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The SOLD Project

Chiang Mai

Yesterday I left Bangkok and arrived in the northern city of Chiang Mai. What a difference a few hundred miles makes! Where Bangkok is huge, noisy, often dirty, and yet stunningly beautiful in places, Chiang Mai feels like a college town. Rachel and Kevin compare it to Berkeley (though with better Thai food).

Despite the allure of the town, our first stop yesterday broke some of the charm. Chiang Mai has a large and growing prostitution industry. We went to the Volunteers for Children Development Foundation’s drop-in center for street children. These children are homeless and without families, and they …

Family, The SOLD Project,

Bangkok, Day Two

My impressions of Bangkok haven’t changed much since yesterday, but feelings toward the city have grown richer and more nuanced. Today was a strange mix of the sacred, the profane, and the humorous.

The day began with a visit to New Beginnings. This small ministry does wonderful work with girls and women who leave the sex industry. I say “small ministry” because they have committed themselves to growing deep, not wide. That’s something to applaud in this world of hyper sized ministries (and egos to go with them).

The folks at New Beginnings befriend girls and women in the sex …

Family, The SOLD Project,

Bangkok – First Impressions

The last 24+ hours have been spent in airports, giant aluminum tubes that fly, and traffic. But in the midst of all that … some first impressions.

Bangkok is big, busy, and tropical. The weather — even some of the architecture — reminds me of Honolulu. There’s an old feeling to the city. The people are incredibly friendly and willing to help aging white guys like me (as I was recently called by a colleague).

As with all free and globalized cities around the world, there are strong commonalities. Starbucks, Toyotas, and McDonalds are the most obvious types of things. …

Family, PathLight, The SOLD Project, Wine Reviews,

Learning From the Poor, Elephant Rides, and Ranch Hands

About twelve hours from now I’ll be boarding a flight to Hong Kong, and then from there heading to Bangkok. I’ll be connecting with my daughter Thailand. She runs The SOLD Project, an effort in Northern Thailand that keeps kids out of the sexual slavery world. My time will be spent learning about this filthy side of the human experience, hearing the stories of those who have been caught up in it, and reflecting on how best to respond to the social, spiritual and economic structures that allow this to happen.

I’m really looking forward to seeing Rachel in …