Some of the kids running up to us :)

Hey friends and family!!! This is Lauren writing! 

We made it to Thailand! Our first day in Bangkok was very interesting. We started of walking down the street for breakfast at this little hut. Since I am allergic to Gluten i just ordered bananas and peanut butter. The other girls ordered peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Since there is a language barrier we had a miscommunication and we waited an hour for us all to get banana's and peanut butter. haha then we had orientation on our do's and don't. 

 Now we are safely in Phuket! The ride here was quite the adventure I may say. I got sick half way threw our 12 hour drive. So I made a trip to the bathroom where it was not very pleasant and made me nauseous even more. After I got the sickness bug out of me I was able to sleep the rest of the way. Arriving into Phuket was exciting for all of us for the fact we could FINALLY stretch out our legs and have some fresh air. The driving situation here is a little bit different here then in the states. There are heaps of mopeds here that just drive crazy. It is quite hilarious to watch. We are staying at the SHE ministry housing. Its very nice. The weather is very warm and humid. We are all trying to adjust our bodies to always sweating. haha  Our days consist of Waking up for devotions in the morning with the thai woman who work there then having breakfast. Around 11 we do team devotions and then lunch. After lunch we go and do prayer walking where we walk around to Patong and we pray for the girls that we minister to at night. During our free time we have quiet times to spend with God and we build relationships with the Thai children in the community. After supper we have Prayer and Worship before we head out for the night to minister to the girls. when we get back we debrief and pray for the girls and conversations that we had. 

 We are all doing really well. Nobody has been really sick yet. And we are making really good relationships with the people of Phuket. 

Packed into the back of the truck

A market we walked through

The coffee shop we always go to.

One of the closed doored bars. PLEASE PRAY

One of the streets we minister on.

Just waiting for the bus.

Sawadee-kah

Prayer Request:

- To continue building closer relationships with the women in Patong. 

- And that we would be able to keep building their trust

- For rest in our team and continued unity

- HEALTH and safety! 

First leg of the trip...

Steph with her outreach gear

Hi...it's me...Bianca...and on behalf of the Thaibodia team, I am saying hello from the Sydney airport.  We left our house at 5:30 am and we just flew from Brisbane to Sydney and are hanging out here until we board our flight to Bangkok, Thailand.  On the last flight, we all got to sit together and we are also traveling with the other team who is going to Thailand and India.  Since I got to Australia, I have been known for my awesome pillow talk sessions. Most people don't particularly like when I wake them up in the middle of the night for pillow talk but Kelsie is always very receptive and we had a lovely pillow talk on the last flight.

Our airport experience has gone fairly smoothly so far...just a few minor bumps in the road.  We started out in the wrong terminal, no big deal though.  When we got here to the Sydney airport, we had to fill out these little green forms for customs.  Steph got a bit confused and wrote "white" on the nationality portion.  We had to remind her that her nationality is actually the USA.

We get into Bangkok late tonight and tomorrow we have orientation.  There are more updates to come soon! We are all so excited and thank you all so much for your support and prayers.

Arrival of both teams to the Brisbane airport

SO SOON!!

We leave in just a little over 5 days for outreach to Thailand and Cambodia! The first 2 and a bit weeks we'll be in Phuket working with a ministry over there called SHE. (shethailand.org) We are all so excited to leave most of us can hardly sleep. In the weeks leading up to prepare for outreach the team has been  preparing testimonies, skits, and teachings.

Please pray for:
- God to get all the glory!
-  traveling mercies in the next 2 months
- the teams health! Physically, spiritually, and emotionally, hah
- Team unity