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

Valentine's Day in Bangkok

What an incredible evening we had as we hit the streets with bags of valentines and candy, sharing God's love with the many prostituted and trafficked women who line the sidewalks and fill the bars every night in the Nana district.

We had over 300 mini valentine/candy bags to hand out, many of these donated by a great team of women from the US, sponsored by NightLight USA, who volunteered with us recently. Just to show the magnitude of what we are up against - we had over 75 bags that were just for Russian speakers. The message of God's love for them was written in their language. We actually ran out! There were more trafficked women than we had valentine bags. This does not include all the trafficked women from Europe, Asia and Africa. Sex slavery and exploitation is a huge issue that must be addressed globally and in the US. What is at the core of this travesty? Sexual brokenness. This is not a victimless crime...the men who use these women are as broken as the women they abuse. It is time that we all become informed about the issues of modern-day slavery and do our part to bring it to an end!

Next year we have decided to ask for help from our supporters in the US to send enough bags so we can hand out over 1,000 bags. Looking for a project - keep this in mind. In the area we minister, it is estimated that over 10,000 women are prostituted every night - 10,000 is actually a low estimate!

As you can see by my pictures, some of these women are very young...tiny, baby-faced, and often frightened. My heart goes out to every one of them every time I see them.

Pray that the message we included in every bag about how God loves them will bring some hope into their lives and open doors for more contact and ministry in the future.

I will be leaving for home this Thursday. It is always so difficult leaving the women of NightLight behind. But, I am also really looking forward to seeing my family and reconnecting with many of you - Susan

NEW POST in BANGKOK

HELLO...they say a picture says a thousand words. So, I have several pictures to share with you. I hesitate to write much about our experiences since I have learned how accessible my blog is to the general public. All I ask is that you continue to hold us in your prayers as we fight major battles here in Bangkok.

The pictures...Baby "B" (of course), the three of us at a Thai cooking class (great fun) and a group picture at the Manila conference (Lauran B, Asha from Nagaland, Kim K, Annie D and Susan O.)

Kim and Lyndsey left Bangkok today...Charity, Darrell and her team return to the US on Friday night. It will be lonely around here!

Love and Blessings and Bangkok - Susan