Youth Retreat was March 22nd-24th and we had a fabulous time exploring God’s voice and what He says when facing certain issues in our life! I had a small group made up of kids who I don’t usually have in my small group on Friday night Exchanges, and I loved getting to hang out with them over that weekend. I also loved being able to connect with people I don’t usually get to spend a lot of time with, such as my fellow youth leaders.

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Or most of it at least. The big journey, there and back, confirmed and paid for!

Our team has now narrowed down to 12 (from 16). Some people, after much prayer and consideration, decided to pull out of the trip (yes, finance was one of the reasons) but the rest of us are 99% packed and ready to go =)

We’re still in need of $800 as a team - for 2 people in particular. 3 people still have not been able to confirm their flights… but tomorrow, all of us are going to take the overnight bus to Bangkok, in faith that by the time we need to fly out (Tuesday night/Wednesday 1am morning) that God will pave the way and figure out all the details, and provide for us.

Very excited, but also quite tired.

Please pray for us - for provision, for health, for good relationships and patience and love for one another.

I look forward to sharing God stories and fun adventures with you all when I get back =) And pictures too of course!

Love, and blessings!
Dawn. 

Time for an updaaaate!!

Life has been crazy busy! The Africa trip is coming closer and time is running out! But, God is so faithful and gracious to us =) Over the past couple weeks, we’ve been able to raise almost half of our original financial need! Let me tell you… it was a huge number. It still is! But God has obviously been speaking to people and calling individuals to come forward and to give faithfully.

Right now, we’re going through team outreach prep! We start our mornings with worship, prayer time and devotionals. Then we figure out what there is to be done (getting information on flights, financial updates, visa requirements and other things like that. In the afternoon, we spend time preparing testimonies, skits, dance routines and worship music.

Tomorrow, the team (minus me and one other) will drive over 2 hours to Chiang Mai to get Yellow Fever Vaccinations (I already got mine in Bangkok).

So yes! Busy busy busy =) We’re also spending most of our mealtimes together as a team (instead of just going and eating on our own) which has been fun!

Anyway, please continue to pray for us as we prepare! Still believing that God will provide for all of our needs, in His perfect timing =)

Love, Dawn.

This past month has been insanely busy! But, I am currently at home in Bangkok for a couple days of rest, and then prep and packing and all sorts of craziness!! So! Things that have been going on =)

• No Fear Exchange Camp (pictures below, and also more to come!) was great! We spent 2 days, 1 night in a neighbourhood called “Baan Farm” which is a Christian Community! A good group of new students came along (as well as our well-loved regulars) and we spent time talking about the goodness and the greatness of God, that allows for us to overcome any fear! Because He is so BIG! and He loves us all so much =)

• After Exchange Camp, we have several parties! Dance Party, Goodbye Party (because the team from Wisconsin were leaving to go minister elsewhere in Thailand!)

• A few of the students who we met through Exchange Camp continued to come and hang out with us at the shop! They also came to church on Sunday! So we’re really beginning to form some great relationships with them, which is fantastic! Please pray that they will continue to come, and that God will do even greater things in their hearts for His glory!

• Packed up, and moved home! My time as a staff with Ging Gaan is coming to an end! I’m currently at home, taking a couple weeks off to finish up some stuff, rest and prepare for the Africa trip! So, I moved all my stuff home (when I go back to Chiang Rai on October 8th, I’ll only be there for a week and some until we go on our missions trip) So… I’m halfway through flipping the page towards a new chapter in life!

• Finished the Ging Gaan Africa trip promo video! It took longer than I expected (then again, I wasn’t planning to spend a ton of time on it because, well, I don’t have a ton of time!) but it’s all done now! So please check it out =) I will be posting it here in a couple hours!

So today, we had a Ging Gaan Girls Day Out! =) Where we dressed up a little, put some make up on, went out for a nice lunch, played some games, and got to know each other better!

There really isn’t anything better than being with these girls who I have come to love to much! It’s not that we get into super deep conversations all the time and stuff like that, but it’s great to just enjoy each others presence, hang out, eat, laugh, and be girly together. There is so much joy in doing that! I think that it’s so precious and important to celebrate each other as beloved and treasured daughters of the Great King =)

So yes! I very much enjoyed today =) It was also my first time wearing a dress ever since I’ve been up here! Haha =) That’s always fun ^^

So I just wanted to share some of the things that God was speaking to me during the YWAM Northern Thailand Regional Conference!

It was really quite the trip! We took off early Saturday morning, drove 10 hours (stopped in between for lunch and a quick trip to a ceramics factory) and got to Mae Sot around 5pm, right in time for dinner! That night we had an intro to the conference and to the theme of our weekend… “Crossing Over”!! Paul Wilcox, the Leader of YWAM Northern Thailand, spoke on the What, the Why, and the Who of crossing over.

Over the next couple days, we heard from Mr. Dwight Martin (long term Missionary to Thailand, and creator of the ThaiCRC Website) and also from Dr. Buakab Ronghanam. We talked about what Crossing Over meant, where we’re crossing over to… and how we’re going to do that.

