no greater love.

the last two days have been wonderful. i've been spending a lot of my time with my ministry partners. we eat lunch with new girls we meet everyday at the schools and then at night, we go do different activities. the last two nights i've been at the night market (a popular place where you can shop for different items as well as be provided with a plethora choice of food) where i met four precious girls; wiew, pak, aer, and au. we had dinner with them and shopped around the market. we swapped random facts about each other and really enjoyed each other's company.

although everything in me wants to dig deeper with these new girls i meet everyday, i know i can't ask questions that could potentially jeopardize the exciting new friendship i've formed with them. every Thai girl i've met so far, whether it be at the school or at the night market, i've truly loved being around. they have such a sweet spirit and want so badly to speak as much english as they can with me. they genuinely want to know about my life and why i'm here. i've been telling them about campus outreach and all of them have been very interested in all the fun activities campus outreach offers. my ministry partner told me that i have to take it slow with everyone i meet because usually when they find out the reason behind why i'm here and what i'm trying to tell them about, they tend to backoff. therefore, i have to remind myself everyday that this is all a gradual process. i can't tell someone about Jesus, especially someone who's devoted completely to another religion, and expect them to understand what i'm talking about rightaway.

although this has been somewhat frustrating for me, i'm learning to remind myself that building these relationships with these girls is crucial. spending some time in the word, the Lord has showed me that His plans and purpose always prevail (Proverbs 19:21). i'm learning to trust that the Lord has a plan through all this and although i can't say much, i have to continually love on these girls and shine Christ's love through my actions and deeds. thinking about the urgency of the Gospel and how i have to take every opportunity i get to tell others of Christ makes me want to tell everyone i meet about Jesus' love for them. however, i'm learning to wait patiently on the Lord and to stay faithful in prayer for the people of Thailand.

                                                             beautiful wiew and pak

                            twins, ministry partners...thankful for out time together each day abbs

                           typical night hanging out with sweet friends at the night market

                        painting each other's nails and talking about life with my sweet Aw

                                              aer and au...such a joy to be around these girls

                                      my princess belle turned 4 today, i adore this child

i'm so thankful for all the girls i've met so far and for the many i'll meet in the upcoming weeks. please pray that my team and i will continually love everyone we meet in a way that makes them want to seek Jesus, and that the Lord would open opportunities for us to tell them about the life-changing truth and never-ending love found only in our Father. lastly, please pray that Christ will be made known as Lord and Savior to many this summer.

-milc

arms open wide.

wow what a crazy yet amazing couple of days it's been. this past weekend, we spent a lot of time at the church, where we did more orientation and spent the afternoon playing different sports with the Thai's (soccer, basketball, badminton, etc). my little new friends, princess belle and sammy, also taught me some star wars games. i have no idea what the game was about...i just loved sitting there and admiring these two precious children of God. that night, i went to dinner with my ministry group. (my team member, abby and i are partnered with four Thai girls who are part of the Campus Outreach here in Thailand and get to translate english to girls we meet in the schools). i rode on a motorcycle on the way to dinner with my friend Earn, which was a blast. we went to a small restaurant where we got to cook our own food. we had some fish, pork, tofu, fried rice, and green spaghetti. yes, green...i was puzzled at first, but then i thought, "why not?" it was delicious.

during dinner, we went around a circle and shared our testimonies with each other. listening to the Thai's testimony was truly an inspiration to me. they stand against what their own family believe and boldly proclaim the name of Jesus. they told me about how they continually pray for their family, hoping that one day they can understand and come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. i was speechless...i admire their faith and hope in the Lord so much.

on sunday, we got to sleep in until church at noon. when we got to church, we had lunch first then moved into a bigger room for worship. we sang some songs in english then we sang in our own languages. it truly was a beautiful glimpse of heaven...every nation and every tongue praising the same God. i loved every second of it.

today was our first day at the school. we got ready by 9:30 am, went to the church for teaching on how to best form friendships, then went straight to the schools. i was nervous because i had no idea what i was getting myself into but also definitely excited about meeting the students. i met three girls at first and sat and talked to them about school and learned a little about them. after they left, i sat with two new girls and talked to them, with my ministry partners, Earn and Aw there to translate. i learned about where they were from and what they like to do. one of them responded by saying she likes "liking" pictures on facebook, i laughed hysterically because of how much we related to each other. they also said they like going bowling so we made plans to go with them next week. i'm so excited.

                                                            my sweet princess belle.

                                                   on our way to dinner. so. much. fun.

                                              pretend like it's not green and you're golden.

                                               soccer with the Thai's...this is for you Surf.

                                              my ministry partners...i love these women.

i've been here for about 6 days and i already feel like i'm learning and being stretched in so many ways. the Thai people are such an incredible people to be around and i'm so thankful for the time i get to spend with them everyday. although things get bababobo jing jing ( really crazy, in Thai) sometimes, i'm loving every second. i'm so humbled by the way the Christian Thai's live their lives, completely abandoning themselves and surrendering everything to the One who is worthy of all. they challenge me to do the same.

-milc

swatika!

