Nicole Ricketts - Fulfilling our Destiny in Christ REV 217

Bringin' The Heat

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

We have safely arrived in Northern Ghana! We had a 16 hour bus ride from the Capitol of Accra to the Northern border of the country. We really are in the middle of no where, but the closest village is called Navrango. We were welcomed with open arms and the most amazing hospitality by the Ghanan people. It's also the most rural lifestyle we've lived in yet on the World Race. We were told upon arrival in Accra that the weather in Northern Ghana could get up to 50 Celsius... meaning 100-112 degrees F. Holy cow... Lord have mercy on us. Several leaders told us that if we wanted to change our minds and stay in Accra where it was cooler, that it would be totally fine and they had a ministry for us to plug into. However, our team knew we were called to the upper east, and so to the upper east we have come!

God has already done miracles. We prayed for rain just so it would be cooler, and it rained! The people in the area were in shock because it NEVER rains in March. We realized a little too late that it was bad for the tomato crops, though... and most of the tomato crops were ruined! Oh No! So, now keep praying that the people's crops will still supply their needs for this time! Now, we have been praying for cool breezes... and we've gotten it. Everyone is in awe of God's mercy and favor on our team... especially us! It's still hot... and I've still been sweating more than I ever have in my life... but God promised not to give us more than we could handle, and He's been faithful to His promise! Thank you Jesus for temperatures under 100 degrees and for sound sleep even when I'm sweating the entire time!

I could tell you many things about our amazing host family, Emmanuel and MaryAnne and their amazing children who have totally amazed us with their selflessness and humility to serve us while we are here. I could tell you about greeting a chief of a village with a rooster to be in his good graces, or about our "heavenly GPS" that got us to locations in the middle of now where, or about nameless teammates talking to goats, pigs, and cows. :-)

But, since I only have a little longer before my internet time runs out.... I want to tell you about last night.

One of our main ministries while we are in Northern Ghana is going to be showing the Jesus film in many of the villages and preaching the evangelistic message around the area. We are spending two nights in each village, showing the first half of the movie the first night and the second half the second night. Last night was day 2 and the end of the movie. Will gave the message after the movie finished, and we all prayed over a massive group of people.

This was a very interesting moment for me. My hands were burning with the Holy Spirit, and I knew He was up to big things that evening. At the same time, I felt a heavy spirit of religion over many people. By religion, I mean repetitive practices without understanding of what was truly going on. So many of them were repeating the prayers and saying the right things, but it seemed that there were some who didn't understand what was really going on.

During the prayer, I was surrounded by children. These kids are PRECIOUS. They are willing and ready to sing and clap and dance for Jesus, but I could tell most of them didn't really understand what was going on. My heart stirred... and throughout the whole prayer I prayed that God would open doors for His children to talk to Him one on one.

After the "official" prayer was finished, I quickly found myself surrounded by a massive group of kids wanting to shake my hand. :-) I just kept saying to them, "keep talking to Jesus, okay? Keep talking to him when you are by yourself as well as when you are with other people." Many said, "yes, yes" but I could tell there many who did not understand. After greeting just about everyone, it got awkwardly silent. :-) I seem to live for those moments. I couldn't see any of their faces, but I knew I had at least 30 kids starring at me, waiting to see what I would do next. I asked them, "do you have any questions for me?" After some snickering, one of the older girls asked quite seriously, "yes. Can you tell us how to talk to Jesus?"

*grin.*

"Why yes I can!" I told them about how they can talk to Jesus like He was their best friend. They could tell Him how thankful they were for their families, their friends, and for the food they have. I told them they could ask Him, like a Father, to provide food and water for them, and He would find a way to provide because of how much He loves them. I told them how they could laugh with Jesus when things are funny.... like when there's a cool breeze in the middle of March. :-) We talked about many simple ideas, and then I asked them what they could talk to Jesus about tonight, when they were alone before they went to sleep. It was priceless. God is SO faithful to his children!! I could feel the Lord smiling upon His children; at their eagerness to try this "new idea" of talking to Jesus on their own. :-) Praise God for the awakening of the young generation of the future leaders of this country!

All who read this blog, pray for a continued awakening in Ghana to the truth that Jesus is a REAL PERSON and that He wants to speak to His children of all ages and that He wants to have a RELATIONSHIP with them! A relationship that goes far past accepting salvation! His Spirit is very much alive in this place, and ready to lead His people even further into their faithful walk with Him!

Peace out, Asia

Sun, 7 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Here's a little video recap of all my adventures this month in Chiang Rai!

Life: Chiang Rai from Nicole Ricketts on Vimeo.

I can hardly believe our 3 months in Asia have come to an end! It's been awesome. I could recap the memories... or you could just read my past blogs. :-)

This wraps up our 5th month on the world race. Our squad is heading to the airport in a few hours for Africa!

We'll begin our 3 months in Africa in the country of Ghana. Team REV 217 will be on the Northern border in a very rural part of the country. Internet will probably be scarce, so if you don't get an update for a while, you know why! I'll do my best to type out blogs and post them whenever I get the chance to get online!

Peace out, Asia...
Africa here I come!

School's Out

Sat, 6 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Here's a video recaping some fun and hilarious moments in ESL Class. :-)

Turn Light at the Right... from Nicole Ricketts on Vimeo.

Saying goodbye to our English students was very hard! We only had 2 weeks with them, and honestly at times it was hard to see any eternal impact that we might be making. Most days, I had to remind myself that sowing in the Spirit can happen in many simple ways. God said MANY times to just be obedient, love them to pieces, and let Him work.

Any doubts I may have had were cleared on our last day of classes. The students were precious. I could hardly believe the impact that loving these people really made. It seems so second nature to those of us who grew up in the church, but it was very foreign to them.

Lord, I praise Your Name for being our Creator and Redeemer! Thank you for calling our team to Chiang Rai to these specific people these past 3 weeks. Hold these awesome men and women in your heart. Thank you for the time we had with them, and continue putting people in their paths to water the seeds that were planted and grow the ones that have taken root. Your love never fails, Lord.
I love you.

I Do

Wed, 3 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

This past weekend was my beautiful friend Lauren's wedding.

Photo by Rachel Mathew

We have been friends since 2004, were suitemates with 3 other amazing girls from 2005-2006, then roommates in an apartment from 2008-2009 (right before I left for the world race). Needless to say, we were really close.

Everything from making up songs for the school talent show to a Late night 4th meal run...yep, she's that kinda friend. You name it, we've done it. :-)

We not only have lived together... we have LIVED together!

She and Seth got engaged right before I launched on the world race. When they announced their wedding would be before I returned to the states, I began to feel the sacrifice I would be making by being on this race. I was overwhelmed with joy for her, obviously, but completely heartbroken that I would not be there with her for the celebration and supporting her throughout her big day.

This was the first "big moment" other than Christmas that I really felt like I missed, and it REALLY stunk. I had planned (for the entire first half of the race) to skype in for the wedding if I had internet access. I was an honorary bridesmaid and was going to greet people at the door via skype!! When we arrived in Chiang Rai this month, I was TOTALLY pumped that our ministry location had free wifi! However, about the week before the wedding, I realized that our team was invited to a Hill Tribe Wedding the same weekend.

Hill Tribe = as far from civilization as possible = no wifi.

My team told me it would be okay if I wanted to stay back this weekend, because they knew how much this wedding meant to me. Still, as I prayed about it, my heart knew I needed to be with my team this weekend. As hard as it was, I knew I needed to choose to be here, on the race, with my team. I wanted to be as much committed to Brad, Erika, Will, and Jessica as I was to my friends and family back before the race. It's classic "God timing" that He would place me in the middle of a Hill Tribe Wedding on the very weekend I would have been celebrating a wedding back home.

This is Lauren talking to me at her rehearsal dinner... on the phone.... from Thailand the hour before I left for the weekend. :-)

Can you see my great big smile? It's there... look a little closer... inside the cell phone....I even said cheese! These are MY GIRLS. I don't say that lightly, either. These are MY GUUURRLLS!

Thinking about weddings made me reflect on the idea of "covenant." There have been many times throughout the race that our squad has talked about covenant. God has made many covenants throughout history with His people. Some are one way covenants, like God's promise to never again flood the earth (Gen 9:9) However, most covenants are made by more than one party, in which both parties are supposed to uphold their side of the covenant. I will ______ if you _____.

There are consequences when we break covenant. In Judges 2:1, God had asked the Israelites to break down the false alters to false gods, but they were disobedient and did not tear them down. So, instead of God driving out their enemies from their land of inheritance, their enemies became thorns in their sides and their gods became a snare to them. Okay, so that was kind of a brutal example, but in a nutshell: Life got harder.

Okay, so I didn't sit down and analyze the word "covenant" before this weekend happened, either.

However, I did think about what I would have done if one of my teammates was in the same situation. I would have done the same thing they did for me: offered grace to stay and do what they thought they needed to do! I probably wouldn't have thought twice about it! However, I realized after this weekend that when you make choices that honor a covenant, you build trust with the other parties in the covenant. You are showing them that you choose them over other things that mean a lot to you. I know that even though it was unconsciously done, by choosing to be with my team this weekend, it built trust and a stronger commitment within our group to stick together when times get hard rather than fall back to other, already established relationships back home. I'm not negating our relationships with family and friends back home by any means, because they are the family and foundation that we will be returning to very soon! They are still very much a part of our lives and need to be a part of this journey!! My point is this: there is something in the unity of CHOOSING IN that makes saying the initial "I DO" actually mean something.

I said "I DO" to REV 217. They are my family this year.

I would be lying if I said I was completely my happy go lucky self all weekend. We definitely had our moments of fun and laughter and purpose, but I found my mind wandering home to the states quite often. I love that even though we laugh quite often together, it was just as okay that I be sad around them. And they were there for me. It's community how God intended for it to be. The covenant we share is a binding, God-sealed commitment of a promise to be one with each other; that means in the good times and in the tough times. I can't imagine not have being with them in the Hill Tribe, even if it meant sacrificing something so close to my heart this weekend.

I know that my life will forever have bittersweet moments. I am always going to have people to miss somewhere in the world when I'm following God's will for my life. The bonds I have with my family and friends are definitely not faded. If anything, they are much stronger through all of this. By being away from them, God has helped me see them more as He sees them and how He loves them. He's giving me His heart for the nations; especially my own. My "I DO" with Jesus is of utmost importance. Even when difficult decisions must be made, God has promised the joys of the abundant life when we honor the covenants we have made with other people, especially covenants wrapped in our covenant with Him.

Right.... Light....

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Three... Tree... Light... Right...

Have you ever psycho-analyzed the English language?

Okay. It's not psycho to analyze it, and honestly I have a new respect for people who do this all the time! It is quite the challenge to teach English as a second language, especially when you don't know the first language of the people you are teaching!

Progress report from the classroom:

We have had 3 days of classes, and it has been VERY interesting to say the least! We have 4 women in our morning class, which all 5 of us teach together. Our evening class is split into two groups: Will and Brad have the more advanced group of 2-4, and Jess, Erika and I have 8 in our beginner's class.

The first night we were under the impression that they,' being our contacts at the church, had a test to see how well the students knew English already, so we assumed we would not be teaching much the first day. WRONG! We were sitting around at the table, about 15 minutes before class began, and our translator looked at us and said something to the effect of, "okay, so what are you doing for the test?" Our team slowly made eye contact across the table... and unsure grins infected our faces.

Seriously: What would you have done? I kept thinking of the catch phrase, "keep it simple, stupid."

HELLO. MY NAME IS ________.

Needless to say, the first day was a little chaotic. We're slowly figuring out where we best fit in the classroom, and the lessons have slowly come together. Praise God for google and the wonderful people who have posted tips and lessons for ESL (English Second Language) Classes online!

I also want to thank Mr. Martinez, my high school Spanish teacher that I haven't seen since 2002, because I am constantly thinking back to the lessons he taught! I LOVED his class, and the way he put different ideas and topics together made learning Spanish really easy for me. It has definitely helped me organize our English lesson plans.

