After talking to Pastor Wes Flint, a team leader of Vision Beyond Borders, I believe we have a plan. If I fly out on February 23rd with a group from VBB, I can be at the camp on February 25th and help out during March and April, pretty much doing the same thing I did last year. However, once April rolls around, I am hoping to stay for a few more months so I can help the woman who runs the camp with all of her many duties. Not only does this woman support the Children's home I work at, she spend at least 5 days a week traveling around Thailand bringing food and supplies to dozens of oppressed Burmese tribes. Last time I was there, she expressed a need for help and I would love to give it. 

In the future, I would like to move to Asia permanently in order to work with women in the red-light district.  Thailand is one of the leading places for prostitution (especially child prostitution). There are alot of organizations that have beauty shops that double as chrildren's homes. At these shops, they are able to create relationships with the women, take care of children while their mom's work, and, hopefully, teach them how to do hair and nails so they can be employed at the shop. For those who do not know, God has given me a bit of a knack with hair and I would be honored to be able to put it to use in this way. While I am spending this 5-6 months in Thailand, I hope to make some connections with people already doing this. Prayers that I can gain knowledge and connections would be GREATLY appreciated! 

A few things are going to be different from last time; I will be going under the organization Christian Far East Ministries instead of Vision Beyond Borders, since they are more set up for longer ministry. Also, I will be applying for a 6 month visa instead of a 60 day. I can get airline tickets for only about $1700 but will need about $200 a month for living expenses. I am trying to put at least $100-200 out of each paycheck towards this so I really think I will need about $1700 in support. 

Prayer Request: My little sister is getting married on January 31st, and I am unable to start anything until that is over, which means the next month and a half will be a bit stressful trying to get everything done in time. Please pray for peace of mind and finances to be provided. I know God has everything in His hand and control and this is so so small (even though it can seem huge to me). 

Thank you all SO MUCH for your prayers!! I cannot wait to share this next adventure with you! 

God bless you,

Kelsey

I'm Alive

Last week sometime I was filling up my ever-emptying gas tank. Don't tell my mother, but I still occasionally open my car door while filling up to put my wallet away-- despite the risk of blowing up my car. I did just that but was struck with a revelation. My car didn't blow up. I didn't die. I was alive. This may seem fairly obvious, considering I'm sitting here writing this now, but let's stop and think about. I could have died. But I didn't. Why? What purpose did I have left on this earth that kept me from dying in an unfortunate car-blowing up accident? 

It was then that I heard God speak plain as day to the depths of my heart. There are a million opportunities for me to die each DAY- a million freak things that could happen that could end my life. BUT none of them had happened. God was protecting me for a PURPOSE. Every day that I'm alive, that I survive, God has something in store for me-- EVERY DAY. Whether, I'm at home, church, work, the bowling alley, etc., everywhere I go, the fact that I'm there means that God is giving me an opportunity to glorify and serve Him there. Everywhere. Every time. Every person. Every place. Every breath that I breathe is a gift from God-- given that I can serve Him. What an honor.

This may be something most people have figured out a long time ago, but for me, it brought hope and joy and fear and adoration. That God would continually choose to use a fool like me blows my mind. My heart is overflowing with the love Jesus is extending to me-- the grace that I do not deserve. What an amazing God. I choose to surrender my life to Him and Him alone and never take this life for granted. It is not my to waste on selfishness acts and foolish behavior. 

Use me Lord. 

Take my life, and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
Take my hands, and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love.

Take my feet, and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee.
Take my voice, and let me sing
Always, only, for my King.
Take my lips, and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee.
Take my silver and my gold; 
Not a mite would I withhold.
Take my love, my God, I pour
At Thy feet it's treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 

II Corinthians 12:9

Update!

This is an excerpt from the Vision Beyond Borders newsletter I just received. This section was written by the woman I worked under about the children and people I know in Thailand. Please read! Please Pray!! I long for the day to hold those kids in my arms again! 