...that's hello in Thia! i can't believe it but we have finally arrived in Khon Kaen, Thailand! because we traveled for over 40 hours, the past few days are honestly a blur. our first flight to Charlotte was delayed. i wasn't even surprised. our flight from Charlotte to New York went smoothly. once we got to New York however, we had a 6 hour layover at the JFK airport...which gave us some time to rest and look around the airport. our next flight, New York to Singapore was definitely a memorable one. it was 21 hours and by the time we got off the plane, i could barely walk because of my swollen ankles. i couldn't help but laugh. afterwards, our flight from Singapore to Bangkok, felt so short. we had an 8 hour layover at Bangkok so instead of sit around, jeff, a Thai friend of my team leader's, took us on a train to go to the a mall nearby. it was all very fascinating. i was so exhausted afterwards, but i boarded on our last flight to Khon Kaen, so anxious to finally be at the place where i would call home for the next two months. as soon as we landed in Khon Kaen, i had a plan to stand up and clap as loud as i could (those of you who know me know how i kinda like to clap occassionaly :)). i remember trying to get my body up as we landed but i could barely move i was so tired. that quickly changed however, when we arrived at the gates of Khon Kaen and were greeted by students and the Thai Campus Outreach staff. they embraced us with the biggest smiles on their faces. i instantly fell in love.

shortly afterwards we drove to our apartments and crashed. we woke up this morning and had breakfast (pork, sticky rice, and this fruit known as ngoh- all so delicious). then we had our orientation until noon, then went to the school caf where i had some fried rice and a mango smoothie, then went on a city tour.  throughout the day, i tried to learn as much basic Thai as i could. Thai is so hard because it's all about the tone. but i've successfully mastered two phrases:

1) bong nam utnika?- where's the bathroom?
2) chan huey- i'm hungry.

                                                                   my wonderful team!

                            we did a lot to entertain ourselves at the airport....like play ninja.

                                     warm towels were always a favorite on the plane rides.

                                             the way we were greeted...melted my heart.

                                       fried rice and a mango smoothie- AROY aka delicious!

                                                touring the city with my first friend, Aw!

everything's definitely different from back home but i'm exactly where i should be. i love these people already and i'm beyond excited about telling them about Jesus. thank you so much for your prayers. please continue to pray for our team and for our brothers and sisters here in Thailand. the Lord has so much in store, i can't wait to see it all gradually unfold.

-milc

with everything.

tomorrow will be the day i've been waiting for since last semester! excitement is truly an understatement!

at 5:00 a.m. tomorrow morning, i along with my team, will be heading to the airport in Birmingham to catch one of our many flights to Thailand. first stop---north carolina. WOO HOO! here's my flight schedule so you can see just how many hours i'll be flying...

May 24- Tuesday                                -Arrive in Charlotte, NC at 10:49 AM
Leave Birmingham at 8: 25 AM

May 24- Tuesday
Leave Charlotte, NC at 1:05 PM        -Arrive in New York, NY at 3:03 PM

May 24- Tuesday
Leave New York, NY at 9:25 PM     -Arrive in Singapore, SG at 6:30 AM

May 26- Thursday
Leave Singapore, SG at 9:40 AM       -Arrive in Bangkok, TH at 11:05 AM

May 26- Thursday
Leave Bangkok, Thailand at 6:15 PM  -Arrive in Khon Kaen, TH at 7:15 PM

yeah, it's over 40 hours of flying but hey, it'll give me plenty of time to start a memorable bonding time with my awesome team!

as i sit in my room thinking about the next two months, i can't help but be in awe of God and how He has orchestrated my life. although i fail Him daily, He treasures me so much that He chooses to use me as a tool for His Kingdom. i feel so undeserving and i am, but it says so much about the God i love and serve. i honestly have no idea what to expect when i'm in Thailand...i'm trying to have no expectations because it's always best that way. whatever life is like there, my prayer is that i love the people of Thailand with everything i am. i never want to lose focus of my mission...which is to tell these precious people about a love greater than they've ever known.

thank you so much to everyone who has been a constant encouragement to me prior to this trip. i'm so grateful and blessed to be surrounded by people who're constantly inspiring me to be better.

i can't imagine how different life is going to be in Thailand but i'm sure it'll be nothing short of amazing!

THAILAND, here i come!!!!!!!

-milc

faithfulness always wins.

faith.

why is it so easy to say you have faith when things are going great? however, when things are going the complete opposite direction of how you planned, faith becomes such a foreign word. this is what i've been realizing about myself. i always try to have faith in every situation. and i'm pretty good about it...but only when things are going well. i remind myself to keep trusting the Lord in hard situations but when i'm in it, i find myself trying to fix it all.

since i've been given the opportunity to go to Thailand, i've been praying that the Lord would prepare my heart in every way. the last thing i wanted to do was sit around and be so consumed with everything around me that i forget my purpose for the summer. when i found out the trip to Thailand was going to be $6000, i had to remind myself over and over that the Lord would provide, especially if that's where He wanted me.  however, i found myself worrying and feeling hopeless when support raising wasn't going as fast as i wanted it to go.

what i didn't know was that the Lord was there even through my confusion and doubt. he put people in my life who were constantly encouraging me and leading me to the truth. i started to spend more time in the word and through it, i found more hope than i could've dreamt of. this motivated me to pray for the Lord to provide and for Him to give me the desire to want more of Him, even when i thought i've had enough. i was amazed to see the power of prayer. the Lord works in mysterious ways. he provided for me through the most random ways and kept revealing to me of His sovereignty. but most importantly, he has drawn me closer to Him in times i've felt the weakest.

whatever season you're in your life, just remember, He knows you far better than you know yourself. as hard as it is, trust Him because in His timing, everything will come together. no matter what happens, there's always hope in the Lord.

-milc