http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org Jenny Dawson - The World Race 2007 en-us Thu, 28 Aug 2008 06:19:39 GMT 30 http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=allison-blessed-my-heart http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=allison-blessed-my-heart Our squad leader, Allison Johnston, has taken the last 20 or so days of the trip and dedicated a day to each one of us on the race. She has written blogs about each one of us, and posts a different one each day...today is my day. She totally blessed my heart with her words, and the meaning behind all of them. She really has been my gift from God this year. I just wanted to honor her blog and post it here...she's amazing. Here's her blog, and it is also posted on her page:There is truly not a book I could write to explain my love for Dawson. She cannot be contained on the words of this blog, but I will try and give you a glimpse. Jenny was the first World Racer I met; I happened to be in Florida for vacation and we met for dinner at her parent's restaurant. I think it is safe to say we both had some first impressions that were way off base, but the Lord has taught us both so much.Jenny is basically the 3rd sister that I didn't know I needed, but the Lord did and He is always rig Fri, 25 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=i-couldnt-think-of-something-that-wouldnt-be-really-cheesy http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=i-couldnt-think-of-something-that-wouldnt-be-really-cheesy I guess it's time to write the "Oh my gosh, I can't believe this thing is almost over!" blog. Setting aside time for reflection has been kind of tough, because we are all either in denial or trying to squeeze every bit of time together out of the ever flowing sand in the hourglass. But this is what I know: this last year has been filled with the Lord checking things off my list of what I thought I wanted for my life and who I thought I wanted to be. My ideas are so different from those I had on June 5th, 2007. Thank God. There is a lifestyle calling to me, not just a program or somebody else's good idea. A chance to go back home and live set apart, yet very much involved in the lives of everyone He places around me, wherever I may be. Now I sit here, 8 days away from going home after a year of living abroad. Another year away from America. Another year of floundering and learning to reach for Him. Another year of seeing His grace for me and almost being able to feel it tangibly. Anothe Wed, 23 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=in-the-army-nowin-spirit http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=in-the-army-nowin-spirit I'm on a hotel bed right now, with mascara stains on my cheeks and that headache you have when you have held back tears for a few hours. We left the army base here in Honduras less than an hour ago, and already I feel like I have been away from my best friends for a really long time. Sometimes I think it's stupid to try and put into words those deep emotions that we all have from time to time, but then again, sometimes it's dumb not to try. I have traveled the world. I have lived overseas now for the last 4 years, and yet the last two weeks are the ones I will remember and the ones that will stay at the forefront of my mind. Nobody can explain a God connection...you have to experience it to know it's real. There has been a group of about 10 of us that have been chosen to share this bond that pretty much fell in our laps. It happened so fast we didn't have time to question it. We met on an island, and then the 5 of us followed our army family here to Comayagua, just for the chance to be Mon, 7 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=caribbean-wisdom http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=caribbean-wisdom Well, the last week of our ATL trip has been nothing short of incredible! The Lord blessed us with this amazing hostel on the island of Utila. We could stay for a reasonable price, and could dive right off the dock and watch the sun set in the water right in our backyard. We were surrounded by travelers from many countries of the world: America, Canada, Italy, Israel, Botswana, England, Ireland, and Australia, to name a few.  We got to meet these people and hear their stories, while sharing a few of our own. And we got to hang out all together on this tropical Caribbean islandsimply because the Lord saw fit to send us there! Never before have I been more convinced that you cannot out give God! The Lord has brought clarity in my life over the last week or so. I feel more at peace with a certain concept that I have heard before and have certainly heard over and over again in this last year. For some reason it hadn't really clicked with me until Utila, somewhere amidst the eclectic Mon, 31 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=im-mooching-blogs http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=im-mooching-blogs So, we're here on an island in the Caribbean called Utila, off the coast of Honduras, living life and loving the fact that God loves to be on Island Time too! The conversations, the food, the people we've met, the drinks, the tanning...all have been amazing! The internet however is crazy expensive and as I am unprepared to post a blog of my own, I will graciously give a shout out to my teammate Beth Schroeder, who wrote about what the last few days have been like for us. She put it better than I could, so check it out and I'll try to blog in a little while. (that was for you). To the Army base, here we come! Thu, 27 