Jess and Will have done a great job of jumping in to lead the classes. They are GREAT teachers! Erika is a fantastic Vana White at the Whiteboard; she has the most perfect handwriting ever! Brad's "ASIONICS" (Asian Ebonics Phonics...) has helped the Thai people understand what we are trying to say, and then we can teach them the correct way to say it! His overall encouragement for all of us has been awesome, too. I am the "secretary" of sorts, and typing out everything we've taught so we can keep record of what we did, what was assigned, what they need more help with, etc. These are not our only roles, but probably the ones we fall into the most. Things get mixed around quite a lot!

We also spend a lot of time in one-on-one conversation with them, so we can build better relationships and meet them where they are at with their English skill.

We're slowly seeing ways for us to introduce the gospel in the classroom. We were given some really good resources for teaching Bible Stories in English from a guy named Bobby. Bobby is originally from Chicago, and is now a full time teacher at the University here in Chiang Rai.

Brad and Will had their night class read a children's story of the prodigal son tonight!
Victory Shout!

Good stuff is happening. Pray for bigger things! Pray for heaven to invade earth during these classes!

Mary Poppins Syndrome

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

I have a problem.
it's called
Mary Poppins' Syndrome.

I think one might call it OVER DOING EVERYTHING. To function at my best, I need things to be completely done, completely in order, or completely comprehended or completely understood.
You know... I love for the things around me to be practically perfect in every way.

Mary Poppins was one of my childhood heroes. Do you remember when they tidied up the nursery? What an EVENT! Not only did she add in an "element of fun" by making it a game, she turned the whole escapade into a musical! She sang with the birds, toy soldiers came to life; things practically PUT THEMSELVES IN ORDER and the whole thing ended with a gloriously clean room!

Okay, some of you are thinking this is your worst nightmare... but it is a slice of heaven to me.

In this case of teaching this month, I have this idea that somehow I need to get all the little words and phrases completely covered for each topic, with visual aids and activities and flashcards and songs about the lessons and....whatever. You get the point.

I find the thing that overwhelms me the most is not feeling prepared, and that's just how I've felt most of the week.

I have to die to this; at least for these two weeks. It's really hard for me to find the balance of "not stressing over things I can't do" and "striving for excellence." It's hard for me to "relax and go with the flow" because I feel like I'm being lazy, I'm not prepared, or I'm not doing my best. At home, I would spend 3 hours prepping for a 1 hour Sunday school lesson. I want to completely know the material inside and out, get all my ducks in a row, and make lessons easy to learn and clever and fun and... you get the point.

We just don't have the time to do this. It's the simple truth, and I'm dealing with it. I mean... I do have this fantastic 1 gallon baggie full of my "had to bring on the race" craft supplies. I've made a few tools... like this really cool paper clock with arms that move... but I KNOW I could just as easily teach the same thing by drawing it out on the whiteboard. I find myself asking, "What is my time really worth?" Would it be better to spend that 30 minutes praying over my students or making a visual aide? This IS short term missions; not a full time classroom that I am preparing for.

It's time to make some decisions. I know I do NOT want this next week and a half to fly by without realizing what even happened because I'm too concerned with lesson preparations. I also don't want to sacrifice my creative flare because, well, God just made me this way. I don't want to find myself wondering what God did at the end of the month; I want to hear God's voice and partner with Him as He's doing it.

I want to be intentional about praying over our students, loving our students, and intentional about sharing Jesus with them. I want to see them awakened to the reality of Jesus Christ!! That's why I'm here!

Lord, I can't do this without You. Show me how to find the balance. Thank you for Your Grace!

REE un Pah SAnkre Kaa!! Free!!

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

REE un Pah SAHAnkre Kaa!!! FREE!

Yesterday our team went around the town and passed out flyers saying this phrase to everyone we met.

This is the first phrase of Thai that I have learned, besides hello and thank you. It means,
"Study English!!" Free courses!

The ministry we're partnering with these next few weeks is "Abundant Life Ministries," with the Assemblies of God church here in Chiang Rai, Thailand. AND... Yes, we will be teaching two weeks of English courses to whoever wants to come. It is a little nerve racking to think we'll be teaching English to these people when I can't even communicate well that we're TEACHING English. This will be interesting, for sure!

The church just finished building a new building, and it is BEAUTIFUL! It's very modern, and they are really excited to begin reaching out in their new location. Our English courses are one of the first things they are doing here in this community, so we are very blessed to be apart of God's work in this neighborhood!

The church LOVES having teams put on these English courses, because the locals would rather learn English from foreigners, and it gives the perfect opportunity to share the gospel. We almost felt like we were on parade when we were passing out flyers. It's like we were being walked around by our contacts, implying, "LOOK! WE HAVE WHITE PEOPLE WHO WILL TEACH YOU ENGLISH!"

The church encourages us to teach stories from the Bible and Bible songs as a part of the curriculum for the classes; sharing Jesus is the ultimate goal! I'm very excited to meet our students and begin building relationships with them!!

Pray that God will give us the lessons He wants us to teach! This is definitely a new version of lesson planning for all of us!

Pray for Divine appointments for our team these next few weeks. Our time in Chiang Rai is a little shorter than some months, but I believe God has prepared the harvest!!

Beyond These Walls

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

I find myself dreaming again...

Lost in curiosity of the mysteries of Your Majesty.

I wonder what else is beyond the walls of this world.

I've always believed all things are possible in You,

But I'm beginning to see it now, beginning to ask for it.

Dare I ask for big? Do I really want big? Yes.

A big, fat, resounding Yes.

Eternity is now.

Paul's heart beats true inside of mine;

I'd rather leave and be with You completely,

But it is better that I am here.

Redemption's story is the greatest phenomenon of all,

And I have been born into its joys and sorrows.

I get to be with the Holy of Holies
and be also with the defiled, destitute, and forgotten.

I get to sing with the angels
and also with those who've never had a chance to sing.

Life. Mourn with those who mourn;

Rejoice with those who rejoice.

I have the joy of letting the Kingdom of God loose on this earth.

Jesus, You have shown the way.

How is it so simple and so insane all at the same time?

How do I DO this? I mean, really?

Belonging to one world and living in another?

I think I might understand a sliver of what you must have felt, Jesus.
I am identifying with the necessity of the cross.

It's hard; but it's worth it. Every second is totally worth it.

Can I visit the heavens and still remember how to love in the
simplest of ways on earth?

As I ask... I fall on the answer. You did. So I know I can with You.

Can I remember how to be relevant to the people who are still stuck on the idea if there even is a God... when I'm in search of the meanings of the dreams and visions You've given me... and what it means to be Your eyes in the Spiritual realm?

                                                                   *Yes, Sweet Jesus. In Your love, this too is possible.
You never change.

                              You are the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Grace. More Grace, oh Lord.

My heart is forever in a state of worship; You are SO good.

I beg You, may I never forget the faith of my childhood; the simplicity of Your goodness and grace as I venture deeper into the waters. I long to visit the depths of Your Spirit, the depths of Heaven... yet I want to be able to relate to people who have never experienced Your love, those still confused on what life is all about; those striving to make sense of it all on their own.

My dream is to be horizontal and vertical; relational in every way possible.

Whatever that looks like, I know You are here,
You have ordained every conversation
and every encounter I have,
from hugging babies to raising the dead.

No one can fathom Your ways,
-especially not me.
I want MORE of Your mystery!!!
More of YOU! It's intoxicating;
the most fulfilling love I've ever known.

I feel like I'm running but my feet are way ahead of my body. I am TOO hungry to not to ask for more wisdom and understanding, but I'm trusting You to lead me regardless if I understand. You've had my heart since I was a little girl, and You've always treasured me and never forsaken me.

Your love is the center of my existance.

I'm already in way over my head, so carry me on, Holy Spirit.
I want more!
More of Your mysteries,
More of Your love.
Move me as You please.

I KNOW there's more beyond these walls.

Ah, so much more.

"If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing."
- 1Corinthians 13:2

Psalm 145

A psalm of praise. Of David.

¹ I will exalt you, my God the King;
I will praise your name for ever and ever.

² Every day I will praise you
and extol your name for ever and ever.

³ Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
his greatness no one can fathom.

⁴ One generation will commend your works to another;
they will tell of your mighty acts.

⁵ They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty,
and I will meditate on your wonderful works.

⁶ They will tell of the power of your awesome works,
and I will proclaim your great deeds.

⁷ They will celebrate your abundant goodness
and joyfully sing of your righteousness.

⁸ The LORD is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and rich in love.

⁹ The LORD is good to all;
he has compassion on all he has made.

¹⁰ All you have made will praise you, O LORD;
your saints will extol you.

¹¹ They will tell of the glory of your kingdom
and speak of your might,

¹² so that all men may know of your mighty acts
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

¹³ Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
       and your dominion endures through all generations.
       The LORD is faithful to all his promises
       and loving toward all he has made.

¹⁴ The LORD upholds all those who fall
and lifts up all who are bowed down.

¹⁵ The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food at the proper time.

¹⁶ You open your hand
and satisfy the desires of every living thing.

¹⁷ The LORD is righteous in all his ways
and loving toward all he has made.

¹⁸ The LORD is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.

¹⁹ He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;
he hears their cry and saves them.

²⁰ The LORD watches over all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.

²¹ My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD.
Let every creature praise his holy name
for ever and ever.

Ecclesiastes 3

A Time for Everything

¹ There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:

² a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,

³ a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,

⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,

⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

⁶ a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,

⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,

⁸ a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

⁹ What does the worker gain from his toil? ¹⁰ I have seen the burden God has laid on men. ¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

Love Fest

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

What should you do in a marriage when you realize the "honeymoon is over?" Get alone together and remember why on earth you married the person. J That's exactly what Team REV 217 did on February 3rd, 2010. I prefaced this blog in my Series of Unfortunate Events blog. Simply; we are in a covenant together for this year. We can't love the nations any more than we can love each other.

Jess spent a TON of time putting the event together, and it was JUST what we needed.

A Love Fest.

We began by praying and entering into a time of worship. Jess put together some scriptures and shared her heart about the love of God and what it really means to love. Before we knew it, she had tricked' us into expressing all the 5 love languages with each other! We spent time writing prophetic words of truth into heart-shaped cards for each other. We also gave back massages and prayed specifically over one another and then had fun reading about the different love languages and talking about the ways we like to receive love from others. We shared the top things that show that we "aren't being loved" and shared the top things that really do make us feel loved.

The best part about the night was what God opened up for us all to share on a personal level. My description may make the evening sound pretty cheesy... but it was really a cool time to truly come back to the heart of what love, TRUE GODLY LOVE FOR OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS is all about.

Now... I'm writing this blog on Valentine's Day, 10 days after the Love Fest actually happened. I can still see the effects of the Love Fest working in each one of us! We're all choosing to really love one another, and it's just fun to watch happen. It's fun to see love and grace and joy flood our relationships in this whole other level.

Our team was also able to share about our experiences with some of the other teams during debrief who were struggling with the same types of issues. This relational funk' is just what happens once people have lived for a long time in close quarters. You begin to see past the surface... and you get the good, the bad and the ugly. You are faced with whether or not you want to love the whole package. J Come to find out... loving the whole package makes your relationships SO much more amazing.

Well... since it's Valentine's Day and all... I might as well share the day's events. We're the only team on the squad with a married couple. So... since Brad and Erika gave us sweet Valentines and were off on their romantic Valentine's Day date night; Jess, Will, and I were on our own.

Jess and I began the morning by serenading Will to "Sugar pie honey bunch" as a wakeup call. There's nothing that says I love you like waking up to a singing telegram, right? J Will was the best Valentine ever for the two of us! He began with balloons tied to treats for each of us. I consistently crave apples, and Jess loves her Peanut M&M's, so he wrote "Apple of my Eye" on my balloon and wrote "Sweets for my Sweet" on Jess'! OH so clever, that Will Jung!!

