meet the teams!

I can't believe that we leave in less than a month! 26 days to be exact!

Just wanted to introduce you to the girls I will be going with.
Here's the breakdown. There are two teams going. I will be going with the first team and coming back with the second. The first team will be there May 22-July 4 and the second team will be there June 28-August 8th.

Team 1: Rachel Tiemeyer and Mary Fordham
I'm looking forward to getting to know these girls and serving with them in Bangkok!





Team 2 (so far): My wonderful friend Lyndsey Andler





We appreciate your prayers!
Much love.

Crowns. By my very best friend Ilana Poole.

So, my best friend is really amazing and creative.
She just really loves people in general, but has also specifically felt the burden for the girls in the sex trade.
As a way of supporting this trip she has been making and selling these beautiful headbands and I just wanted to show you a few of them.
If you see something you like and want to buy a headband, feel free to e-mail me and we can make that happen. (msmith10@liberty.edu)

Thanks SO much Ilana! Thanks for letting God use your creativity to support this. I love you!

Isaiah 61:1-4

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord
for the display of his splendor.
They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.

to thailand

Over the past several years my heart has been broken for the girls in the sex trade in Thailand. Poverty in Thailand has forced hundreds of thousands of women into prostitution as their only means of providing financially for their families. There are more than 300,000 prostituted persons in Thailand. While my eyes have been opened to, and my heart has been broken for these girls, I have been praying about what part God wants me to play in reaching these people.

My heart for these girls is that they would know their value and the love that Christ Jesus has for them, and that they would find freedom in Him and from the sex industry. This summer I have the awesome opportunity through my church, Brentwood Church, to partner with an organization in Bangkok Thailand called Beginnings. The mission of Beginnings is to minister to the women in prostitution in Thailand by providing a safe haven for them where they can be given an education, which will provide them with different employment opportunities and to show them how valuable they are by showing them the love that Christ has for them.

I will be in Bangkok May 22-August 8th. While in Bangkok I will be serving with Beginnings by going into the bars to build relationships with the girls, as well as leading English classes at Beginnings as an outreach for the girls.

If you would like to be praying for me while I'm preparing for the trip, some specific ways in which you can pray are that God would continue to prepare my heart over this next month before my trip for the things I am going to see and experience, and for the people that I am going to have the opportunity to interact with. Also pray that God would prepare the hearts of the girls that I am going to meet while I am there. I truly believe that your prayers will pave the way for me as I prepare to take
this trip to Bangkok, and that your continued prayers while I am there will give me the strength that I will need daily to carry out the mission that I am being sent to do.

Thank you so much for your love and support. I am SO excited about what God is going to do through this trip and look forward to sharing my stories with you along the way.