A week in Pattaya

Apologies for the lack of blogging over the last while. Our internet during the time in Pattaya was not working too well so we have not been very active online. However we have now arrived in Bangkok for a couple of days so are now able to fill you all in on how things have been going in Thailand.

Our time in Pattaya has been a lot more relaxed than the work in Cambodia, however we have made some great friends and built some good connections and relationships with the people here. Our time was spent working with the Pattaya House Of Prayer, run by an American girl called Jessica Mock. The prayer room is situated in Soi 6 which is one of the main red light areas in the city. It was amazing to be able to spend more time in prayer with God especially after leaving Cambodia which left us both drained physically and spiritually. Indeed Laura was still feeling quite sick towards the beginning of the week.

The first Sunday we arrived we attended the local church which was attended by many of the girls and lady boys who work with the tamar centre, an organisation quite similar to Daughters in Cambodia. The church is very raw, lacking the restrictions of tradition and normality which can exist at times in churches at home. Following the service we spent some time with a large group from the church driving round the city and having a time of prayer and praise on the back of two open air taxi's (Baht Buses). We had many strange looks from onlookers, but was great to pray and carry God's presence into some of the darkest areas of the city.

Monday is the day off for the house of prayer so Laura and I had a very chilled out day. The highlight though was going to hire scooters which we used for the remainder of our time in Pattaya. It took visits to many different shops but I eventually was able to find a shop which had a helmet to fit my larger than average head. Laura on the other hand had the opposite problem as the helmets were all too big for her tiny head. We are both praying that our children will have a combination of both our heads and just be normal. The first few minutes on the bike were ropey to say the least as I wobbled from side to side trying to get my balance. I even had some tourists coming over to me to see if I was ok as I couldnt get my balance. Thankfully I learnt quickly and enjoyed it the rest of the week. God also had his hand on our bikes especially with mine as on the 3 different occasions, while parked in extremely unsafe areas I stupidly left my keys in the ignition while we were away meeting people...I just kept forgetting to take them with me....thankfully the bike wasn't stolen!

On Tuesday and Wednesday Laura was still very sick so ended up staying in the hotel to rest. I met with Jessica and two other friends from Texas called Justin and Alison, a great couple with a great desire to serve God and to live out their lives for him... and great fun to be around too which helps! We spent the two days at the house of prayer and also at language training. This was a class for the 4 of us and a local language tutor endeavoured to teach us many different words and phrases. It's the first time in ages I've sat while someone tried to teach me....made me realise just how tough it is for my pupils at home. I struggled to grasp the language but am now starting to say one or two words. Unfortunately my broad Lurgan accent doesn't make it easy to speak like a Thai person, but I think they get the jist of what I'm trying to say.

Thankfully on Thursday Laura was feeling much better and we spent the morning and afternoon working with an organisation called the Mercy Centre. They do a lot of different things, mainly taking in children that need help and support because their families are unable to provide it at that time and they give the children shelter and education. They also give help and support to families living in the slums and this is what we went to help with. We made up food parcels for the families which consisted of 2 large bowls of rice, a small bottle of oil, a packet of noodles and two tins of fish. For the families this was such a blessing. It is always a really humbling experience but also a heart breaking one as well to see many people that seem to have nothing in life. Yet they work hard for each other and help each other as they live in community. Their houses are run down shacks and there is poor sanitation, yet they tried to present themselves as cleanly as possible and for many of them there were smiles and looks of hope in their faces. Pray for these people. This is a short video of some of the kids there saying good bye to us as we left one of the slums.

On the Thursday night we then went to join the work of another group which are working with foreign tourists in the area. We met the family that run it the night before as we headed for tea with a group of people overlooking the beautiful sea and coastline in Pattaya. I'm told that I can't say too much about what they do but the main aim is that they target a specific group of people and provide them with bibles and literature as a free gift which hopefully many of them will keep and bring with them into their country. It was good to be able to help this family that carry out the work and while it's not the sort of work that Laura and I would normally be drawn towards or one where we would feel alive serving in, it was amazing to see how excited the family and their organisation were as they carried out their work. They knew they had a call of God upon their lives to do this task and they did it with everything they had and with joy, such an example to us. Pray for their work. I can't write more about it but can fill anyone in at home that wants to know about it when we get back.

