Wow what a month! I have 3 days to go now until I leave from Manchester airport to fly into Bangkok. So many amazing answers to prayers and people helping me at just the right times. For example; friends needing the exact furniture that I wanted to get rid of, people offering me their houses to store my stuff for a year, the school I work for raising a fantastic amount for the Philippines charity that I'll work with, people helping with fund raising events, and even people paying for the Notary Public signature to go onto my Philippines visa that I hadn't realised would cost so much. It has been, and still is, a hectic time, but gloriously not stressful. Everytime I've thought about something I need to organise or get, I've prayed for God to help me get it sorted, and within days it was done. Even the conversations I have with people, many of whom have given me fantastic advice, seem to be just at the right time for what I needed to know in that moment. I have such a peace about going, I am now really excited and know it is the right thing to do this year. I can't wait to learn all that God has for me.
The itinerary:
5th Aug - Fly to Bangkok
- Stay over night in the nearby Hotel ready to catch an early flight the next day.
6th Aug - Fly to Chiang Rai
- Meet the Schools project team in Chiang Rai and begin a week working and having fun with them.
14th Aug - Fly back to Bangkok
- Probably stay at the same hotel ready for an early train or coach to Cambodia.
15th Aug - Get to Cambodia and meet the schools project team.
16th Aug - Teach english at the schools project. Begin a week of working and fun on the Cambodian border.
23rd Aug - Me and Emma make our way for a week's break on the southern Islands before she returns to England.
28th Aug - Return to Bangkok and say goodbye to Emma.
29th Aug - Make my way to the slum ministry of Pattaya, working with the children and the YWAM project for a while. Time spent with them is unknown as of yet.
- After working in Pattaya I will make my way down Thailand, through Malaysia and onto Singapore. As this was the cheapest airport to fly from! On the way I will clearly have to take some time to take in the gorgeous scenery!
16th Oct - Fly from Singapore to Manila to meet the people from House Of The Heroes, housing street children. Where I will be for the next 3 months. Living with the children and doing some teaching and caring, and getting involved with some local projects that rescue children from the worst conditions.
16th Dec - Fly Manila to Sydney. Meeting a good friend in Sydney, before making my way to Melbourne to spend Christmas and to catch up with some more amazing friends. Not too sure what I'll be doing the whole time I'm there but I need to learn Portuguese properly before I go to work in Brazil.
27th Feb - Fly from Sydney to Buenos Aires, Argentina. This is when it all gets a bit hasey!! Fly on to Brazil as I know I want to work in Brazil with street children, hoping to spend a lot of time with Happy Child. But the details of when and how I get from Argentina to Brazil are yet to be finalized. So instead of guessing I'll just leave it there! Maybe that's something else that might take up a lot of time in Australia!
June - Fly from Rio to Heathrow. But it's too far in the future to be able to book this flight yet!
I am really looking forward to working with such passionate people who have dedicated their lives to helping these children. I can't wait to get to know each one of the kids and pray into their lives for so much peace and love to surround them. I am keen to teach them and encourage them in the skills that they already have. And I'm so excited to hear from God what plans he has for their lives. Along the way I can't wait to dream with God and get inspired by his phenominal creation, and I know I won't be going alone. Quite excitingly, as I was being prayed for on Sunday by my church here in Manchester, a member said God revealed something to him that he had never seen before. God showed him what my guardian angel looks like, by the way he is massive!! God also told him the angels name and even how to spell it. Ezriel; which means God is my aid. I was so blown away by this, and love that God chose to reveal that to someone as an encouragement to me, because I have been a little worried about being on my own and being in dangerous situations. I will not intentionally be putting myself into scarey situations but it is always good to know the names of who you can call on when you are ever out of your depth.