Just to explain, when talking about crossing over, we were referring back to Joshua 3, during which (after Moses dies) Joshua leads the Israelites out from Moab and across the River Jordan into Canaan, the land that God had promised them. Finally! After so many years of wandering around a desert, making promises with God and breaking them… That they finally get to cross the river into this strange unknown land that God had promised them… into things that God had promised them so long ago!

So, how does this apply for us?

This weekend was a lot about YWAM Northern Thailand as a whole. Statistically, the Northern corner of Thailand has the highest percentage of Thai Christians in comparison with the rest of the country. We also have a larger number of Missionaries and church up here, especially in the three provinces of Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son. Our inheritance? Our ‘Promise Land’? The rest of the Northern provinces of Thailand… and eventually the rest of the country =)

We asked questions such as “How do we (Personally, and as YWAM) prepare to move into our inheritance? What can we do?” and “What new things do we want to see YWAM Northern Thailand doing?” Our leaders (who call themselves the LST) shared the visions and dreams that God had placed in their hearts: That YWAM would have a presence/churches in all 17 of the Northern Provinces (right now, we have a YWAM presence in only 6 provinces).

So what did I personally get from all this?

Ahhhhh so much excitement!! Hearing about the visions and dreams that God placed on our leaders hearts really encouraged me and got me even more pumped up about being a part of what God is doing here in Thailand, right now, through YWAM, and also through other Christians and Missionaries. It was like God knew that I needed some motivation and needed to be with the body and recharge, and He granted me those things! By the end of the week, I was rested and ready to go running out of the starting gates again =) I also heard reminders from God, of things that He had spoken to me before.

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth…

I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, ‘You are my servant’; I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

[From sections of Isaiah 40:7-41:10]

Anyway, all that to say, God is so awesome =D and I love Him! and I love the promises He has for us (as scary and as big as they may be!)

Hello lovely and faithful blog readers! Here is my August update =) There was sooooo much that I wanted to say, I really didn’t know how to fit it all in one letter, so I’ll be blogging over the next couple days to expand on what I wrote in my newsletter =)

Anyway, enjoy and be blessed!

Love, Dawn.

Hey all! Just wanted to write a not-so-mini mid-week update!

We’ve had a lot happen over this past week (and will continue to have a lot going on over the next 2 weeks!) I had the opportunity to lead worship for ‘Community Night’ at the YWAM Chiang Rai base (just a small gathering) last wednesday night. Then, the ladies from YWAM Colorado Springs arrived safely (woohoo!) and after settling in on Friday morning, they were thrown into sharing and teaching straight away that evening! I led worship again on Sunday for our church and had a blast with Paul Wilcox who came and shared God’s love with us =)

Over the past couple days, we’ve been going to the university during lunch hours to hang out and hand out flyers for… dun dun dun dunnnnn… EXCHANGE CAMP!! Which is this coming Saturday! So our Exchange Camp this quarter is only one day (from 9am-8pm) and the topic of the day is on Relationships (no, not romance…), on how to have a better relationship with the people around you, and how to have a [better] relationship with God! So we kinda entice the students with promises of fun games and activities and a chance to practice english with farangs (foreigners) and to have a chance to meet and make new friends =) A lot of the students who sign up are freshmen (although we’ve got a couple seniors too!) and most of them don’t know Jesus. We’ve already got over 40 students who have signed up! Which is more than we expected (having only gone to the University twice so far) but that means that God is doing something, and so I’m really excited!!

Please pray for the Exchange Camp on Saturday.
• Pray that those who have signed up will come (often times, people end up not coming even if they’ve signed up and paid…)
• Pray for open hearts and open minds to hear the truth and to learn about a Love that is unlike any other!
• Pray for us, the staff, and the team as we prepare… because I still don’t actually know what we’re gonna be doing XD haha

What else? We’ve been having small group every night (since monday) and so far it’s been an all girls group (which is okay… I guess). When the team arrived, we discovered that the topic of Identity was something that was on their hearts, which is cool because it’s something that has been on many of our hearts too! So, during this small group, we talk a lot about Identity. Who we are in Christ, how Jesus is our plum line and how we need to build our identity upon His firm foundation. The discussions have been fantastic and God is speaking to so many of these girls, it’s super fab! =D

• Please pray for our small group and for the girls! That we would learn to be vulnerable with God and with each other, so that we might help each other grow and lift each other up!
• Also, sometimes there are non-christians who attend our small groups, which is fantastic! But please pray a special prayer for them! Pray that they would listen, receive and believe the truth that they are being so boldly confronted with.

Other random stuff!

• We ran into a YWAM Kentucky DTS team who just arrived in Thailand about a week ago, for outreach! Fun stuff ^^ We exchanged contact info with them so hopefully we’ll be seeing them around

• I finally kinda made a good latte! With art! Just a little bit… Kinda… I’ll keep trying ‘till I get it right XD Ella (YWAM Colorado team) took a picture… I’ll try and post it later XD

Love and Blessings!
Dawn.