Remember us?

All of the families who participated in the conference.


The group that had the most fun at the conference!

from teresa

I have so much I could talk about that was significant to me on this trip. One of the youth asked me in the middle of the week why I was the one teaching the younger kids. I'm not really sure how that happened exactly, but my first thought was that I was the shortest, so it made the most sense : ). Seriously, the younger kids amazed and astounded me in their knowledge and depth of insight. They were able to handle the changes in schedule that happened daily and were able to follow my impossilbe tangents and random comments (I try to filter them, but it never really works). They asked great questions and were always eager to volunteer to read or help in any way. I had random moments during the week where I was sad that I was not getting to know the older youth better, but God blessed me in that the last couple of days when I was able to spend more informal time with them.

The second thing that was significant to me was the afternoon that we went to the orphanage. This was the day that held the most uncertainty for us as leaders because we did not have a lot of detail beforehand about what we would be able to do at the orphanage. So, since the leaders had no idea what to expect, we could not communicate to the youth or prepare them in any way. But when we got to the orphanage and learned that we had a couple hours to do whatever we wanted, I loved that the youth took the lead without any questions. We as leaders were able to step back and watch them do what they do best. I know that many of the youth are used to doing similar things in the countries where they serve, but it was significant to me because they were officially on "vacation" during their time in Chiang Mai and they could have easily protested, but instead they served with glad and grateful hearts.

I could go on and on. God blessed this trip in so many ways! I praise Him for putting 8 "adults" and 31 kids into one place to learn from and encourage one another! What an awesome God we serve!

from kevin

I want to thank all the MK's for their enthusiasm, flexibility and maturity, which made a big difference in what we could do and how much we all enjoyed each day. Being able to take everyone on the afternoon activities was a great blessing. I never would have guessed that at this age (not like Storm who is really old) I would find myself searching around a 700+ year old city on the other side of the world with 7 youth and one adult. Coming in 2nd (what?) in the Amazing Race, behind the team who picked all the clues...(shady) Go Monkeys!

I learned that I'm not very flexible (ok, I already knew that), but I saw how being flexible and open minded pays off big time and doesn't have to require stress. God was in control of all our circumstances, and He showed clearly that He was and still is doing an enormous amount of work for our good. It was so easy for me to take things for granted like safety, conveniences, the MK's attitudes and the week's inique experiences. I grew very attached to our little community at the hotel, and I miss it very much. I look forward to following the Lord's work in people's lives who I was able to be a part of for several days.

Oddly enough, I have grown more sensitive to RBI's since leaving Thailand. Did you know that:
-Texas has changed it's capital 13 times
-Ghandi was a lawyer before before becoming Mahatma

we're home...

The Team (or the majority of it, at least) made it safely back to Peoria Sunday afternoon. We'd like to thank everyone for all the prayers and words of encouragement while we were in Thailand. It was an amazing trip and we're all very grateful for the experience.

Later this week different members of the team will be sharing their experiences and stories, so please check again soon.

- Thailand Team

headed back to the states

Just a quick note before we head to the airport...

Had a great last day in Thailand! This morning we said goodbye to Peter and LaNae who are headed to Taiwan to see some of their family. Lyall and Teresa hung back in Chiang Mai while the rest (Kevin, Kim, Kari, and Storm) went down to the Maetang River.

In an attempt to refamiliarize ourselves with the States, we had dinner at Miguel's, a local Mexican restaurant, followed by a stop at Starbucks (you're welcome, Storm). While at Starbucks we struck a conversation with a woman at a table and learned that she was a missionary here working on the border between Thailand and Burma - she and another missionary witness to both armies and visit IDP camps throughout the border region. She had a very fascinating background...

After that we pulled a quick stop off at the bazaar, picked up a few last minute things, and completed our last walk back to our hotel. Although we are very excited to be heading home, it has been an amazing experience and we are all a bit sad to see it over.

To our newfound friends throughout the world - below are our email addresses. Please drop us a line sometime and let us know how you are doing, if there is anything we can pray for you about, or if you need an emergency resupply of snickers, dingdongs, or reese's peanutbutter cups. It was an honor spending this week with you and we are thankful to God, and to you, for this experience.

Until next time...

Peter Huang
petra041175@yahoo.com

LaNae Huang
ldietzpt@hotmail.com

Teresa Forsberg
Termfor@aol.com
www.termfor.blogspot.com

Kim Turner
nurse4kids07@gmail.com

Lyall Sutton
lyall@bethanycentral.org

Kevin Gustafson
kevin71481@yahoo.com

Kari Rabenhorst
kari_rabenhorst@yahoo.com

Storm Huse
shuse@aol.com

something fishy is going on...

This time tomorrow we will be sitting at the Chiang Mai International Airport waiting for our flight. We have had such a great week and we just thank God for allowing 10 people from Peoria, IL (8 here, plus 2 that are here in spirit) to be able to come all the way to Chiang Mai to be a part of this conference. Amazing.

