phuket, thailand

when we arrived in phuket sunday morning after a 13-hour bus ride from bangkok, we checked into our hotel, and then went to thai church. that evening we went to dinner at this beautiful island restaurant, and met the thai staff (campus crusade for christ - campus student link). all of the above pictures are from that evening. the plant life is beautiful, and the staff are alot of fun. the man in blue standing up at the end of the table is P'Ole, and he is hillarious. i love them all!

these pictures (above) are from campus - quite different from the university of nebraska-lincoln. the top two are from inside the cafeteria, which is actually outside, so...

these two pictures (above) are from Central (the american-style shopping mall). it really is quite beautfiul, and sort of a taste of america. the only downfall is that here, they have american prices too!

we're in bangkok!

five of us left omaha together, and then met up with brittany and annie in chicago. the next two pictures are us in o'hare airport in chicago. five of us managed to sit right beside each other for the 13-hour flight from chicago to tokyo. this was on a 777 - huge plane. there were individual movie screens behind each seat. "welcome to japan" - we were in the japan airport for about an hour, but i can now say i've been to tokyo! the blurry one with all the lighting is in the bangkok airport - this place was awesome! it's pretty new, so everything seemed, well, new! the next picture is of the place we are staying in for the few days we're in bangkok - beautiful. that flower is outside of our balcony window which overlooks the pool. and yes, they have pigeons in bangkok! mangy, but pigeons nonetheless. we're having alot of fun, and getting along great. God is good!

Denver Christmas Conference 2007 (Campus Crusade for Christ - Thailand Orientation)

This week (January 2-7) college students from all over the midwest (the Great Plains International Region 0f Campus Crusade for Christ) traveled to Denver, Colorado for the Denver Christmas Conference. The Denver Christmas Conference (DCC) is hosted by the Adam's Mark Hotel in downtown Denver and, for one week, houses over 1,500 students and provides accomodations for the conference. This year we heard from great speakers like Bryan Loritts, Jaeson Ma, Carrie Walker, Dong Whan Kim, and many more. We worshipped with great musicians like Tifah, Foolish Things, and Building 429. And we were always entertained by our "fearless" (theme of the conference) emcee, Lee Watkins. For me, the highlights of the conference were meeting the entire team that I will be spending the next four months with in Thailand, growing more in my individual relationship with Christ, and reaching a new level of excitement in my faith. DCC 2007 was by far the most powerful conference I've attended, and my prayers are with all who attended with me, especially those from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. We cast an amazing vision for the campus, and God is moving already. Remain faithful and passionate in prayer and obedience, and nothing is impossible you guys. I am excited for Lincoln, Nebraska!
The Whole Team - From left: Annie Zellhoefer (Missouri), Hannah Brauer (Cedarville College, OH), Brittany Lupardus (Missouri), Alisha Keim (back) (Nebraska-Kearney alum), Mitch Abraham (Tekamah), and Rodney Keim (Nebraska-Kearney alum). I took this picture in Niketown.
The Girls (Guys, why didn't we take a picture together?) - From left: Hannah Brauer (Cedarville College, OH), Annie Zellhoefer (Missouri), Brittany Lupardus (Missouri), Alisha Keim (Nebraska-Kearney alum).

In Rodney and Alisha's room for a some good get-to-know-you time and a little Cranium, as if the ride to Denver wasn't fun enough. We instantly clicked, and were like best friends. I am so excited to spend the next four months with these guys!

me before i leave for thailand (blog test)

FREE HUGS















at the university of nebraska, we like to spend our friday nights walking around downtown lincoln giving people free hugs. sometimes you just need a hug.

in this one, we're in the haymarket (you can see the mill coffeehouse). God totally used this to open up alot of opportunities to talk to people about the love of Jesus.

this is my friend nate standing outside of starbucks. people come running out of the movie theatre - it's pretty wild.