Chiang Mai

I landed in Chiang Mai yesterday afternoon. After going through customs and picking up my bags, I was greeted by the smiling face of Rachel, who initially introduced me to Compasio. We took a little truck to the guest house where I stayed the night.

After we dropped off my bags and took a little rest, we went out to the mall to pick up a cell phone and a few other things that I needed. She showed me around the city from the back of her motorbike and I eagerly took in the sights, sounds, and smells of Chiang Mai. My first meal was a delicious bowl of noodle soup.

My first day ended with a traditional Thai massage and feeding sugar cane to a baby elephant. I am already loving the city, the people, and the organization. I feel so blessed to be here. I'll be busing down to Mae Sot tomorrow morning. I can't wait to meet the rest of the staff and the kids. Keep praying that Jesus would fill me with His love and hope as I begin to interact with the Burmese. Thank you!

Love!

p.s for more photos check out my facebook!

Hello from Tai Pei!

My reconnecting flight for Chiang Mai leaves in about half an hour so I thought I'd just write a quick post. my flight from LAX was not as bad as I thought. It was 14 hours total so I had a lot of time on my hands. I slept, ate, watched a few movies (including Motherhood with Uma Therman, I really enjoyed it and recommend it). I had no melt downs, only a few tears which were quickly replaced with anticipation and excitement for what's to come.

I'll be in Chiang Mai for a few days before taking the bus down to Mae Sot, where I'll be living for the rest of the year.

Thank you so much for praying for my family and me! As of right now we're all doing well and the separation is not killing any of us. continue to lift us up!

Lots of love you you!!!

Kate

Peace

Wow. I'm sitting here four days before I leave for Thailand. Praise God. All I feel is complete peace and complete surrender. It took a while to get to this point.

I am so excited for this year. I'm so excited that you're going to keep up with me, hear my stories, and see my pictures. Thank you for your prayers! Keep em coming :)

I'll arrive in Thailand January 28. You ready for this?

I am.

Urbana 09

Hello My Dear Friends!

I think I can safely say that Urbana was one of the best weeks of my life.

I flew out of LAX the day after Christmas to meet the college group from Modesto Covenant Church. There were nine students and we had such a great time!

I entered Urbana not sure what I should expect. Great worship? Encouragement? New perspectives? I wasn't sure what direction I should enter in considering that I'm preparing to go overseas.

I left St. Louis with all these things and more! God provided me with so much encouragement and peace and I feel completely refreshed and ready to go to what I've been called to.

Let me just start with the group. They were so amazing. I realized on the flight that I didn't know any of them particularly well. Luckily I'm not as shy as I used to be and we got to know and love each other pretty quick.

Urbana itself was overwhelming. There were 16,000 students who attended the 5 day conference. The typical day included a morning session (all students together for worship and a bible study), lunch, 2 seminars, dinner, and evening session. There were dozens of sessions to choose from each day depending on your interest.

I went to some really great seminars, but my favorite was called de-linking money from missions, taught by Oscar Muriu. He was by far my favorite speaker and teacher. He is a Church planter from Nairobi, Kenya. check out his website to hear some of his sermons.

One powerful thing that happened was the Holy Spirit preparing me for my mission in Thailand. Early in the week a friend of mine asked if I was prepared mentally to move to Thailand. I had to admit to myself that I wasn't. I began to pray that God would separate me from my culture so I can better take on the perspective and world view of the Thai and Burmese people. To make a long story short, He did. He still is. It is a painful thing to be emptied, but as He empties me of my human desires I find that He is replacing the emptiness with His qualities. I feel so different, so free, and so alive.

I ask for your prayers as the countdown begins. Pray that God will continue to strengthen me in His spirit as I prepare myself mentally, physically, and emotionally. I appreciate all of you!!!

Now... enjoy these photos from St. Louis :)

Love,

Kate

The America Center Completely packed!

Rachel, Conner, (Cody) and I. Excellent pizza makers if i do say so myself.

We woke up one morning to beautiful snow covering everything. Including this little one...

A Snowy day in downtown St. Louis

Rachel, Jackie, Dane, and me :)

Our group at the park

We visited the St. Louis science center and found some dinosaurs

For all the pictures check out my facebook!