PHASE 2: Complete!

Jr. High camp officially ended today, all 150ish kids back snug in their own beds tonight. What a week it was. Kinda tough for me; being a lead in Thailand this year has been sweet, but definitely makes it harder to connect with kids when you're not sleeping in a cabin with them. And these kids were just different from the jr. highers I'm used to. More independent, less I-want-to-hang-out-with-you-always. Most (but not all) of the times I tried to strike up conversations about anything other than boys or the latest gossip went something like this: "So what have you thought about Chris' teaching this week?" "I love it! He's great!" "Awesome! What's stood out to you, anything you've learned?" "Yeah, totally." "Sweet! Like what?" "Ummm....." Oh jr. highers. Kinda tough for a lot of us, but God was working in some cool ways through the staff as a whole, and it was awesome to hear some of the stories and interactions that came out of the time at camp. This week I prayed for God to use me wherevever, however would be the most needed. It seemed it wasn't always with campers, and it was cool to be able to encourage some of the staff girls and counselors from some of the different schools here. Had some sweet conversations with them about what God's doing in their lives and around them, passions and dreams and desires for the future, how best to love on these kids. So although my time looked a little different than I expected it to at times, it was still sweet.

And then tonight!!! What an amazing opportunity our team had to go to the Yee-Peng Sansai Ceremony (and I have the "Foreigner Guest" sticker to prove it!), which corresponds with some phase of the moon which just so happened to fall on TONIGHT. So we drove out to a temple in Chiang Mai, where thousands of people (mostly Thais, but a few othe foreigners like ourselves) had gathered for the buddhist tradition of lighting and releasing THOUSANDS of giant paper lanterns into the night sky, based on the belief that their sins are being sent away/atoned for in doing so. Sad, to be sitting in the middle of all those people during their chanting and meditation, not knowing of the grace that could so easily be theirs. Spectacular, to be able to light a lantern with my friends alongside them and watch these countless lights ascend into the night sky, saying a prayer for these amazing Thai people. It hit me from a ne perspective: the whole reason we come out to Thailand is for these people! The camps we run for these missionary kids, they're going to be a big part of impacting this and many other parts of the world for Christ, of being a light in the darkness here in Thailand and all over the world. So as I watched my lantern disappear into the cloud of lights in the night sky, I couldn't help but be in awe and hopeful of the future for the people of Thailand. God is at work out here in some amazing ways, and he's not giving up on them yet--not by a longshot.

[to catch a glimpse of what we saw tonight, go search it on YouTube!] :)

Phase 1: complete!

Well, the HS phase of Thailand '09 is officially done! This morning after chapel the 350+ campers loaded up on a multitude of songtaews and waved their last goodbyes to us tired and sweaty Hume Lakers on the steps. It all happened so fast. I wish we had at LEAST a full week to keep getting to know these kids, hearing their stories, their hopes and dreams, what God is doing in their lives. Wish I could have talked with some kids more. Oh-so-thankful for the wonderful things that are Facebook and Skype for keeping in touch despite the distance that will soon once again separate us. But let me tell you, being here with these kids again was FANTASTIC.

These kids are ones who will change the world. They've lived everywhere, experienced so much, seen God work in some amazing ways. So many of them have a wisdom that is beyond their 17 years. How amazing to be even a small part of God shaping them and preparing them for lives of service that are so outside of my comfortable little box. Amazing to get little notes saying that my brief e-mails and chats both here and there in the last two years have been big encouragements to them, that I'm like an older sister. Blows me away that God would use insecure and shy me for that. To God be the glory!

So thrilled to be here again, to see God at work this time around. Today is our day of rest, and Thai massages and the night bazaar are going to be AMAZING. But then tomorrow, it starts again. Give or take 150 jr. highers will roll in, and Rich and Chris and the band and all the rest of us will do it all over again. And I can't wait.

Sawadee ka!

Hello from Thailand! Computer time has been scarce and apparently iPod Touches don't like blogger. But I've got a few minutes of uninterrupted time as campers are snuggling into bed, so here we go! :)

Can I just say that my return to Thailand has pretty much been everything I hoped it'd be--and more!!! Since arriving on Wednesday, I've...

>Seen 10 of my 15 girls from last year, + lots of other returning kids!

>Enjoyed a DELICIOUS meal with all of my favorite Thai foods: khao soy, Thai tea, and mango sticky rice. Mmmmm...!!!