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=a-brief-update-from-on-the-road http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=a-brief-update-from-on-the-road God rocks! Here's a quick run through of what we have been up to for the last week and a half: -We stayed with the awesome Elam family in Managua, Nicaragua for about 4 days - I rode a horse bareback because I wanted to feel like a Native American! I got her to canter, and then gracefully fell of onto my neck! The Lord protected me and my foot got stepped on, but I never felt it and was fine afterwards! It was awesome...and yes, I got back on and rode that same horse, because everyone knows if you fall off a horse, you have to get back on! But the point is, I rode bareback! Go Big or Go Home! -I also got to ride a horse on the beach, thanks to some random man who was nice enough to lead me around the beach on his horse, just simply because I asked if I could ride it! He was so sweet! This was a goal of mine for this month, and the Lord allowed for it to happen...I love how He cares about the little stuff! He's always looking to bless! -We have gotten free rides with really n Tue, 18 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=3-generations-of-women-one-shofar http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=3-generations-of-women-one-shofar It's been less than 48 hours since my last blog, and already the list of amazing things that have happened is growing! We arrived at the ranch yesterday in the afternoon to a very excited woman named Sam. After settling in, we were off to the local dump where their was a concert going on...that's right, a concert! The lead singer of the band Dispatch was giving a free concert in the dumps, and when we got there, we were really surprised to see 200 American college students running around, chasing and playing with the local kids. Apparently 4 colleges from Virginia, including UVA and Virginia Tech, have been coming to Nicaragua on their spring break for years to work with a group called OrphanNet. It was incredible to see so many young adults from America hanging out with little Nicaraguan children in the dumps! Some of them aren't even Christians, which was a huge wake up call for us! When we were driving home from the concert, we had an awesome prayer experience with this one lady...B Fri, 7 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=five-ws-and-an-h http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=five-ws-and-an-h   Who: Casey, Beth, Heather, Julie, and myself What: A road trip through Central America with no plans and no agendas...just the expectation that God is about to rock us with His guidance and His extravagant will for this next month of our lives. A month set aside for the Lord to show off, basically. A waiting game where we will refuse to take a step until He tells us to, and where we are expecting to have divine appointments laid at our feet and open doors to meet and love on people. Where: Basically any country in Central America is fair game! If we can hitchhike, take a bus, a chicken cart, a horse and buggy, a taxi, a bike, or a flatbed truck...we can go there! God holds the itinerary, and the five of us are on a need to know basis...and we really dont need to know the destinations! Why: Because if we dont do this...if we dont kick out our own crutches from underneath us and have to depend on God for everything, a part of us, the most important part of us, will Thu, 6 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=consturction-ends-and-the-road-trip-begins http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=consturction-ends-and-the-road-trip-begins I'm sitting in an internet cafe in Grenada, Nicaragua. We are all back together again and will leave for debrief tomorrow. After a ridiculously scary and potentially dangerous flight on a 30 seater plane yesterday, we have officially left Puerto Cabezas and close out yet another month. Our time here in Nicaragua was awesome. We all loved it so much. It was really hard to say goodbye to the Nicaraguan guys we worked alongside of for a whole month. But I have learned on this trip how to let go and let God. We have one month to get in there and love people with everything we have, show them the truth through our lives, then head out to the next place knowing that God is the only true Harvester. I got to have some really good conversations in our last week there with a few of the guys, and I have complete peace that the Lord will take them the rest of the way. They are such sweet spirited people and once they come to know God, they become such incredible instruments in His hands. Th Fri, 29 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=mi-vida-en-nicaragua http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=mi-vida-en-nicaragua The journey continues, from L.A. to Nicaragua! It must be said...I love my life here! The first country I ever went to outside of the U.S. was actually Nicaragua, about ten years ago. The Lord confirmed His calling on my life for missions when I was here back in 1998, and then I got the privilege to travel to 3 more Latin American countries for missions within the next 3 years. I have always adored the culture and the people here. You would be hard-pressed to find nicer or a more humble group of people anywhere in the world. So, what have I been up to for these last two and a half weeks, you may ask... Construction!!! I have been dying to get my hands dirty and work out in the sun this whole year, only being slightly satisfied from time to time with painting projects and the such back in the Philippines