Friday was spent in the house of prayer again and prayer walking around Soi 6 and the clubs and bars where many of the girls and boys would be offering themselves that night. That night we had a time of worship in the area as well. Outside we could hear the music blasting from the bars and the calls of many of the women trying to attract business from men as they walked past, but inside was great to be with people as they sought God for the situation and to pray for the city. Pattaya needs God and it's an area which we would encourage all of you to pray for. Pray for the local church that they would be united with a purpose to see God's kingdom come in the area and that the light of Jesus would shine in the midst of some dark dark places and activities. We know that God's heart is broken for the people here. Myself, Laura, Justin and Alison then headed out to walk around some of the areas and see if we could get chatting to people. Laura met a young girl outside one of the bars that she remembered from November and they chatted. The girl remembered Laura as well and was thrilled that Laura knew who she was and had stopped to talk to her again. As they chatted I watched many men young and old, prowling up and down the street looking at the girls and seeing which one they would choose to have that night. It was hard and sickening to watch, yet we know that these men need prayer too. For this girl however it was a joy that someone had looked at her with love and treated her with importance and worth. Pray that many of the men and women here would recognise their true worth and find true happiness in Jesus. We also went to one of the bars which laura went to a lot in November and had made many friends. These girls however had moved on to different things but we did get chatting to another girl called Kan. She was an amazingly beautiful girl, smart and intelligent, yet this was the work that she was now in. We chatted with her for a while and promised her we would come back the next night. Laura and I returned on the Saturday night and got chatting with her more. We learnt that she had a 5 year old daughter that lived with her sister and that she only had 2 days off each month but the rest of the time she would work for the bar which owned her. The only way she could get out of working was if someone paid the bar owner for her to be released from work for the night. Laura and I decided to do this for her so that she could go home and rest. The cost to do this was only 200 Baht, which is about £3-4. Even though we could see so much potential in her, it's hard for her to see herself with worth when this is all she is valued at and with how men would treat her. Pray for her and for many others who are trapped in this industry and that they would be able learn new skills which Kan and many others desperately seek so that they can have a different means to make money in a way which gives them a sense of self fulfilment.

On the Saturday morning we also got to spend some time with our friends at a tropical gardens, a beautiful place and so good to spend time with great people again. We even got to ride an elephant, a fun experience, although not good if you're scared of heights. Today we drove around Pattaya for a long time on our bikes before handing them back and coming to Bangkok. Our time in Pattaya didn't seem anywhere near long enough, particularly as we only really got started onto things properly on Thursday due to Laura's illness. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and have made some very good friends in our time there. Our thanks to Jessica for organising everything we did and for being a great help to us each day. Please pray for Pattaya and all the work that's going on there. Specifically pray for:

• Jessica and the house of prayer that God would bless their ministry and that amazing things would happen as they seek God ( http://pattayahouseofprayer.com/ )


• For the local churches that they would be united with one heart and desire to effect change in the city


• Fur the work of Tamar and the Mercy Centre and other great organisations that are seeking to be the answer to their own prayers for Pattaya


• (For more info on Tamar see www.ywamthai.org/pattaya/tamar.html and for Mercy Centre see http://www.mercypattaya.com/ )

"The thief comes only to kill and steal and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full" (John 10:10)

• Pray that many of the women and men caught up in the sex industry would be freed and that even for those that have chosen this lifestyle that they would see the hope that there is in Jesus and that the Devil would not be allowed to steal away from them the giftings and potential that God has created them with. Pray that in the midst of their hopelessness and pain that they would see themselves with the worth that God sees in them and that they too might come to live life in its fullness.

Moving on

We have just finished our time in Cambodia and last night arrived in Thailand. Since we last posted several things have happened and we will try to briefly fill you in on some of these things and leave you some points for prayer.

