End of chapter 1

Well! After 3 whole months of crazy adventures, God-seeking, and random times of life all over Thailand it's time for a change. But first here's a recap of the last month here:
-After the jungle, the team and I came back to Breanna's House, where we spent the next two weeks playing all sorts of games, building soccer goals, mowing, painting, power washing and giving every amount of love possible to the girls. I continued to teach the staff English and was very excited to find that they had contained the content from all the previous lessons and were ready for more!
It's hard to sum it all up into a few words but after 13 days it was time to say goodbye again. I had it a little easier since I wasn't saying goodbye for good; I made sure all the girls knew that plans were in motion for me to stay and continue living here. But it was pretty harsh for the rest of em; lots of tears, "Chan rak kun's" and email exchanges. But after a few hours, we were on the road again.

-We didn't go far, but it was necessary to say goodbye at this point rather than later due to future itineraries. We took the next 5 days to have a Spiritual Retreat at a hotel/botanical garden on the outskirts of Chiang Mai. Here we had time to pour over scripture, fast, pray, spend a day in silence and rest in the blessed love of our God. I have yet to feel so rested than after receiving the peace that comes from His presence. (Nor do I expect to in this world).

-Then we were off to Bangkok; we only spent 3 days in Thailand's capital, but that was all that was needed. Barely an hour after getting off the overnight bus from Chiang Mai, we found ourselves in the center of Bangkok's notorious "Patong District", the city's well-known red light district where more than 2,000 prostitutes work each night. We walked past disgusting bars and their signs and went up an elevator to meet with Rahab Ministries; a ministry literally in the heart of the sex industry that provides rehab and vocational training for women wanting to escape their current occupation. For more info check out rahabministriesthailand.org.
We headed back to our hostel and honestly had already lost our taste for Bangkok...spent the remaining 2 days praying and willing God to move in the city.

-We grabbed our flight from Bangkok to Phuket and spent a night in a bamboo bungalow near the ocean, took the ferry to Koh Phi Phi Island the next day where we spent the next 6 days in awe of God's amazing creation and beauty. We spent most of our time in the water; snorkeling and swimming, and I was exceptionally blessed to be able to go Deep Water Soloing (a mix between rock climbing and cliff jumping; something I'd been longing to do for many nears!) and kayaking to different places around the island.
The evenings were spent processing the entire trip and preparing the girls for their trip home. We made friends with the locals of the beach we were staying at and I enjoyed talking with them and playing guitar while admiring the beauty and opportunity to be in the South Pacific. But before long we grabbed the ferry back to Phuket, stayed one more night and headed back to Chiang Mai where the girls packed up, said their goodbyes (to friends in Chiang Mai and the Parkers and I) and boarded their planes back to the states.

So...I am currently waiting for the time to creep closer to my own departure; I'm hopping a bus in a few hours bound for Vientiane, Laos to do a 3 day visa run in the hopes and prayers of returning with another 3 month visa! Prayers, as always, are greatly appreciated and welcomed!

End of Chapter 1. See next post for the exciting beginning of the next Chapter of what God's doing here and letting me be a part of!

LAOS VISA UPDATE: The Jessen family and I took the overnight bus from Chiang Mai to the border and we were blessed beyond belief by receiving our visas without any semblance of difficulty at the consulate! We even arrived 2-3 hours later than most people had suggested due to a little bus/tuktuk mix up, but were relieved to find hardly anybody there. (Imagine showing up at the DMV at 10 am and expecting to wait in line until at least 4 pm and find no one in line!!)
Laos is a communist country and therefore closed to missionary work, yet I could physically feel the grace of God in the midst of almost tangible opression. The Jessens and I took time to pray for the country while having 24 hours to kill while our visas were processed.