pala-u goodbye

so i'm leaving pala-u tomrrow. and i think this will be the last update for you guys. you'll just have to wait til i get back to hear about my last week here. haha... anyways. we finished the cement for the family last night. we worked another 4 or so hours til like 9 at night i think. and finished the back of her house. let me just say. it was truly the Lords project. so we had 6 bags of cement left to do the back. and about getting half way through. i looked at the materials disappearing and wondered if we'd be able to finish. last two bags of cement was being mixed. and the rocks were running out to mix in, and i was like. Lord your faithful to complete your work. but, i didn't really believe it. because you had to see for yourself. there was no way we had enough. but the cement kept coming and as they shoveled in the last bit it was just enough. i mean. we couldn't even do 2 more inches. it was amazing. i couldn't believe it. the Lord is good. so today i went by and took pictures of it finished and prayed for the family and said bye. so a few more days here and i'm gone. not sure what i'll be doing. i know two things for sure. going to the slums in bangkok, where i met a guy the first sunday i was here. hopefully he's there. and i'll be going to the floating market. and church of course on sunday in bangkok. well hope all is well. see you when i get home. ;)

thank you

thanks to all that prayed and gave. it truly blessed this one family. like i mentioned about the stove for the family. we were able to pour a cement sidewalk around her house. to help stop the mud from geting in the house. when it rains. we had people from all over helping. it was like a mini extreme home makeover. haha.. you guys provided the supplies and workers. it was a long crazy day. from 630 am to 5 at night. nothing like getting your hands dirty for the Lord. the wife of the family told me she wont forget what we did for her and will be praying for us. also. it was a saturday we gave the stove to her. and she gave testimony at church the next day on how God provided for her family. what a blessing it is to hear that. i'm gonna take some pics today or tomorrow of the cement all done for you all to see. saturday i leave to bangkok and will be staying there til wednesday....when i come home... ahh!!! less than a week. thank you for your prayers. please continue to pray. my time here isn't finished and i'm still able to bless when the oppurtunity comes. see you all soon.

d

crazy times...

so its been a while since i been on here... according to some people.... no names (alexa). anyways. God is good. so much to tell you, where do i start. umm wedsnesday i visited a family in pala-u, around where i'm staying, the husband stepped on a mind and lost an arm, legs are messed up, lost two fingers and both his eyes. the daughter has sarapalsy, and the son is normal. the kids are young still. the wife can't work, because she is taking care of the family. a korean church built them a house. so moving from a shack to a house, is a big improvement for them. hopefully today i'll be able to get them a gas stove, because the charcoal stoves are messing and hard for her to use. its because of your faithful giving family. that you have blessed people out here. so you guys are getting this family a new gas stove and gas tank, and pots. praise God. i have to wait til two gay gets back, then we will get it. he should be back soon. so thursday i went with some people from an org. and went driving down south 4 hours then hike in the mt. for an hour. to a small village. the org got 20 familys food and supplies. i was blessed to work along side them. they have invited me to stay at their boys dorm rooms if i'm ever in chang mai. praise God. i spent the night in the village. it was pretty unreal. took a bath in the river. just totally different from my normal life. the kids there were fun. umm... came back friday and back to hua hin. i got sick yesterday night. i have a sore throat. i'm blessed to still talk still a little. so today is saturday. the well just got out an hour ago. sorry robert about the phone cutting off. minutes just run out. i told josh. let it be a lesson that you will never know when your time is up. until it does. thailand is just soo different. i mean, where else do you have to stop on the road to wait for an elephant to get off it. and seeing monkeys on a truck full of cocoanuts, or a monkey on the back of a motorbike. only in thailand. please continue to pray for vision on how to bless people here. whether it be their needs or just blessing them with a word. and to those of you that say i'm coming home soon... i'm not! haha. it seems like a long time from now. haha. God bless and love you all.

