Look into Thailand

Region of South East Asia:

South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic and volcanic activity.
South East Asia consists of two geographic regions: the Asian mainland, and island arcs and archipelagoes to the east and southeast. The mainland section consists of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam; the population of which are primarily Tai peoples and Austroasiatic peoples; the dominant religion is Buddhism, followed by Christianity. The maritime section consists of Brunei, East Timor,[1] Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore. Austronesian peoples predominate in this region; the dominant religion is Islam, followed by Christianity.

History of Thailand:

A unified Thai kingdom was established in the mid-14th century. Known as Siam until 1939, Thailand is the only Southeast Asian country never to have been taken over by a European power. A bloodless revolution in 1932 led to a constitutional monarchy. In alliance with Japan during World War II, Thailand became a US ally following the conflict. Thailand is currently facing separatist violence in its southern ethnic Malay-Muslim provinces.

Thai Economy:
Economic growth in 2007 was due almost entirely to robust export performance - despite the pressure of an appreciating currency. Exports have performed at record levels, rising nearly 17% in 2006 and 12% in 2007. Export-oriented manufacturing - in particular automobile production - and farm output are driving these gains.

Religion:

Buddhist 94.6%, Muslim 4.6%, Christian 0.7%, other 0.1% (2000 census)

Unreached People:

Throughout Thailand there are 112 people groups and of these 76 are unreached. To see a country profile please visit the Joshua Project.

Spiritual Strongholds in the Region:

Sex Tourism, Illicit Drugs and Economic Inequality.

*Facts were taken from the CIA Factbook, Wikipedia, and the Joshua Project.

Headed to Thailand!

After much prayer, God and I decided that this July 10th-21st I will be going to Thailand for a short term missions trip.

This opportunity could not have come at a better time! God has been doing a lot of re-arranging and re-shifting in my life and has made creatively serving others a HUGE priority in my life.

During my time in Thailand, myself with a team of 14 other willing hearts will serve the people of Northern Thailand. The majority of our work will take place in Maesot. While there we will carry out a medical missions outreach to the hilltribe people, as well as serve the children of the local orphanages and schools.

Some might question why I'm going so far to help those in need because I really could do a lot of helping here in the US. Well, it is a valid and true thought and it's something I fought with myself. But I really believe that God knows no boundaries and when he says serve my people, he means wherever and whenever and be ready to go when I say "GO".

The People of Maesot

So I'm going to serve the people of Maesot and more specifically the hilltribe members of the area. This population is the equivalent of our Native Americans and Latin America's indigenous. They hold tightly to their traditional customs and cultural norms and because of this, do not speak Thai and don't really compete in the greater Thai economy or society. These socio-economic limitations leave the people in poverty and uneducated.

More to come soon.

Blessings,

Angela


FYI
Maesot is along the border with Myanmar, north west of Bangkok. It is a small rural city of about 50,000. Some maps have it and some do not. It is about a 6-7 hour van ride from Bangkok. Sometimes Maesot is also spelled Maesod.