Today was a great team-building day and we ended the evening with our final team dinner (Peter and LaNae leave in the morning to head to Taiwan). It was a great meal and we were blessed to have shared it with Catharine Coon.

Below is our flight information. Due to tail winds, we should shave off about 1 hour from each leg of the flight, so we're looking at a total flight time of about 18 hours.

Thanks to everyone for your prayers and support this week. We look forward to heading back to the States and sharing our many stories with each of you. We will try to post once more prior to catching our shuttle to the airport, but if not, we will see you all soon!

Sunday @ 01:55am Depart Chiang Mai (KE 0668)
Sunday @ 11:40am Depart Seoul Incheon (KE 0037)
Sunday @ 10:30am Arrive Chicago O'Hare

thailand super-sized

Is the week with the MKs really over? Seriously? Man, that was way too quick...

As of 11:00pm (Thai Time) on March 6th (today) in the year 2551 (that's right, it's not 2008 here in Thailand, but don't worry b/c you're not missing much - no flying cars - but I can tell you that the Cubs still haven't won a World Series) our time serving the missionary families of World Venture is officially over. And today was a great way to finish it off...

Sticking with a good routine, the kids showed up at around 8:30am in the Cave. We had some great youth led worship time, followed by a fun game with Kim where everyone got a chance to mention someone else in the group that had a positive influence on them this week. After we broke into our two age groups, Teresa taught the lesson to the younger MKs and Kim shared a her testimony and a great devotional with the older MKs about not being ineffective or unproductive in our knowledge of Christ. The TCK (Third Culture Kid) Coordinator also came and spoke to the kids and shared some great insight into the week and for their trip back home. Also, the staff of World Venture presented us with some gifts to thank us for serving this week. It has been such an honor to work with both World Venture and SAM, two organizations that have gone above and beyond to support us this week.

After lunch we headed out to the Elephant Camp where we watched the elephant show and then took elephant rides. The show was a lot better than most of us expected (the elephants danced, played soccer, painted, built a wall, played harmonicas... really, you just need to check out the pictures). After the show we loaded up onto about 20 elephants and took a 30 minute elephant ride around the camp (Kari got some great shots of everyone on the elephants). On the way back to the hotel we also stopped off at the Asia Craft Center and the Butterfly/Orchid Farm here in Chiang Mai. When we got back to the hotel we passed out goodie bags to the youth and kids with things their parents had emailed us that they liked.

Much to the non-delight of Peter (although he went along and was a great sport about it) the Team went to dinner tonight at McDonalds! That's right, McDonalds. What's so special about the McDonald's here? Well, not too much but they did have Double Big Macs and pineapple pies! So we scarfed down some healthy dinner and then headed on back to the hotel.

At 8pm we hosted our last event with the MKs - movie night in the Cave. We watched The Ultimate Gift and it went over very well. The movie was really good, but the kids also really liked that the hotel staff brought down mattresses and laid them out on the floor. The Team brought down the last of the goodies and we had a buffett of candy bars, dingdongs, smarties, oreos, and other assorted treats. Good times.

And of course we have more pictures...

The boys (Kevin and Storm) would also like to take this opportunity to apologize to the girls (Kari, Kim, and Teresa) for wrongly accusing them of resetting their alarm clock. When the boys returned to their hotel room last night they discovered that someone had changed their wake-up time to 7am, which would have made them late to breakfast the next morning. The boys, assuming it had been the girls since they were the only ones with access to their room key, went ahead and hooked the girls up with a 4am wake up call from the front desk. Unfortunately, as it turns out, the girls had nothing to do with the alarm clock...

Oops.

We're sorry.

The boys would like the girls to please read Collosians 3:13 and Matthew 6:15.

Teresa's a pepper

The Thailand Team has voted and the ballots have all been counted - today was the best day yet in Thailand! Before I get to why that is, I'll give you a rundown of today's activities...

(side note: we have uploaded over 400 photos tonight - we know that it's a lot, but this afternoon was really awesome and we added some photos taken by some of the youth, including John G...)

The morning began the same as the previous two - the team met for breakfast at 7am and then we had our quick planning huddle. The team scattered to finish last minute details for the day and our friends began to show up around 8:30am. Kim started us out with some great icebreaker games to get the blood flowing and give us all a chance to learn more about each other. We were blessed again today to be led in worship by our youth friends - it's amazing how talented they are and how eager they are to praise God with the talents that He has given them. After the younger kids split off with Teresa, Storm shared the devotional with the youth and discussed a part of the Team's verse for Thailand (2 Peter 1:3-9) and discussed the significance of increasing our knowledge in Christ, maintaining self-control in our lives, and the benefits of persevering in troubling times. After that the youth split up into small groups and discussed submission - a lot of really good conversation came out when discussing submission to government authorities with youth from certain parts of the world.