"We had two back to back trips to our orphanages. Just two days before we planned to go we got the final "okay" from our "spy" Thai-Karen soldier to cross the river. One week prior to our visit, a time bomb was placed on one of the boats to this camp. The boat was totally destroyed and so were other boats close by. Our contact planned another route to get to the camp, instead of doing the 2 hours boat ride and passing 4 Burmese Army camps, we drove 4 hours by four-wheel-drive truck through the jungle to the river. From here we carried the supplies to the boat and finally crossed the river to the camp. Our teenage boys were quite worried about our safety. They wanted to make sure their "mommy" and our co-worker were safe. I asked them what they would do if the Burmese would see us, their answer was: "We don't have weapons, but we can pray together with Mommy." They are incredible! All other kids were already waiting for us on the shore. We had a warm welcome with many smiles. We still need prayer to keep this camp safe. Two days before we arrived there was a lot of shooting and fighting between the KNU (Karen army) and the Burmese army. Shooting  and mortars were heard at our dorm. This was very frightening, especially for our girls and the younger orphans. Some of them were so frightened that they actually wet their pants. Our leader called all the kids together in the dorm and they all prayed while the fighting was going on. We thank God for His protection, there are more then 4,000 Karen refugees in this IDP camp inside Burma; these are mostly women and children. While we were there we had an early Christmas celebration and the children were thrilled to receive gifts and be prayed for. On behalf of our orphanage: Thank you for your love, support and prayers, Merry Christmas and Blessed 2012."

I'm ready to rumble!

To every thing there is a season: A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. A time to RETURN?

After much debate and delay, I have finally decided to pursue the opportunity to return to Thailand in March for a few months. There is the same need as last year for the summer months (March-April) to help out with supervising and aiding the kids-- as well as loving on them! I'm ready to see "my babies" as I commonly refer to them. It was so crazy to think that a year will have gone by; I feared they had forgotten me. Two nights ago, God blessed me with a call from Luke, one of the teachers at the Children's Home. He told me he still shows my picture to his friends and tells them about our time at KT. When I asked him to pray that I can return in March, he was ecstatic! I know the way the Karen pray and the excitement to join them grows by the day. 

Please pray for me!! I feel at peace with the decision to return, but my heart is nervous that I will not get the funds/skills needed in time. 

Please pray for the Karen and other Burmese tribes being persecuted by the government. Pray for an increase in their boldness and trust in Jesus in the face of persecution. Revival!! 

Please pray for those considering joining me as I return. Many have expressed an interest and it has been my heart's prayer that I could have someone to encourage me, aid me, speak English to me, etc. 

Please pray that God gets glorified through all our actions as we continue on this journey for Him! 

My friend Luke is the one in the middle in the blue and white shirt.

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these." Mark 12:30-31

To Be Continued...

            Why settle for an ordinary life when we serve an extraordinary God? The idea of living in America with the picket fence, baseball games, and work routine has lost all appeal. My life truly has been forever changed. Before my trip to Thailand, I thought I had God pretty much figured out—I knew all the verses, stories, lessons, etc. After living in the Shekinah Children’s Home for six weeks, it feels like I just tasted the smallest sip of all that God is and all He can do.  Jesus has blown my mind.

            There are so many stories, so many memories, it is hard to know where to begin. I came into the camp alone and afraid, and they accepted me in as family. I became a mother and sister and daughter and friend. The children stole my heart away with the first hug; they captured my spirit with the first giggle; they kidnapped my soul when they raised their hands to worship Jesus. I love them with every ounce of my being.

I journeyed to Thailand with a team that did work throughout Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos. It was a pleasure and honor to get to know these servants of Christ. I was able to accompany them into Vietnam. What an experience to travel in a Communist country. The best part was being able to attend a church service of some Vietnamese people. It was very small and hidden, but the people sang out with all their hearts. The people are hungry for God’s word and are requesting 10,000 more Mung Bibles.