Will got us roses, candy, and then took us to lunch! Weston joined us for the second half of the evening, as Will treated us girls to a movie, starbucks and ice cream, AND a candle light dinner at Outback... complete with lots of little silly love notes and cards along the way. It was absolutely precious and Jess and I are totally blessed to have such an awesome brother in Christ to love us to pieces today!!! We felt the love, Will. You're amazing. Thanks for being so thoughtful and so sweet!!

Okay.... that's my love blog. The end. J

L Squad Cambodia Videos!

Mon, 8 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Here's a video Jessica made from our time in Destiny Rescue! Get your tissues, folks...

Cambodia - Captured moments...Captured hearts from Jessica Johnson on Vimeo.

Here's a video our squad leader Weston created that is HILARIOUS and exactly what we saw during our month here!

Cambodia by Bike from Weston Belkot on Vimeo.

And, last but not least, Here's Bethany's video from Team Rama's time out in a remote Cambodian village!

Giving them back their Wings

Sat, 6 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The "Butterfly Girls," as I've so fondly referred to them this month, have been my ministry focus here at Destiny Rescue.

Here's a little background on the project:

Destiny Rescue's Jewelry Project began in Chiang Rai, Thailand as a way to rescue young girls from the life of prostitution. The Phnom Penh Center saw a need for the teenage girls in the slums, and expanded from the Project in Chiang Rai in October 2008.

Most families in the slums live by searching for recycled goods in the garbage dump, and they count on their children to bring in an income. Being illiterate, with little or no education and not having official documentation leaves these teenage girls with very few alternatives. They are too old for the children's learning center, and prostitution is the next easiest way to make money.

The Jewelry Project keeps the girls off the streets and provides them with a safe working environment. They have their own work room in the learning center building, with the hope and dream that they can learn enough business skills to some day branch out on their own. Along with jewelry making and butterfly creations, they attend Khmer language lessons or computer lessons for two hours in the afternoon. The best part is that they are in an environment that is filled with the hope and love of Jesus Christ.

So.... Here's where I came in: the butterflies.

Oh... the thousands of butterflies...

See, the jewelry project was SOLEY a jewelry project in its origin... until the girls ran out of beads. Since they make wholesale pieces of jewelry for specific companies, they depend on people/teams coming to and from Chiang Rai to bring the specific beads back and forth.

So... in between having jewelry to make, the girls really needed something to do to make their time profitable, since the project is paying them wages and is supposed to function like a business.

Somewhere along the way, they were taught how to make these little butterflies out of nylon and wire. They are really cute... but they aren't really anything you can sell on their own because they don't have a purpose. How do you market butterflies for a profit? They had several really cute ideas... but no one ever took it to the next level of really making the product happen.

So... the girls had a massive bag of thousands of these butterflies and I was supposed to figure out what to do with them.

Oh man.

It seemed like a fairly fun and simple arts and crafts task at first... but it's seriously been a month of really hard work, mixing my scrapbooking skills with marketing and productivity thinking. Yep- my Business Master's degree is ACTUALLY BEING USED on the race, Mom and Dad!!! J

Long story slightly shorter...we were sold on the idea of gift tags. They are REALLY cute, anyone can use them on their gift wrap, they are perfect for advertising more about the organization, they are light weight for packaging and sending overseas to be sold, the materials are readily available for a good price, and the girls can make good quality in a short amount of time.

I spent most of my days looking for supplies to make samples, creating templates in publisher for them to print and use, finding the best place in the market to by materials, getting them equipped with the few extra tools they would need to make it all happen, and all of this and more without having any idea how to speak their language. Things like color cordination with ribbon color, paper color, and butterfly color became an all day task. I had fun identifying each color and counting the butterflies one day. Can YOU decide which pink would be called Pink Panther and which one is Salmon? And... how would YOU explain that using hand motions? ;-)

The best part of my month was the last week, when I actually got to start interacting with the girls and teaching them the way to make the gift tags. I realized that making a "product manual" wasn't going to cut it. Most of them cannot read... and plus they don't speak English, anyway. Bonnara, the Khmer lady who is in charge of the girls, understands some basic English, but still doesn't speak the language. So, I made a large sample board with a "good" tag and a "bad" tag, pointing out all the things they needed to check for before they packaged them. They had a good time laughing at my failed attempts to speak Khmer. We never really did communicate via words... but somehow it all worked out! They picked up on the process very fast, and I was totally pleased with how smooth the teaching transition went.

I would totally be lying to you if I said this was a perfectly peaceful, fun loving month. This was definitely an emotional and spiritual rollercoaster for me... more so than I've experienced in a VERY long time. (I'll leave that for another blog). The added tension of constant work kept my stress level pretty high, and it felt like a battle most of the month.

I worked on this up until the very last day before we left. Friday afternoon came, and I handed Pat (our contact) the finished brochure, a gift display sample plus a big box of 200 handmade gift tags to be sent to Australia with a team on Sunday. The first box of many more to come.

Finally... I could breathe.

Finally, I felt the peaceful victory that I had completed the task set before me.

Finally, I could take a step back from the front lines and see what God had been up to this month. Wow. I don't know if I can really explain the feeling. I'm still trying to figure out all of what exactly transpired this month for me on a personal level. However... this isn't about me. This is about them.

Here's what I know for certain happened at the end of this month:

These girls were shown a little more hope for making it out of the generational trap of poverty and prostitution; one more step into the freedom that God has for them.

The atmosphere in the butterfly girls' room changed dramatically over the month we were there. They went from barely seeming like they were doing anything to recognizing that what they are making actually has a purpose; that people wanted to buy it and genuinely liked what they were making!

There was a team visiting the learning center for a day, and they were the first to see the gift tags in their final product form. The team absolutely LOVED them and wanted to take some back with them to sell in their church in Australia! The butterfly girls were totally blown away by their excitement, and I think it gave them a sense of pride and accomplishment that they hadn't felt before.

They have a purpose, and I got to be a small part in God's plan for their lives. I got to help give them back their wings.

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Mon, 1 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Have you ever tried to do business administration work in the slums of a developing 3^rd World Country?

We have, and it's chaos. Here's my series of unfortunate events from last week:

-Paper and pens are harder to come by than you think. We spent two days roaming the streets looking for somewhere to buy paper to make some samples of gift tags for the project I'm working on! We thought maybe the illiteracy rate here in Cambodia made writing supplies a very minor shopping item. Time was out, and I had to get creative. I found a book fair in the market, where there were a few bins of children's books. J I bought one that had a lot of solid color backgrounds, and cut my samples from that!

-Have YOU ever tried to create a clean, straight slit in paper with a straight pin? What I would do for a razor blade knife...

-Come to find out... there was an entire market about a 5 minute drive away that has all the paper and craft supplies you could desire. Figures.

-You KNOW you've completely lost it when you start rebuking the evil inside of a printer.

- It took all day to print 8 gift tag templates. That's only 8 one-page documents. You can only imagine the joy of the computer and printer we are working with.

-My zip drive wiped out and had to be reformatted. That means I lost everything on it. Luckily I'm a smart girl and it was all saved on my personal computer... but I didn't bring my laptop to work that day. AND...it's a 30 minute walk home.

-Jess and Brad almost got wiped out on a motorbike taxi ride back to work. I got hit by a motorbike while walking.

-I think our team has gotten over 1,000 mosquito bites from this month. I'm NOT exaggerating. Will has half of them, alone!

- I thought the best way to cure the electronic blues one night was to get some dessert. The restaurant we went to, that had about 10 dessert selections, somehow was completely out of dessert. You know you've hit your emotional limit when a lack of chocolate cake makes you want to cry.

Even though these are very silly things, they were the icing on the cake of some deeper issues going on. Miscommunication and misunderstanding has really had a hold on our team this month. Satan seems to have that stronghold over this place, and it took a few emotional breakdowns on the team for us to realize the depth of what's REALLY going on. We've realized that we are at the point of the world race where "the honeymoon is over." We're real people with real human flaws, and we have to choose to love one another. We can't afford to NOT put each other first when our emotions have already been defeated battling evil printers and motorbikes.

We took a weekend retreat to the beach to get away and just chill for a bit, just the 5 of us. It was SO needed and SO relaxing! This month each of us has taken on our own project for Destiny Rescue, and it has been very easy for each of us to get lost in our work. I knew this month was going to have a lot of lessons on "life after the race..." and this is definitely one of them. We allowed too much time to go by without really seeing what was going on inside each other, and we all got caught up inside ourselves. This weekend was DEFINITELY needed to truly touch base and to re-focus priorities. There's NO way we're going to give our ministry contacts our best if we're not even able to give each other our best.

We're real people, with real issues and things that annoy one another from time to time. We're also stinkin' awesome people, with tons of love and joy for one another. Satan's done a pretty good job this week to help us forget that last part. This is basic 1 Corinthians 13 stuff... yet it's so easy to forget the basics sometimes.

One thing I'm SUPER thankful for is that our team has always been able to throw our concerns out on the table when they hit. They've been acknowledged, identified, and targeted. We're fighting through this together. We've all CHOSEN IN. We're gonna love the crap right out of each other. ;-)

Jess came up with a brilliant way to encourage our love for one another. J (Yes, I said brilliant...and with an English Accent. The Aussie/Euro influence is coming out in me.)

The Love Fest

is Wednesday night...
...and I'll be sure to blog about it. J

(Jess' blog on the same topic: Check it out!)

The Thief Comes...

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy..." John 10:10

This is just one of the 17 layers of the genocide memorial tower in remembrance of all who died at the killing fields.

The people of Cambodia are still rebuilding the walls of their cities and their hearts after the horrific genocide that occurred just 20-30 years ago.

On Saturday, our team went to visit the Killing fields and Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh to learn more about the history of Cambodia. It's sickening how much history repeats itself; how Satan continues to steal, kill, and destroy people. Cambodia endured their own Holocaust from 1975 to 1979, a genocide that took the lives over 2 million people.

There are a lot of details, and here's a good website for a more detailed overview of the full history , but here's the "Nicole summary" of the time of the genocide:

There had been a political battle between democratic and communist forces for years. With the Vietnam war still going on, different parties within Cambodia partnered or were controlled by the Vietnamese. With groups and parties growing and fighting for power, it was in 1974 that the Communist Khmer Rouge fought their way to the top and led the mass genocide in Cambodia for 4 years.

Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge leader, wanted to build the ideal communist world, but in order to do that he felt he had to eliminate anyone who was against his ideas. So, he began to kill anyone one with any of their own political or religious ideas, and killed off anyone that was smart because they probably would want to rebel against the ideas of the KR. Doctors, teachers, military, political and religious figures, field workers, or anyone that was educated was targeted to kill. They had mass killings and torture chambers set up in old school buildings and political buildings. Disease, overwork, political oppression and starvation all added to the number of deaths during the genocide.

Vietnam finally attacked the Khmer Rouge, removed Pol Pot from leadership, and declared freedom in 1979. Even after the declared freedom, the land bombs that the Khmer Rouge planted all along the borders of the country still took hundreds of lives of refugees trying to get back home. There are many people on the streets that are missing limbs because of the land mines.

Although it was a massive victory to end the genocide, Cambodians continued to struggle for freedom from Vietnam for years after that. Relief efforts continued until a true peace declaration was made in 1991. Cambodia is still rebuilding its walls and its people from this massive devastation. The population is SO young here, and anyone my age or older has a story about what they went through.

Here's some more pictures from the museums and monuments at the killing fields. Some are paintings from a man that survived the turture detainment, that will maybe say more than my words could attempt:

`

So, how do you rebuild an entire country when most of the educated people had just been murdered? And what can I possibly do in the month I am here?

"The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."-Jesus John 10:10

Duh. :-) Jesus is the obvious answer. But SERIOUSLY, HE IS THE ANSWER!!!
I love that God continues to show me more of His heart through things like this. There are serious strongholds that need to be prayed for. God's walking our team through some serious things to bring us all to a place to stand in the gap on behalf of these people. Not just the people of Cambodia, but all people who go through these kinds of tragedies.