After lunch the team met back up with everyone and this is when it got really good. Don't get me wrong, up to this point we were having a fantastic day, but today's afternoon activity, in the opinion of the team, eclipsed the activities from the previous two days. We all hopped onto four vans and drove to the outskirts of Chiang Mai. After approximately 30 minutes we stopped at the Blessing Orphanage, an orphanage run by the Calvary Community Church. This orphanage, as we found out, is very different than other orphanages. At Blessing the kids there are not there to be adopted, rather they will spend their entire childhood at the orphanage. It is their church's vision to raise these orphans in Thailand, but under the influence of Christianity. Their church knows that, if adopted, the kids will most likely not receive an upbringing that is centered around Christ.

Only in it's second year Blessing can have up to 35 children, but currently has 20. When we arrived we immediately went into the inner courtyard of their facility and met with the kids. From the moment we walked through the gate we were immediately impressed with the kids, as well as the workers running this ministry. Individually the orphans stood up and told us in English their names, ages, and year in school - the kids were between the ages of 1 and 11. After a quick time of getting to know each other we let the our group interact and play with the orphans. Some stayed in the courtyard to play games and work on art projects, while others went outside to play basketball, soccer (sorry, football), and baseball. One of the Blessing leaders told us that the kids had been asking for a week or so to learn how to play baseball, so a group of us went over and began showing them the basics of batting, running the bases, and fielding the ball. I am not lying when I say that after only a very short period of batting instruction that some of these kids were knocking the ball over our heads! And the joy that was in the faces of these children was just amazing!

Snack time ended the games and both groups met back up in the courtyard. After snacks the kids went and grabbed their musical instruments. Six of them sat in the courtyard and played us two songs - very cool. After that the girls got up and danced for us. A few of the youth repaid the gesture and played the guitar while the rest of us sang along to praise songs. What was really cool is that the orphans already knew the English words to the songs that were chosen to sing, so they were able to sing along and learn knew motions!

The Team and the youth were very sad when we had to leave at 4:30. It truly was a great experience to meet those orphans and the leaders that are sacrificing so much to care for these children and raise them in a Godly environment. This morning we had no idea what to expect later today for our 'service time at an orphanage', but God truly was in control. We praise God for allowing us to see a glimpse into an awesome ministry here in Thailand.

After dropping the MKs back at the hotel at 5pm we hurried to get prepared for our evening festivities. Tonight the Cave was taken over by the whole conference for open-mike style performances, but first the jazz ensemble from the Grace International School played a jazz set for us that was just amazing. After their performance Pastor Lyall hosted Jeopardy: World Venture Edition. Pastor Lyall was a hit and the crowd really seemed to enjoy the competition. After Jeopardy we opened it up for musical performances (and a juggler, good job Caleb!) and several different groups of families and friends got up there and led some praise and worship. In between some of the events tonight Kevin put up a slideshow of pictures from this week, and we all shared in some ice cream and other desserts while we mingled.

Sandy from World Venture surprised us tonight during the show and called us all up to the front. WV had bought Thailand journals for each member of our Team and is having the youth and kids write messages to us for us to take back home. We are so excited to read their comments and to take something back with us in which we will be able to remember them and this experience.

Although we don't want this week to end, we know it must... and tomorrow is our last official day with our new friends. Tomorrow morning will be spent in the Cave followed by a trip to Elephant Park! The Team and youth have been looking forward to riding the elephants for a long time and are really excited that tomorrow will be the big day - you can obviously expect a lot of photos!

Praises/Prayer Requests:
Catharine Coon recieved her luggage! She thanks everyone for the prayers.
The Team praises God for an awesome day at the orphanage.
The Team praises God for their safety and health thus far in the trip.
The Team asks for prayer for strength to not become complacent with the trip winding down and to continue to seek God's will for the rest of this week.

tuesday in thailand

Praise: Catharine Coon made it to Thailand!
Prayer Request: Her luggage did not!

After an exhausting 4 day journey from Uganda to the UK to Thailand, Catharine has finally made it to Thailand. The Thailand Team was fortunate enough to have been able to eat lunch with her today and passed on many of the comments and well-wishes from you guys back in the States.

It's hard to believe that our time with the MKs is half way over! It has flown by so quickly and yet it seems like we've known these guys for a while now. Today was another great day spent getting to know them more and getting to share so much with each other.

We spent the morning in the Cave, but we had an extra special worship time - today's worship was led by Anika (vocals and rhthym guitar), Abbi (bass), Luc (electric guitar), Luke (vocals) and Dave M (vocals). They did an awesome job today and we look forward to two more days of praising God with them!

During the daily devotional time Teresa and Kevin shared their devotionals with the MKs. Afterward Pastor Lyall gave an overview of Buddhism to help equip the MKs for their tour of a Buddhist temple later in the day. Throw in some fun games with Kim, a few laughs from Pastor Lyall, and some great snacks from the staff of the Empress, and the Team had another great morning with the MKs.

After lunch the Team and the MKs hopped in a bus and drove 30 minutes west to the Doi Su Thep temple. It is the largest Buddhist temple in Chiang Mai and sits atop a mountain overlooking Chiang Mai. Unfortunately we had heavy cloud cover, so the views from the top were not the greatest. But the MKs were troopers and hiked up the 300+ stairs to the top and we were led on a tour of the temple by our guide named Par. Around 4pm we made the 300+ step back down the mountain and rode back to our hotel where we met under some trees to discuss our trip to the temple. Throughout the day the MKs asked some great questions about Buddhism and some shared from their varied experiences in other countries.