and a few other times, but we have finally been able to get out there and tackle some construction projects! I always love the first few minutes that pass as we arrive on the const Wed, 20 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=the-pampering-before-the-bucket-baths http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=the-pampering-before-the-bucket-baths  As I write this, I am sitting on a huge leather couch in a real house in Long Beach, California! I went to Target and Chick-fil-a today, and had my first glass of real sweet tea in 8 months! I'm actually surprised I am still awake and coherent enough to write this...I have had about 9 hours of sleep in the last 3 days, and we have been traveling since 3 am Friday morning in the Philippines! The goodbye was bittersweet, and I think it's safe to say that the month in the Philippines will be one of our favorites of this whole trip. So, after a two hour layover in Tokyo (which I don't remember a lot of because I was delusional from sleep deprivation!), and a long overnight flight with plenty of turbulence to make sure that any attempt at sleep would be thwarted, we arrived....in L.A.! I must say, it is extremely weird being home in the States again after 8 months...in the fact that it's not all that weird! We drove around today in a car that had a dvd player in it, we shopped in Targ Sat, 2 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=13-second-turn-around http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=13-second-turn-around Talk about humility... I just had an amazing conversation with one of my friends who is in the Filipino prison here....and we are going through exactly the same thing! I went in today and one of my favorite girls was sitting there crying. I climbed up on the bunk with her and she opened up to me about some struggles she's having. We have talked before and I've always been impressed with her strength and relationship with God, even though she could choose to be bitter due to her circumstances.She shared her frustrations and I had to keep from laughing at the Lord's sense of humor! The issues she was talking about are the same issues I have been dealing with this last week! I actually had to swallow pride just last night and deal with some of my actions of late, and feel like I can breathe easier now. So what does the Lord do? He sends me to prison the very next day and plops me down on a bunk bed with my sister in the Lord who is going through the same stuff! It's like this whole 13 sec Sun, 20 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=8th-month-inspiration http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=8th-month-inspiration Eight months of dirty hands and tears Sighs that last longer than a normal breath Looks that linger and surpass a glance Feet that become dwarfed in Your prints Knees that bear bruises of my dependence Fingers that are learning to hold my weapon Eyes that focus on something unseen Lips that move to encase You in adoration A mind that recognizes lies as intruders Prayers that push their way through religious barriers A resolve that survives the furnace of fire Hope that refuses to decay in the waiting And a spirit that trades chains for flight. Sat, 19 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=mr-rogers-filipino-neighborhood http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=mr-rogers-filipino-neighborhood Life in the Philippines is not too shabby! We have sweet ladies who cook for us (including desserts every meal), we have real drip coffee, which hasn't been true all year, and we live in this huge guest house that makes us each feel like we are home. We also get to partner with Jeff Long, the missionary here who is also an awesome visionary and has basically turned the 25 of us loose to work on whatever project the Lord has laid on our hearts. It's the dream set up, really! Besides the prison ministry three times a week, I have taken on a project of my own...mapping out the neighborhood. We are right in the middle of a neighborhood of squatters who have real needs. Jeff is a very busy man and can't possibly make house visits to the 800 or so houses that await him right outside his front door. He expressed his desires to help the community, and I told him of my desire to do house visits, and thus Operation Meet and Greet was established! I have been going door to door for the past two Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=soi-went-to-prison-today http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=soi-went-to-prison-today That's right, today was my second time behind bars...in a Filipino prison...and I loved every second of it. A group of us have been blessed with an open door from the Lord to go and do prison visits for the whole month that we're here in the Philippines. It is only because of the Lord's favour that we are there. It's shocking how easily the guards let us in, without even searching us or anything! So two times a week a group of 5 or so Americans get to see what life is like behind bars. I've been so surprised at what we've found. The guards open up the door for us, and in we go, into a cell that is shared by 68 women. The living conditions are cramped and sweltering in the tropics, and the women lay on wooden planks for beds. There are bunk beds piled three high, and the women on the top bunks have to crouch so as not to hit their heads on the ceiling. When we enter, the place errupts in talking and sometimes applause! From the first minute we got there, we were accepted and Fri, 11 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=a-filipino-christmas