On Tuesday past when we arrived back from Daughters I went to spend some time with my friend from the hotel, Pala, and the two of us went to play some snooker together. It was such a weird experience as each table had a girl who would keep the scores and act like a referee collecting all the different balls that needed replaced on the table. And Cambodian snooker rules seem so much different to ours....in that if they foul they make up the amount of points that you are penalised. I was also a little bit alarmed by the fact that before we began Pala was doing different stretches and warming up for the match....wasn't sure what was going on. Such a difference from the snooker halls at home! Anyway, to cut a long story short I thought that if I was going to be able to evangelise to this man it might be harder if i defeated him, so I did the gracious thing and "let" him win.....in thruth, he kicked my ass! Perhaps all the warming up paid off. I got to chat to him about his family and about his religious beliefs. He is someone who follows Buddhism by name only rather than a personal belief and so I see big opportunities for him to receive the gospel. He even said that he is the kind of person that would follow whatever seems good. We gave him a new testiment in his own language, so please pray for him that as he reads it he would find goodness and truth in the words and come to follow Christ.

We worked at Daughters on Tuesday and Wednesday and continued to keep up the same work which we had begun with the sons and daughters. At the start of the week we gave the boys a full bible of their own and each day they have been coming in and telling us what they have read the night before. This is a picture which Jonathan drew at home of what he imagined Jesus baptism to be like when the Spirit of God came upon him. Was such a beatutiful image and amazing to see God capturing his heart and imagination. On Friday Laura gave all the girls she has been working with bibles as well so continue to pray for them all that they will be blessed and continue to grow in their relationship with God as they read.

On Thursday we then had the day off Daughters to spend time visiting another couple of projects firstly with the Prison Fellowship and then an orphanage in Baik Chan. Unfortunately I wasn't feeling well on Thursday so we only got to see the prison. The prison ministry in Cambodia is really flourishing and many people are coming to know Christ through it. We spent time in 2 prisons in the morning, firstly in CC2 a womens and youth prison where there are around 300-400 prisoners and then in CC1 where there are around 2500 men. The director of the organisation Adam Hutchinson (he and his dad were thrilled to know that Laura's maiden name was Hutchinson) showed us around, and they told stories of how they have practically shown goodness to the people in the prison and gradually over the last few years have begun to have an opportunity to share the gospel. As a result 900 men have now come to know Christ and there are many cell groups in the prison which are evangelising to others daily. On top of this the prison director has recognised the amazing change in the mens lives who all now seek to live with honesty and integrity and as a result he has asked Adam if they can have someone come in regularly to teach the bible to everyone at the prison as they want them all to make this life change. God is doing amazing things, so pray for the Christians in the prisons and for the work of Prison Fellowship which works in 22 out of the 25 prisons in Cambodia that many others would come to know Jesus.

On Friday we had our last day at Daughters. We were both quite upset to leave the friends that we have built such good relationships with. Laura has been particuarly moved by the story of one of the girls that she has been working with. Her story is one of alot of pain and hardship and yet she has a beautiful spirit and demonstrates such faith and joy. When she was a young girl she and her friends were working in the fields, as they were returning from the field they were stopped by a group of soliders, each one of the girls were raped. In cambodia, if a girl is raped they then should be taken to be a 'wife', so this girl then moved in with the solider and bore him 4 children and was later sold into the sex industry. Her husband left her and she tried to find work to support her children. She moved to the city to live with her sister and her abusive brother in law, which has also caused much grief. Her two elder children had to leave her and stay with distant relatives outside the city, because she was not able to feed them, this is breaking her heart. She then came to work with daughters but has now been kicked out of her sisters house and she and her two younger children have no where to go. Daughters are obviously doing what they can for her, but it's understandable that they need help too. The girl's heart is broken and she spent most of friday morning crying and praying with Laura. If her other children are taken from her they become very vulnerable to being traffiked and we want to protect this from happening. So we were able to pay half of her rent in an apartment for six months and a bag of rice, but this is temporary and we have spoken about the possiblity of sponsoring her and her children. Obviously, we can't do this alone, so if anybody reading this feels that they would like to help, please let us know and we can perhaps get a group together to support this remarkable girl.