The Team again wandered out into the city to find dinner. Lyall had something special in mind and took us to a Thai open-air marketplace for dinner in order to saturate us in the culture. Each of us were give money to buy dinner and then we wandered from vendor to vendor finding what we wanted. Peter and LaNae went straight for the Thai food because they just can't seem to get enough (you won't see them at the Chiang Mai McDonalds with Lyall and Storm this weekend!). Kari, Kevin, and Lyall once again stayed true and went for the local cuisine - Lyall got extra fried shrimp and shared with the group, it was really good! Teresa, Kim, and Storm managed to find what seemed to be the one vendor selling something other than Thai food and jumped on it. All three got chicken pita sandwiches and two orders of fries. After some good food, relaxing conversation, and a quick discussion on tomorrow's timeline we headed out into the night market to take a look around.

What happened next will not be discussed on this forum. If you would like to know, you will just have to look at our pictures. Moving on...

The team spent some time together in the market and then we split up into groups, because, let's face it, some people on the team enjoy shopping more than others. So now it's 11pm and the entire team has made it back to the hotel. A few of us are writing emails, a few prepping for tomorrow, and I'm sure a few are out cold right now.

Tomorrow will most surely be another enjoyable day spent with the MKs. The morning will follow the normal routine up through lunch. After lunch we are heading down to a local orphanage here in Chiang Mai and spending some time with the kids at the orphanage. Tomorrow night will be basically an open-mike night for the MKs and their missionary parents to come down, hang out, and share their musical talents - the team is definitely looking forward to that!

Please pray:
that Catharine Coon's luggage arrives here soon.
for strength for Sandy, Marty, and the rest of the organizers here as they continue to do a great job!
that the Team would continue to be open to God's plan for them this week.
that the Team would remain in good health for the duration of the trip.
that the Lord would be glorified in all things this week!

monday in chiang mai

Three words to describe our first day with the MKs: Awesome, Awesome, Awesome!

For the Team the day started at 7am with breakfast, followed by a quick huddle to align our azimuths and get focused on the day. At 8ish we began meeting with MKs in the lobby of the hotel and taking them down to the Cave (this place is incredible, you have to see the pictures to understand how fun this place is). At around 8:30 and with the majority of the MKs in the Cave, we started our week with introductions and games to help us all learn each other's names. We also broke into groups based on their mission fields (Americas, Asia, and Europe) and played the m&m game to help everyone get to know other people from their mission field area. Kevin and Lauren (one of the older MKs) then led the group in worship and we broke down by age groups for the devotional time. Teresa led the game and devotional time for the younger MKs and Peter led the devotionals for the older MKs.

Through these He has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 2 Peter 1:4

We came back together for snacks followed by some additional teaching, as well as some down time for the MKs to get to know each other. At noon we broke for lunch and released the kids back to their families...

Today's afternoon activity was the Amazing Race: Chiang Mai! After lunch we quickly broke the MKs down into four groups (Team Elephant, Team Monkey, Team Snake, and Team Dragon) and gave each group their first clue. After locating their drop off point on their map, the teams hopped in the back of their respective 'red trucks' and we convoyed down to the middle of Chiang Mai city. In teams of 8 the MKs navigated their way through the Old Chiang Mai City (the original city which is still partially protected by the wall and moat) using their map and clue sheets given to them by their 'Thailand Tourguides'. Some of clues included:

Find your way to the pagoda located in the middle of the city that was partially destroyed in the 1500s by an earthquake. How many elephant trunks are on the building? Take a picture of your team ringing the bells.

At the corner of Mun Muang Rd and Ratchamaka Rd exchange $12 into Thai currency. Cross the street to the local market and purchase enough elephant carvings for each member in the team. The team who gets the best deal will earn bonus points.

The MKs had a great time working together using their clues, their map, and their experiences in foreign countries to make their way around this new environment. In a little over two hours the first team made their link up at the rendezvous point having hit all the objectives - Team Elephant! Shortly thereafter the rest of the teams arrived and we hit up the local transportation (a mixture of different vehicles) for rides back to the hotel. Once at the hotel we met up at the hotel pool and spent a good hour listening to the words 'marco' and 'polo' being yelled out with such power that the news reported there were dogs in Cambodia barking back.

After swimming the Team walked up the street to another restaurant recommended by the local missionaries - The Duke. After sitting down and reading the menu we realized that the 'chef' was a local but had spent a good majority of his time in the Chicago area, so most of the food old fashioned american grub - pizzas, burgers, sandwiches and Teresa even ordered some bbq ribs!

After dinner we hosted movie night in the Cave for the MKs and then called it a night. It was a long day - for the MKs and for us, but we are so excited that the first day was a success... only by the grace of God are 8 'adults' from Peoria able to spend hours with 30+ MKs (ages ranging from 1.5 to 20) in the middle of Chiang Mai city with ZERO incidents. Praise God!