This is where my heart first felt the hope of Christ while walking through this abandoned torture detainment building. That's just it:

It's ABANDONED! It's OVER! The CHAINS ARE EMPTY!!!!

Some people might ask, "why would God let something like this happen to the people He created and loved?"

I would say to them, "the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. But Jesus came so that we would have and abundant life." Satan is doing everything he can to keep people from seeing the love of God, from living out the love of God. But I can GUARANTEE you, He was there through all of it, holding people, crying with them, suffering with them. He and all His angels were present and fighting against the evil that was happening. He has spoken and continues speaking to His church to be a part of His restoration plan. The crazy thing about God's crazy love for Cambodia is the fact that 98% of the country doesn't even believe in Him, but He's still fighting for them. He's still so MADLY IN LOVE with the people of Cambodia that He won't give up on them. They are still thirsty for something that will satisfy, and God is still sending people filled with the Water of Life.

You could replace "Cambodia" with anywhere or anyone, and the above paragraph would still be true.

Events like this genocide have been happening for centuries, and are still currently going on in the world even when we're quite wrapped up in whatever's going on in our own little circle of the world. I hate to break it to you, but horrible stuff is going to keep going on until Christ returns and claims the ultimate victory over Satan. As long as Satan is still alive, there is going to be a battle between good and evil. I don't mean to get all Superman on you guys, but that's just how it is.

Jesus DOES WIN, though! There IS Victory, and God wants His people to walk in the Victory that He's already fought and won for us. We have the joy of claiming it!

This is a spiritual battle. A BATTLE! Like, get your 'A' game on, be prepared for attack, and exercise the offensive weapons that God has given us. Worship. Prayer. Fasting. Listening to God's voice and taking action. LET THE SPIRIT LOOSE! (How can you tell if He's let loose?) Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness. Goodness. Faithfulness. Gentleness. Self-Control.

The Holy Spirit-filled life
IS the abundant life.

There are TONS of walls that have been built up to keep people from living the abundant life, and they are usually NOT brick.

What are your walls made of?

Are you sick of seeing the abundant life though a hole in the wall? Have you ever found yourself in a place where you KNOW about the life Christ offers, and you're trying to live for Him but you can't seem to get ahold of it? It's like you're stuck watching others live it out from on the other side of a prison cell?

Start asking God to reveal the areas in your life that are holding you back. He is faithful to reveal walls and break them down!!!

Okay, that was a little side bar... let's get back to God's restoration for Cambodia. :-)

I LOVE that education is the one of the main forums that He's using to reach the people of Cambodia.

Since education is such a main priority of the rebuilding process, Christian education centers have been readily accepted here. It's amazing to see how much the country HAS been able to rebuild since the tragedy, and how God's hope and restoration is filtrating the youth of this generation!

This understanding has really helped our team learn more about how to serve the people here. It really made me; personally, realize how important it is for places like Destiny Rescue to be a part of re-educating this society. While they are re-learning about hygiene and sanitary issues, how to read and write, and how to behave... these children are also learning how they can find hope in the One, True God that loves them no matter what their current circumstance looks like.

Even in the nastiest slums imaginable where people are literally living on top of sewage and garbage, God's presence changes everything.

I ask that you would pray this over Cambodia with me:

As the physical walls of Cambodia are being rebuilt, may God build a solid foundation of His love, hope and joy to an uprising generation.

Ode to Pops. :-)

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

HAPPY BIRTHDAY POPS!!!!

I'm horribly sad we're on completely opposite time zones and I haven't been online when you guys are awake in order to skype you and sing you happy birthday ON your actual bday... so via video will have to do this year!!!

I love you so much, Daddy! You've always been such an amazing encourager, pushing me to go for anything and everything I could dream. Thank you for always being a wonderful example of what my Heavenly Father's love is like!

*BIG HUG and KISS!*

Love you, Sooee :-)

Turning Tables

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

This past week, our team's main project was turning tables.

It WASN'T what you'd imagine... not quite like Jesus turning the tables in the temple courts. :-)

Catchy title though, ya??? :-)

We turned plain, simple, wooden 1^st grade tables into beautiful, bright, education tables full of life, color, Khmer words, and lots of fun pictures!

Here's a short video that shows the progression of our work:

Turning Tables from Nicole Ricketts on Vimeo.

This seems like a pretty basic type of project, but I would say that our team learned a lot through all this. Our full 10 hour- Saturday of painting the pictures on the tabletops went SO well! When we sat back and thought about it, it was only through the joy and the power of the Holy Spirit that we worked so well together. There was no fighting over paintbrushes, colors, or "territorial claims" to a certain desk. Everyone was super helpful in passing around jobs, asking for help, and really worked together in the way everyone always wishes it would! It was fantastic.

However, we did have our share of setbacks. We couldn't find materials when we needed them from the market. We found out that varnish is different than polyurethane, and that even though it calls for a portion of paint thinner, it only makes it eat through the paint and leave you with really nasty streaks. There were many times when we could have chosen to fix the problem with our own strength. There were a few times my perfectionist mindset got the best of me, like when a white glob of paint dripped down on top of my globe, or I totally messed up my Khmer writing.

At the same time, I was super proud of Jessica for initiating that we come to God for the answer on "how do we make these tables work?" From the picture design to the top coating, we really did ask the Lord to be a part of the whole project, and I LOVE that. Jessica has been reading a book that tells story after story of how Christians often ask God to bless their work rather than asking Him to lead us into our work so that it IS, in fact, blessed. It was really awesome to get to practice that during this project.

I've come to realize that much of life falls into this category for me. It's REALLY easy to fall into "business mind" mode and begin to tackle things within my own strength, within the knowledge I've accumulated through studies and experience. I have a feeling much of this month is going to be teaching me about how to let the Holy Spirit breathe life into EVERY faucet of the business world. He's given us knowledge and experience TO USE, but He DEFINITELY still wants us to ask Him what to do with those gifts!

I think it's something that many of us can work on, and I think the Holy Spirit is waiting for our generation to come to Him for these things! Can you imagine what could happen within corporate America if all the Christians came to Him on a DAILY basis and asked Him to be a part of each thing that they did at work? I believe it would change our country in a massive way.

One step at a time; one table at a time.

Avoiding Awkward Turtles in Asia

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

In each country we go to, there are always those lovely cultural norms and rules that are nice to know that will HOPEFULLY eliminate a few awkward moments. There's always a few anyhow, but here's some cultural norms and some other factoids about Cambodia and much of Asia!

(Thank you to YWAM for the cultural orientation!)

The current monarch is King Norodom Sihamoni. His father Norodom Sihanouk gave the kingship to his son in 2004. Their royal family has held the monarchy for centuries. The Cambodian people have great respect for the king. Even if a family lives in a 10x10foot shack, they usually have a picture of the king on their wall. Don't mess with it!

Most people in Cambodia enjoy an extended 2 hour lunch break. I think I would enjoy bringing that practice to the States!!! So, if you're looking to find something in the market from 11 to 1... and the people who are eating in the back of the store look at you like your nuts for trying to get their attention... chances are they are a little annoyed that you're interrupting their lunch break.

Cambodia currently uses the US Dollar with their currency. Do to the recent genocide; their money has practically NO value. 1 USD = 4000 riel. So, what they do is give you change in Riel. So, if you by something for 1.50, and give them 2 bucks, they will give you back 2000 riel for change. It's quite an interesting system!

Still Asia... still squattie potties. Some actually flush... and others you manually flush. That random thing of water... it's not so random. It's there for a reason. Take the bowl and clean off the squattie with it. Then pour water down it until it's flushed. That's the power of gravity in motion, folks.

Also: most bathrooms don't have TP, so it becomes quite normal to have a small roll in your purse or pocket at all times. You REALLY don't want to be "that girl" trying to ask for toilet paper under a stall to a person who speaks no English. :-)

The drivers honk their horns CONSTANTLY to let the motorcyles, mopeds, and bicyclers know they are coming. It's really annoying. On our bus ride into the country, our driver seriously honked the horn on an average of every 30 seconds. Sorry... but it's really hard to sleep on a Cambodian bus without an ipod.
If you get honked at, it's not because their mad. No need to pick a fight...they're just warning you that they're coming your way, regardless if your 2 inches of 100 feet away.

For some reason, the people in our area often wear pajamas as everyday clothing.

Box of Special K Fruit and Yogurt Cereal at the grocery store: $6.07 USD. It's RIDICULOUSLY OVERPRICED. But, it's also my absolute favorite, and the only place I've seen it since we've left the US. I've decided that if I work out consistently for 5 days a week, I'm treating myself to a box at the end of the month. J

One stick of butter: $4 USD.

Western culture emphasizes eye contact as a sign of paying attention, but in Asian culture that's a sign of either wanting to fight or that you are attracted to them. We're advised to watch our eye contact. J

In Cambodian Society, and most Asian cultures, the head is considered the most holy part of the body and the feet are the most profane or dirty part. So, we're not supposed to touch people's heads or pass something over people's heads, such as food at a dinner table. You're supposed to avoid stepping over people or things of importance as to not defile it. You're also not supposed to point your feet at people or move anything with your feet.

It's pretty funny when you're feet are falling asleep from sitting Indian style for too long, but you know you can't put your feet directly out because it might be pointing at a person! I'm constantly thinking now about where my feet are pointed. That will be a funny transition when we get back to the states- we'll all be thinking about whether or not we're dishonoring people with our feet!

If you use your hand to call someone to you, always pull all your fingers toward you with your palm down. If you do it with your palm up (normal American way, AKA The Matrix style), it's considered rude and derogatory. If you call someone with just one finger, it's considered "romantic," but not always in a good way, if you know what I mean. This definitely gets the most awkward look when you forget!

Correct: Incorrect: VERY incorrect!

Destiny Rescue

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The ministry we are working with, Destiny Rescue, is located in one of the worst City Slums in Phnom Penh.

Our first visit to one of the villages completely broke me. It's definitely the worst living conditions I've seen yet. The village shacks are raised up, built directly over the sewege dump. Their garbage and sewege reak worse than anything I've smelled in my life, and the reality that these people live in these conditions is absolutely aweful.

The Destiny Rescue organization is based out of Australia, and they have different centers in several different countries, with different programs specifically designed for the location they are in. The Destiny Rescue here in Phnom Penh has two main buildings; the learning center and the day care. They have almost 200 children involved in the program; all coming from three slum villages. Their main objective is to help rescue children from poverty and from being trapped in human trafficking. This center truly brings hope to these families!

The children receive one good meal a day, plus basic reading and writing skills that the public schools will not give to these villages. That also presents them the opportunity to teach them about Jesus, which is the whole point!!

Our first visit to the center involved around 200 crazy cute little rug rats attacking us and saying "Hello! Hello!" That's about all the English they know, but they are quite proud of that and say it anytime they see a white person. :-)

Of course, I fell in love with them!!

What our team is actually doing isn't directly working with the kids, however. We are doing a lot of administration and technical/physical labor to help the ministry since they are currently understaffed. Our current plan of action involves:

-Creating lesson plan materials for the teachers to use

-Painting the 1^st grade classroom tables

-Organizing their computer files and developing a file backup system

-Updating their child sponsorship files by doing interviews with the children, their families, their teachers, and taking pictures!

-Creating a marketing plan for the jewelry making project, which involves designing a couple new products and beginning production

-Fixing broken desks, doors, and other "handy man" type things around the center

I absolutely love how the Lord brought us to this ministry. Helping with human trafficking was about the only thing we knew about this ministry site coming into it. We're still doing that... but very indirectly! God has chosen to let us use the knowledge and skills that He's blessed us with to minister to the administration here. Our team is PERFECT for the current needs of this ministry! At least one of us, if not two or three, have backround experience in business, computer networking, teaching, and creative skills! Plus, Will is really gifted in construction and "handyman" type stuff! Our team just kind of smiled when our contact told us the things she needed help with. God knew just who to send for this project!