http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=a-filipino-christmas Merry Christmas!!! Right now I am sitting in a guest house with 50 or so people, most of whom are on computers at this very moment, skyping people from home. We've gone from the bitter cold of China to the humid tropics of the Philippines, all in the course of a few hours! There are packages littering the floor that have been lovingly sent from the States straight to the hands of eagerly awaiting Word Racers, the contents spilling out from the frenzy of opening them. There is a pan half full of Christmas cookies and fudge on the counter, and a fake Christmas tree in the corner. Racers walk around in their pajama pants and talk about what they miss from home and what they would be doing right now if they were with their families. Christmas movies have been watched and a carol or two is hummed continuously throughout the day. People rush around, trying to empty their big travel packs and repack with only what they will need for the next week that will be spent on the beach about 3 hours Mon, 24 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=a-month-in-the-land-of-chopsticks-and-great-walls http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=a-month-in-the-land-of-chopsticks-and-great-walls Hey Everyone! After a month in China and feeling like we were Amish due to the lack of technology and communication with the outside world, we're back (and by back, I mean we have left China and are in the Philippines, but that's not what this blog is about!). China was a great month for me. For starters, we all got to be together as a squad, and we went to school for the first two weeks! That's right, we went to Chinese cultural classes every morning because we participated in a cultural exchange program at a university there. It was such a cool experience! And I must say that I laughed so hard so many times! 26 Americans trying to learn Chinese culture interactively can be pretty entertaining! Let me describe a few of the classes for you:Mandarin: All of us in a room repeating after a teacher in unison...we sounded nothing like her! 26 Americans from all over the States trying to master a foreign tonal language...hilarious! Calligraphy: We tried really hard at first to imitate the in Sun, 23 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=the-wielding-of-the-sword http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=the-wielding-of-the-sword It all came together for me at the last debrief in Hong Kong. My last blog is testament to the fact that something was going on inside of me... Someone calling to me, beckoning me past the old familiar road blocks, past the walls in my mind, past the doubts that such a place existed to which I felt inexplicable drawn. I surrendered to Him and knew that it was a crossroads for me, as clich as that may sound. The thing is, it is clich, but that's only because this is the way this life for me will be as long as I'm on earth.a constant climb, a life of seasons, ebbs and flows, falling down and getting back up. I can't live on the mountaintop, because I desperately need to know the God of the desert. Only then can I proclaim Him to the ones who live in a place of desolation. So that feeling accompanied me to debrief, leaving me empty and ready, which seems contradicting, but isn't. And there the soaking began. God was there, eager to pour into me, the vessel that finally obeyed and be Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=its-time-to-stop-screwing-around http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=its-time-to-stop-screwing-around   So, I had a revelation while riding my bike here that was spurred on by this book I finished today about the subculture of people who play Scrabble for a living! (Good intro, huh? I know you're intrigued!) It was an eye-opener about how much potential human beings have with their minds and how little we actually accomplish with this gift of intellect. It got me thinking about my life and where I feel like I excel and what areas of life I spend most of my energies on.  I have been in this stage of half-living for the last two weeks, for which I take no pride and make no attempt to justify. I have been hiding out. This, for me, has involved watching hours of The Office (thanks to a teammate's success in downloading all three seasons to her ipod), reading this Scrabble book that for some reason had held me captive for 400 pages, and occassionally watching movies. Now, I refuse to be legalistic and write these pastimes off as negative or detrimental. They, Mon, 29 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=waitim-teaching-them-what http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=waitim-teaching-them-what So, here we are a week into our Cambodian stay, which also happens to be our 5th month of the race! I can't believe we are almost halfway through! But since the thought of home and what path my life will take in 6 months is not something I want to focus on right now, let me just explain my daily schedule here in Cambodia and let the future take care of itself! Jane and I get up early and are out the door by 8 am. We bike about 10 minutes up the road (sometimes I use the word "road" loosely and really mean rocky, muddy gravel paths) to the church where we teach. We walk in and are greeted by twenty 4-12 year olds (yes, I did say that we teach a class that has 4 year olds as well as 12 year olds!). We take turns teaching with the woman who is their normal teacher. She teaches in Khmer (Cambodian language) and we teach English. Right