Saw wa dee! Hello everyone from Bangkok! Our mission part is complete and we are now awaiting ability to safely go home. From working with the foundation to improve lives to meeting with the the Red Cross to supporting tsumani relief to helping the blind to teaching English to sharing about Buddhist-Christian relations and learning how similar the human race is despite differences, we have been enriched and blessed in ways words cannot describe. The friendliness and compassion of the Thai people will be with us forever. Our new friends: Mamme, Pi Pi, Fa, Santee, Jok, Enu, Jenn, Pong, Ting, Mot, Gui, Su, Nokur, and Nung have given to us as we have tried to give to them. We are looking forward to sharing our experiences with you very soon. Please pray for safe travel. We will be back with you soon! Love you all!

1. Hello from Suankaew Foundation. There are SOOOO many stories to tell but our time is limited on the computer. Thai people have been so overwhelmingly nice to us. The work here at the foundation does great things. We’ve done everything from making fire and charcoal, to working the garden with (lovely) wild boar to hanging out in the nursery with the children. They are adorable and such happy kids. They are excited just to see us! This experience is so new that it’s hard to even put into words. Our work with the fire and bamboo was really challenging and for sure puts some things into perspective but am so grateful to have done this. Rich was attacked by a wild monkey and almost bit pretty bad but escaped with just a scrap. Pretty scary but funny after wards! It wouldn’t be a normal trip without Jill getting a round of food poisoning so spending a night in a Thailand hospital and an injection (of something…oh my..) was cure for it all. All is well now but no more Thai food for this stomach! Only American food is crackers and Oreo’s so I raided the 7-11 store for the duration. Hilarious now that I’m not sick anymore.
   Unfortunately, there is also some bad news. The protests in Bangkok are getting violent and we are awaiting word on our flight information. The hotel we were to stay at is now closed due to violence and we’re weighing our options and getting advice from locals as to what to do next. There was a car bomb and some shootings but information is not always easy to understand. No worries – we are tough! All is well!
   Miss you all from Thailand!

Destination Thailand - Status Complete!

What an amazing journey. It's 4am here in Bangkok and we just finished our Thai Pad and "special" Thai drinks. This place is GREAT! Tokyo was nice since we got to have lunch with Rich's old friend Nori, from college. We were stopped by the Japanese police officiers - do we look that touristy?? I guess so. The taxi from the Bangkok airport to Khao San Rd was interesting to say the least but the hanging chickens and flattened rats for sale made up for it all. Khao Rd is our home for the night and it's famous for backpackers from all over the world. We've met some very kind people from Burma to Twaian to Canada.
Our work begins tomorrow and we'll try to update again later.
We're so grateful to be here right now!

Jill and Rich

And we're off to Thailand

We’re heading to THAILAND! Our flight departs at 7am tomorrow morning.
Louisville - Dallas - Tokyo - Bangkok

THANK YOU ALL for the overwhelming support. We truly do have some great friends and family!

We’ll try to update this blog with stories/pictures when possible so check back on us.

We are so excited to get there and begin.
LOVE YOU ALL!!!

27 Days Left!

We are less than one month away from leaving for Thailand and have a few more details to share. First, Thailand has been making headlines for some negative news. In Bangkok, protestors are trying to overthrow the government. This has lead to many demonstrations involving police intervention in an effort to keep peace until agreements are finalized. Some anti-government protesters have been gased to prevent violence in the streets of Bangkok. There has been word that the airport could be shutdown but we are hopeful that peace will prevail soon. For updates, check out the news at http://www.thailanddaily.com/.

On that note…let me tell you about our flights.

j October 2nd – Depart Louisville, KY bright and early bound for Dallas, TX. In Dallas, we leave the states and take a 14 hour flight to Tokyo, Japan. This will be great since Rich has a lot of college friends in Tokyo. Our 5 hour layover will allow us to have lunch with his long time friend, Nori, and catch up. Next, we board an 8 hour flight to Bangkok, Thailand and land around 11:30 pm. There is a 13 hour (later) time difference so by this point, it will be 11:25pm Friday night in Bangkok (10:25 am Friday morning back here). Think of us finally touching down in Thailand!

But this is just the early stage of our journey. After our one night stay in Bangkok, we say good bye to the comforts of air conditioning and easily accessible electricity and meet up with our Globe Aware Rep Saturday morning. We are grateful to have the chance to stay in traditional Thai housing in the Ayutthaya Province and in the district of Wang Noi. October is the beginning of the rainy season so our poncho’s are packed!

In Wang Noi, we will work with children in an orphanage, animals in a nearby animal shelter, and aid in the preparation of meals and job training. Our open minds are ready to take on every challenge and fill in for any job that needs us. That is our primary purpose.

j October 11th – Back to Bangkok for the day before we depart for Tokyo that night. After we backtrack through Tokyo and Dallas, we land in Louisville Sunday afternoon, October 12th.
Then it is back to life as we know it – with a whole new perspective, I’m sure.

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers on our journey to the other side of the globe to do wonderful work with wonderful people.

Thank you and God bless.

New location!

We continue to be appreciative of your generous prayer and financial support toward our upcoming international service trip to help people in distant countries! When we first began planning for our trip, the task of raising the necessary funds seemed like an overwhelming challenge. We stepped out on faith and prayed for kind people like you and you responded with an unbelievable generosity. We have prayed for you often and have not forgotten the spirit in which you gave your gift.
For those of you who have kept up on our progress, you know the planning has not been without some bumps in the road. In late July we learned that the trip was officially canceled due to low enrollment.
However, new opportunities are on the horizon. Thanks to the advice of Pastor Janet Grill (a Lutheran Pastor in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania ) we have been led to the good people at Globe Aware, a non-profit organization which has been compared to a ‘mini Peace Corps’. We are impressed with the Globe Aware commitment to go beyond ‘giving out charity to create self reliance”. This is the same model adopted by our denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church In America’s international outreach ministries.
Globe Aware service is profound. They will provide us with the structure and opportunity to work side by side with local communities of various faith traditions. The opportunities for personally sharing our faith in Christ are endless---in a manner that is sincere, respectful, and relational.
So, where are we heading? We are heading to Thailand to work in a local community while teaching English, enhancing capacity at a Rehabilitation Center , providing emergency relief, helping the elderly and disadvantaged. Specific projects will be adjusted to the most pressing need at the time.
While the cost of this mission will be higher than our original plans to travel to Peru , our own contributions and support from others has made this possible.
Again, thank you for your support, your prayers, and your encouragement. Please keep us in your prayers as we travel from October 2-12, 2008 .

Thank you for keeping up with our changes along the way!

- Keep the ideas flowing -

The final decision was received yesterday. Our trip to Peru is officially cancelled. We are pretty disappointed but everything happens for a reason. We are focusing on our original goal of helping where needed and providing meaningful work. Our options range from September 2008 – September 2009. Personally, I’m a little anxious to get moving soon! Once more decisions are made, we’ll send updates. For now, our journey may find us anywhere from Peru to Zimbabwe. We’ll see!
Thank You for those who have voted and sent advice - MUCH appreciated!