After Vietnam, I stayed in Bangkok with a friend while the team went to Laos before meeting in Chiang Mai to travel to the refugee camps together. Knowing I was so close to meeting the kids was driving me crazy and I could barely handle waiting in Bangkok. Even before I ever knew them, God gave me a love for these kids that I could not explain. I counted the hours until I could finally see their faces.

When the day finally came that we went to the KT (Shekinah Children’s Home), my heart was bursting with excitement. As we pulled in, all the children came running down the hill to meet and greet us with hugs. All my fears disappeared in that moment and I was ready to make this jungle mound my home. The team left to rest, and I stayed behind to play with the children. Within two hours of being there, bombs began to go off across the river (Burma), which was only about a football field away. The children were terrified and took off running in all directions. Eight children and I hid behind some large boulders at the bottom of the hill. In the moment it seemed surreal and I was not afraid, but seeing the fear in the children’s eyes—seeing them sleep two to three in a bed, wet the bed, have nightmares—it put it in perspective. This was their reality. Those same bombs had driven them from their homeland and killed their family. It was heartbreaking to be with them, where they were supposed to feel safe, and know that they didn’t. In order to help ease their fear at night, I slept with the girls, always sharing my mat with one of them and giggling with them until everyone grew tired. Bedtime was definitely something I looked forward to.

A typical day began at 6 am with singing, praying, and listening to a short sermon. Afterwards we would do our “morning duty” of sweeping all the leaves from underneath the mango trees into big piles to be burned. By the time we finished, it would be about 8:00 am—breakfast—which usually consisted of rice, eggs, and fish paste with chilies. Oh how they laughed at me as I tried to get used to the spicy food, and even more so as I tried to “correctly” eat with my hands. I was happy to make to them laugh, even if it was at my own expense. After breakfast the children would play outside before the sun would fully rise and make it too hot to function. At around noon, we would gather for a snack: a box of soy milk and a few cookies. (This would hold us over until dinner.) In the afternoon’s we would sometimes have a music or English class, while on others we would lay on the floor in front of the small TV and watch episodes of Tom and Jerry or Mr. Bean. The kids cannot speak English, but they loved to watch and laugh.(Astrid, the woman who funds the home, brought the new Karate Kid movie one evening. The kids LOVED it. It was so funny to watch each of them try to do their best Kung Fu moves on their friends. I think we watched that movie three times that week.) At 5:00 pm, we have dinner which is more rice, chilies, fish paste, and maybe some potatoes and some weird jungle veggie. Before 7:00 pm, we would shower while it was still hot enough to handle the cold water but cool enough to not sweat too much. At 7:00 pm, we would have worship again. I learned a lot of patience since every sermon was in Karen, but it was worth it because of the singing. By the end of my time there, I could sing almost every song with them in their language and do the actions. They LOVE to sing!! And I love to sing with them. After worship, we would watch TV until our nine o’clock bedtime so we could do it all over again.

            One of my favorite things about living with them in the jungle was how slowly the days past. Because it was summer in Thailand, the kids did not have school, so we were able to just get to know one another. The children and teachers loved to practice English with me while I loved to learn Karen from them. Right before I arrived, someone had donated a playground for the kids which included a section of three swings. One of the first words the children learned was “Push!” which beckoned me to push them on the swing. Rather than call me by my name, the children called me “Teacher” which in reality sounded more like “Tee-ah” or “Teach-ah.” After much persuading, I convinced the cooks and teachers to call me “Kelsey.” It was entertaining to hear them try to pronounce it (I never knew my name was so hard!). 

