It’s update time. I’ve spent the evening trying to figure out what to blog about, when the obvious smacked me in the face: Thailand. I realized I never actually put into detail what I’m going to be doing or how support raising is going or even told anyone that I’ve been assigned an actual team. So here we go.
On June 3rd, I’ll be leaving the comfortable idea of my home, my kittens, and my freedom of spend the summer drinking the entire world’s supply of tea and read every book ever written and instead I’ll be spending two months in Thailand through Adventures In Missions. There I’ll join a team of (currently) seven other girls and after training camp, we’ll be headed overseas for two months to begin our ministry. We’ll specifically be working with past and present victims of sex trafficking, showing these women and girls that there is a God who loves them and that they are beautiful. Night after night these beautiful girls work the bars and are objectified by men who are just as lost as they are. My heart breaks for the girls trapped in this cycle of survival and lost hope.
Our trip is actually called “Human Trafficking: Thailand”. I don’t know that any of us on my team are ready to face what we’re about to walk into, but God has called each of us for a reason, and He’ll see us through it all.
A few facts about this trip taken straight from the trip information:
- Human trafficking is the fastest growing criminal industry in the world.
The UN estimates that around 4 million people a year are now traded against their will to work in some form of slavery. - As of 1993, there was an estimated 2 million prostitutes in Thailand. Prostitution is the largest commodity for the 450,000 Thai men who purchase prostitutes daily as well as for a large percentage of the 5.4 million tourists a year who arrive in Thailand for sex tours per year.
And those facts are 17 years old. So it can only have gotten worse.
On June 3rd, I’ll be leaving the comfortable idea of my home, my kittens, and my freedom of spend the summer drinking the entire world’s supply of tea and read every book ever written and instead I’ll be spending two months in Thailand through Adventures In Missions. There I’ll join a team of (currently) seven other girls and after training camp, we’ll be headed overseas for two months to begin our ministry. We’ll specifically be working with past and present victims of sex trafficking, showing these women and girls that there is a God who loves them and that they are beautiful. Night after night these beautiful girls work the bars and are objectified by men who are just as lost as they are. My heart breaks for the girls trapped in this cycle of survival and lost hope.
Our trip is actually called “Human Trafficking: Thailand”. I don’t know that any of us on my team are ready to face what we’re about to walk into, but God has called each of us for a reason, and He’ll see us through it all.
A few facts about this trip taken straight from the trip information:
- Human trafficking is the fastest growing criminal industry in the world.
The UN estimates that around 4 million people a year are now traded against their will to work in some form of slavery. - As of 1993, there was an estimated 2 million prostitutes in Thailand. Prostitution is the largest commodity for the 450,000 Thai men who purchase prostitutes daily as well as for a large percentage of the 5.4 million tourists a year who arrive in Thailand for sex tours per year.
And those facts are 17 years old. So it can only have gotten worse.
For the trip I have to raise a total of $4,900. So far I have raised $1,390 and I’m so thankful to everyone who has given so this can happen. You guys are awesome, and I’m so sorry I haven’t had a chance to thank you personally yet, I’ve been super busy with exams and classes and basically just being a college student, but it is coming.
Next month we’ll be having a fundraiser to help with the funds for the trip. We’re selling Brunswick Stew like we did for Romania ($7 a quart, so if you’re interested just let me know) and we’re talking about having a yard sale sometime after.
You don’t have to buy stew or a secondhand sweater if you want to help out and donate though. You can donate (anonymously or not) through the website or by sending a check. http://adventures.org/give/donate.asp?giveto=partFund
I’m going to be updating more often to keep everyone up to date on how the support is going and with new information as I receive it. We won’t know a lot about the details of our ministry until we are in country, but I will let you know what I know.
Thank you so much for all your support, both in prayer and financially. Please keep my team in your prayers as we all work to get our support raised and prepare mentally and spiritually for the trip. Pray for the people we’ll be ministering to and working with and for unity among our team as we come to know each other. 103 days until the adventure begins!