Our ministry contact, Pat,is the director of Destiny Rescue Phnom Penh. She is an amazing woman with a wonderful heart for the children here. Our whole team is really excited to serve her this month and hopefully help her out in some big ways! She has let our team stay at her house for the month, which is a MAJOR BLESSING! We are being spoiled this month. J It's really nice to have clean rooms, clean showers, and a little breathing room! WOO HOO!

Prayer Requests: That we continue to invite the Holy Spirit to lead and direct each day that we are here. It's easy to get in "Game mode" and just get on with our business during this ministry. We're beginning each day with about a 30 minute worship/meditation/reading/prayer session, which has really helped us with this. Pray for clear vision from Him! I believe He has wonderful things in store for Destiny Rescue!

Bangla Road to Redemption Road

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Here's the video my amazing teammate Jessica created from our ministry site in Phuket, Thailand!
The Holy Spirit gave her this vision on a bus ride from Bangkok to Phuket, and it was awesome watching her ask Him to be a part of every aspect, from filming to editing! I pray that everyone who watches this feels God's hand in their lives.

From Bangla Road to Redemption Road. from Jessica Johnson on Vimeo.

(Our team is in Cambodia now, helping with Destiny Rescue in Phnom Penh! Internet time is short, but hopefully I'll get some info posted soon! Check out the website for the center we are at in the meantime: www.destinyrescue.org )

Dreams Day 7

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

^{"By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done." Genesis 2: 2-3}

At the end of the week, as I realized I seriously had 6 hours to get my stuff packed up, I realized that it was time to rest. It was amazing to look back and see what God had done, and to rest in Him with a thankful heart.

The story of Dreams.... via Video. :-)
If you've read the blog series about the girls in the Wet Dreams Bar, this video show's how God's hand is all over Phuket, Thailand. This is how He moved through us and the prayers at the SHE Center in just one week! This is God's story of Redemption for these women!

The Sound of Prayer Warriors
The Sound of God's Hope
The Sound of Community
The Sound of Love
The Sound of Jesus

The Sound from Nicole Ricketts on Vimeo.

Dreams Day 6

Sat, 9 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Previous Blogs:
Goosechase: Opportunity for Action;
Dreams Day 1; Dreams Day 2; Dreams Day 3; Dreams Day 4; Dreams Day 5

Today began very hopeful and with a lot of joy for me. I had this amazing idea that the girls from the bar were going to come through and join us for lunch today and that they were finally going to get introduced to the ministry site. It was my day to lead Bible study day at SHE, also! The ladies at SHE do a Bible study twice a week, but with all the holidays we've only had 3 to lead since we've been with them these three weeks. I had massive hopes for today. I spent about 4 hours of my morning writing, praying, and working on the Bible Study to lead the girls, hoping maybe the girls from the bar would be here, too! Regardless, I was really excited to share.

2pm rolled around, and I realized that we didn't have any phones at the house, and the office phone was locked up since Mark's family was on holiday for two days. We forgot to ask our teammates to leave a phone with us when they went into town, and now we were stuck. We thought we'd wait until 3, and if our teammates didn't come back from town, we'd just go find a way to call from a payphone somewhere.

I was really bummed out, but I had to cling to God and trust Him. I kept working on the Bible study, but when 3pm rolled around, we realized one of the girls who works for SHE had a cell phone! So, we called, and they answered and wanted to come, but they were just waking up and might be a while... so they'd call back once they figured out how many were coming.

I was super pumped! I kept hoping and praying.

4pm rolled around, and they hadn't called back. I was so broken hearted. I thought for sure that the girls meant it when they said they wanted to come. So many people kept filling me with negative words. "Oh, the girls always say they will come to lunch with you, but they don't ever call back, they just say that to be nice or to save face." When the girls didn't call... I loathed the glances that said, "I told you so; but I'm sorry."

NO. NO! That just made me so mad. I know it's true in a lot of cases, and it WAS true for several other cases for us. But I could see that these girls were different, and I was really sick of the lack of hope around me. I knew Satan was doing everything he could to keep us from communicating, from lack of phones to not having good transportation to get places. Even if it wasn't God's will for them to come to the center that day, I believed with everything in me that they genuinely liked being with us, that they saw true friendship with us, and wanted to hang out. As I prayed, I really did feel that it was a timing thing, but I've never been so disappointed with other people's disappointment! SCREW HOPELESSNESS! I'm sick of it. I was going to cling to all the hope in God's timing and trust Him even if I was the last one standing.

It was 4pm, which meant time for Bible study. There were only two of the Thai girls working, since the other 3 were still on holiday break. Even if I didn't get to share the message with the girls from the bars, I was still excited to share what God put on my heart and what I'd been working on for the past several hours.

I went to the girls and asked if they were ready for Bible study, and they told me, "oh... we don't have time today... we have to have everything put away and cleaned up by 4 if we want to have study. Sorry."

Honestly, I wanted to cry. I know that it's silly... but I just felt like everyone was ready to be done for the day, for the month. I know it's not the truth, and I realize that I can use the Bible Study for a later time, so it's not like it was a complete waste to put it together, but I just felt like everything I'd been trusting in was being pulled out from underneath me.

"Lord, I've fasted and prayed and poured everything I can into preparing the way for you to move. But I can't move in people, only You Spirit can. You've begun something special in these girls, and You promise to complete the work that you have started. I've celebrated with you in the victories... why are You leaving me hanging today?"

I felt very alone, and like people wanted to give me pity prayers rather than hope that God would come through somehow. I didn't want to hear another prayer about how "I will still serve you, God, even if I don't see what you're doing." This was not the time for that for me! Maybe other people needed that... but have you HEARD the stories of what God is doing right now in their lives??? I've already WITNESSED what God is doing... I just believe there's so much more to the story... and I've got only one more day to be a part of it. And YES, I wanted to be a part of it! I didn't have to... God's got the whole thing under His control. But I wanted to be. And God asked me to be, so you better believe I was going to do everything I could to be with those girls as much as possible, to listen to what God wanted me to say to them and to pour out His love and speak life into them. I COULD have gone and done a million other things this week, but I would have missed out on some key parts of God breaking his way into these people lives. There's definitely no condemnation for having fun: I'm a HUGE believer in rejoicing with my friends with the enjoyments of life! But, God put these people in my pathway, and I'm so glad I chose in.

There wasn't time to have them come over before closing at 5, but it wasn't like the day had ended! I still held on to the hope that You had something in store. You've been faithful and true my entire life, and I knew you would not fail me now. Still, my joy began to wither away as I felt like I was alone in the pursuit for the rest of the day. If nothing else, I would go back into their bar tonight and love all over them one last time. I was committed to seeking them out and following through with what God had asked me on their behalf. "How badly do you want to see me move in their lives?" That's what he asked, and that's what I sought out. I refuse to see this as a failed attempt! All I can do is be ready for whatever He wants to do, then let the ball stand in His court. I refuse to accept anything less than knowing I gave my all to Him this month.

The few of us still at the house went to get a Tuk Tuk into town at 5, and as we were walking to the main street, I just asked the girls for prayer that Satan's attempts to steal my joy would end, because it was too hard to keep fighting on my own. I was just done with it, and wanted to make sure I was covered in prayer for energy and strength for the final night. Erika prayed over me, and I walked in the truth that hope still remains, and I will be faithful to the One who has been faithful to me.

Just as we were waving a Tuk Tuk down, Annie and Caiti happened to be hanging out of it! Annie had her phone out, and yelled,

"Nar called a half an hour ago, but I didn't have any way to call you!"

I was SO SO SO EXCITED! She must just have forgotten to call me back on the number I called her from, and called from the normal number we use. : -) Thank you Lord. Thank you Thank you Thank You! I called her back right away, and we both realized there wasn't time for them to come over for a late lunch anymore, but that they were going to a restaurant for dinner and we were welcome to join them! So, with a split second change, Jess and I were dropped off at their place first while the rest of them went on into Patong for the evening.

I've never felt more pride and joy in the Lord for coming through for me. His faithfulness amazes me DAILY. We met up with the girls and had a wonderful late afternoon dinner with joyful chatting and genuine friendship. It was awesome to realize that the girls DID see us as more than just customers. I really could see how much they loved that WE loved to just be with them for who they are. We weren't looking to use them for anything; we just enjoyed their company. Whenever I would pray for God to give me something to share, I just kept feeling confirmation to just be myself and enjoy being with the girls. It was beautiful, really.

We had a VERY COOL team video project to work on, that Jessica was putting together (to be posted later), but after that we followed through with visiting them one last time at the Wet Dreams Bar on Soi Tiger.

We got to see Gary one last time, and give him a business card to SHE and reminded him of how much we appreciated all of his hospitality and his friendship over the past week. It was awesome to speak words of encouragement over him one last time before we left.

I hate goodbyes, and honestly I had kind of let it slip past my mind that this was indeed going to be a goodbye. We got there and had a wonderful time playing Connect Four and Jenga with Give and Ae; Bee and Chicken put fake tattoos on our hands, and we just enjoyed being silly and having fun. 11pm rolled around, and it was time. I had no idea how emotional this was going to be, but when the girls left all their customers to give us hugs and started crying, we all lost it, too. As we hugged them all goodbye, I once again reminded each of them of God's love for them. We swapped emails, took a final picture of all of us, and hugged about 3 more times each. : -) Then, Nar and Bee had each bought a fresh-flower lei for each of us! They put them around our necks, and another round of hugs began. Looking in each of their eyes, I could see that they saw Jesus in us. I could see that they saw hope in us. I could see that they saw genuine love. I looked in Chicken's eyes... and when crazy-always drunk-never know what's coming-never thought she really cared-Chicken looked like she was about to lose the only hope she's ever seen, I broke. I hugged that tiny ball of promise with everything in me and told her for one last time how much God loved her and adored her. We told all of them we'd keep praying for them, and we loved them so much! It took every ounce of effort to walk away from them.

In that moment, we really saw what God began through our friendship:
       *The hope that there are people who want to love them for who they are, not what
         they do.
       *The hope of a God who is alive and who defines that love.
       *A hope for a way to support their families outside of the bar life.
       *A man who God has given a dream to turn that hope into reality.

Just like every other day this week, I have all the hope in the world that the Lord will finish what He began.

Dreams Day 5

Fri, 8 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Previous Blogs:
Goosechase: Opportunity for Action;
Dreams Day 1; Dreams Day 2; Dreams Day 3; Dreams Day 4

Tuesday at 2pm we called the girls from the Wet Dreams Bar, but there was no answer. We had another no show on the lunch invite. It really stunk that they didn't come, but once again I had nothing but hope in the Lord to know the best timing for everything.

We went on a late afternoon prayer walk with the team down Bangla Road, which was really intense. The three of us girls from REV 217 had a deep conversation about how we were feeling and tried to work through the situations. We really felt true brokenness, but more so for each other than anything. This was the heaviest spiritual warfare I think we've ever faced on an individual scale. I was literally clinging to hope. It didn't make sense to. Hopelessness and doubt were the obvious things to feel. The rest of the world would have thought that everything we were doing this month would be completely pointless and not worth even attempting. Most people would tell us we weren't making a lick of a difference in any of the bar girls' lives, and that things were just going to go back to the way they were when we left. Why should be even spend any time loving them just to leave them behind?

Because God's love changes things. It changed MY life, it changed Erika's life, and it changed Jessica's life... so of COURSE it would change their lives. That's what we were bringing to them, and it's totally worth it. The Bible tells us that "better is one day in your courts than thousands elsewhere." I KNOW God can use one millisecond to change people's lives, so if He brought us to them, I believe that He will use this one week to change in these girls lives forever.