-d

todays adventure...

today was one of the greatest days so far. it was a long day for sure. we left at like 9 in the morning to head to teelapaa. it was a long drive. now this is where josh is gonna say, dang it, i wish i was there.... haha. it was a 3 1/2 hour off-roading expedition. we covered some of the most steepest, toughest, deepest, greenest parts of the jungle. we drove through the river like 15 times. 4x4 baby!! i got lots of video and pics of it. we stopped half way through and ate lunch that was soo good. you could hear monkeys wooing in the distance. man it was unreal. after awhile your like... i'm tired of this road. after getting to the village we talked a bit with the people there. saw the medical clinic, which was just a bamboo house. no electricity. it was pretty remote. i got lots of pics of todays adventure. after that. it was another 3 1/2 hours back home.

on the way back i got to talk with this guy named bruce. i figured well this is about the only time i'm going to be able to share Christ with him, being that i'm leaving here in two days. so we talked for a long time. he is not christian, he is a new age thinker. leans towards buddhism. nice guy, but he just couldn't get his head around the fact that there is truth, anyways, alfredo would know how this convo went just by mentioning he was a new ager. but the thing that makes me want to serve the Lord even more is that bruce is out here, on his own time, own money, never been married, had a gf. and he is wanting to voulinteer his time and strength to help the people along the border here. he wants to help set up solar powered water pumps and lighting, he used his own money to buy this stuff to bring out here, he spent $500 of his own money to just bring it here, on the flight. and hes doing all of this in the name of what? just to feel good about himself. oh... how much more i want to serve the the people and help where i can, in the NAME OF CHRIST!! because the Lord is worthy. family, pray, and seek the Lord. to where He will guide you. we get one life to bring as many people to the Lord as we can. how will you be involved in the kingdom? my heart is heavy. i'm begining to feel the burden of the people here. love you all.

in His name.
derrick

james 1:27

monday morning

well a lot has happend since i arrived to sangklaburi. first day here(thursday night) we visited the safe house(mental ill/hiv) people. and i gave a small devo that was translated into karen. thank you taylor for the scripture, because that is what i taught on. PTL!! friday we went to the burmese border and went to a market, i stuck my foot in burma... haha. then went to the longest wooden bridge out here. and saw the riverhouses. wait til you see the pics. so beautiful. friday i think i gave another devo. and sat. taught english to the kids here where i'm staying. there are kids staying here and elderly staying here as well. sunday was church. people brought there first fruits and put them on the altar. there were two live chickens in a bag. and many other stuff. they were auctioned off. we ate food in the church right after service, good food too. i did't eat the monkey though... after that we went back to the house, then went to a bday party. which is not what you think it'd be like. they pray, then give a long devo. and pray some more. and then sing happy bday, and then eat. after that we walked down the street to anther bday party. same ting there. but i ddin'y eat, because i was still full from the last. i'm starting to learn about karen culture. they pray, read, teach, sing, eat, and sleep. pretty simple. chris and dave, two guys i have been with since i got here. well dave showed up a bit later. but they have left today to go to bangkok then up to chang mai for a week. so i'm on my own now. pray for discipline now that i'm alone, well i'm with others here. but you know what i mean. i will be here til friday, then i'm traveling back to bangkok, and staying at immanuel baptisit church for the night, then going to hua hin, then pala-u(can't spell). i'll be with sharon for the time being out there. oh.. the food out here is amazing if i didn't already tell you guys. wish you could enjoy with me. jumbo bowl is good. but this is a new level of good. and awesomeness. haha. i'm picking up more thai. i understand more than i can speak. PTL!! well i'm gonna go figure out what i can do today. hope all is well. thank you all for your prayers. may the Lord have full reign in your life. this week.

d

wednesday morning

well today i'm off to kachanaburi. for how long i dont know. maybe two weeks. i dont know really. last night the pastor of this church took us to bangkok sky resturant, its in the tallest building in thailand. 1000 feet tall. pretty cool. i took pics and video for later viewing of course. please pray for the unknown this coming 2 two weeks.

whatever!

i can't figure out the pictures on here ahh...