Tomorrow is a whole new day and we are already anticipating it! The morning will be similar to today, but in the afternoon we are taking the MKs to one of the largest, and oldest, Buddhist temples in Thailand. We expect great dialogue to come from this experience and look forward to some of the MKs sharing with us knowledge that they have acquired from their own countries on the subject.

Many people have asked about Catharine Coon - her travel has been unfortunately delayed, but she is hoping to make it in to Thailand Tuesday evening. Please pray that her flight will come through and that she will be able to spend some time with other missionaries here in Chiang Mai... the Thailand Team is definitely looking forward to meeting her!

155 pictures were uploaded tonight, so feel free to check them out!

buses, scooters, and cars oh my!

As our Sunday closes out here in Chiang Mai we can't help but feel extremely excited and blessed to be here. Today was an awesome day of getting to meet most of the families that we will be working with and spending more time venturing out into the city. We are just so thankful to God for this incredible opportunity and pray that we are humbled and in tune with His will and calling for our lives this week.

After breakfast we spent time down in the lobby welcoming families and getting to know the missionaries. We were impressed by the maturity and eagerness of the kids and we are definitely excited to spend more time with them this week. We also met together as a team to go over the plan again for Monday. After the meeting and lunch we broke into groups - some continued to greet the families as they arrived, while others went into more detailed planning for Monday's adventure.

At 4pm we met up with some of the international missionaries, as well as some local missionaries, and headed out by 'red trucks' to church. We were invited to attend the Chiang Mai Community Church - a church in the middle of the city that caters to the english speaking international community. It was a unique experience and definitely a blessing. The Senior Pastor, Rupert Abbott, spoke on our need for healing. Heather Smith, a woman who has worked at the McCain Rehabilitation Center treating lepracy patients, shared two testimonies of God's hope, joy, and salvation for two individuals suffering from lepracy.

At the end of the service the congregation was each given three pieces of paper. On the orange paper we wrote down something in which we were thankful to God. On the green paper we confessed our sins to God. And on the white paper we wrote down hurts in which we were suffering. Each of us rose and took our pieces of paper to the front of the church. We placed our thanksgivings and confessions in baskets under the cross, and pinned our hurts to the cross. We then took communion and made our way back to our seats. It was a very moving and powerful symbol of the power of Christ in our lives.

One of the more memorable moments of the church service was when we were worshipping God in song. Some of the songs were not as familiar to us, but it seemed everyone knew Father in Heaven...

Father in heaven, how we love you
we lift your name in all the earth
May your kingdom be established in our praises
as your people declare your might works

And as we hit the chorus the whole congregation was standing and singing, many with their hands raised high...

Blessed be the Lord God Almighty
who was and is and is to come
Blessed be the Lord God Almighty
who reigns for evermore!

After church we headed back through the city towards our hotel. Along the way we stopped off at a hole-in-the-wall mexican restaurant that we would not have been able to find had a local missionary not recommended it. The sun had gone down, a light breeze had picked up, and we sat in an open aired restaurant reflecting on the day and sharing good fellowship.

The Team is asking for special prayer as we begin our week with the kids tomorrow:

• Renewed strength and energy after the jet lag and adjustment to the climate change - both for the leadership as well as the kids (some of whom are still arriving!)
• Safety for all as we travel around the city tomorrow on our adventure race
• Humbled spirits to be open to God's will for this week

Thanks again to all our pray partners and trip supporters who made this trip possible - please continue to pray for us and share your words of encouragement!

We have added new pictures, so check them out...

the sun sets on day one

The sun has set on our first official full day in Thailand. It has been a very tiring, yet productive, day that has definitely increased our excitement level for this week. The Team awoke this morning and met for breakfast at 8am (7pm cst). After breakfast we met up with the SAM staff who showed us around the hotel compound to the different rooms and locations that we will be using this week. After our tour we had a Team meeting, followed by a walking tour of Chiang Mai which took up the better part of the afternoon and early evening. As we walked back to the hotel from the heart of the city, we stopped off at Sojo's and had dinner. As we ate many members of WV, including two of the kids we will be with this week, came into the restaurant and we were able to meet them early.

The accomodoations that WV has set up for us is far greater than we had expected. We will get into more detail on the setup later, but it is evident by the accomodations that our work here is a priority and not just an after-thought.

We will be eating breakfasts and lunches each day at the hotel. They are buffet-style meals with all types of different foods, but mostly a sampling of local cuisine. Breakfast today was fairly conventional, but lunch was more fun as people began trying new and different types of food - some with positive outcomes, others not so much. And at lunch we were serenaded by a karaoke-esque piano player who sampled some american classics, so really can't beat that.

We have begun uploading our pictures onto an alternate site which will allow us to upload more pictures and organize them better. The link is below...

http://picasaweb.google.com/thailandmissiontrip2008

It is the intent of the Team to update daily, however with the schedule we are not sure how feasible that is. With that being said, comments and words of encouragement will definitely motivate us to update more often. Also, ask any questions you might have and we will try to answer them!

