Team Update

Click here to watch a video update

Ministry Update

The Lord has blessed our time in ministry abundantly. Before we came to Thailand my prayer was that I would have the opportunity to share the Gospel and build a trusting relationship with at least one Thai girl. God has far exceeded my expectations. Betsy’s ministry has such a strong foundation; it’s been a great privilege to help in some small way and work with her everyday. After this week, I have had the chance to share the Gospel with nine girls! I am so thankful for each of these girls and I hope to build an even deeper trust and help show them more of the truth as these weeks continue.

The freshmen are very busy with lots of activities. The first few weeks were tough finding time with them because they had to attend “Cheers” which is basically like initiation for a sorority/fraternity back in the States. They also have to get signatures from all the upperclassmen. This has given our Thai Christians some great opportunities to meet girls and befriend them. Last week there was an activity where the freshmen have to make a gift for all of the teachers- the gift is called a “Pon”. These beautifully detailed creations are made up of flowers and take several hours of tedious work. We got to come to this event and help them! We had a great night hanging out with them and getting to know more freshmen.  

Some freshmen making the "Pon" for their teachers

then we taught them how to play NINJA!!  So much fun!

Today the freshmen started a weeklong event called “the Freshy Games”. Each freshman has the chance to participate and play a specific sport. They play to represent their particular faculty (major). There is a wide variety of sports: badminton, hockey, cross-words (scrabble), ping pong, shooting, tennis, volleyball, softball, soccer, and fencing. This week we’ve spent our nights visiting some of the freshmen at their practices and cheering them on. I got to play some volleyball on Monday and then got in on some fierce ping-pong Tuesday night. All of the students at KKU are very involved in this campus wide activity- it reminds me of intramurals at Samford. Fun and competitive! I’m excited to cheer on all the sweet freshmen we have built relationships with thus far.

**Below is a verse we have been studying as a ministry team. Please pray that we would continue steadfastly in prayer and be watchful for open doors and opportunities.  

“Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that god may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison- that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, season with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.”

Colossians 4:2-6

The Night Market

Here's a video of my ministry team making our way through the "night market". We usually go here once a week to meet up with students and eat dinner with them.

The Thai Wat, Phra Mahathat Khaen Nakhon

Two weeks ago we took a trip to visit the largest Buddhist temple in Khon Kaen. Each ministry group invited Thai students throughout the week and we had an encouraging turnout. As we walked throughout the levels and observed the idols, many of our CCP team had the chance to get into spiritual conversation with the students. This was a great gateway to learn more about Buddhism and build trusting relationships.

It was an enlightening experience. The Temple is filled with such incredible beauty and detail but my heart ached seeing people bow down and worship the idols. It was the reality of what I do in America- we bow down to idols everyday but we hide it in our hearts.

Here is some more information about the temple:

The Thai Wat, Phra Mahathat Kaen Nakhon, is a Royal Temple in Khon Kaen. The Phra Mahathat Kaen Nakhon chedi, which contains relics of the Lord Buddha, is located within the grounds of another Thai Wat, Wat Nong Waeng. The Phra Mahathat Kaen Nakhon chedi was built to commemorate His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 50th year on the Throne of Thailand and also to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the city of Khon Kaen. There is a stairway allowing you to ascend all 9 levels affording remarkable views of the city of Khon Kaen. On each level you will find an assortment of Buddha images, Photographs, historical objects and important Buddhist scriptures. The relics of the Lord Buddha are enshrined on the 9th floor.

Inside the 9th Floor

The view from the 9th Floor

We finished the trip with lunch at the food court and had a great time running around the mall with new friends!

Some girls on our way to the mall in a Song-Tauw

The Whole Gang! 