On finishing our work with Daughters we were able to go and visit Osah, the girl which we visited on Monday night and prayed for and were able to lead to Christ. Osah has been at peace since Monday and has no more visitations or problems since that time. Her extensive injuries which she sustained are also starting to improve. We were able to give her a copy of the Bible which she is starting to read and God willing in a few weeks when she is feeling better she is planning to start into church with Nary the Lady who owned the restaurant. Please continue to pray for her that she will know God's peace over the next while and that she will soon be able to find herself a church to attend where she can be encouraged in her new fait

During our time in Cambodia we have been so encouraged by the projects that Ratanak support, they are changing so many lives and bringing hope into such dark places. It is clear to see Christ shining in the hearts of all the volunteers and service users that we have had the pleasure of meeting. We want to say a big thank-you to Ratanak and Steve Norman for putting us in contact with all our projects in Cambodia, we have been truely blessed. We are sad to leave but at the same time excited to see all that God has in store for us here in Thailand.

For more information on Ratanak see http://www.ratanak.org/ or http://www.uk.ratanak.org/

There's power in the name of Jesus!!

We have arrived back in Phnom Penh after a weekend in northern Cambodia which ended up not being so much about sight seeing due to the costs, but more about relaxing and catching up on some much needed sleep and energy. Above is a picture of Angkor Wat, the main temple in Cambodia....about the only site we did get to see in Siem Reap.

Today though we started back into work and have been smacked with the realisation once again of what we have been called here to do and have seen and witnessed the power of God in action. Laura had not been feeling well this morning so I headed into daughters on my own. When I arrived I spent the morning working with the boys once again. David and Jonathan, the boys mentioned in the blog below, are absolutely buzzing about their new life. A few American guys who also spend some mornings in Daughters were there on Friday when they heard the boys share their testimony and so they decided to bring David and Jonathan along to church for the first time ever. This was the same church that we went to in one of the earlier posts. When they arrived, the believers there welcomed the two boys and brought them upstairs to welcome them to the church and to find more about them. The boys loved their time there, so much so, that they were asking today when they could go back again. And the next great miracle is that they then spent the weekend talking with other lady boys who had previously worked in Daughters and shared their stories with them and as a result, these other lady boys have now said that they want to make the same decision and to change their lives. It's amazing to see God's redeeming power in action and so evident in these young men's lives. Pray for David and Jonathan and for the others who claim that they want to make this decision.

In the afternoon Laura was feeling slightly better and so we headed to an area called Svay Pak, the main area in Cambodia where trafficking occurs and many children are sold as prostitutes. We went to see the work going on there and were able to witness 2 brothels which have now been shut down and used as a church, a Sunday school, a medical centre, a clinic and some areas for kids club. The lady Bridget and her husband that we met there are doing an amazing work, as is the local pastor and his wife who now live on the top floor of one of the old brothels. They run a church which is attended by those who have been trafficked, those who have been doing the trafficking, drug dealers and pimps.....but yet they all now worship God together. Such grace! It was incredible to see that people recognised the goodness in these two centres, and many now come to ask for protection and help for their children. Laura and I then attended an amazing kids club where we were able to teach the children a new song and to spend time with these incredible young people who God's heart is for. Pray for the work there and that God's Kingdom would come to that area in an incredible way and it would be changed and over for Christ. Also pray for the protection of the children that attend the project there and that they would find Jesus in the midst of their brokeness.

Our day of work was then over and we headed to relax for dinner.....or so we thought. Over the last couple of weeks our time in the evening has been spent developing friendships and relationships with some of the local people that we meet. This picture is of some of the staff of the restaurant beside our hotel which we attend most nights. We have become very good friends with all the staff and in particular the lady on the right, Nary, who owns the restaurant. Unfortunately one of the girls who normally works here (Osah) was in a bad road accident last week and was badly injured and recovering at home. She has had a tough live being previously married but her husband died last April in an accident. Nary came to tell us tonight however that this girl had been having bad dreams that her husbands "spirit" had come to see her in dreams and tell her that he wanted to take her body to be with him. Osah was then possessed by a demon who controlled her body and sent it into a fit. Nary told us of how Osah had phoned her in a panic (she cant speak much English) but her voice changed as she spoke and on the other end was an evil spirit speaking to her in perfect English and in a deep voice saying that he wanted to take Osahs body. Nary then asked us if we would pray. Nary is a Buddhist but she said that she recognised that only Jesus could help and that she knew we were Christians so she had wanted to ask us to do this. She drove us to meet the girl who lay on the floor of her house due to her bad injuries. In that moment Laura and I experienced God like never before. Never before have I ever spoken directly to someone the way I did, but God took control, and as we laid hands on her I commanded in the name of Jesus for the spirit to leave her body. As we did this her body began to shake violently and then she lay peacefully. She then spoke to us and said that at that moment she knew the spirit was gone and that she had a peace. I then told her that she needed to accept Jesus and have the power of the Holy Spirit for herself. She said she wanted this and so Laura prayed a prayer which she repeated and we lead her to Christ. The others who sat watching all spoke of how she had been acting while possessed and all believed that it was only Jesus who could have released the spirit from her. I never ever thought that we would experience anything like this, but tonight God has gripped us both, and made us realised more than ever his power and the need that there is for people to know him. Please pray for this girl Osah and for the people who were there tonight to witness it that they too would come to know Jesus. We are planning to go back tomorrow with a bible for her, so pray that we find her at peace and knowing that Jesus has done a miracle in her life. I told her of the verse which says "what was meant for bad, God has turned to good...even the saving of many lives". Pray that this will be true for her and all who were there tonight. God is so so good.