My responsibilities at the KT were to give the children with health conditions their medicine, bandage any “owies,” preach some sermons, teach some English, and discipline on occasion. To be honest, I really just felt like I was a Mom. When a child cried I would hold him and kiss him until he was ok. I would play with the kids and tickle them and tease them. We would praise Jesus together and pray for each other. I would worry about and miss them whenever we were apart—even if it was only for a few hours. My funniest “Mom moment” was during the Vacation Bible School weeks we had. The children from Pastor Jimmy’s camp joined us for two weeks which included his two daughters—Paw Paw and Mae Mae (ages 14 and 12). As I was sleeping in the girls’ dorm one night, I was awakened to the sound of CheeGay coughing (she is six years old and has severe asthma). I got up to get her inhaler and noticed that Paw Paw and Mae Mae weren’t in the bed they were laying in when I fell asleep. After getting CheeGay settled and back to sleep, I looked through the dark to see where they were. When I did not find them, I began to freak out. I ran up to the building where the women slept to see if they had moved up there in the night. As I searched, I woke three of the women up, causing them to panic as well. I decided to go back to the dorm and search—this time with the lights on. Of course, I found them sleeping safely and soundly in the far corners of the dorm. Everyone laughed at me at breakfast the next day when the three women told the story. I remember trying to sleep that night thinking “so this is what mothering feels like.”

I have so many more memories I would love to share with you—some good, some sad, some scary. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or want to hear more. I love to talk about it.

One afternoon at the camp, Astrid was sharing stories about the amazing things God has done during her 20 years of mission work. It was so amazing, I was moved to tears. She looked me in the eyes and said, “Kelsey, I can’t wait to hear your stories in 20 years.” She had mentioned the possibility of me coming back again for a longer term. I had already been thinking about it for weeks before she brought it up. Now that I’m back I can think of nothing else. I have kept in frequent contact with her, and am tentatively planning in December for a year-long term. I am excited, honored, and humbled to be part of something so much bigger than myself. Why God would choose to use someone like me—who knows nothing other than my own small work—to become a fulltime servant of Him is beyond my comprehension, but like I said, why settle for an extraordinary life when we serve an extraordinary God? One phrase that Pastor Jimmy and Luke (a teacher at KT) told me over and over again was “I cannot do anything, but God can do everything.” I am confident in God’s call and am pursuing it with a heart of joy. I am so excited to see what God has in store for me!! I know it is going to be far better than anything I could imagine or plan. My goal still is to make little of myself and much of my God. May my life bring glory to His name!

Thank you SO MUCH for your support and your prayers. This could not have happened if not for your love, prayers, and support. I am so humbled to be blessed so much. I pray you all may experience the joy I have received from your offerings. God bless you, my friends.  

A bondslave of Christ,

                Kelsey Erickson

So this is what jeg lag is like...

Despite my attempt to battle the drastic time change by waking up at 7 am and not sleeping at all during the day, my body and mind are both still fully awake and 2:30 am (3:30 pm Thailand time). Awesome... I was told that since the time zones were 13 hours different, it would take me 13 days to return to a normal sleeping cycle. Looks like I'm not gonna be returning to work anytime soon! (If anyone has tips/secrets on how to defeat this monster, I'm willing to give 'er a try!)

Well, I suppose I should fill everyone in on what happened in Bangkok. First of all, THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the prayer! Wow... when I found out how many people were on their knees for me, I was seriously blown away. God bless you brothers and sisters.