Thanks to everyone for the continued prayer and support. We look forward to sharing with you all the amazing things God is doing here in Chiang Mai!

Saturday, 3/1

Goodmorning from Chiang Mai!

After a short sleep (we arrived in Thailand around 1am) the Team is up and moving around. With breakfast and our first meeting behind us, we are preparing for a day of planning, meeting people, and checking out local sites for the week.

More to follow later, but the Team is off for the day. Pictures have been hard to upload this morning, but we will try again tonight.

Hope everyone is enjoying the winter weather back in the states - we're looking at a high of 83 degrees today...

- Team Thailand

Greetings from Korea

2/29 @ 6:43pm (korea)

Not much new to report other than the blessings of safe and 'incident free' travel thus far. Below are just a few of the moments already caught on the trip:

Kim enjoying her delicious seaweed soup on the flight to Incheon...

Kevin ready to get off the plane after the 14 hour flight from Chicago to Incheon...
Kim and Kari on the flight to Incheon... (not pictured are the sweet teel booties that they gave us to wear on the flight).

Teresa smiling after watching the movie Enchanted 7.5 times on the flight to Korea...

Team Thailand (minus Pastor Lyall) at the Incheon Airport in Seoul, Korea...
Peter and LaNae getting ready for landing...
Kevin, Storm, and Kari staying out of trouble at O'Hare...

chicago o'hare

2/28 @ 10:35am (cst)

The Team has arrived at Chicago O'hare and ready to board. In true Pastor Lyall fashion we left Peoria on-time (+ or - 5 minutes) and arrived at the airport on-time. We were blessed to be able to make it quickly through security and are now waiting to board our flight. Thanks to everyone who made it out to BBC this morning to wish us off!

Thailand Team picture prior to leaving BBC @ 5:30am today.

LaNae excited to be at O'Hare.

LaNae, Peter, and Kevin waiting to board the plane for Incheon.

Storm finally calling his credit card company to let them know he will be out of the country.

Kari and Teresa enjoying the last few minutes of America.

วันพรุ่งนี้ (tomorrow)

That's right, tomorrow. Tomorrow is the beginning of something we've been working towards and praying about for a long time. Tomorrow is when the Team will make our way up to Chicago to catch our flight to Chiang Mai via Seoul, Korea. The Team is asking for prayers for safe travel and we trust that the Lord will have His hand in the decisions that are made which would effect our trip.

Below is our itinerary for tomorrow (วันพรุ่งนี้ ):

2/28 @ 5:30am - Depart BBC enroute to Chicago O'Hare
2/28 @ 11:30am - Take off from Chicago O'Hare enroute to Seoul
2/29 @ 4:30pm - Arrive at Seoul Incheon
2/29 @ 8:40pm - Take off from Seoul Incheon enroute to Chiang Mai
3/1 @ 12:35am - Arrive at Chiang Mai!

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

Last Official Team Meeting

A few quick snapshots of the team at Sunday's meeting. Team Thailand won't meet together again until the trip begins on Thursday morning...

Peter and LaNae discussing some ideas with the team.

Our Team Leader, Pastor Lyall, taking a quick power nap during the meeting. Or he was taking notes. You decide.

Teresa and Kim listening attentively as Storm shares some very thought-provoking and enlightening ideas during the meeting.

T minus 3 days...

The Thailand Team is less than three days from being on their way to Chiang Mai and we could not be more excited! Sunday morning we met for our last official group meeting before we see each other again Thursday morning to begin our over 24 hour trek to the other side of the world. It was a very exciting time as we made some final preparations and discussed some of what we'd be doing in the first few hours of being in Chiang Mai. It has just been awesome to see God's divine intervention shape and develop the plan over the last few months, and we can't wait to meet the missionary families and kids in which we will be spending this time.

We are sad to report that Joel and Ginny Smith will not be able to make the trip and we ask for continued prayer for Ginny's health. Although we are all sad they will not be able to go, we know that their thoughts and prayers will be with us, just as our thoughts and prayers will be with them.

7.5 days and counting!

Eight days from today – one week from tomorrow – 180 hours – 10,800 minutes – 648,000 seconds – we are on our way! On our way to a foreign country, to growing closer together as a team, to meeting some great missionaries, to forming friendships with youth from across the world, to helping out wherever it is needed, and to having an AWESOME experience! Life is still continuing on as normal although occasionally we look at each other and say something like, “We leave in just over a week; can you believe it?” The other person generally replies with something to the effect of, “Time has flown by so fast! I can’t believe it is almost here!”