Please pray as well for me tomorrow as I am going to spend some time with a man who works at the hotel that I have become good friends with called Pala. We have spent much time talking together and tomorrow we're going to play some snooker (that's right, Cambodia has snooker halls, one even with a massive painting of Jimmy White outside) and hang out with him. Pray that I get a chance to speak with him and share the gospel with him. Please pray for Laura as well that the sickness which she felt today would be gone completely and that she can get back to her work with the girls at Daughters.

To finish, while we were in Svay Pak, Maureen texted Laura with a Psalm which was another reference to a verse which I quoted a while ago, but a verse which we read together before we left and felt that it was going to be significant for our trip...we're only over 2 weeks in and already it's so applicable to what we've been experiencing:

Psalm 118v23 "This is the Lord's doing, and it is wonderful to see."

Extreme Makeover!!

This week has been such a busy week, so much happening and we've had so little time to blog and tell everyone about it...in short God has blown us away and shown his goodness and power in amazing ways!

Laura and I are in the northern part of Cambodia at the moment called Siem Reap. We came here on Friday afternoon for the weekend to see the temples and some of the sights which many people speak about here as a must see. We're leaving all the sight seeing for tomorrow and using today for sleeping and resting to try and re-energise ourselves....especially after the 7 hour bus journey yesterday to get here.

Laura has been continuing to work with the girls during the week and now has developed some amazing friendships and relationships with them and the translators as they make the Jewellery. The girls at the end of last week had started onto the more complicated jewellery and had shown some amazing skills as they did this. Some of their pieces at the beginning were a bit "bling-bling" to say the least, but Laura has made a few templates for the girls which they now follow to make the jewellery. Much of this is now being sold in the shop to raise money for the girls themselves and the organisation. Continue to pray for her in the time that we have left that her relationships with them will grow deeper and that the jewellery business really takes off. Below are some of the pieces that they made last week.

I am continuing to spend much of my time working with the "Lady Boys" and it has been unbelievable to see God starting to change their lives. There are now 3 of the boys but two of them had been continuing to dress as girls and living their "normal" lives in the evenings which was disheartening. We have had many conversations with them and was starting to see a gradual change in them and the way they were acting etc. One day while I was sitting making some of the buttons with them, they were having a conversation amongst themselves in Khmer when the translator in the room excitedly nudged me to tell me what they were saying. One of the boys (the same boy who had been singing to God last week that he wanted to see him) had said that he didn't want to live life like this anymore and wanted to change back to being a boy. The other boy agreed that he wanted to as well. I started to speak to them both through the translator. The first boy began to say about how he had wanted to change for a while but because of the influence of the other lady boys (there use to be many more working at daughters) and the fact that he only had girl clothes to wear that he felt he couldn't do it. I assured them that while it would be tough, that God could help them. The next day Laura and I went to the markets and bought them both new clothes to wear. They were both so excited. We also bought the other man a new polo shirt as well. He hugged it for ages, saying that he had never owned anything new before! The boys then continued to chat with me more about looking to change their lives. They began to talk about how they didn't want to use their "lady" names anymore and wanted to have new boys names instead and so asked me if I could help them to choose new ones. This was such a humbling experience as I tried to help give these boys new identities. At first I tried to think of really manly names to give them so automatically because Mike McMullen considers himself the most manly man in Lurgan, I told one of them that he could call himself Michael. I'll never forget the expression on his face as he screwed up his face and said that he thought Michael was a girly name and it also reminded him of Michael Jackson. I laughed so so hard for a long time.