So the story goes, I fly into Bangkok at about 11 pm on Monday night. Decided to just stay at the airport since my plane flew out at 6:55 the next morning. When the gates opened at 4, I was still awake so I got my boarding pass, checked in my bags and headed for passport control. Handed security my passport and he looked at it for a few minutes, then called over an officer whom I had to follow (uh oh). He then looked at my passport and informed me that I had overstayed my visa. "I overstayed?? Bought I bought a tourist visa that is good for 60 days?!" Turns out, that when I left Bangkok after staying for 2 nights and flew to Vietnam for 4 days, it ended my tourist visa because it's only good for one entrance into Thailand. Since I was only allowed to stay 30 days and stayed 14 days past that, they told me I had to pay 500 baht a day for each day I had been illegally living there. Looking in my wallet, I saw I only had about 2500 baht, not the 7000 they were asking for. Hmmm... let's see, I have no credit card. No more money. No Thai phone numbers. My parents are in Washington and don't have the contact info either. My plane boarded in an hour and it had to be payed in cash... uhhhh...??
I tried to convince the man to use some common sense and see that obviously the 60 day visa was for my "second time" in Thailand but he said it was no good. They called a United Airlines employee and she took me around to get my checked bags back and then to the exit so I could take a taxi to the US Embassy.
Let's backtrack for a minute. From the very beginning-- months before coming to Thailand-- my biggest fear MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE was having to fly back across America by myself. The thought terrified me and filled my heart with dread. Don't you love when God takes your weakest moments and uses them to teach you about Himself?
After a long and expensive taxi ride to the embassy, I sat waiting for my turn, looking pretty rugged since I hadn't showered, done my hair, slept etc. The man sitting next to me asked why I came to the embassy and I explained my story to him. He listened quietly and then wrote out his phone number for me "in case you have any more problems." I doubted I would actually use it, but it was nice to be treated kindly. When I talked to the people at the embassy, they told me a woman had called for me and gave me her number. I called her there from the embassy and found it was the Thai travel agent that worked with Vision Beyond Borders. She told me that a man from VBB had been at the airport looking for me, hadn't found me, but had booked a new flight for me the following day as well as left 7000 baht for me to pay the fine. Wow. Praise God. As if that wasn't enough, the woman told me I could come to her office, drop off my stuff and explore Bangkok since I had a free day. "OK!!" When I turned, the man who'd asked me about what happened was waiting for me. He then carried my big awkward bag up and down stairs, stopped a taxi, payed for it, and helped me find her office. Turns out he's American but lives in Thailand. We had the chance to talk about what I'd been doing in Thailand and my thanks to God for the strength He'd given me to serve Him in this way. God bless you, Larry from Oklahoma. It was an honor meeting you.
Once at Dao's (the travel agent) office, she let me go up to her bosses couch to sleep. When I awoke about 4 hours later, she let me email my mother, then took me out to lunch. I didn't even know this woman! Not only did she pay for lunch, she ordered dessert for us too. After lunch, I wandered around for a little, looking through a mall and the street market and then getting a massage to try and de-stress from the hectic day. At 5 I went back to Dao's office and she invited me to come and stay in her home so I could sleep in a bed that night instead of having another sleepless night at the airport. Did I mention I didn't even know this woman?! That night her mother, her sister, her nephew and her took me out to dinner and told me to order whatever I wanted because they were paying. After dinner, Dao let me shower and sleep in her room in her bed. That morning at 3:00 am, we woke up to be at the airport by 4. Before we left the house her mother gave me 1000 baht and a beautiful Thai keychain. Dao gave me a purse for me and my mother and 3 other small bags. I wished SO badly I had something to offer them. They were SO kind... I felt like we were family. Dao went into the airport with me and made sure I had the money and the passes home and gave me some coins and her number in case anything went wrong. Nothing did.

Before I left the camp, I prayed that God would make my faith great like that of the people I had been working with. They have no doubt that God will provide-- and though they have nothing and their way seems hopeless-- God provides for them, but never in a way you expect. In the middle of what I thought to be my worst nightmare come true, I remember that prayer and heard that still, small voice telling me to trust Him-- God has provided EVERYTHING for me on the trip so far-- why would the trip home be any different?? I apologized for my doubt and began to get excited to see how God would make this work because there was certainly nothing I could do about it. I am so humbled, so in awe, that God not only took care of the situation but poured His blessings and love onto me through these people that I had never met.
What an amazing God we serve. Hallelujah, what a Savior.
Jesus, I love you.