Time really has flown. Last week one team member found an email that another team member had sent before Christmas. “11 weeks to go!” (yes – we have been in countdown mode for a long time.) The last nine weeks have flown and it feels like we only blinked our eyes. But we are definitely more equipped and prepared than we were two months ago. The Lord has yet again worked in His mysterious way to raise up a team that complements each other’s skills and abilities. This past Sunday we had a team work day. Pastor Lyall (aka “Chef Lyall”) provided lunch for the team (an assortment of options – all delicious!) and we got to work. Objective for the day: complete journals and organize thoughts. (yes, we did pause to take a few pictures.) Proofreading, coping, printing, laminating, binding, sorting, and other tasks – all at the same time!

Journals: Each youth we will be working with will be given a journal with information to use during the conference. It has been a joy for us to put these journals together; we know that these journals will be part of the memory from the week – something to use to look back on what we studies, what we did, who we met, and other details. (These journals are standard for teams that go from our church – each journal is personalized to the team.) To find out what is actually in them… well, you will just have to wait and see!

Prayer Requests:
Attitudes – that we will continue to remember that all this is for the glory of One who is so worthy of it. We want to make Him the primary focus of the entire trip and not get caught up in details and ourselves.
Ginny Smith – having back problems and isn’t able to sit for long periods of time. (this doesn’t work well with our plane rides.)
Health – the flu is running rampant here and has hit a portion of our team in various stages. Pray for recovery for those who are and have been sick and that no one else will catch it.
Final Preparations – we have one more meeting as a team and several tasks still to accomplish. Pray for calm as we finalize details together and for each individual as he or she packs and prepares to travel.

Below are some pictures of the team this past weekend while they prepared the journals.

Teresa is making copies of the journal for everyone.
Kim is laminating the journal covers and organizing the pages.
Kevin is helping the team by blocking the doorway until all journals are finished.

Team Bios

Lyall Sutton - Our Fearless Leader
Ready for anything and always on the go, Pastor Lyall is the Senior Associate Pastor at Bethany Baptist Church and our team leader. In the week after the Thailand conference, Pastor Lyall will celebrate his 50th year on this earth and 26 years of marriage to his wife Sheila. Lyall and Sheila have two children: Megan is 23 and works in Peoria; Ben is 21 and in his final semester at Moody Bible Institute. In his free time, Pastor Lyall enjoys traveling, cooking, biking, skiing, and spending time with his family.

His favorite memory is of his ministry sabbatical when he and his family spent five weeks touring Europe and visiting missionaries in Slovenia, Austria and Czech Republic.

If you are looking for a high energy, positive person to start your day off right, go find Pastor Lyall. He’s sure to greet you with a smile, positive words, and a crazy idea for the day.

Kim Turner – Team Medic
Kim is a 22 year old nurse at OSF St. Francis working in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. When she isn’t working or sleeping, Kim likes to hang out with family and friends, walk her dog, read, scrapbook, and of course, shop! If she gets hungry, Kim looks for chips and salsa or goldfish crackers.

One of Kim’s favorite memories is on a missions trip to South Africa. “It really impacted me spiritually and also allowed me to make really close friendships with ‘the South Africa girls.’”

If you aren’t feeling well or we see blood, we’ll send you to Kim. She will get you feeling better (or at least give you a band-aid).

Kevin Gustafson – The Multi-Media Computer Guy
Kevin is creeping up on 30 years old (he still has two and half years to go) and works as a Computer Programmer at Caterpillar. In his free time, Kevin enjoys hanging out with friends. When Kevin is in the mood to snack, he reaches for a box of Cheese-Its.

One of Kevin’s favorite memories is of a missions trip he took to Ecuador. The trip “opened up my eyes to God’s work and love for people all over the world.”

If you need something done, just ask Kevin. He is always willing to help out where needed.

Kari Rabenhorst – The Scheduler
Kari is a quarter of a century old and proud of it. She works as a ministry coordinator at Bethany Baptist Church under Pastor Lyall. In her free time away from the church, she loves to hang out with friends and play games; play softball, Frisbee, tennis, or generally any sport; or read a good book. If she is shopping for a snack, her current picks are peanut M & Ms, cheddar Chex mix, and water.

Kari has many fond memories of time with her family but will always remember their various snowmobiling trips together. It’s always great family time and generally includes an adventure (ex: ran out of gas, fouled a spark plug, took a wrong trail, stuck on the other side of town, ran in to a tree, etc.). “When we hit the trails, something generally goes wrong – but we know that God is in control and the outcome is a great memory!”

If you aren’t sure where you are supposed to be or what your options are for activities, check with Kari. She likely has the whole schedule in her head! Or if you are bored, she is usually up for playing a game or making one up.

Team Bios

Joel & Ginny Smith - The Nurturing Couple
Pastor Joel and Ginny Smith have been married 25 years and are still going strong. (To find out their ages, you’ll have to ask them yourself.) They have three kids: Philip (a freshman in college); Evan (a sophomore in high school); and Kirsten (an eighth grader). Joel is the Pastor of Biblical Counseling at Bethany Baptist Church and Ginny is a homemaker. In his spare time, Joel likes to read, work on home projects, and when the weather is nice, play golf or tennis. Ginny enjoys reading and playing the piano.

Joel and Ginny both have fond memories of their vacations together and with their families. Joel’s favorite was the family trip to Florida while Ginny’s favorite was their 25th anniversary trip to Wisconsin.

