travels through thailand...

hello everyone! i want to first apologize about the massive length of time that has gone by since i have last updated this blog. today is my 90th day in asia, and in that time i have experienced so much.

we spent the last three weeks traveling all over thailand visiting different ministries that we hope to work with in the future. we started our adventures in bangkok at a safe house. they do very similar work as eth.nik, but on a larger scale. they are able to employ about 80 women that have come out of trafficking. they teach different types of classes (parenting, spiritual formation, music, etc.) that are useful to them women's healing and future.

next we took a 19 hour trip to the southern coast to phuket, thailand. phuket is a picturesque town lined with beaches, islands, and never-ending sunshine (at least that's how i remember it). while there, i took part in my first thai/lao new year, "songkran/pi mai". this time is comparable to our christmas in that all businesses shut down and most people take time to travel and visit family. the only way i know how to describe it is as a country-wide water fight! super soaker squirt guns and buckets of water are at every corner. baby powder and iced-water are being thrown at you at any given moment, and it's considered perfectly acceptable to pour water on pedestrians from the back of your pickup truck!

but underneath all of the sunshine and laid-back beach life of phuket, lies hurt and brokenness in a world that i am only beginning to understand. while there, we were able to meet and talk with another organization that works in anti-trafficking. they have around 30 women that have come out of the 600+ bars and nightclubs that line the streets of phuket. they are able to give them sustainable income, hope for a future, and most of all show them the love that our father has for them!

finally we made our way north to chiang mai, thailand. there we met with one more anti-trafficking safe house and an orphanage. this safe house can only sustain a few women at the moment, but is drastically transforming their lives. they sew, and make jewelry and paper. we really enjoyed our time there and we even got a chance to test out one of our designs with them.

the last place that we were able to visit was an orphanage. it is home to just over 40 girls (some as young as 6 years old) that have come from villages in and around northern thailand. the orphanage aims to do preventative trafficking work; they provide the girls with education, love, and opportunities that they do not receive elsewhere. aside from a proper education, they learn life skills and are hoping to break into learning skills for different trades. we spent a day playing and laughing with the girls while teaching them one of our new products. they are so full of life and love and have high hopes for their futures.

during our three weeks traveling, i was able to learn so much about myself and my heart, and about where the father is leading me. i am so excited to see what is next for eth.nik as we begin to partner with these likeminded organizations.

the next few weeks will be filled with preparing product and gearing up for our return to the states. we will be stateside from late june until late september; during that time we will be traveling, telling people about our ministry, raising support for our next year, and selling our product at a few different shows and conferences.

some things to lift up:

--i am still raising support to sustain myself these next two months and to travel back to the states in june. if you would like to donate, click here and chose "laos(clark)" from the drop down box

--that the father will lead us into relationships with people/organizations that we can help/be a part of

--the women and children that we are working with now, and all of the thousands that are still bound by trafficking, and that we do everything we can to make people aware of this growing issue

thank you for reading and for being a part of our ministry.

desirae

also, if you haven't already checked it out, here is eth.nik's website (just know that a lot of changes are taking place): ethniktradeco.com

some girls from the orphanage

"songkran"

happy fish

chiang mai

i left laos 10 days ago to join rachel in thailand. after a short bus ride and flight, i arrived in chiang mai. right away we started mapping out my days and working on new designs for eth.nik.

during the day rachel would be at a business/ministry conference and i would be searching the markets for usable textiles, beads, and design ideas. by night, we designed, sewed, made prototypes, and of course explored chiang mai too.

through the conference and people she and i have met here, we have new ideas and possibilities for eth.nik's future. we are going to take a few weeks to talk to the father about them and then, maybe move forward. i am very excited about what the future holds and what he is doing in southeast asia.

rachel left this morning to visit a fair trade in india for a week, and i am headed back to laos tomorrow.

please keep us in your thoughts as we ask the father what he has in store for us.

also, i am still in the process of raising money. if you would like to donate, please visit:

http://theglobalfoundation.org/Contact.html

click on the donate tab and select laos(clark) from the drop down box.

thanks for reading. make sure to become a follower and check back for more updates .

trains, planes, and night buses.

i have been in aisa for 10 days and it seems like i have been here for months. since i left the states, i have logged 55 hours traveling.

i arrived in bangkok, thailand on the morning of the 4th and jumped right into scouring the markets for material and beads. rachel, la, and i spent 4 days searching through booth after booth at the chinese market. we found a lot of amazing items that the women we work with will use to make products.

from the market and from playing around with the material we bought, we have many different ideas in the making. we are both very excited about what is coming up for eth.nik!

i left bangkok on the evening of the 7th and got to vientiane, laos the next morning. we took a 12 hour sleeper train. i use the term "sleeper" lightly, they

were sold out of beds, so we had sit-up seats the whole night.

once we arrived in vientiane, we hit the ground running. rachel took me around to meet different people and learn about different ministries. i got a small understanding of the different ministries that we are working with and how we all mesh together to help each other out. i also learned how to drive a motorbike, but haven't braved traffic yet. for now i'm sticking to neighborhood roads and parking lots.

my second day in laos, i met two girls that teach here. they invited me to go north with them for the weekend to luang prabang, laos. it used to be the capital and is known for its beautiful landscape. we spent two days there, after an 11 hour over night bus ride. my description of that is 11 hours od extreme turbulence. if you don't get motion sick, you would after that trip. but it was all worth is for the weekend we spent in luang prabang.

we met some teachers from the international school there. one lady and her daughters took us to a waterfall and we spent the day exploring there.

the second day, we took a tuk tuk (a sort of open air taxi) to a place called tad se to see elephants. we got a chance to ride them in wooded area, that i'll call a jungle just for this story's sake. i was riding bare back on the elephant and it bent down really fast to eat, and i almost fell off! i slid and had to grab his ear to keep myself on. probably one of the top 10 scariest experiences of my life.

on another long 11 hour turbulence night bus i sat next to a lao girl and a chicken the whole way back (yes a chicken). finally back in vientiane, i got some rest and went to sef (sunday evening fellowship). it was nice to be back "home" and to be finished traveling for a little while. i had the opportunity to meet a lot of people at sef and went out after with a group from there.

now, i am starting on meeting people from the different ministries, working on prototypes for products, and starting language study.

things to lift up:

-la got in a motorbike wreck (she was hit by a drunk driver). she is headed south to her home town for a couple of weeks. she isn't seriously injured, but she's in a lot of pain.

-for me as i am learning my way around and starting language.

-for rachel as she is a conference in thailand.

thanks for reading!

the next step forward.

so, it's becoming a reality. i am moving to laos. in five days and a wake up, i will be boarding a plane for los angeles, ca. then after a day with my dear friend, breanne, i'll be headed to thailand.

i am excited and ready for this new adventure. i am anxious to see how the father will use me in this season of my life.

i have traveled internationally before, but never moved away from everything that i know. i am fully depending on him to keep me safe and strong. but i am ready to make a small difference and show people that are hurting, a love that i know.

for those of you who don't know me, or what i'm doing:

i am going to laos to work with my friend, rachel, and her company, eth.nik trade company. eth.nik trade company exists to bring aid to the abused, broken and impoverished lives of southeast asia through the sale of its indigenous handmade crafts.

i have never been one for writing down my thoughts or keeping up with blogs, but i am going to try my hardest to keep this updated.

i am currently still raising money for this move, if you would like to support me, click here. just be sure to select the laos(clark) option in the drop down box. i am half way to my goal of $10.000.

thanks for reading. more to come soon.

desirae

clarkdhc@gmail.com