Jesus, All for Jesus

Well, I'm not where to begin, or end, seeing as the time for goodbyes has come and gone. The past week has been a blur or me praying that the days pass slowly while at the same time wishing it would end quickly because knowing you have to say goodbye and watching the moment approach is the worst feeling ever. I was asked countless times by the people when I was coming back, to which I would answer, "I don't know? But pray that God gives me money so I can come back soon!" All of my friends at Pastor Jimmy's and the KT are praying that I return. I do not doubt that I will.
It seems so funny to me that everyone is so concerned that when I go to America, I will forget them. Though we have parted physically, they will always live with me in my heart. I told them many times I will always, always remember them, and I hope they would remember me too.
The day before it was time to say goodbye, was my birthday, April 23rd. Oh my goodness they spoiled me so much! For about 3 days beforehand, the little girls would give me necklaces and make me flower wreaths and sing to me. Sigh. I will treasure those moments forever. Later that day, we took all the kids from the Vacation Bible School up to Maei National Park to eat cake (a super special treat for these kids-- they rarely get sugar, let alone cake!) and swim and play in a waterfall. It was amazing and they were SO happy. We took 3 truck fulls aka there were about 30-40 people in the back of each truck bed. Gotta love the lack of any traffic laws-- sure saves on the gas money it would take to bring a bus out here. After we returned, it was time to say goodbye to the kids from Pastor Jimmy's camp, as well as to Pastor Jimmy and his family. Jimmy is an amazing man of great, great faith. I enjoyed talking to him and hearing his many many stories about how God has provided for him and supplied his every need. I'd grown very close to his daughters (age 14 and 12), it was hard to say goodbye to them. Such beautiful girls! And both with so much spirit!
The rest of the afternoon was quiet as most of the kids were tired and the number of kids had decreased by more than half. I tried to soak up every moment and memorize every leaf and sound to keep with me always. I ate my last Karen dinner of rice and fish paste with my hands, even though "farang" (foreigners) are not supposed to. Worship that night was amazing. There was a storm coming in that knocked the power out, so we worshipped in the dark with a candle and a flashlight. We sang for a longer time than normal because the darkness kept us from doing anything else. I think it was God's gift to me. The last song we sang was "How Great Thou Art," my favorite hymn. I am so blessed that God grants me the desires of my heart and fills me with joy in times when there could be great sorrow.
That night in the girls dorm we stayed up late playing and taking pictures. We giggled and laughed and tickled until the candles were all burnt out and the children fell asleep. I could not sleep though. Eventually I crawled over the girl sleeping on the bunk with me and sat on the swing overlooking the camp- my favorite place to think and pray. Oh my heart hurt...
We had worship at 6:30. While we were still singing some of the children and teachers laid hands on me and prayed while the others continued to sing to Jesus. Who am I to be loved by these amazing people? The tears started then and did not stop until we were driving away. After worship, we loaded the truck, and I hugged each of the children, gave them a kiss (or many) and told them "YaEhNa" which means "I love you" in Karen. They all would reply "I love you" and give me a kiss on both cheeks, my forehead and chin and tell me "God bless you!" As we drove away, I waved and blew them kisses. My body felt (and still feels) physically sick and in pain. I told the teachers (all ages 17-21) that it felt like someone ripped out my heart and stomped on it. I miss my brothers and sisters very much. They've all become so dear to me.
Now I am in Chiang Mai waiting to fly out at 7 pm tonight to Bangkok, where I will sleep until I fly out at 7 am tomorrow morning. It's going to be a long, lonely, sad trip home, and I ask that you pray for safety as I travel back across the world.

Prayer Requests:
For the chilren and teachers at the camps, that they know they are not forgetton, but loved.
For the many sick children, that they would be healed.
For the Karen people as a whole-- that they could not live in fear but rest in the arms of Jesus.
That the Thai police, Buddhist army, and Burmese army would stop persecuting them.
That their faith would continue to grow and spread to everyone in Northern Thailand.
For me as I return to the US and try to fit back into American culture.

Thank you so much for everyone who has been praying for me and these children. I told them many times that the American people love them and are praying for them-- you should see the smiles on their faces. I pray you all are able to experience the joy and faith these people have-- I know it will change your life.

The song "Jesus, All for Jesus" has been on my heart. I will share only a few lyrics with you:

All of my ambitions, hopes and plans
I surrender these into your hands
For it's only in your will that I am free
For it's only in your will that I am free

I don't know what my future holds, but I know that I don't want to settle for a "normal" life. Why be ordinary when we serve an Extraordinary God??!!!!