I then began to tell them the story from the bible of David and Jonathan of how they had a deep connection and friendship with each other and were there to support each other through hard times. I told them that this was the type of friendship they needed to have to be able to support and help each other to make this change. They agreed....they now call themselves David and Jonathan. They both now dress like boys and have their long hair cut and refer to each other in their new names. On Friday afternoon they stood up in front of the rest of Daughters to share their testimony of God had helped them change. David spoke of how he had prayed to God to help him and to give him new boys clothes. God has now answered his prayers. Please pray for them both that they will not be tempted to slip back into their old way of living and that this would just be a first step on a path towards them giving their lives to God to follow him. Unbelievable!

We have also built good relationships with all the staff in Daughters. One of the translators called Kolab has particularly become a good friend. She is a worship leader in her church and so we spend much time singing together and chatting. She asked us to a bible study in her dormitory on Thursday night. There are 26 members of the study and they all have such a deep love of Jesus. Laura shared her testimony with them and it was amazing again to worship with them all. They were all encouraged by what Laura shared about seeing themselves as God saw them and to realise the purpose that he has for them. Pray for this small group of believers that God would use them to reach the lost in their community and that their passion for him would be contagious and attract others to investigating life with God for themselves.

Sorry for how long this blog might seem, just so much to share. We are heading into our last week in Cambodia. Pray that God will continue to use us and reveal more of his will for our lives. Hope everyone at home is well. Thinking of you often.

Freedom

It's hard to believe that we are already over one week into our time away. Time is really passing by quickly and already it seems like we've been here much longer than we already have. Work at Daughters is continuing to go well. We had the weekend off however so were able to relax and try and catch up on some much needed sleep.....was totally pointless for me however as i ended up sitting up to 4.45 am last night watching the world cup final!

The highlight over the last few days has definately been spending time worshipping with the church over here in Cambodia. On Friday afternoons, Daughters has a church service of there own where those who have come to know Jesus through the programme all have a chance to praise God together and hear from him. Was an amazing experience to witness people who would have been considered worthless in society, praise God for their acceptance and forgiveness in Jesus and give him all they had in praise and worship. On a side note however, I've never sweated as much playing the guitar....the temperature here is very high, particularly in the centre where we work where there is no air conditioning.

On Sunday morning we attended the church of one of the workers from daughters called "New Life Centre". It was an amazing experience and we loved every second of being with our brothers and sisters. This is a video below of one of the songs that they sang.


We were blown away once again as we always have been in the past when worshipping with believers from other countries such as Uganda or Cuba etc how much Freedom they have and the joy that they show as they truly worship God. The lyrics in this song in the video read:

"Through you the Kingdom comes, through you the battles won, through you the price is paid, through you I'm not afraid, Through you there's victory, because of you my soul sings, I'm free!!

I'm free to run, free to dance, I'm free to live for you, I'm free!"

The believers here demonstrated true joy in knowing Jesus. They realised all that they have been saved from and where Christ had brought them to. As they worshipped, 2 verses came to mind,

John 8 v 36 " So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free (free indeed) NLT" Galatians 5v1 "So Christ has truly set us free (It is for freedom that Christ has set us free). Now make sure that you stay free, and don't get tied up again in slavery to the law"

In both churches people recognised that they were free. Free from worthlessness and rejection, free from the darkness of Buddhism... and man they wanted to show God that they really wanted to celebrate that fact. Laura made a comment saying that as we worshipped with them, she could sense that this was in her eyes what the "joy set before Jesus" must have been that made him go through with his Fathers will. A church that loved him, a church that rejoiced in him, a church that realised who they were because of him....and because of that he died. I felt so challenged at how often we in the western church take for granted what we have been freed from. Because its something we have heard all the time, we seem to have become numb to that however. So often we try to carry out certain "religious duties" or do things to prove to God that we love him. These people and many others remind us that all we need is to see that we are accepted already and dont have to do anything else to earn that.....just enjoy the freedom that Christ has given us and freely express to him how much we love him. Was a great weekend, and left us absolutely buzzin!