sunday night

well, its been a few days here in bangkok. i've been at the hospital two days. but not today. moe moe aye is recovering from surgury. today was church. it was great. besides me being tired. i'll blame it on the jet lag.... can't use that excuse next week. haha. service was good. they make food for everyone afterwards. food here is awesome. its like mexico, how you walk down streets and theres taco stands everywhere. but its thaifood. so yah. later we went to the slums of thailand. i guess its famous for drugs or something, i dont know. but i taught some kids in the neighborhood and english worship song. Lord you are so precious to me. yah that one. it was cool. then some other girls from the church and a group from australia taught some english in groups with the people there. its crazy. because its a small street and the houses are like soooo run down. like wooden floors with huge gaps in them. i got to talk to this guy named franky. he is from singapore. and has a thai wife here. i got to share with him about the Lord. he said he was a free thinker(alfredo would've loved to talk with this guy....haha). anyways. i made him relize that he can't go to the buddhist temples and still call on the name of the Lord. pray that the Lord does a work in him and his wifes lives. they take their kids to this english lesson, which is every week. so o pray the people from the church would continue to share with him and her. wednesday i'll be going to kachanaburi, then maybe two weeks later i'll be going to hua hin. with sharon. i'm picking up on the language, being that i'm with people that only speak thai. i'm staying at immanuel baptist church right now. the pastor here is so nice. i have new mesquito bites every morning, its nothing though. well thats all i can think of now. goodnight here in bangkok, but good morning in riverside.

bangkok!

well. i made here. i spent yesterday in the city a bit. and at the hospital with sharon. all is well. i'll be in the city for... i dont remember. maybe a week. then i'm going to kachanaburi. well. its saturday morning. that means. everyone is at the well. yesterday we had lunch for three people. it cost like 230 baht. which is like 8 dollars or something. its pretty cheap. actually. really cheap. good food too. gotta go bye!

korea... check!

well i took a 5 hour tour today. super cold out. probably 30. some of the river was frozen. i had a great time visiting some palace in seoul. then went to a resturant. had korean bbq. pretty good. gag'd a little with the seaweed. haha. but three of 11 people with us were thai. so i met them and they were really nice. sweet old ladys and one younger man. i spoke thai than i remember learning. and learned some from them as well. i met this other kid. probably 14 or 15. named garrett. he's a christian as well. his dad and his family go to an AG church. they knew of harvest and our crusades we put on in ny. they're from NJ. i was telling garrett that i didn't know where i was sleeping tonight(because i dont). and i said i wasn't worried though. and he said, yah you should'nt be, God will take care of you. i was like, amen. a kid stranger encouraging me on the tour bus. this other couple was on the tour, it was they're honeymoon, they are gonig to bangkok as well. then phuket(south thailand, beach resort).

theres not much to korea. if it were a type of drink i think i'd be tea. its subtle and just not much to see. well i'm really tired. my eyes are heavy, and its only 4:19. well. i'll write again when i'm in bangkok! later.

1 thes 5

Korea

so i made it here. after a long flight and little sleep, my lower back hurts. kinda hungry. the sun is rising, its freezing cold outside. i think its like little below 30. i think i'm gonna go take a tour or something. i have 11 hours to do anything. i better use my time wisely. its crazy to think you guys just finished lunch. when i haven't even eatin breakfast. i have no idea what to do. i forgot to do my reconisence(probably spelt that wrong) of what there is to do out here, or see. not much else to say, other than i'm tired and want to lay flat and sleep haha... well hope all is well. i'll be praying for all i remember and as often as i do. see you on the flip side... literally in a month.. . haha.

Almost gone

Well. its almost time to leave, well - like a day and a half. 

Some of you have been asking, what will i be doing out there. honestly, i dont know. I will be helping out with Chris Mills and Sharon Porterfield. Both long term missionaries, with whatever they need me to do. The Lord put it in my heart to go, and i am just trying to be obedient with what He's given me first. I am so amazed of how the Lord provided for this trip. It truly is a work of God. If you only knew and saw what I have. Well I'll try to post a couple of times while i'm gone. My goal is to post at least twice. well thanks for your prayers. May the Lord have reign in your life...

d

Welcome!

I will be posting on here, as often as I can. Thank you, come again... ;)