Thoughts from Home

This last week and especially these last few days have been a whirlwind.  We left Pattaya on Saturday afternoon (or Friday pacific time depending on how you look at it).  It was a two hour car ride to Bangkok then a four hour flight from Bangkok to Taipei.  From there we had a 13 hours flight to Seattle; we walked off the plane at about 6:30pm Saturday evening.  It was a long travel day to say the least.  My favorite part about coming home is taking a deep breath the moment I step off the plane and taking in the fresh air.  Seattle has a fresh, earthy smell that is so unique; the clean air is something that many of us take for granted.  I always feel so refreshed the moment I step off the plane in Seattle.

Pattaya is a dark place, but there is a lot of hope and light to be found.  There is a network of people working together to make a difference in the lives of many of the women that are affected by this industry and to make Pattaya a city of hope with healthy tourist attractions.  Working at the Business Hope Center gave us a great perspective and reality to what our efforts are doing.  By training these women to become successful business owners we are also giving them hope for a future.  The eyes of these women were bright and full of hope as their lives are headed in a different direction.  They were eager to learn everything we could teach them.

In the few days that I have been home many friends have challenged me with the question of why travel overseas to help trafficking victims, why not stay local when this is also such a big issue in our community?  Here in the states there are resources available, they are a bit more limited but they are here.  In addition, there are many organizations advocating locally for victims of trafficking and doing great work to promote change here at home.  In Pattaya there are no resources and very few people fighting for these women and the children who forced into prostitution.  In fact, we are one of 3 programs working to help in the city.

I knew it would be difficult to come home, but I didn’t realize how much… this trip certainly stretched me and is helping me to identify my life’s calling.  Now that I am home I will begin working on my thesis which will include designing a volunteer program to connect people here in the states to the issue of trafficking in Pattaya.   

I am so grateful for the team that I traveled with; they are an amazing God loving group of people with big hearts and strong passion for the women and children of Pattaya.  I learned so much just being able to serve alongside them and find myself missing them already.  I plan to stay involved with this ministry and hope to return to Pattaya soon.  For more information about Global Break Through, here is a link to their website: www.globalbreakthrough.org or to watch a short video they created about the work being done in Pattaya check this site out: http://vimeo.com/20697571.

Thank you all for your love, support, encouragement and prayers.  I am blessed to have such wonderful people in my life.