ON OUR WAY HOME

Well...here we are - the four of us (Allen, Denise, Darrell and I) sitting in the Bangkok airport for another seven hours. I am thrilled to finally get online again.

It has been an amazing time in Bangkok, Kolkata and Nagaland. My heart is so broken...I have cried more tears than on any other trip as I listened to the victims of sex slavery, poverty and oppression share their tragic and very disturbing stories. It was such a blessing to be able to share God's love with them and minister healing prayer. I am even more committed to the cause of ending all forms of trafficking and slavery. ABOLITION!

Visiting special friends at various ministries was such a blessing. I am always so challenged by other women who have chosen to live on the edges of life and bring light into the darkness of sex trafficking and slavery. We visited FREESET in Kolkata www.freesetglobal.com, some of the team from SariBari, NightLight in Bangkok www.nightlightinternational.com, Dton Nam in Bangkok, an emerging ministry with transgender "lady boys", and Miqlat in Dimapur Nagaland. I treasure our friendships and partnerships with these amazing women and ministries.

Our time of teaching and fellowship with the faculty and students of Oriental Theological Seminary in Dimapur, Nagaland was something I will always cherish. We were all blessed! After past trips to Nagaland I always wondered if I would return. This time I know I will...there is so much to do and God is on the move.

Enough said...time to sign out. My head is already spinning as I am starting the reentry process. If you haven't taken the time to view the new website for BE FREE, give it a look. (www.befree58.org) I am so thankful for the team...Jennifer @ BEFREE and Nancy @ BREAKING FREE who have kept everything moving in my absence. There is a lot going on in South Dakota too!

From honking taxis and crows to roosters and snorting pigs

Just a short note...I am teaching a two hour class at Oriental Theological Seminary in 10 minutes.

I love it here in Nagaland. The students are so amazing as we hear their stories of sacrifice and oppression...their call to share Christ and speak for freedom and justice whatever the cost. MY KIND OF PEOPLE!

CALCUTTA TO NAGALAND

Hi everyone! We had a wonderful experience in Calcutta (Kolkata). Allen, Denise, Darrell and I had the privilege of visiting FREESET, an amazing business as mission ministry situated on the edge of one of the notorious redlight districts of this chaotic and spiritually challenging city. Their motto - freeset...in business for freedom. They employ women rescued out of the nearby brothels, giving then hope and dignity. They presently are making a wide variety of very cool burlap bags and silk-screened t-shirts. Check out their website: www.freesetglobal.com

We are now in Nagaland at Oriental Theological Seminary in Dimapur. Tonight I shared at Vespers and all four of us were blessed by their amazing choir. This is a good beginning. In the days ahead we will be teaching and leading a student retreat. MORE TO COME!

Kolkata here we come...

Tonight is our last night in Bangkok. It has been quite an experience for all of us. It was so interesting listening to each team member share about their time in Bangkok. It has been transformational in different ways for each person. We have lots of stories to share and many God sightings!

Allen and Denise Kjesbo, Darrell and I leave for Kolkata (Calcutta) early tomorrow morning. We will be spending two days there and then on to Nagaland. It will be a great adventure and another glimpse of God at work in the midst of great poverty and oppression.

Pray for us as we teach at the seminary and lead a student retreat in Nagaland. In Calcutta we will be visiting Freeset, a business that employees women who have been rescued from prostitution or were at risk. Also, as time allows, we will be visiting Mother Teresa's Mother House and Home for the Dying. Many of you know I have a troubled spirit while in Calcutta. The spiritual oppression is massive...even worse than in the bar area of Bangkok. This is one time I wish I wasn't so spiritually sensitive to the "dark side."

I do not know if we will have computer access in India so this may be my last post for awhile.

BLESSINGS FROM BANGKOK and we covet your support! Susan

Paradise Lost

Yesterday the team traveled to Pattaya, a tourist destination on the coast of Thailand. The beauty of its beaches are now overrun with tourists from Germany, England and Russia seeking the sun, racy entertainment and sex shows. It is disgusting to walk along the beach and see all the old men with young girls...it is disgusting to have a flier shoved in your face advertising the latest sex show with all the details....it is disgusting to see all the women who have been obviously trafficked into Thailand knowing that many would give anything to be home again...it is disgusting to see very young, scantily clad teenage girls standing outside the bars, calling out to prospective customers...WHEN IS ENOUGH, ENOUGH?

This was once a paradise until the Vietnam War when it became a favorite destination for "R&R." It didn't take long for the booming business of sexual exploitation to turn this beautiful area into Paradise Lost...a trashy haunt for perversion and sex tourism. Wake up South Dakota...we have sex tourism in our state...the hunting season...the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. WHEN IS ENOUGH, ENOUGH? Will our "paradise" also be lost?!

Bangkok "Godsightings"

DID YOU KNOW (according to the rather gross, "sixty-somnething", boastful American slumped back on his motorcycle stopped in the middle of the street)...that 80% of men are genetically related to Ghengis Khan so they are unable to be satisfied with monogamy or one sexual relationship at a time?! Men need lots of women...throughout history and in most cultures in the world this is understood...here in Thailand men are FREE to indulge in all their natural desires...that is why I will never go back in live in Texas...my Thai wife is ok if I come here almost every night...she understands because I met here here in one of these bars...sure there are girls working here that are under 18...what do you expect...women in Thailand "get it", they have sex early, start having babies at 12 and 13...they have to have some way of supporting themselves...there are some experienced 16 year women who do really well in places like this,especially if they do more than dance (prostitute)...WE ARE DOING THEM A FAVOR. What a LIE! How sick!

Why did I even bother to talk with him? I wanted the team to overhear our conversation and hear the kind of sick logic we often hear from men we talk to in the bars of Bangkok..THEY ARE BROKEN and don't even realize it...pure delusion...at times I wanted to literally "take him on" and"set him straight" but God loves this broken man too. He doesn't realize how little freedom he truly has...HE IS NOT FREE...

BACK TO BANGKOK

It is late so this is a short post. Tomorrow very early in the morning a team of seven of us leaves for Bangkok. We will be doing another Valentine's Day Outreach. If you read the entry I wrote about last year's event, you will see that I hoped to return in 2010 and bring enough valentines and candy to have 1,000 bags to hand out...a huge goal.

Well...we have enough candy and valentines to fill OVER 1,000 BAGS! Thanks to The Point is to Serve Church and the great community group we belong to, I am totally amazed!

I have uploaded a few pictures of our "God Sightings" group packing all our donated items last night. All I can say is WOW.

MORE TO COME...Please pray for our long flight and that everyone arrives safely and feeling well. We will try to blog every day when possible. SUSAN