Mailing Address

If you'd like to write me please use the following address:

Campus Outreach
Attn: August Rhea
PO Box 6 KKU
Amphur Muang, Khonkaen 40002
Thailand

(*it takes 2 weeks for mail to get here)

Half Way & Amazing Grace

This week we hit the half way mark of our summer. I seriously cannot believe how fast time is FLYING by!! Which explains my lack of blog posts- I’m so sorry! I want to make sharing with you a priority because the Lord is doing so many great things! As excited as I am to return home to be with my family & friends, I am not ready to leave this place. Life here is so simple and I am loving every minute of it. Not to mention the people; we are surrounded by an incredibly strong group of believers. They have sacrificed so much to be here serving the Lord and making His name known in Khon Kaen. They are all an amazing encouragement and have really challenged my faith and trust in the Lord. Yes there are hard moments and my cravings for Panera grow stronger each day, but I keep reminding myself that I will be able to have all of those comforts again and I may never be back in Thailand ever again. So I’m embracing each new day and trying to make the most of each moment. Our schedule can be pretty busy at times but there have also been lots of opportunities for rest. I have so enjoyed the intimate times in prayer and studying the Word. At home, and especially at school, there are thousands of things distracting me from pursuing my Father and living each day completely surrendered to His will. I am so thankful for the accountability of our team here and the great resources we’ve been given to learn more about God and deepen that relationship.

Every Wednesday morning we have “Reflection Time” as a team at the church. This is a time of reflection, confession, and repentance. We spread out and take about 40 minutes to evaluate our weeks individually and journal and pray. Here are some of the questions we reflect on:

-       What was your pursuit of the Father like this week? What, if anything, held you back from truly treasuring Christ this week?

-       How was your time in prayer? Describe your prayers for yourself, for others, praise, confession, gratitude.

-       What sins have you been repenting of this most this week and what were the root idols? What problem has consumed your thoughts? (what went wrong?) What are some positive ways our Father has been refining your character?

-       How have you trusted God in prayer for ministry this week? What can you commit to Him next week?

-       Have you budgeted your time wisely between work and rest this summer? How can you steward it more wisely next week?

I love this time and it’s so encouraging to look back and see everything God is teaching me. But it’s easy to get down on yourself and just see all the ways you are falling short.

This week was different: Matt said he knows we are all seeing a lot of our sin and that he knows its hard to deal with and can weigh you down instead of focusing on God's grace. So instead of reflection time we meditated on Romans 8:32 "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all-how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" And then he told us to write down at least 15 reasons why we know this is true and how we have seen God prove this in our lives since our time here. I'll share with you some of the things I wrote down:

- God gave me this incredible opportunity to be involved with Campus Outreach & get to be here in Thailand this summer. 

- He raised all $6,000 of my support! and everyone else's ($200,000)

- He has given me new and deeper friendships.

- God has abundantly blessed our ministry and given me multiple Thai girls to bond with and build trusting relationships.

- God brought Luke here too!! I feel so blessed that we get to share this special experience together and see each other serving. 

- God gave me precious time of worship and singing praises to Him. (We usually end each Wednesday with worship) 

- God opened my eyes to see more of my sin and my deep struggles even though I felt rebellious and prideful. 

- God is piercing my heart with prayer and overwhelming me with His faithfulness. 

- He has blessed me with this group of Thai sophomores that are so kind and welcoming!! They always have a seat for me at lunch J

- God has opened my eyes to more of who He is through "Care Team" (Thai bible study at Betsy's) 

Then we meditated on Phil. 1:6 "being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it out to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." I know that God is using brokenness over my sin to draw me closer to Him. This week I'm focusing on the phrase 

"glance at your sin but GAZE at the cross."

I encourage you to do the same this week and hope you have to chance to see the magnitude of His Grace. Thanks for reading!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow! 

Video Adventures

Here's a quick video of some of my adventures from week one. Traveling, ministry time, & snake stunts are all included. Enjoy!

Week One: blessed & humbled

I cannot believe one week has already passed; the time has flown by yet I have learned and experienced so much! Day one in Khon Kaen was a whirlwind of moments - meeting new people, touring the city, exploring the campus, eating Thai food, hearing the language, adjusting to the time and embracing the weather. The Campus Outreach Thailand Staff have been amazing. I am so thankful for their love, service, patience and guidance throughout the first few days. The Thai Christians received us with such warmth and self-sacrificing friendship. I already feel a deep love for these brothers and sisters in Christ who have welcomed us into their world to serve alongside one another and labor for the lost.  I have been so encouraged by their testimonies and am humbled by their faith. The country of Thailand is 95% Buddhist. To be Thai is to be Buddhist. It’s the cultural norm, much like Christianity in the South. 

