I have always loved Asian culture, I’m not sure when I became fascinated by a world I had never been but for as long as I can remember I had desired to visit.

As a kid I lived in my Geisha robe—it was a beautiful silky green shade with little Japanese fish and flowers all over it. My mom brought it back as a souvenir from her trip and I couldn’t take it off.

Unfortunately she never let me don my royal robes at school but I was able to sneak my foot mittens—basically toe socks but only for your big toe—into my tennis shoes everyday for a year straight (I only had 2 pairs so you can do the math…)

Needless to say I dreamed of a place I had never really even seen pictures of—Yeah I know it’s absurd to think that the world existed before Pinterest!—–But my only acquaintance with Asia was the classy pull down map in my 5th grade classroom (I’m also in the market for one of these…so if you find it, buy it and CALL ME!)

It wasn’t until I was 15 that I realized the World, all of it’s treasures and stories were just waiting to be explored. That year I took my first missions trip all the way to Peru! It was a a train-wreck type of thing in my life, like the kind you don’t recover from.

I couldn’t remember what it was like to not have known the world and decided the rest of my life was meant to discover it

The Father broke my heart time and time again…country after country for His beloved. I spent many years studying His Word and the World’s cultures so I could introduce the two. He took me on some great adventures to some unheard of places but my heart still longed to explore Asia.

Then in 2011 my heart found a home in SE Asia. I spent 11 months traveling to 11 different countries on the World Race—and it just so happened that Thailand, India and the Philippines were some of my favorite places.

I came alive with these people, in these cultures. I truly fell in love. As soon as I left I longed to be back, but hoped my “good-bye” would be short lived.

It only took 3 years for the day to finally come (my little Geisha girl heart is racing) but November 14th is quickly approaching. With so many stunning places in Asia it was hard to choose our route but ultimately we decided to invest our time in ministries and places we plan to invest our lives.

Our first stop is the Philippines. We will spend 7 days working with a ministry center called Kids International. They have every kind of ministry you could imagine; from a birthing center, to sports ministry to a dental clinic. A spa that trains women in the slums to work in cosmetics, and a free school that provides education to children who would not go otherwise. They have an orphanage and a girls home as well as daily feedings in the trash mountain communities. We will also have the incredible opportunity of meeting one of our Compassion Children named Angel and spending the day a a water park and aquarium.

After that we will travel by plane, train, bus and tuk-tuk throughout Thailand. The adventure starts in Phuket, the sex-trafficking capital of Thailand where we will join a friend who works with women in the bars. Then we’ll hop on a ferry, a bus and a train to make our way to Chiang Mai where we will work with a ministry called Lighthouse in Action. Lighthouse works to rescue women from the sex trafficking industry. After a few days up north we’re renting a car and driving out to the mountains of Mae Sot. In Mae Sot we’re joining an awesome group, Outpour Movement, a ministry that focuses on the Burmese refugees through a children’s home, sustainability farming, bike distribution and a restaurant. We also sponsor Piyapat,  the cutest little boy in Thailand (ok maybe I’m biased) who we are lucky enough to meet and spend a whole day with.

I’m certain this is going to be quite the adventure, full of exhaustion, beauty, frustration, trust, laughter, weird food, upset stomaches, tears, joy and ridiculous travel days.

But we don’t want this trip to be just for us, like a secret too good to tell.

We want to invite you to join us! Come and be a part of what He is doing. You can partner with us in prayer, stay up to date through the blog, ask us questions and send encouragement on facebook, check out pictures on instagram and support us financially —————>

We can’t do this without you, and we wouldn’t want to anyways.

From there we will make our way to Malaysia.  Thanksgiving will be spent in the melting pot of the world with a dear friend of ours named Jessica. She is currently a full time missionary working with PenHop. We hope to connect with her ministry as well as other local ministries in the area.

Our last stop in Asia will be the gloriously smelly and stunning India. We will hang out in Delhi working at the mind-blowing Good Samaritan School, a care point of Children’s Hope Chest. This school was established in the heart and heat of the Delhi slums for children who had been orphaned and abandoned. Nick is going to try his hand at Cricket and I’m going to attempt to teach cooking, art, and english to a bunch of beautiful Indian girls. We also get to share stories from the Bible and help the center with sponsor photo updates. I also can’t wait to introduce you to our 2 adorable sponsored children there, Tulsi and Yuravijj.

If you could spend 6 weeks exploring part of the world where would you go and what would you do?