and our time here, shared our hearts of why we are all here, and wandered the market night life for a bit to grab some street food. Tomorrow we are leaving the YWAM base. A few members of the team are heading North to outreach to a specific region one of the guys has a heart for, and share the Jesus film, while the rest of us are moving closer into the city to a hostel-like accommodations where we will be staying for the rest of the week. More updates to come tomorrow...