The CCP Team & some CO Thailand Staff & Friends! 

Over the weekend we were each assigned our ministry teams. I am working with Betsy Lawler and three of her Thai disciples. (Tik, Waan, & Joy.) Betsy has served in Thailand for the past 20 years and has been working with Campus Outreach to evangelize in the Education Department at Khon Kaen University. (KKU) God has really blessed her ministry with these students over the past few years. Her ministry is focused on the students in Tesol. (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) This is a highly selective program and it is quite an honor for students to be accepted. KKU has about 34,000 undergraduates and only 40 freshmen were admitted into the Tesol program this year. There are also three other CCP students who are paired with each of the Thai Christians. (Katy, Shelly, & Rachel) I have loved the time spent with this group so far. They are all so encouraging and hungry to be stretched and grow in their relationship with the Lord. The Thai girls have been such great leaders and I am so humbled by their desire to serve God and share the gospel. I will be serving with this whole group throughout the entire summer and focusing ministry on the freshmen class of Tesol students.

My Ministry Team for the summer! 
(Joy, Tik, Waan, Betsy,
Shelly, Katy, Me, & Rachel)

Some of the precious freshmen girls we met at lunch 

Everyday the CCP team gathers to have ministry training at the church from 9:45-11:30am then we break into our ministry groups and head off to the different parts of campus. We eat lunch in the cafeterias and try to sit and talk with Thai students. During lunch we make friends and connections and set up plans with students to hang out each night. The Thais are by far the nicest people I have ever met. They are so loving and welcoming to foreigners! After lunch we have time to rest, workout, run errands, and prepare for our ministry time that night. Our weeknight plans vary but we usually go eat dinner with the students we met earlier then do an activity. Here are a few examples of things we have done so far:

-   Thai aerobics (so much fun & a great workout!)

-   Dinner at the “Market” (lots of little booths with food and shopping)

-   Go to Central (the biggest & most impressive mall ever)

-   Karaoke (they love it! And its awesome.)

I feel so blessed from all the opportunities that God has already provided for our entire team. We feel especially blessed to be working with girls who speak English! God has definitely prepared the way for us. Most of the students are eager to learn more about Americans and they usually want to practice their English. My heart is so grateful for the friendships with a particular group of sophomore students. They are so genuine and accepting and I have loved spending time with them. Last night I was able to bring them to our apartment and show them my room and introduce them to more CCP students. I look forward to spending more quality time with them and am praying for more opportunities to build trusting relationships.

Highlight of the Week: Care Team

Thursday night’s activity is Care Team. (this is like Bible Study) Betsy hosts Care Team at her house and uses this time to study the Bible with the Christians in her ministry and encourage them. Last week there were ten Thai Christians and we discussed God’s strength in our weakness. This is a very busy and stressful season for many students. It was extremely uplifting to share our weaknesses and encourage each other. We also had the privilege to pray together. It is such a beautiful thing to experience Thai and English prayers together; separate cultures united in the love of Christ and praising the same Savior. We reflected on the following verse: II Corinthians 12: 9-11

“‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 

This verse is so comforting to me and has been a great reminder all week.

As this week continues please pray that we would be bold and eager to meet more students and make connections. Pray that God would reveal to us the students who are interested and that we would have wisdom to know when to move forward.  Thank you for your prayers and support thus far! 

Let the Journey begin!

Our summer overseas began at 5:30am Tuesday May 24th. We traveled for approximately 52 hours total! Our flight schedule looked a little like this: 

Birmingham - Charlotte, NC

Charlotte - New York

  5 hr. layover in JFK 

New York - Singapore 

Singapore  - Bangkok

7 hr. layover

Bangkok - Khon Kaen!

This is the mothership that brought us safely to Singapore

It was a long and exhausting trip. But we watched plenty of movies and had lots of quality team bonding time! Our longest flight was 21 hours from New York to Singapore. I am officially not a fan of airplane food... but nevertheless is was an exciting adventure! (Don't worry Dad, I made sure to stretch and walk around every hour!)

 

Most of our team at our last layover in Bangkok

When we finally arrived in Khon Kaen we were greeted with open arms and loving smiles! Campus Outreach Thailand staff, friends, and family members gave us a huge welcome and quickly piled us onto trucks (which are called "Song Tauw" here) to take us to our new homes!