This week we will continue at Daughters and work with the girls making Jewellery, the boys making crafts and teaching some music. Please pray that God will give us amazing opportunities to speak into these peoples lives and that for those who dont already know Jesus that they will see him for who he truly is. Pray for Laura as well that she might get a translator to help her with the girls. At the moment she has been unable to have one and so communication and building relationships which we see as key is hard to do. Love to you all.

Dave and Laura

Glimpses of Jesus

Just a quick blog to share a short story of an experience I had today. Im continuing to spend a lot of time working with the boys in the morning and teaching music in the afternoons. The boys are young men that Daughters have taken in to teach new skills and offer another form of income instead of prostitution. The boys again are so happy to have a chance at doing something new and at the same time are learning more and more about Jesus and his hope for their life. My guitar lesson this afternoon though got cancelled as the girl I teach was off sick today so I spent more time with the lads. They were busy making buttons which they get a small wage for doing. I tried to get them to teach me, but after struggling to make one in about half an hour I realised i was wasting their time and so grabbed my guitar and sang some songs for the them as they worked....unfortunately they dont know a lot of Christian songs so their were some requests for secular songs....one of the guys loved singing "We will Rock You" as he worked. We did sing some worship songs together however which they knew. Its hard to articulate this whole moment and do it justice, but here were two boys busy making buttons and singing to Jesus, and we began to sing "Open the eyes of my heart". I had finished singing the song and was quietly strumming but one of the boys began to sing out over and over again quietly to himself "I want to see you....I want to see you....I want to see you". In that moment my heart was broken for this young man as he sang to God. I have no doubt that these are the people whose heart God is for. I've no doubt that at that moment that Gods heart was moved as this young prostitute sang to him that he wanted to see him and know him. Please pray for all these "sons and daughters" that they will truly see Jesus and know the hope there is in him.

P.S. Laura and I are leading worship in church tomorrow and I have to sing a few bits in the native Khmai language...gonna be interesting....please pray for that aswell.

Horror and Hope

Yesterday we spent the day around the city of Phomn Penh getting to know a little more about the history of cambodia and the people that we would be working with. What we saw and experienced was horrific....but only a fraction of what the horror these people have experienced. For those who aren't aware Cambodia was part of a civil war between 1975-79 when Pol Pot leader of the rural Khmer Rouge forced all people out of Phomn Penh to the country side and followed this with years of torture and killing. We visited a local high school which was converted into a prison in which innocent Cambodian people were tortured to force them to confess that they CSI or KGB spyies in order to give the Khmer people a reason for killing them. Men, women and children were then taken to local "killing fields" and disposed of in the most inhuman ways before being dumped in mass graves.

The story was hard to stomach, but perhaps helped to explain in some part how we had experienced a lack of smiles and joyful expressions upon the Cambodians faces. This was until we headed in the afternoon to the daughters cafe to meet the people we are working for over the next few weeks. Daughters is an NGO which seeks to release and rehabilitate those caught up in prostitution and sex trafficking and to offer them a second chance in life. Yesterday we met some of these girls who are being taught hospitality and catering skills who serve food, make clothes to sell and have opened a spa for people to come to for massages. These girls had massive smiles on their faces. A second chance in life, a new job with promise, self fulfilment in what they were doing and a new relationship with Jesus...these girls were buzzing....I've never seen anyone so happy or proud to take an order for a cup of coffee....was so emotional.


Today we began to work in the daughters centre where much of the material which is sold in the cafe is made. We have been blown away by God and how he has reaffirmed to us that he has been in control the whole time and has called us to this work. Today I spent time teaching guitar and piano to some of the girls....I had to work through a translator so not sure if they fully understood it all, but we all had fun. I also spent a good bit of time working with some of the boys. Daughters was initially set up to work with girls, but have recently started a project called "sons". The two boys that I worked with were people who from an extremely young age had been forced into working as "Lady Boys" or "homosexuals". Boys who did not make this decision as a life choice but had it forced on them. They struggle to recognise themselves as men at all but are starting to live out a new life in the daughters centre. God is good.

