Blogging Isn't Always Easy

Blogging isn't always easy!

As you can tell, I haven't been the best at keeping up with the "BLOG THING"! It takes some discipline to keep up the BLOG and I don't travel ALL the time.

I have, however, had the opportunity to travel since my last post. A trip to Europe for work (UGH) and a MISSIONS TRIP to Brazil.

I could talk forever on the Missions Trip, so please bear with me on this. Our church, Seacoast (www.seacoast.org), planned a construction trip down to Santarem, Brazil in conjunction with Project Amazon (PAZ). The goal was to assist in building a church in a river village in the Amazon River Basin. You can check them out at www.projectamazon.org if you're interested.

We had the amazing opportunity to witness God's Work in the Amazon first hand and let me say, He is doing amazing things through the people involved with PAZ. They are truely devoted to preaching the Word and taking it out into the world.

While we were in Brazil, we had 3 days to see the city of Santarem, Brazil. A city of approximately 200,000 people. I quickly fell in love with the Missions Team, the PAZ churches and the people of Santarem.

The highlight of the trip: a 5 hour boat ride up the Tapajos River to a river village named Paraua. The river village had about 1,200-1,300 people. We laid the foundation for a PAZ church while we were there. If I fell in love with the people of Santarem, I am abolutely head-over-heels for the people of Paraua!!! I can still remember a lot of the names!

I will tell you about two, Dominga and Ananias. One day, right before lunch, a lady asked us to lay hands on her husband for healing prayer. He had suffered a stroke and was not healthy enough to make the 5 hour river voyage to Santarem to see the doctor. We went to walk up to her house, but on the way, we stopped at her mother's house. Her name is Dominga and she is 97 years old. She now knows the Lord! WHY? We prayed with her and she accepted the Lord that day. PRAISE GOD! We had the honor of praying with her.

After this, we walked up to see Ananias! He is 77 years old and a man with a wise face, but saddened eyes. Ananias was ready to turn to the Lord for help and he silently prayed for accepting the Lord that day. It was truely an amazing and holy moment.

I'll post some pics as well of the trip tomorrow and write a little more! :)

Friendship Temple

BFF...look at this! It is a temple for friendship.

We went by this temple this evening and it made me laugh when they said it was a friendship temple. The majority of Thai are Buddist and there are temples everywhere. This was right on the river in Bangkok. The Buddists would normally come here to pray for their friends.

Maersk Thailand

This is me with our team in Thailand!

Tourists in Thailand

Well...today we played tourists in Thailand. It was a GREAT time and we got to see quite a bit. I am posting some pictures to share with you all. Tomorrow is back to work though! :(

Weekend in Thailand

We are in Thailand!

Spent the last 2 days in South China (Shenzhen). Let's just say that if I would have gone to Shenzhen first, I wouldn't have liked Asia too much.

With a week in Hong Kong/South China, I am fully effective with chop sticks now. It's actually amazing how you adapt and when left with no other choice master such a task!

On Thursday we went out to a factory that manufacturers Schwinn bicycles. They make 3,000-4,000 bicycles a day. It was really impressive!

Thailand is BEAUTIFUL!!! We are staying right on the river in Bangkok and have a full weekend of sightseeing planned. I have some good pictures and will try and update over the weekend.

Miss Everyone!

Early Tuesday Morning

I LOVE THIS!!!

Thank you for the posts Courtney and MB! It makes me laugh to see you guys go back and forth. It's almost like being home.

It's 5:15 a.m. Tuesday morning and I am still struggling with a full nights sleep. The nice thing, I am actually training for the bridge run this year and running on the tread mill. The hotel has a pretty nice gym.

Yesterday we got things prepared for the meetings with Target and will wrap that up today. They arrive tonight and then we hit the ground running! We look at the port of Hong Kong tomorrow a.m., focused on the security procedures in place by U.S. Customs at origin. It should be interesting in light of all the hype with Dubai World Ports. Then we are into South China (Shenzhen) to go to our office over there.

I didn't have anything really interesting to take a picture of yesterday, but I will take some more pics.

Miss you guys!

Picture of the Day

This is Elizabeth and I in Hong Kong. We did a little "shopping" and sight-seeing on Sunday.

Comforts of Home

As I prepared for this trip to Asia I have had so many feelings, but one that is stronger than the others: SADNESS!!

I will miss my family, my friends, my doggies and the "comforts" of home.

It has brought me back to Acts when Paul & Barnabas are first called upon God to pick up their current "comforts" , put them aside and pick up His mission.

(This happened right after they saw Peter's miraculous escape from prison.)

HOW DID THESE MEN FEEL?

I am sure they were scared, anxious, worried, frustrated and maybe just a little scared. BUT, I think Acts 13:4 gives us a hint as to where they found the strength & comfort to throw aside the comforts of the world and stand firm in the greatest comforter of all. Barnabas & Paul traveled with the HOLY SPIRT!

And wouldn't you know it...on their first stop (Acts 13:9), He showed up!

My Prayer
Lord, I pray that you send your Holy Spirit down on me to protect and guide me on these travels. Let me recognize and see your work without the "comforts" of home to blur my view.
AMEN!

Asia Schedule

For those that are interested, here's the rundown of my trip:

• Hong Kong: February 24 - March 3
• Thailand: March 3 - March 8
• Malaysia: March 8 - March 11

I will hit the ground back in Charleston at 2:26 p.m. on the 11th.