If you have a dilemma or just need to talk, Joel and Ginny are both great listeners. In fact, Joel is a trained professional.

Peter & LaNae Huang – The Newlyweds
Peter and LaNae have been married a year and a half and are loving life together. Peter is 32 years old and works as a Mechanical Engineer for Caterpillar. LaNae is 30 years old and works as a physical therapist for Professional Therapy Services. Both Peter and LaNae enjoy spending time with each other and outdoors.

Peter also enjoys playing tennis and working out. If he is hungry, Peter reaches for Gardetto’s snack mix and any Asian rice cracker mix. LaNae enjoys reading, working out, playing softball, and listening to music. When she is hungry, she goes for cheese and crackers or Sun Chips.

Peter and LaNae happen to share their favorite memory – their wedding day. Peter remembers seeing his wife in her wedding dress for the first time. And although it rained that day, he remembers it stopping just in time for pictures. LaNae remembers the day as being exciting and working out perfectly. She “praises God for making our wedding day so special.”

If you are feeling antsy and need to get some energy out, look for Peter or LaNae. Both are very athletic and enjoy physical activity – especially outdoors!

Teresa Forsberg – The Game Player
Teresa is three years past her 25th birthday and is the ultimate game player – it’s part of her job! Teresa is a counselor who works for the Children’s Home and often does play therapy with her clients. Teresa has mastered the game of Uno and actually owns 5 different Uno games. In her free time, she loves to read, hang out with friends, and (of course) play games. If Teresa is looking for a snack, she heads towards Reese’s Pieces, hot chocolate, taffy, or chips and salsa.

One of Teresa’s most memorable events was when she made the decision of what graduate school to attend. Her decision resulted in her moving to Texas – 4 states and 14 hours away from all of her family and friends. However, it was a time of growth both spiritually and as a young adult. Teresa said, “God taught me much through that time.”

If you are a bit bored and looking for something to do, find Teresa. Chances are good that she will be up for a game of Uno, Skip-bo, Settlers, Carcasonne, or you name it! She is also a great listener and is often up for just sitting and chatting.

Storm Huse – The Army Guy
Storm is 29 and 17 months old and works as an Operations Supervisor for Caterpillar, Inc. Before working at Caterpillar, Storm served in the Army from 2000 – 2006. Storm is engaged to be married in April and enjoys spending the majority of his free time with his fiancée Katie. With the free time he has left, Storm enjoys running and restoring his old jeep wrangler. If Storm is looking for snack food, he heads for chips and salsa or jalapeno chips. However, if he is at work, Storm is all about the twizzlers.

One of Storm’s favorite moments was when he first joined the Army and was learning to jump out of planes. He says it’s hard to explain the combination of excitement and nervousness he felt the first time the door opened up and the instructor told his group to go, but he knew God was with him every step (or jump) of the way. Storm said, “God really blessed me by putting a fellow Christian next to me in my group. Scott and I would pray together before each jump and God kept us safe and injury free every time. And those were some fun times!”

If you are looking for someone to throw a football or Frisbee around with, or even just hang out and play a favorite board game, go find Storm. He’s always up for anything!

Only Three Weeks!?!

Yep – only three weeks and everything will come rushing together. Our team will be on a plane relaxing as we fly half way around the world. All of the details will be in place, everything will be perfectly planned, all of our flights will be on time, and each visit with customs will go smoothly. Yeah sure….

Then we will wake up from the nap we happened to slip in while we wait for our first flight to board and realize that yes, we were dreaming and nope – the details aren’t all set and our flights won’t all be on time; we will be tired and slightly cranky as we spend over a day traveling; we will remember things that didn’t get packed and make a list of the details we need to work out on our first day in Chiang Mai (after a fairly sleepless night). Then, we will realize that we aren’t alone on this adventure; the One who holds the world in His hand is guiding us (and has been guiding us) as we prepare and travel and prepare some more. We’ll begin our first day in Chiang Mai (yep – the one that starts at 12:35 am when we arrive) by bowing in prayer to the One who knows exactly how our week will go. After our reminder that this is not our week, but His, we will begin our final preparations, knowing that He is ultimately in control.

Back to where we started… only three weeks left?!? But there’s still so much to do!

For those who are just meeting our team for the first time, don’t worry – we are all mature and responsible adults – very capable of working with 28 young people for four days. (okay, so at first glance those might not be the characteristics that first spring to mind; strange, crazy, odd – those might be better… but we promise we are full of energy and ready to serve!) We are very EXCITED to meet the youth we will be working with and can’t wait to spend the week together. We’ve got some great things planned and we looking forward to a great week as we embark on a couple adventures and dive into the Word.

Nope, the details aren’t all in place yet but they are coming together! We have a fantastic team who are all ready to work with the youth and help out at the conference however we are able.

We would love to begin meeting some of you who we will get to hang out with at the conference. Please post and say hi or shoot us an email!

Less than three weeks to go… then let the games begin!