The thing that blew me away the most however came with laura. Over the last year Laura has had a part time job making wedding jewellery for a designer (Helen Fitzpatrick) to sell in house of Frazer. Helen taught laura many amazing skills and so many times during the year I got frustrated at times as Laura sat to late hours in the night with her board making jewlery...It's now that I know why. Jewellery is one of the biggest sellers in the Daughters Cafe, providing a wage for the girls and freedom from their old way of life. For a while now the leaders of daughters have been praying for someone to come and continue to help with the jewellery....Laura began today to teach them some of the basic Jewellery which she and the girls taught in Uganda, but will begin over the next while to teach a lot of the more complicated skills she has learnt this year, something which will earn the project a lot more money. God is so good! I'm blown away by what he's doing here and humbled that He's allowed us to be part of it.

Matthew 24v42 "This is the Lords doing and it's wonderful to see".

(For those interested in finding out more about daughters visit http://www.daughterscambodia.org/)

Cambodia

After 3 days travelling we've finally arrived in Cambodia! Our flights have all gone well so far, and we are now settling into our basic but comfortable room here in Golden Gate Hotel Phnom Penh. Its mid 30's here in Cambodia and unfortunately our air con isnt working, should be interesting.

There is definately a distinct difference between Thailand and Cambodia on first impressions. Poverty is much more obvious here and we both noticed how solemn people in Cambodia look in comparrison to Thailand which is called the Land of smiles. We arrived in Thailand last night and headed to a hotel there to spend the night before our flight here. We couldnt get to sleep because of the time difference so ended up ordering room service and playing "Shed" till the early hours.....we slept in! Ooops. We were meant to leave the hotel at 1pm and woke up at 12.45!!! You can take the Wylie's worldwide but we'll still be the same old Wylie's.

While some things are different, some things are obviously the same, Buddhism is followed by the many. Shrines and statues are on every corner and in every shop. This is one of the statues in the Thai airport. Buddhist monks are everywhere, I even saw one on the back of a moped today on the way to the hotel, with a massive TV under his arm.....not sure what that was about! Pray for the people in both countries that God would open their eyes, but also pray for ourselves at the same time that we would be as open about our own faith which we seem to cower away from doing when at home.

Tomorrow we are going to see the Killing fields. We hope to gain a better picture about what the people here have gone through and how it effects them in the present day before starting work at the "daughters" project on Wednesday.

Seasons

For those who are interested, this is a blog with which you can keep track of all that Laura and I are doing in Thailand and Cambodia this summer. I created the blog back in 2008 when it was the "cool" thing to do, but untill now I've never felt anything worthwhile to talk about. Today begins an amazing opportunity for Laura and I, but it's something which has been talked about and planned for so long and we're so excited to see all that God will do. Laura and I have been married for nearly a year and 3 months now, but from the very beginning of our time together mission has been massively on our hearts and getting involved in all that God is doing around the world. God has blessed us both richly and everything that has happened has been evidence if his goodness and mercy following us both. He has blessed us with jobs, a house that caters for all our needs, health to enjoy life and even when my own health hasn't been good, he has given me the grace to help, but healed me again at just the right time. He has given us amazing family, friends and church family who have stood by us both and encouraged us to dream and chase after the things we have felt God calling us to do. Over the last couple of weeks though we have sensed more than ever God moving us into a "new" season in our lives. On Wednesday we moved out of house below and into a new rented house in Lurgan which belongs to our friends Ben and Jane.




This has been a really busy time for us and something which has drained our energy a lot, and we could not have done it without all our friends and family's help, so for those who have been involved with it, thank you so much from us both. The last couple of days have been spent unpacking, redecorating, and now getting ready to set off on our time in South East Asia. We are excited about this and can't wait to see all the "new" things that God will bring us in to. More than ever we need our friends to partner with us in this journey so please pray for us and all the work that we will do. Pray that God will use us to bless the children we will work with in the various projects and that we might sense God guiding us into our future plans. Sitting typing this it has finally started to hit home that we are about to go and perhaps there is a little apprehension but we trust God completely and can't wait to see where he will blow us on this journey. I heard a great quote during the year which said "the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step".....today we take our first step and need your prayers and support as we do it. Will blog again soon when we arrive in Cambodia.

P.S. Thanks to John Mac for helping me set this up.