We are staying at the Great Diamond. These nice and safe apartments are located just minutes from the campus of Khon Kaen University. All of our CCP team is living together in this complex and we each share a room with one other roommate. My roomie is Christine Black and she is wonderful :) We met on Beach Project last summer and I'm so glad we have the chance to get to know each other better. She just graduated from UNA and is starting graduate school in the fall. I am thankful for her cleanliness :)

The Great Diamond! 

More pictures are on their way! 

How to Pray

*Here is a quick rundown of some things you can be praying for our CCP team throughout the summer. 

May 25- May 29

-       Safe travel and no flight delays

-       Quick recovery from jet lag

-       An effective orientation to the culture and our CCP roles

-       Overcome fear of language barriers and meetings students

-       Our health as we adjust to a new environment

May 30 - June 6

-       We would meet many Thai students and begin to build key relationships

-       We would be broken for the lost world we encounter

-       Team unity and growth in valuing and loving each other

June 7- June 19

-       Recruitment of Thai students to English classes and “Care Teams”

-       Students to hear the Gospel and put their faith in Christ

-       For strength and energy as we continue to labor

-       That we faithfully pursue intimacy with Jesus; understanding who we are in Him and how that makes us joyful servants of others.

-       For a great oneness in heart and vision among the team; that we would really be laboring together and enjoying rich fellowship.

June 20 – June 28

-       That God would continue to work in the hearts of our new Thai friends and that they would connect with the full-time staff in Thailand.

-       We would encourage students at SBP with what God did in and through our team this summer

-    Safe travel back to the States

CCP Video Update

Follow this link to watch a video update from Matt! (Our leader)

http://vimeo.com/24353718

Support Raising Recap

Hello from Thailand!! 

I am amazed to be here on the other side of the world; Khon Kaen is a beautiful city and we have already experienced so much in just 3 short days! I am so excited to share with you about our ministry work and the all adventures along the way. But I would also like to give a quick recap on my support raising journey throughout the 8 months before our departure. 

First of all, thank you for your prayers and support thus far, the Lord faithfully provided all of the funds needed for our entire CCP team to go on the trip!! Amazing. When I first started raising support, I was thrilled to have an eager response from my close friends and family, but $6,000 still seemed like a daunting amount. By late February I had about $2000 but our leader asked us to have at least half of our total support by Spring Break. (March 11) So I began to doubt. Where would this money come from? Am I really supposed to go? Does the Lord still want me to go this summer? How can I possibly raise this money? Throughout these times of doubt God showed me that He is greater. He had a plan all along and He was going to provide in ways that I could not even begin to think of. In early March, I decided to call my Grandpapa for some "support raising" advice :)  Grandpapa & Grandmama both gave some very encouraging words of wisdom and lifted my spirits to push on with the process. Grandpapa told me "the support is out there, God has already provided it, now you just have to discover it!" Well my Grandparents also contributed by sending out an email of my support letter to over 300 of their personal friends and supporters. This small step turned out to be a huge blessing. As the week continued I received more and more checks. Donations from people I didn't even know! By March 11th, I had exactly $3,000. I felt so blessed!! God was giving me the "green light"! What a clear answer from Him that it was His will for me to spend the summer in Thailand. Throughout the next month, the Lord kept providing. Through friends, family, and the blessings from my Grandparents' email. By the last week in April ALL of the support was officially raised!! It is so incredible to look back at the ways He met the needs of our entire team. Praise Him! 

To my faithful supporters, THANK YOU. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your generosity, your love,  your encouragement, and your prayers. I was truly blown away by the generosity and support. It was a humbling and amazing start to this journey. Thank you for being a part of my team and contributing to help make this trip possible. I am beyond excited for what God has in store for this summer! 

Welcome!

Dear Friends & Family, 


I am so excited that you have joined my support team for my mission trip to Thailand! Your prayers, encouragement,  and financial support have truly been a blessing. 


This is the first post on my blog and I hope to keep it updated from this point on and throughout the summer.  I look forward to sharing more with you as we prepare for departure in just 8 weeks!

Psalm 36:5

"Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens,your faithfulness to the clouds."