>Hiked through a tropical forest in a tropical rainstorm to splash around with a few kids in a tropical waterfall. All in my wonderful Rainbow sandals. Wow.

>Seen my first fireflies!!! And they were as magical as I hoped.

>Had some amazing conversations with campers, counselors, and fellow Hume staff members.

>Showered outside on a balcony that looks like it's part of the jungle, overlooking rice fields and lush green mountains.

>Worshipped alongside a small room full of 350+ campers that worship like few I've seen worship before.

>Watched an amazing sunset with my girls.

>Searched for Narnia behind a "secret" door under a house with some fun girls.

And that's just the beginning. Chris Simning's talks on the story of Jonah have been prompting some cool conversations about God saying GO. Kids are being challenged and having a blast. And God is at work. So amazing.

Pictures are a little hard for me, but Rich has this cool little camera on his iPhone (Apple is amazing, what can I say?) and has been updating the Hume blog multiple times a day, with LOADS of pictures! So click your way over to www.humeinternational.org and click on the THAILAND link if you want to catch just a glimpse of God at work.

And off we go!!!

In less than 12 hours, our team of totally awesome people from Hume Lake Christian Camps will be on our way to Chiang Mai, Thailand! In the next 2 1/2 weeks or so, we will have the opportunity to run camps for JH and HS missionary/international kids living in and around Chiang Mai. We're bringing out a band


and a speaker

[Chris Simning]
and these little beauties


and a whole team of amazing people to put on camp with! I've been dying to get back to Thailand ever since my first trip with Hume in 2007, and let me just say that I am SO EXCITED to get back and see what God's got in store for this trip!!! I feel like he's already been doing so much and teaching me so many things leading up to the trip...when we get there, he's got to have some pretty exciting things in store! And I can't wait to find out what they are.

October 12-28. Pray for us!

Pray for our team, that we will gel. That God will give us the words to say (and not to say!) as we're loving on these kids. That we'll be able to do just that--love on the kids!!! That we will be open to God's leading and teaching of us even as we're striving to lead and teach these kids. That God will be glorifies through us.

Pray for the kids, that God will be preparing their hearts even now for what's ahead at camp. That they will be challenged to pursue God in their lives. That they will connect with the staff and be able to open up to us. That God will be raising them up as the next generation of missionaries and leaders in Thailand and all over the world.

Thanks, friend! When I have a chance, I will try to post updates on here, but no promises. But the bossman, Rich, is hoping to be able to update Hume's blog on a daily basis with pictures and stories! So click on over to www.humeinternational.org and click on the THAILAND link! :)

The Ark

So I was talking about Noah with my middle school small group this week. All my girls knew his story: how because of their utter wickedness, God was bummed out that he'd created mankind. How the only man who found favor in his eyes was Noah. How he commanded Noah to build an ark and take his family and 2 of each animal on board with them to survive the coming flood. How at the end God displayed a rainbow in the sky as the sign of his covenant to never completely flood the earth again. Like I said, we all knew the story.

Then one of my girls asked: did God command Noah to build the ark as a test for him, to see if he'd obey God in this huge thing? Some crazy test that would be! Especially if it was the first time Noah had ever heard from God! Can you imagine? But then I read...

"But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord..."

"Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time..."

"Noah did everything just as God commanded him..."

And more. Several more times in those couple of chapter in Genesis did Noah get commended for obeying God, fully. And I realized: this wasn't the first time God had spoken to Noah. Sure, maybe he'd never asked him to do something as crazy as build an ark before, but at this point in his life he'd been around for more than 500 years and "he walked with God." In all that he did, day in and day out, Noah was a man who lived to listen to his Creator and strove to follow him in all things. Little things. Big things. And now this. And when that call came for the ark to be built, Noah had seen God at work in his life before and knew--he can be trusted. Even though the task was huge, even though it would require some major life change, even though people might think he was insane. Noah knew he served a God who was bigger than all of that, a God who loved him and wanted the best for him and who could be trusted in the big things just as well as the little things. And you know what happened.

So now the challenge comes to me: am I walking with God in all things--the little as well as the big? Because if I am, I'm going to come to know him more, know his call and his trustworthiness and his love for me. And when those "ark" situations come around, things that seem impossible and terrible by my--and maybe the rest of the world's--estimation, I'll know: in this too can he be trusted. And what comes after that, we've yet to find out...