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!