today’s the day!

Hey…guess where I’m headed today???  TO Thailand!!!! Yahoo!  I’m very excited…can ya tell????  So, I thought you loved ones would like to know a little more details about my trip…like that I’m flying on Korean Airlines….and my flight numbers/times…and when I return…and emergency contact info….REALLY only emergency!  Stu told the parents “only call if we can do something about it…don’t call to say the puppy’s sick and will probably die before you get back b/c we can’t do anything about that.”  Hee,hee!  He’s pretty funny and gets the point across, too.

3 hours of sleep…yikes!  Here we go!

Tues, July 15
8am team arrives at DFW
1050 am plane leaves DFW          (KE 32 14:04 hrs flight)

Wed, July 16
2:55 pm plane arrives in Seoul     (5:20 hrs layover)
8:15 pm plane leaves Seoul           (KE 637 6:15 hrs flight)

Thurs, July 17
12:30 am plane arrives in Phuket, Thailand
2:00 am team arrives in Phang Nga

RETURN HOME
Fri, July 25
11:00 pm (Thurs) arrive at airport
1:55 am plane leaves Phuket           (KE 638 6:10 hrs flight)
10:05 am plane arrives in Seoul     (1:10 hrs layover)
11:15 am plane leaves Seoul      (KE 1 2:15 hours flight)
1:30 stop in Tokyo                   (1:25 hrs layover)
2:55 leave Tokyo      (KE 1 10:05 hours flight)
9:00 am plane arrives in LA   (5:54 hours layover)
*customs*
2:54 pm plane leaves LA      (UA 6219 3:11 hours flight)
8:05 pm plane arrives in DFW

XOXO,
Kimmie

only a couple of days away

As we prepare to leave, here’s a list of specific prayer needs that I can think of right now:

~please pray on our spiritual armor for us every day ~Eph. 6:13-18

~we have ‘boot camp’ on Sunday all afternoon…we will practice language, skits, sharing testimonies, songs, learn a little more of the culture, etc.  it will be a busy and fun day.  we will get final packing lists and a trip itinerary.

~Sabrina-having nightmares and not able to sleep; family having a little difficulty right now with each other; she’s afraid of flying

~Jessie- gets sick on airplanes

~Teresa – parents, husband, son all lined out so that she doesn’t worry over them while she’s gone and can focus on the trip

~Hanna-this is her first flight ever

~many of us-anxiety over getting things ready on time, packing, leaving the country (many for the first time)

~easy time going through customs

~as little jet lag as possible and us knowing how to prep for it and deal with it

~culture shock…the families are sending letters to be handed out to the students/leaders at different times in hopes of helping offset culture shock

~flexibility

~Stu-last minute organizing, dealing with anxious parents and questions, etc

~money to do some fun tourisy things

~me-nothing big will happen-no illness, no injuries, etc, but if any medical/injury situations arise I’ll know what to do for it

~the people we will come into contact with: in the airport, on the plane, in Thailand, anywhere in between- that they will be prepared to hear/see God in us and that we will boldly seek out and recognize Divine Appointments

~Our missionaries: Keith Richards and his family-His wife, Tracy is in the States with their oldest son, Caleb as he preps for college; Libby the oldest daughter is helping her dad; I think there is one more girl younger; they will be moving to the States for a while later this summer

~travel-airline pilots get good rest, flight attendants, etc; easy transitions through customs; long layover in Korea and on the way home in LA

FYI…thought you’d get a kick out of this: We leave to come home on July 25 and after stopping in Tokoyo and LA, arrive in DFW on July 25…a mere 30 hours after we started out!  It will be (literally) the longest day of our lives. LOL!

I cannot thank you enough for your prayers!

Pattaya, Thailand

2 of our college students, Corey and Adrian are doing a summer missions program in Pattaya, Thailand and will be meeting us next week in Phang Nga.   One thing they do there is pass out Chinese Bibles to the Chinese tourists.  They also hand out informative tracts on the message of the Gospel.  The week they arrived, some new government officials had taken over and didn’t understand what work was going on, so they put a stop to it while investigating.  Through many prayers, they gave the missionary team permission to continue what they are doing.  Praise the Lord.  They had a team from Texas scheduled to join them the following week, so were able to be back on track by the time the team arrived.  Corey and Adrian have had a great time working with Dave and the other missionaries.

Please keep these young men in your prayers as they travel from Pattaya to Phang Nga in the upcoming week.  The last I had heard they still didn’t know the details of their travel plans.  I’m hoping they have come up with something by now.  Keep their families in prayer as they worry over these young men who are having a great adventure!

beach camp!

Part of the Thailand prep is to go to our youth camp at the beach in Galveston, TX.  The focus this year was on the Big Picture.  All the worship times, small group Bible study times, and quiet time materials focused on seeing the Big Picture with God at work and taking a look at where you are in your relationship with Him and thinking about whether or not you are where you need to be, walking closely beside him.  It’s a camp geared toward spiritual growth in our students.  It’s the best time of the year!  It’s always a lot of fun as well as eye opening.  Some of the answered prayers with Beach Camp are:

we prayed there would be no big medical needs, no one get really sick, no major injuries: there was a 36 hour window where there were NO medical needs!  Not one bandaid was asked for, not one tylenol tablet, nothing!  Only the daily meds that some folks take on a regular basis.  This is UNHEARD OF in a camp situation….especially where you are in the hot sun all day!

one girl, Gabby, was invited 2 or 3 days before camp to join us…she got saved!

one girl, Alex, was invited one Sunday a few weeks before camp; because of medical bills in the family, there was no way she could come up with even an extra couple of dollars for camp; because of someone’s generosity in our church, she was given a scholarship for camp…she got saved!

one of the young HS students going to Thailand made a commitment to read the Bible daily, starting at the beginning…as of Wed, he’s still following through!