As I prayed before going into the streets that night, I could see an angel blowing a trumpet, and I was so encouraged to march forward in faith and hope because I knew there was victory in the air. I KNEW IT! I was so thankful that the Lord gave me the picture of His angel announcing victory... because I got to witness that victory sown in the Spirit later that evening. : -)

Off I went again to the Wet Dreams Bar with Alana, MaryAnn, and Jessica. We had another really good talk with Gary, the bar owner!!! We got to hear more stories about how he really does take care of the girls when they are mistreated by customers, and got more of an insider's perspective on how the bar industry in Patong is really all about the money. The men and women all end up there as a means to an end... and usually get stuck there because it really does bring in more money than most other jobs. They need the money for their families, and will do whatever it takes.

Jess asked if he had the opportunity to help these girls out of the bars, would he do it. He said, "Yes, of course, I would love to!" We told him more about how the SHE center helps teach the girls different trades and helps place them in other jobs, so if he was ever in need of a place to refer a girl who really was at a point of leaving regardless of the pay cut, he should give them a call! He seemed genuinely interested in hearing more about the center. He told us a story about a girl he gave a loan to open a coffee shop in Bangkok, and how he gave her two years to pay it back to her, but she was able to pay it back in two months!

Then, he said his dream, with is very own awesome Aussie accent, and I felt heaven and earth collide:

"Ya, I'd like to someday run or co-op a business to help the Thai men and women open businesses and get out of poverty. I think somethin' like that'd be great."

Conversation turned to talking more about what the World Race is all about. He commented on how it must be difficult to come into a country, especially like Thailand, that had a different religion. That opened up a door to talk about how there were a few churches around Phuket! We told him about the church we went to on Sunday and how the pastor spoke on it being the year of opportunities!

I flat out told him that I could just see God's hand moving in his life, and that God had given him such a strong integrity and love for protecting and helping these girls that he was going to be a huge vessel in how God was going to redeem these women. I could see the hope in his eyes: a purpose, a real meaning for life!!!

He was genuinely interested that something like the SHE center existed! He said, "Maybe we could arrange a visit or something for some of the girls."

WHAT?!?! REALLY!???!!!!!! I was doing cartwheels in the spirit, but I very casually and sarcastically said, "Well, we'd been trying to get them to come let us cook American food for them anyhow- so if we could just get them awake by 3pm when we were still at the center, we could totally show them around the place! That would be awesome!" He kind of laughed, but seemed really okay with it all! Jess got the center's number for Gary, and we had some more good conversation, but I saw the Angels rejoicing in heaven for the breakthrough that is beginning in Patong. We loved on all the girls before we left and told them to wake their butts up by 3 so they could come join us. J I love these girls so much; they are truly beautifully and wonderfully made!

Bee was still so amazed by the Holy Spirit, and kept bringing Him up to us and showing us how she still feels him when she's around us or thinks about it sometimes!!! She's SO PRECIOUS!!!! We all gave her big hugs, but she just clung to us, like she didn't want us to go... like she knew there was more to life, and she wanted it. Holy cow, I'm so excited to pray with her again tomorrow!!!

I love how we went for the girls, but God had a different way of making that all happen. I love that God let me see His dreams for Gary and the girls, and how He's letting me witness the first glimpses of it in their lives!!!

Dreams Day 4

Thu, 7 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Previous Blogs:
Goosechase: Opportunity for Action;
Dreams Day 1; Dreams Day 2; Dreams Day 3

Monday morning Jess and I got up, went to the store and bought everything to make American snacks for the girls for when they called. We decided to walk forward in faith that God was going to make it all happen! We got the goods, got home, and waited.

2pm: No call.

3pm: We called them. They were still tired and too hung over to come, but said to come see them where they work tonight.

Sadness and disappointment were definitely the first emotions that flooded my body. Really, Lord? We've been walking in faith that you were moving in all of this, so why didn't you come through? But, in the instant I felt all of that, I instantly knew the answers. God's timing is perfect. l have nothing but my hope in God's promises for these girls to hold on to, and I trust Him not to disappoint us. This was not disappointment; this was walking in patience and hope.

So, we went to the Wet Dreams Bar that night, and no one was there yet but a really nice bartender named Joe that we had met on the beach Saturday. We had a wonderful conversation with him and told him about God's heart for him and his family, and how his love to see His family taken care of was very honorable, and that God would have a way to take care of all of them if He wanted to see it happen. He just smiled, but at least the truth was presented.

The next to arrive was Gary, the owner of the bar! Yes, Jess and I sat with the bar owner for about 2 hours, and had an awesome time! We got to share more about ourselves and the World Race with him. I think it made him feel much more comfortable with us being with the girls, and much more comfortable for the girls to feel freedom to hang out with us since Gary seemed to approve! Jess jumped into telling him all out our adventures of meeting at training camp, and how ATL worked and some of the "Ask the Lord" stories! He told us about his family, more about his children and wife, and some of the hardships he was facing with that. I could tell there were feelings of worthlessness and rejection surrounding his words. Yes, my heart broke for Gary hardcore. I had to repent of my initial judgment of him as bar owner, because he's just a man trying to do the right thing for his family and for the girls. He really has a ton of love and integrity!

I felt Jesus' heart when He was on the cross, "forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing." God's love covers all sins. God began showing me how big of a heart that He had for Gary, and some of the dreams He had for his life and his business. Jess was able to share her family's story of redemption in process!! While she was doing that... I began to play Connect Four with Bee. : -)

I really felt like bringing up last night's prayer at the BBQ, because it was obvious that God's Spirit was moving in her. So I did, and she said, "oh yes! I felt it!" I reminded her that it was God, and that it was His way of telling her how much she loves him. She told me, "I don't know what Jessie was saying; I don't understand her... but I felt the God. It made me think of my family and kids and love."

*holy giddiness flooding me*

Jess pulled out some Thai tracks that she got from the Center, and she's like, "if it feels right, just give it to her!" So, it did feel right, and I gave it to her and told her this was the story of God.

She began reading it... and she immediately started crying and fanning her eyes. The Holy Spirit came to her again... and she just nodded her head in agreement. Honestly, I had no idea what it said, other than the English title said "the miracle of love." I just kept smiling and assuring her that God loved her and had a plan for her, and she was trying to dry the tears as she said, "I have to go dance, I have to go dance." So, hit with the spirit, she went to go pole dance. I suppose that could be similar to David Dancing.... Couldn't it? The sense of joy within her was far stronger than the sadness that could have overcome me in that moment. I knew God's redemption was working itself into her. I had to laugh, because she kept looking to me for approval as she danced... and I could only look straight in her eyes and smile. God's hand was all over her!

Fun memories:

-Chicken and Bee gave us some fake tattoos... so we had butterflies on our left arms for the night, representing God's presence!

-At the very end of the night, the Italian customers we met at the BBQ came and sat with us. Mossimo asked what we were drinking, and we were like, "Pineapple juice!" His face was priceless... but he told the bartender, "Get the girls a round of Pineapple juice on me!" So, we had a round of pineapple juice on Mossimo. J

Dreams Day 3

Wed, 6 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Previous Blogs: Goosechase: Opportunity for Action; Dreams Day 1; Dreams Day 2

Sunday, January 3^rd our team went to church with our contacts family. They meet in a night club building, which is hilarious and completely God-like. : -) It was in both Thai and in English, and we all enjoyed worshipping together with the body of Christ in Phuket. For there being less than .5% Christians on the island, it was very powerful to see that God has a mighty army here!

The pastor's message was about what God showed him about the New Year: 2010.

This year is The Year of Opportunities.

God began tugging at my heart about fasting the night before, and although I didn't know what kind of a fast I would do, I knew this situation with the Wet Dreams Bar called for it. It called for all offensive spirit weapons to be pulled out and used! When they began celebrating communion, God reminded me that "I do not live on bread alone, but on every word of God." Those were the very words Jesus used to combat Satan's attempts to tempt Him when He was fasting in the desert, and I knew I would need them soon.

I truly want to do whatever it takes to see these girls come to know Jesus!! I picked up some pastries to make a dessert plate to bring to the BBQ and put it together in hopes that everything would work out! Today a bunch of the girls on our team had planned to go on an elephant trek... and as much as I had really wanted to do that as well... I knew God had other plans for the day for me and Jess, at least. I had a hard time passing up the island tour... but at this point I could feel God dreaming big and I wasn't passing that up for any island tour or elephant trek or any thing else!

We called the girls at 2:15 when we got back from lunch, but they were still sleeping. At least they said they were still going to have the BBQ! They had to go to the market first, but they were going to call us when they were back and ready. So, we took a nap.

4:30pm rolls around... no call. We got a little saddened... but we decided just to call them. Come to find out... our team cell phone had run out of minutes! Oh no! What if they tried to call?? What if we missed it! AH!! I began to freak out a little... but Mark came down the stairs and offered us his cell phone! Thank you JESUS! We called; Nar answered, and got us directions!! VICTORY!

Jess and I got ourselves together, grabbed a Tuk Tuk and told him the location we were given in hopes that the driver at least knew where it was, because the good Lord KNOWS we had no clue where we were headed! He said he knew, and off we went!

He dropped us off, we paid him, and there we stood in front of a big guesthouse. We asked the lady at the front desk if she knew any of the girls, but she said she didn't. We looked around a little, got REALLY weird stairs from several people, and after 15 minutes of confusion we stopped and prayed. "God, you got us this far. Please show us where to go and what to do!" So, lucky for us there is a 7-11 on every street corner in Thailand, so we went in and bought minutes for the team cell phone so we could call them. There was a mix up in communication (something we're quite used to by now but that we still absolutely loathe) and we ended up buying a sim card with no minutes rather than minutes.... So a half an hour later we had a phone loaded with minutes so we could call them! THANK YOU LORD! Come to find out we were at the right place... they were just around back for the BBQ! Chicken and Give came out and found us and welcomed us in!

Nar made every type of sea food possible on a 2x2 foot grill. We had the best crab, squid, prawns, shrimp, clams, scallops, octopus, and mussels! I didn't think I'd like half of it, but it was all amazing! There were also grilled bell peppers and pineapple, and then my little dessert plate. J

Okay... now for the big stuff! God made a way to really pour out His love and truth tonight!

Jessica and Nicole + 10 Thai women + 3 "customers" + the bar owner Gary and his adorable two kids Jessie (2) and Daniel (7) = Opportunity : -)

Jess got to share the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000! She was like, "this fish reminds me of a story from our Bible!! You see... there was this time when...." : -) We got to hear more about their religion, and we got to share more of our God. It began pouring down rain in the middle of our BBQ, and we got to share how rain is often a sign of God's blessing! All of us were sitting really close together under the covered porch for half the night, which made for some great conversation time. I wish I could remember half of it, but I don't. Here's what I DO remember:

As we got up to leave, Jess asked if we could pray a blessing over their lives, their families, and Gary's business! I wish I could say I even though to ask, but that was totally God moving through Jess. I got really excited when she spoke the words, and even more excited when Gary said, "ah, sure, I'll take a blessing!" Jess and I were already standing, but it was really awkward watching the rest of them figuring out what they should do! We tried to tell them they didn't need to do anything, but they slowly all stood up and joined us in a circle!

*awkward turtle*

But, it was such a victorious moment all at the same time!

AND... we all joined hands and PRAYED TOGETHER!!!

I'm sure they didn't have a clue what was really happening.... but we were given the authority to pray into their lives and be a part of God's dream for them! Jess led the prayer, and the entire time I just asked for each person to tangibly feel the Holy Spirit move in their hearts. We could say lots of convincing things to try and prove God to people throughout the evening... but we know that the Spirit of the Living God is the ONLY way people are going to really know that the God we speak of is real. Jessica's prayer was amazingly beautiful, filled with love and hope and promises and blessings on each of the people there!

When we finished, one of the girls, Bee, looked at me with a face of shock and wonder, and she was feeling her arms as if to ask me, "what the heck was that!?!" She said, "I feel it! I feel warm all over.."

I was overcome with joy! I had to restrain my giddiness a little bit, but I definitely confirmed it to her. "Did you feel Him??! That's the Living God, the God we just prayed to, the God that loves you!!" She was bewildered, and I gave her the biggest hug in the world as we left! We thanked Gary for the amazing BBQ and for their hospitality, and told the girls we'd love to cook American food for them at our place since they made all this great food for us! *grin* They said they would like that, and that they'd call us when they woke up!

VICTORY!!! WOO HOO!!!! God has big dreams for this group of people. For several hours that night, I worshiped the Lord by dancing, singing, and proclaiming victory. I prayed over Patong and for God's protection on those girls. I stood on the roof balcony and faced the mountain tops that we have to drive over to get to the bars, and I spoke directly in that direction as I begged God to move in their hearts and claim them into His Kingdom. I declared that God's hand was upon them, and declared His dreams for them out loud! I could see Nar managing a place like the SHE center some day. God's given her natural leadership abilities and so many practical skills that she's already teaching Thai girls!!! I also believe that Gary has integrity and honor written on his heart, and that he would truly love to help these women if given the right tools and motivation on how to do it. I prayed for Bee's salvation specifically, because it's obvious that the Spirit has readied her heart to accept Jesus as her savior!! They're already living in a community environment that I can see God's hand all over, and I really think God has bigger dreams for them than I can even see!!

Pray for the Holy Spirit to continue moving and guiding the way. Pray that we would Hear God's voice clearly and walk this out with Him. I'm SO excited for what God is doing!!!

Dreams Day 2

Tue, 5 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Previous Blogs: Goosechase: Opportunity for Action; Dreams Day 1

Jess and I got up early to see our team off for the island tour (Alana saw them off too... but she had been up all night so she was already up!) After watching them walk out the door, I felt good in being obedient... but a little disappointed about having to miss out on the tour of the islands. I knew it was the wrong attitude, but I couldn't help it. I did, however, trust the Lord to do great things, and walking in that hope on behalf of the girls from the bar was enough. I began praying into God's dreams for these girls, and He reminded me of His promises, His goodness, and His faithfulness. After I was again filled up with hope and joy on behalf of these girls, I prayed they would call us. I gladly fell back asleep for a few hours and waited for the girls to call us about the BBQ.

12pm: no call.

1pm: no call.

2pm: no call.

So... we called them. They were still sleeping! However, they did tell us that the BBQ was canceled for the day. We were pretty bummed out with the news, but they told us that they were still going to go to the beach and play volleyball and hang out if we wanted to come to that! Yes, God in all His sweet delight and pleasure still sent the three of us to the beach. : -)

We had a BLAST hanging out on the beach, and getting to know the girls even more! Nar, Bee, Ae, Chicken, and Give are 5 of the sweetest girls ever!

Lots of cool things occurred on the beach that day. Comfort levels got larger; we learned more about their past and their families which gave us more specifics to pray about. I loved seeing pictures on their phones of their beautiful children. Our hearts broke even more for them when customers' ran across them on the beach and they still had to put on a front like they were enjoying their company. I broke watching them drink their worries and shame away. I loved being able to love them for just who they are, for who God created them to be.

We played volleyball'.... AKA hitting a cheap plastic pink Barbie ball around over a line drawn in the sand. J Jess and Nar and Chicken saved sand crabs in the ocean, and Jess pulled a couple of the girls around in a toy plastic boat through the ocean like a mom would pull her kids in a red wagon! It was SO funny! The afternoon was filled with love, joy, and lots of hope.

As we got ready to leave the beach, they said that they were planning on the BBQ for Sunday afternoon, and we were welcome to come if we didn't have any plans! So, we told them to call us when they got up, and we'd get directions from them! Yaee! I was so excited to get to hang out with them again!

God definitely gave us His heart for these girls.

"Lord, thank you for the opportunity to love these girls and tell them how much you love them. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to put our faith into action, and for Your Holy Spirit guiding the way and giving us the words to say and the things to do. Thank you for watering seeds and for giving us YOUR heart for these amazing women. They are YOUR children. They are Your BELOVED that you are paving the way to redeem into your Kingdom. Thank you for choosing us to be your vessels! We delight in serving You, God. Thank you for redeeming OUR lives. Thank you for hope."

Dreams Day 1

Mon, 4 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

New Years Day, like every night we've been here, our teams went to the bars in Patong.

Alana, Jessica and I were teamed up, and we felt strongly about going into Soi Tiger (Soi means street' in Thai) after our prayer walk earlier in the day. We went in, but the bars were mostly closed and we felt a little confused and awkward, so we walked outside to ask the Lord what to do. As we were praying, I really felt the Lord tell me, "come back, and then follow the arrows." Sometimes when God says stuff like that, I really question whether my mind is just saying crap or if God's really speaking. Remember, we are in a massive bar industry, with tons of flashing signs everywhere. However, there are huge, inward pointing arrows over Soi Tiger, and I knew it was all about the timing of the night. We needed to go somewhere else and them come back and follow the arrows.

We went down a different street and ended up sitting at a bar with girls who spoke hardly any English at all, and every bit of communicating was exhausting. But, I felt God telling me to speak all kinds of words over the girl I was playing connect four with. I told her how loved she was by God, and how much He's seeking after her, how much He delights in her taking good care of her children, and I don't even know what else. All she kept saying was, "I don't understand...I sorry!" It felt really hopeless, but I also felt God thanking me for being obedient to Him, even when it felt stupid. I really felt like this was His way of seeing if I really meant I would do ANYTHING.

So, we left there... went back to Soi Tiger... and followed the arrows. It took us to the middle of the street where we saw some arrows going upstairs to a discotheque.   However, we don't really ever go up to the second floor, and we realized it wasn't opened yet anyway.   That didn't seem right. Then.... Alana saw some flashing arrows up a little farther, so we followed them. They went away, since it was on one of those electric signs that have different pictures.... so it made us stop and figure out where the arrows disappeared to. Come to find out, we had stopped right under the arrows and we had arrived at our destination:

Welcome to the Aussie Owned Wet Dreams Bar. : -)


There were about 8 girls sitting around with no customers... so we ordered our Pineapple juice and began playing connect four and jackpot with them. We all launched into hearing their stories, and the Holy Spirit was flowing! It would take 5 pages to write out everything about each of their stories, but know that it's been rough.   Most of them have children, and lost previous jobs or broke up with their boyfriends or husbands and needed a way to support their families, including their families back in the villages where they grew up.   One of the women, who I found out used to run a factory with her husband designing purses and could cook amazing Thai food, speaks amazing English! HURRAY!   Finally I can communicate!

I felt the Lord telling me to be bold and to speak life over her, so I did! I told her about how God led me there by the arrows, and how He loved her, and how much He knows she loves her children, and how He has huge plans for her life very soon, and how He created her as a leader and that He wanted her to keep loving the girls in her community the way that she does. When I was done with my Spirit flowing monolog,' she just kind of looked at me like I was crazy and at the
same time like she was thankful. She went at took a shot of whiskey, shook her head, and came back to play connect four like she never skipped a beat.
: -)
I smiled, and just kept talking for a while. Jessica and Alana both had amazing conversations, as well, and we got invited to a BBQ Saturday afternoon!

We all felt the Holy Spirit in big ways. There were several signs:

The Arrows: --> --> --> God spoke, we followed the arrows (duh, that's the obvious).

Butterfly Tattoos: Most of them had tattoos of butterflies, which we had just discussed that morning to represent God's presence! He's marked them and they don't even know it yet!

The Bar Prayer: There was a "Bar Prayer" taped to the side of the fridge at the bar... which was the Lord's Prayer with a drunken twist. Some would call it blasphemy... but we called it hope. We declared that bar to be marked by "Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done."

The invite: We were invited to their place for a BBQ!
Seriously? God obviously had his hand on this. For the girls to invite us to a private get together was a huge open door to really get to love them as the amazing women they are, rather than bar girl to customer.'

This also presented us with a dilemma: Saturday our entire team had planned to do an island tour of James Bond Island, PP Island, Monkey Island, complete with snorkeling and lots of beaches. If we went on the tour, we'd probably miss the chance to go to the BBQ and hang out with the girls. We had to pray really hard about this, because everything in us wanted to go have fun on our "day off." Jess even arranged the entire trip for the team. There's been many times that girls have said they would have lunch with us, but the next day they were too hung over to come, or they were with a customer so they couldn't come, or they honestly didn't want to come to lunch, but they said they would to save face in the moment. We might very well be giving up a day of amazing fun with the team, maybe even still having to pay for the tour, for absolutely nothing. Doubts circled in my mind...but they didn't stay too long.

We prayed, but the answer was pretty obvious: how much did we want to be a part of God's plan for these girls? Was it worth giving up the trip? When I told the Lord I would do ANYTHING, did I mean it?

Yes.

God's voice resonated inside of me that night:

"This is what you asked for; this is what I created you for. I knew before you were knit together in your mother's womb that you would be here in Thailand on January 1^st, 2010 for such a time as this. Will you join me? Will you dream big, will you dream MY DREAMS for my people? "

Yes. YES. Whatever it takes, Lord. ANYTHING.

There's a song that our squad has played over and over the past two months, and it's one that really helped me remember that I truly was made for big things.

The Anthem

I can hear the footsteps of my King

I can hear his heartbeat beckoning

In my darkness He has set me free

and now I hear the Spirit calling me

He's calling, wake up, child: it's your turn to shine;
you were born for such a time as this!

I can hear a holy rumbling

And I've begun the preaching of the King

Loosing chains and breaking down the walls

I wanna hear the Father when He calls

He's calling, wake up, child: it's your turn to shine;
you were born for such a time as this!

This is the anthem of our generation

Here we are God, shake our nation

All we need is Your love, You captivate me!

I am royalty; I have destiny! I have been set free! I'm gonna shake history!

I'm gonna change the world!

Previous Blog: Goosechase: Opportunity for Action

Goosechase: Opportunity for Action

Sun, 3 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

(Read my last goosechase blog here)

Thailand has presented me the opportunity I've been praying for. An opportunity to stand in the gap and fight on behalf of people I've come to love. An opportunity to have a Mary Spirit; to call on my miracle-working Jesus to loose the chains of injustice that surround the bars of Patong, Thailand. Just like Mary in John 2, My heart has been broken for a group of incredible people, and I have been given the opportunity to come to Jesus and ask Him for a miracle.

This has been a spiritually difficult month in many ways, but a month that has stretched me more than I knew I needed stretching. I've had to repent for my judgmental thoughts toward the customers' in the bars, and also for assumptions of the reasons why the men are there. There are so many stories, so much junk that has brought people into the red light district of Patong. I've had the opportunity to pray over girls and men in the bars, seen people feel the Holy Spirit in a way that freaked them out, and had been asked by the Lord to tell a group of Thai girls a whole load of stuff about God's love for them that NONE of them understood. I've felt ridiculous, misunderstood, overwhelmed, unsure, and stupid on more than one occasion. But, at the same time, I've been hearing the Lord more clearly, felt more of a sense of obedience in doing things that seemed crazy, and have had a growing hope for the people working in the bars than ever before!
God's been asking us to dream...
and to tell Him our dreams...
and to ask Him for our dreams.

We have only a few more days, but in the Kingdom of God, One day is like a thousand years. He can do anything, and I am dreaming big!

I declare that hopelessness and disappointment have NO place in the Kingdom of God, and I refuse to let Satan kill our dreams. That dirty devil has tried many things to keep us from hoping in the Lord, but honestly that's all I've had to cling to!

"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly." Romans 5:1-6

So who are these incredible people I've come to know and love? Who are the people my heart has been broken for? Who are the people that I've fasted for? The ones I've prayed over since meeting on New Year's Day? Who has God called me to dream big dreams for? The owner, the bar tenders and the bar girls of WET DREAMS BAR. Read my next blog series to hear their story.

New Year's Video!

Fri, 1 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010!!!

This is the year of opportunity!

Enjoy this video from our New Year's Celebration countdown on Patong Beach, Phuket, Thailand!

(and, in case you didn't see it yet, I re-uploaded the Thailand travel day video WITH SOUND!)