now we are finishing up the ABC's. Oh, and it must be said that the teacher there doesn't know English and is learning along with the st Wed, 24 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=worth-a-thousand-wordsand-more http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=worth-a-thousand-wordsand-more Benz and I cooking, Thai Style! My Favorite Benz picture Girls' Night Out! Those were supposed to be our "hardcore" faces She's Crazy! The Ladies...nothing but trouble Sao and I making cards at the Well Sao and the cutest baby ever...Champu I'm in there somewhere in that dog pile! Told you! They tried not to smile...sneaky What? We're sharing.... It got a little messy... But I won in the end! How could we not love them?!? Benz and me again...painting the town red! Me and my girl, Ice Me, Benz, Tiger, and Julie...the crew! (Tiger is the bartender...such a nice guy!) My honorary older sister Tue, 16 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=tears-over-thailand http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=tears-over-thailand I will start this blog by stating that I am aware I haven't been keeping this page updated very well in the last few weeks. I am here to fix that and to catch you up on everything (well, almost everything) that has taken place in the last 2-3 weeks. I am in Cambodia right now, which I will blog about later, but right now I want to go back and wrap up our time in Thailandif that is at all possible.   That's actually one of the reasons for the delayI haven't been able to find a way to wrap up the most amazing 6 weeks in a few short blogs. I still haven't figured it out, but this is my attempt.   Thailand stole my heart, plain and simple. Asia was the one continent I thought I could do without seeing when the race itinerary was announced. It was nothing personal against the certain countries or people, I just never felt a pull towards the vast unknown continent. Thailand changed all that. Now I can say honestly that I have felt so much at home in Thailand that I can't imagin Sun, 14 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=gorillas-in-the-midstsort-of http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=gorillas-in-the-midstsort-of So, I think I had one of the best times on the trip so far in ministry the other night at the bars! Julie and I had gone the night before to say hey to our friends (we know and have awesome friendships with 4 girls at one of the bar locations that we visit every night). I had walked back on my own to the second bar to see my friend and when I got there, I knew something was different about her. Her eyes were glossy and she was unsteady on her feet. I knew that it was more than just alcohol affecting her. To make a long story short, she had been drinking whiskey that had been drugged with amphetamines, which she didn't know until afterwards.   Julie and I paid her bar fine so she could leave for the night, and after a lot of convincing and basically holding her up and walking her to the curb, we got her in a taxi and took her home. We got to see where she lived, which was really cool, and we met her family, and saw the floor that she sleeps on every night in her sister's house. Sat, 13 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=my-friend-came-to-visit-me http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=my-friend-came-to-visit-me So, a little over 24 hours ago I had no idea that I would have spent my last day with one of my best friends from Australia! Well, he's from New Zealand, not Australia (a very important fact for New Zealanders or "Kiwis", for the layman!), but I knew him when I lived in Australia for three years working in YWAM. We actually staffed a school together and led an outreach team through the Australian outback in 2005. I hadn't seen him for a year (oh yeah, his name is Buddy!), so this was an awesome surprise. I happened to be skyping my mom at the time when Buddy jumped online to ask how long I would be in Bangkok. Then he said the best partthat he had an overnight layover and wanted to hang out!   For as much Bangkok as you can cram into less than 24 hours, I'm pretty sure he saw the best parts! He is such a good guy that he even went with me to check on some of my girls at the bars. It's so refreshing to know men of God who are so above reproach that they can handle stuff like tha Tue, 18 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=3-am-bangkok http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=3-am-bangkok Two nights ago we all decided to go out to the night market as something crazy to do, since it opens at 1 a.m. The deals were supposed to be way better at that market, because it's not geared towards tourists, but is for the vendors who come and buy their merchandise wholesale. This was the major selling point for me, because I am decidedly awful at bargaining! My brothers would be sad to watch me try to barter, where I will inevitably have my first attempt shot down, and then cave and pay the ticket price because I don't want the woman at the stand to get mad! So, my mission that night was shopping when I didn't have to wheel and deal. After outreach at the bars earlier that night, we hung around at Starbucks, then went to a really famous tourist street where all the foreign backpackers hang out. We killed some time there, then by the time we got to the markets, it was already 2 a.m! No matter, we were eager and ready to shop but apparently the markets ne Sun, 16 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=thai-dance-fever http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=thai-dance-fever