2 students have felt God’s call to step up and become leaders among our youth group and have committed to do so

One family group leader asked for prayers for her JH age students early in the week, so we were praying faithfully for them…3 of them were saved!

one JH student felt God’s call to get more serious about his relationship with Christ and I’ve watched a change in him over the weeks

one student realized she had been gossiping about another and it was wrong, so she apologized to the other student as well as to the ones she had gossiped with

one night students went to each other during worship and prayed together, resolved differences; the youth group was definitely strengthened this night!

a woman who was staying at the hotel wrote a letter to our pastor the week we were at camp expressing how well behaved our students were and how wonderful it was to see them all lined up on the seawall (for quiet time each morning) with their bibles in hand

ummmm….i got to eat fresh seafood!  yumm!!!!

God sure has been faithful!  Once again, Beach Camp was an amazing experience for me to be a part of.  I thank my God for allowing me to be a part of it.  My role was a little different this year than last, but no less exciting.  A wonderful growth opportunity for leaders and students alike.  And the Lord allowed me to learn more about being a prayer warrior.

Teresa K and Amy E (leaders going to Thailand) said they noticed a huge difference in our girls choir after camp…more focus and more ready to prep for Thailand.  I think that Beach Camp went a long way in preparing us all for our mission trip.

numbers add up

On Wednesday, Teresa Y and Jerry W were downstairs counting up the amount of money that had been contributed/designated toward our trip to Thailand while Stu was upstairs figuring up the amount of money needed for the basics: travel, hotel, food, etc (not including extra stuff like tours, elephant riding, etc.)  When the 3 came together, they discovered they had come up with exactly the same numbers…what was needed had been contributed!  Praise God!

In addition:

a couple of students still owed money as of last week and God has provided

my loved ones have contributed above the minimum amount needed, which will offset the additional costs of increased fuel prices, food, tours, etc.  Isn’t God GOOD???

T and J figured out that there was probably some extra money that wasn’t counted that could go into an excess pot for touristy stuff for us to do while we are over there

T was able to save around $500.00 in traveler’s insurance b/c of a discount we received by registering with the IMB

God provided a secretary for Stu this summer…Teresa Y…after his previous secretary moved out of state with her family

God’s provision

I wrote this letter to include in thank you cards for financial contributors in June:

Wow!  That’s all I can say right now!  I am completely amazed at how God has provided for this mission trip to Thailand.  I want you to know how He is answering your prayers every day!

Our students raised about $18,000.00 from selling stock to family and friends. This required them to step out of their comfort zones and ask people to support them financially.  They had sheets of paper that had information re: prayers needed and the students’ names on them that they would hand out to anyone who gave them $20.00 donations.  This is something we’ve been doing at our church for a couple of years, so the members get really excited this time of year to support our students.   We will host a “stockholder’s meeting” upon return from Thailand to share what we have done with our supporters.  I’ll let you know when that is once the date is set.

Three weeks ago, we met for the first time with the students and their parents for a Q&A session to learn more details about what we will be doing in Thailand. The group (students and leaders) had raised about 2/3 of the money we need as a minimum amount at that time.
That night I learned the amount of money contributed to my account because of the time I had spent helping with our church garage sale…where, BTW, we were able to pass out 600 (Spanish and English) bibles to the community.  The amount far exceeded my expectations.  In fact, in adding up the amount I made plus 2 other people I talked with and in doing the math of how much money we had made vs the amount of people it was divided among…well, let’s just say that God is MUCH bigger than my math skills.  That night I had a balance of roughly $1400.00 due to pay off my part of the trip.  My friend, Teresa, learned that she had a significant portion of her trip already paid for at that time.  Someone had donated $2000.00 to youth missions to be used however was needed and it fully covered our fuel surcharges.

On Sunday, June 1, our deposit of $1000.00 was due.  As I was on my way to church that evening for a trip prep meeting, my prayer was that the LORD would be faithful, as He had promised and that my $1000.00 would be taken care of.  Would you believe that the amount credited to my account (as of 4 days prior) was $1037.34?  If that isn’t God…

Then, last night, I learned that because of your generosity and your prayers, I have only $197.00 left until my trip is paid for.  There is no doubt in my mind that it will be taken care of, plus more (as the cost of fuel has gone up since the price was set for our trip.)

I cannot thank you enough at this point for your overwhelming support, generosity, and prayers.  I so look forward to this trip and to seeing more ways in which God will choose to reveal Himself!  Please continue praying and know that I am praying for each of you, as well!
I love you all and thank you for your support!  You have been a huge blessing to me!

With Love,
Kimmie

answered prayers

I haven’t kept this updated like I had planned.  Today I’ll update with all that’s happened in preparation for our trip to Thailand and if I have the opportunity to get online while in Thailand, I’ll send updates through this blog.  If not, then when I return I’ll send updates.  I haven’t figured out how to add pictures here, so if you want me to email you pics when I return, leave a comment  with your email add and I’ll add you to the list. (I have to approve the comments before they show up, I think, so your email won’t show up on my blog page. I hope this is accurate info…try at your own risk. LOL!)

God has been answering prayers like crazy.  He has truly been going before us and preparing the way! It’s been amazing to be a part of.  He’s SO good!