2010 New Years! from Nicole Ricketts on Vimeo.

Herald Helpers 911 Rescue!

Thu, 31 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

This is a special thank you blog to my home church, Herald GB, and to the workers at Modesto 911 Dispatch, and my Amazing Mom and Aunt Kathy who have been leading fundraisers for my World Race Team since we left! I may not have been home with you for the holidays, but because of your love to send me out, we got to help send 5 amazing Thai women to their families for the holidays!!

Just before Christmas, the Centre was trying to raise enough money to send all the Thai girls home for Christmas, since the wages they make at SHE is just barely enough for a modest Thai lifestyle.

It was a huge decision for the Thai girls to take a pay cut and come out of the bars to work somewhere else, and HOW AMAZING that they realized that there is no price high enough to keep selling themselves in the red light district. So, because of that, Mark and Sharon, directors of SHE ministries, really wanted to bless the girls with helping them get home for the holidays. And, of course all of us world racers really wanted to as well!

On Saturday night, December 19^th, I was skyping my parents and told them about the current situation at SHE ministries, and how much of a blessing it would be if we could help send these girls to their families. I didn't really have time (or internet access) to blog about it then, but my parents announced it at church that morning, and my Herald Church Family came through!!! They took an offering for SHE of just over $330USD, which joined up with other donations was plenty enough to make the trips happen and give them a little extra Christmas bonus to help them get started on the New Year!

You guys MADE THEIR DAY!! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!!! I can assure you, the girls were so excited when they opened up their presents!!! One of the girls, Bee, had been praying to God for a way to make it home for Christmas, and she didn't know how it would happen, but she knew she needed to. She was going to ask Mark and Sharon for a loan the day they gave them the bus tickets. J

YOUR GIFTS WERE GOD'S WAY OF ANSWERING HER PRAYERS!!!

Our Contacts: Sharon, Mark, Josh (their son)

Five Thai girls working at SHE: Ann, Bee, Puk, Rose, and Dar

Thank you for being obedient to His leading to give and for loving me enough to trust my word about the situation! I'm so blessed to have a church family supporting me from half way around the world. Seriously: I know how special that is, and that not everyone has that. Thank you for being with me on this journey!

911 Dispatchers:

Holy cow (or Baca Sancta, as we said in Central America), you guys ROCK! I wanted to take the time to share with my blog readers what you guys have been doing for me and my team this year.

So, Auntie Kathy has been heading up the fundraising in the Modesto 911 Dispatch office! She's set up candy and snacks that are being sold all the time, which has made several nice donations towards my team's needs! They also sold Poinsettia's to fundraise during Christmas time! And, even though none of my team (besides me, of course) has met any of my amazing Modesto Family, they all feel like they know Auntie Kathy and love you a whole lot. J

So, I wanted to let you know that one of the things we've used our 911 Rescue Fund for this month is to by non-alcoholic drinks in the bars. J

Now, before you question what your money is going to... let me explain!

Our team with a few of the amazing girls we've been able to talk to so far!

Our ministry this month is working in the red light district, going in and building relationships with the women who work there, and let them know that they have self worth, and were created for so much more than what they are in right now. We get the amazing opportunity to let them know they have a choice, and we invite them to come check out the center we are working for! Some chose not to come, which we have to deal with and shake off the dissapointment in our hearts. However, several girls were really excited that there was somewhere they could work outside the bars, and told us that they really hate being in the bars! Several have children that they have to support, and that's the only way they think they have to make money.

We have to be completely dependent on the Holy Spirit leading us to the girls who are ready to leave, and to speak His truth to them!

Anyhow... back to the fact that you're buying us non-alcoholic drinks.... In order for us to be able to talk with the girls, we need to give the bars business and keep good working relationships with the bar owners. Otherwise we will wear out our welcome and possibly be kicked out. Can I just tell you... I've drank more sprite and pineapple juice in the past two weeks than ever before in my life! And the prices add up! Since our world race budgets are quite modest, your extra dollars are going very far, and we're able to speak a lot of life into these people!

So, thank you for buying snacks and poinsettias and whatever else Auntie is selling on our behalf! Many of your simple purchases are making a HUGE impact in the Kingdom of God!

Merry Christmas and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Here we go, 2010!!

PS: New years Day is a special time of year for both my Church family and Modesto 911 Dispatch! Our church always hosts the most amazing New Year's eve buffet and game night, and invites any and all peace officers to come on their break as a thank you to them in their honor. This is the first year I've not been there, and I'm totally missing being a part of our crazy picture scavenger hunts around town, endless video games, Pictionary, Mexican Train, and mom's amazing spinach dip and 7 layer bean dip. I hope and pray the Lord will fill the party with tons and tons of joy and laughter, and that His Spirit will speak tons of life into you guys and anyone else that might find themselves at the crazy gathering! So, on the one night that you all unite, know that I'm thinking of you and I and my team are ridiculously thankful for you! I LOVE YOU!!!

SHE!

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I absolutely love what God is doing in Phuket, Thailand. Phuket is a small island off South Thailand, known for its tourist atmosphere. The World Race women have split separately from the men on our squad this month, so while the guys are off doing "MAN-istry" in northern Thailand, my girls have joined the ladies from Team Rama and Team New Song! The 13 of us know God has appointed us for such a time as this.

SHE ministries has been training women in Phuket with life skills, as well as Biblical training, in order to raise up a generation of Thai's who are in love with God and are making a difference in their own communities. There are 5 women currently working at the Centre, but they've had up to 20 at one time working here, earning a certificate in baking, chocolate creations, cooking, or jewelry making and design. They also have outreach opportunities for the women here, to learn how to help their communities. It's such a beautiful representation of how the church should function!

Here's an excerpt from the SHE website:

Started in 2006, SHE (Self Help and Empowerment) is a Christian charity committed to helping women and children at risk in Thailand, many of whom are trapped in the commercial sex trade. SHE is dedicated to providing employment, vocational training and counseling for women who want to help themselves out of this industry. All proceeds go directly to helping them find employment, community, friendship, restoration, and above all restoration of their own value.

Mark, Sharon, and visiting teams spend most nights building relationships with women working in the hundreds of bars in Phuket, Thailand. Once a relationship is established after a few visits, Mark & Sharon share the vision of SHE with the women and let them know that there is a way out: they can have a salaried job making jewelry with SHE if they are interested. The only condition of employment is that they must quit their job at the bar completely.

Here's a testimony from one of the women who came through SHE ministries:

"I use believe in Buddha, but now I believe in God. He showed me his power and helped me change my life.

[Working in the bar] was hard with my soul, because we have to go with the customer. I am feeling bad, because sometimes we want money and have to go with customer, and that is hard. But when we here at SHE we have salary. No money in the bar if I no go with customer - I have no money. Here not a lot of salary but on my soul it feel good. Here- [putting hand over her heart] feel better.

"When working at the bar sometimes sad because we have no customer and we sad- no money no nothing, no friends. I had lot of friend, but not good heart. You can find many friend but no good friend. SHE make me have lot of best friend. Good heart.

-- Wan, 24

This is what this month's about!!! Pray that God leads the way for our team out on the streets of Patong, and that His joy and love rests at the centre as we lead Bible Studies and interact with the women already at the Center!

Thailand Buddhism

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I'm going to attempt a brief overview of my first few days in this blog... but I'm using the word brief quite lightly. :- )

I've learned a lot about Thai culture in the first few days in Bangkok. First of all, they understand what honor and respect is all about. Their King has been ruling for 63 years, marking the longest reign of Royalty in Thailand. There are pictures of him EVERY where. Like seriously: all over the city streets, in the restaurants, malls, stores, and in people's homes. Signs like "Long live the King!" and beautiful ornamentation in his honor are everywhere.
I admit I occasionally slipped away into my fairytale mindset and pretended what it might have been like to grow up on both sides of the fence: the slave girl Cinderella AND the princess. It was a huge wake up call to this little American girl on what it must be like to grow up in a Monarchy! I didn't even realize Kingdoms still existed like this! It made me think about the Kingdom of God in a new light, and what "honoring my King" should look like.

We also got to visit some of the main Buddhist temples. The first thing I was reminded of was my first thought visiting Westminster Abby: It's SO weird for ancient, historic, sacred religious buildings to be standing right in the middle of the latest, 21^st Century Business District! It's very interesting to observe thousands of years combine in one area. You see this ancient temple and palace... and then across the street is a food stand selling the best Iced Thai latte's with skyscrapers in the background. It's hysterical, and I love it! I easily forget how young our country is.

As we entered the outer "courtyard" of Wat Po, I was once again enamored by the beautiful artistry and intricacy of the outer buildings. They really have preserved the temple very well. The first temple building we entered was "The Reclining Buddha." And, it's just like it sounds: a MASSIVE golden Buddha in the reclining position, which depicts the Buddha passing into nirvana. Everyone has to take off their shoes before entering in the temple as a sign of respect, which is common for any Thai home or cultural building. This is just one of the some 400 Buddha idols in the Wat Po Temple. I admired the work of the Thai people... and then it hit me.

People actually worship this thing.

I began to really observe what was going on around me, and people were really worshiping this statue. It's like I KNEW these practices happened around the world, but the reality of it never settled in me like it did actually observing it. In the words of my friend Bethany, I felt launched into a Bible story, but knew this is reality. I really saw how much we're still living in the same type of world that Moses did thousands of years ago, watching God's people bow down and worship idols. I felt his heartbreak for his people. I feel the desire to reread some of those stories again, and learn more about how God moved and acted in those situations. A whole section of the Bible just opened up as practical living for me. I know people make "idols" out of themselves and/or their possessions, and it's really easy to put something else before God. However, this really is different. They rightly acknowledge these metal/stone statues as a god. I watched and observed the practices for a while, to really figure out God's heart for the people, and to learn how and what to pray for them. It was a very interesting day.
Here's some background info on Thai Religious culture, based on some info packets and my observations from the few days so far. And.... here's a little video of my temple tour experiences.

Thai Buddhism:

According to the fact sheet we received from YWAM, Thailand is predominantly Buddhist, with over 94% of Thai's professing to be Buddhist. In practice, their beliefs are mixed with Animistic and Brahmin practices, such as leaving offerings of flowers and incense at spirit houses.

There are long rows of bowls in most all of the temples, and people will put small coins in them to build up their merit' by giving money offerings to the temple. They also go to pray for specific things they want, such as blessing in their everyday life. People would bow down three times, and give offerings of flowers, candles, and incense sticks. This practice is the people declaring that the Buddha, the Teaching, and the Order (the monkhood) are their refuge. There were also fortune tellers around the temple, which has been accepted into their religion.

They believe that when a statue of the Buddha is being formed, upon its completion it takes on the spirit of a god and becomes a living god. Every little statue you see of Buddha... they believe has a spirit living inside of it.

Everything about the Buddhist culture revolves around earning merit.

Every man from a Buddhist family is expected to become a monk for some period in his life, for as little as a few weeks. There are around 200,000 monks in Thailand, and you see them walking all around everywhere. They're always in orange robes and with a shaved head. They are not allowed to touch women; otherwise they have to go through a several day cleansing process. I love observing the monks. You expect all of them to be doing only "spiritual things," but then you catch one hitchhiking on the back of a motorcycle, or buying some food at a roadside stand. They still engage in everyday life, with just a hundred extra rules inflicted on them. It's kind of similar to Leviticus/Old Testament Laws. Families encourage their boys to become monks because it earns a special merit for their mothers or their wives that can only be earned through monkhood.

Please join me in praying these things for the Thai people:

To be set free from the bondage of trying to earn merit and appease the spirits. One thing about Asia, contrary to Western Culture, is they don't need convincing that there is a "spirit world." Pray that they will find and turn to the One, true living God.

Pray for Godly values to be taught in the Thai education system, and for the students that are reached to stand strong in their faith.

Pray that our team see's God's heart for the Thai people, and that God gives us opportunities to share His love with them.