I had one of those moments the other night when I was standing there thinking, "How is this really my life?!?", in a good way! Let me back up and explain the evening. There are two girls at one of the go-go dance bars that a few of us have befriended. One of the girls has only just finished her first week of work at the bar. She is skittish when she has to work and very shy. When she is talks and tries to speak what little English she knows, she is so precious and cute that you want to steal her and take her far away from anything that goes on in those places. She sticks out like a sore thumb and doesn't want to be there, but medical bills have to be paid and her two daughters need to be cared for. Her friend works with her, and has taken the new girl under her wing to the point where they even share money at the end of the night so they both have enough to survive.   So, Thursday night, Julie, Amanda, and myself went to the bar where they work, paid their b Sun, 16 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=instant-christian-just-add-jesus http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=instant-christian-just-add-jesus You know those prayers you pray that are big prayers, and you may even mean them at the time when they are spoken, but you have in your head the way the Lord should go about answering them? Yup, that has been my experience with my latest prayer of "Lord, make me dependant on You. I don't want to be able to function without You." Hmm.why I thought that was going to be an easy one is beyond me, but I'm at least appreciating the process!   The desire behind it comes from seeing people in my life who are disciplined with spending time with God, especially those early morning risers that have my respect and the sound of my heavy breathing as they tiptoe out of the room in the a.m. Every time I have decided to join the ranks with these people, it has always felt like a chore, or a medal I am trying to receive for good behavior. Sometimes I think I will move to the front of the line for Jesus to notice me if I can check off my morning devotional. These a Thu, 13 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=jesus-better-than-jack-bauer http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=jesus-better-than-jack-bauer I have written about how it looks and feels going downtown Bangkok to talk to the girls, but now I need to write about what God is doing in my heart. The easiest way to say it is that I am falling in love all over again with Jesus. In a place and a ministry that would seem to be so hard and discouraging, I have never been more sure of who my Lord is and how firm His character stands.   We took a day and went to the Buddhist temples last week. I was prepared for a heaviness to follow me throughout the day and to be praying constantly. To be honest, it wasn't like that at all. Yes, I prayed and even sang out loud a bit, but I wasn't weighed down by it all. The temples are actually beautiful to see. There is darkness there, but it comes from a sense of a whole country of people being completely unaware of the truth. They have not turned their backs on Jesus, snubbing the whole idea of gracethey just haven't heard yet. They are born into Buddhism, with no chance t Sun, 9 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=were-not-in-kansas-any-more http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=were-not-in-kansas-any-more   It takes a taxi and a sky train (BTS), but finally you step off into downtown Bangkok. You're assaulted with smells from the curbside vendors, who are selling anything from fresh pineapple to fried bugs. There are always tons of people on the sidewalk that you have to squeeze past. Most of them are men, and most of them are white. They are heading in the same direction, for very different reasons. You'll walk up a few blocks, and then you see itthe side street that looks like a carnival, or something like an Asian Las Vegas. Bright lights, dance music, and bars everywhere. There are girls, some in their mid-twenties, some younger, crowding the walkways outside the bars, wearing next to nothing. They are beckoning you to step into the bars, and further on into the areas that are hidden by curtains. They flip their hair and smile at you, but if you happen to catch a glimpse of them before they see you coming, you will see the truth. They are sca Fri, 7 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=thailand-debrief-baby http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/?filename=thailand-debrief-baby  I have just spent the most relaxing and amazing time on an island in Thailand....what a great sentence! So glad it's true! We arrived in Bangkok around noon on the 28th of August, a little sleepy-eyed from the 12 hour flight, but excited to be on yet another continent. We got to the YWAM base here, where I was surprised by two of my amazing friends that I worked with in Australia who happened to be here too! It was a little taste of home for me...I love you, Corey and Brooke! So, after  a 30 minute reunion and a little lunch, we were off to the island! My head was still spinning from the jetlag and the surprise, so it took me a second to realize that the white sand beach we pulled up to on the speedboat was our home for the next 5 days. It was nothing short of a paradise resort, and we were there to enjoy it. We had met up with the January team again, as we have done for all of the debriefs so far, so it was back to being just the 80 of us! How do I describe the w Mon, 3 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT