When we close our eyes and think about Thailand, we see a few specific girls’ faces. These girls have haunted our thoughts, dreams, and lives. We are faced with the question…now what? Now that we have seen and heard and, most importantly, felt. Now what? When statistics on a page go from a number to a face with a story, we can’t just do nothing. We have realized that when it comes to bringing justice to the things that break God’s heart, everyone (and when we say everyone, we mean if you have handed the keys of your life to Christ) has a role in bringing justice and hope to mankind! After years of praying, fasting, seeking wise council, and praying some more, we are ready to do our part! We are officially moving to Thailand in August!

After going to Thailand in April and seeing what God was doing through Destiny Rescue and the total transformation that was happening in these girls’ souls, we knew we wanted to be a part of this! When we came home, we sat down and really mulled it over. This time we knew the cost and what it would involve. We don’t take it lightly. After a few more weeks of prayer, we came to this conclusion: if we don’t, who will? We have known for a while He was transplanting our hearts there. We are excited that Destiny Rescue has asked us to come on board and be full-time missionaries with them in a job that will fit perfect! The journey has already been challenging, but it’s also amazing to see how God has already shown up in amazing ways. He has opened up doors that “should” have been shut. We are so humbled and afraid at the same time. We are planning to leave mid-August…yeah, we have just 2.5 months to sell all we own, get all of our funding in place, find a house and transportation in Thailand, get all our visas and passports ready, then prepare to jump with Jesus! Being full-time missionaries means we rely completely and totally on support from the body of Christ. This is no small nuggets for us! We are used to making our own way just like everyone else! This part of our “job” – let us assure you – is not easy. To humble ourselves and trust God – that He will bring it in – goes against the grain! Yet, we are confident that if we walk in faith doing what we can, He will do the rest to provide and pave a way!

So, we are asking that you would get alone with God and ask Him if you are to play a part in this. Either a one-time gift to help us get to Thailand, or a monthly commitment to keep us there! Maybe you have never supported a missionary before. Maybe you haven’t even met one! Either way, we all know that it takes all parts of the body to bring the gospel to all the world! No one job is more or less important – it literally takes us all.

We have been and will continue to ask God to speak to you about if you are to have a role in this! We are asking Him to bless you and deepen your walk with Him. He really is worth it all. Jesus is so incredible in the way He loves mankind. His love is so furious, He calls us to become uncomfortable for the sake of others who have yet to have the veil lifted from their eyes. He allows us to play a part in helping others look at the cross in a completely new way, so that they see true, sacrificial love. He uses us to help others know a God that radically adores them and has a plan for their life, no matter how broken.

We hope and pray that He expands your heart in so many ways. We pray that He shows up in a powerful way in your life, wherever you are needing Him right now. We are overwhelmed and honored to share this journey with you all.

Psalm 33:5 “He loves righteousness and justice; The earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.”

In His grip,
Samm & Angie

We are home! I had high hopes to write a new post the week we were home..or the second week, or the third? Yes we have been home for three weeks now! Thailand seems like a lifetime away and yet still so close in our hearts. We had a crazy hard time adjusting to jet leg..even Samm who can sleep upside down! Now we are finally adjusted and can write a few things. We have so much to share. How do you put into a few words how your heart was ripped out of your chest and then partially-mended and put back? We decided we are going to give you cliff notes for now. At dinner time every single night we do High/low as a family. What was our favorites of the day and our not so favorites. So its going to be like that.

The Bad…lets just get this part over.

The country as a whole had a lot of spiritual oppression. They are sweet and kind people but almost nobody knows Jesus. Was strange to be somewhere where we were the minority.
The horror stories. We heard many stories that quite literally made your stomach churn. You simply cannot believe all the western white men walking around with young Thai girls and know the horror that will happen every single night. Ugh.
Some of the girls who we saw that were newly rescued were void of hope and light in their eyes. It was a blank stare.
In the red light districts we went to it was all in your face. Scantily dressed young girls that are drunk or high that are forced to “play the part” with a smile. It was the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen. Ever.
The begging rings. They too are usually forced as slaves to sit out on streets and beg for money. A lot of children, Older women with small babies that are drugged so they will stay asleep lifelessly in their laps. Its all so hidden and underground you have no idea as a tourist this is a begging ring.
The country of Burma has been under military oppression for a long time and only recently has been open to tourists. When you walk the streets its so apparent these people have been under this, they never smile and they have a very somber feel. It was a night and day difference from Thailand. Thais culture “keep face” no matter what the cost.

The Good! There was so so much good. Much more light within Destiny Rescue than we could have ever anticipated!
Girls are literally being rescued and restored and FULL OF HOPE!
Girls are learning about Jesus and accepting Him as their Savior! It was Awesome!
They are learning new skills to be used later on in life.
Since most of the girls are from villages Thailand will not recognize them as a citizen. They have no right to work and no papers. Destiny Rescue has an agreement with the Thai government to let the girls have citizenship so they may get jobs and not have to go back to the brothels.
All of the volunteers are AMAZING! They have given up everything and moved across the world to offer the hope of Jesus Christ to another. It was inspiring.
Watching the girls work at the cafe and the salon, seeing how they are gaining confidence in who they are and that they have worth was so special.

We have so much more to share. We were shocked at what God was doing there. How He uses ordinary people to bring His light all over the world! If you would like to hear much more about our trip please join us at our movie screening! June 13th 6-8 pm at The Crossing Church Zimmerman Campus!! Can’t wait to see how God is going to speak to you all!

A couple random total God moments for us:

On one of the domestic flights from Chaing Mai to Chaing Rai one of our team members sat next to a girl from China. Her name was Zoe, our team member began to share the gospel of Jesus and why we were there. Zoe ended up coming out with us to dinner and the markets hearing all about sex trafficking and what Destiny Rescue was doing. She was very interested and it was cool to see God stirring in her heart. So random!

There was a coffee shop next to the hotel we stayed in the first and the last night of our trip. Samm and I went to this place where a young Thai guy actually owned and operated this shop. We got to talk to him and he asked us many questions on why we would ever come there to do that. So that opened up us sharing the gospel with him. It was so cool, and he was very open to it.

We got to see one of the team members meet the girl their family had been sponsoring! It was so sweet and just a heart warming moment.

We also got to see a team member bless a women that had been rescued many years prior that we met up with to have dinner. She had recently started her own salon, but unfortunately could not afford to be a stylist at her salon as it costs money to go to school. A team member was able to pay for her to go and get her license! The tears were many!

Thank you all again! We cannot wait to share more in the coming weeks! We hope and pray that anyone who reads this would know you have a destiny. You were created to bring light to the darkness. Walk in FAITH where you will see His glory! If you are in the body of Christ then you play a role, an important role. Someones life could be radically changed because you stepped out of the boat!

In His grip,
The Platts

I jumped out of bed wet from tears and sweat, it took me a minute to remember where I was. I was safe. More importantly she was safe. Instinctively I ran onto Tessa’s room and put my hand on her little back to feel the rhythm of each breath. Safe and sound. It had only been a nightmare. A violent terrifying nightmare I have had a few times over the weeks preparing to go to Thailand. As I stood there I was reminded that for me it was just a nightmare. For them though it was a reality. Their everyday life trapped into the horrors of sex slavery. I sobbed. I couldn’t handle it anymore. I wanted to quit, to stop “knowing” what was happening in every city in the world. I wanted to give up and turn away. In that moment hearing the whisper “ I never turn away, not in anyone’s pain including yours” hit me hard. He knows full well our pain. He cannot and will not “unsee” our pain. He knew what the cost would be to restore our souls, He counted it when He sent His only Son. Then I remembered the phrase I tell myself when I feel discouraged and overwhelmed with this whole thing:

“Rescuing Costs something, Rescuing risks everything”

Read that again. Let it sink into your soul. Any form of rescuing costs something right? Whether it be a plane at the bottom of an ocean, or a burning building with people stuck inside, or a couple stuck on a life raft in the middle of an ocean. Thousands of dollars are spent, hundreds of hours put in, and dozens of lives at risk to help save others. You see where I am going with this don’t you?

Look at the Cross! Close your eyes and see the Son of God Almighty! In pain and anguish! It costs everything! He without sin chose to rescue us to take on our sin! God saw our brokenness and He ran to our rescue! The entire bible is a rescue story! We were a slave to our own sin…BUT GOD! In His radical generosity sent us a one man rescue team taking on our sins closing the gap between Him and us.

I say all this with deep conviction. I know full well what I’ve been rescued from. My own childhood filled with an addict for a mom, fatherless, abuse, violence, divorce, poverty and the list goes on! He literally rescued me from destruction!! I am so thankful and blessed to walk in freedom from all the things the enemy would love to oppress me under! It’s because of our own rescue that inspires us to help rescue others! It might be reaching out to inner city kids, or helping the homeless, or loving on a single mom. It is all in response to the rescue you have already received! The question is are we as followers of Him responding? Or have we taken our rescue, thanked Him and moved on? Are we pausing long enough to ask Him how we can bring hope to someone else? Jesus rescue mission has always been Life.

John 10:10 says “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” This is His heart for EVERYONE!

Yes its uncomfortable. Yes its expensive. Yes you will have to walk in faith and put yourself “out there”. It’s so worth it though! Knowing you are a part of bringing heaven down to earth! Gods plan for mankind is rescued people rescue people! I don’t know about you but I am eternally grateful  that He saw what it would cost and did it anyways. I only hope that I can show someone else this path to a full life!

 

 

We leave in FOUR days. Its amazing that the seed God planted almost three years ago is coming to life! This trip is going to cost more than we had originally thought so we are still a few hundred dollars short. We have complete faith that He will finish what He has started though! Again anything we raise over what we need will go to Destiny Rescue. They have talked about allowing the girls to have  a fun day. Possibly an ice cream party, or bringing them to have a beach day. I know that would be amazing!

Samm and I have been literally overwhelmed with everyone’s generosity and support. At times we are so humbled when people we hardly know step up and want to sow into His kingdom work. We don’t take this lightly at all. So thank you again!!

If you feel led to give you can do so right here on our blog up at the top the donate button is there. Many people have given in person so they can share with us why they felt they were to give and its been powerful!

Thank you for partnering with us as we all are apart of the rescue team!

We are ready to DO THIS!

Psalm 18:19 ” He rescued me, because He delights in me”

Samm & Angie

I believe that, like all other generations before us, we have an opportunity to watch God move amongst us; surrendering our lives to Him will turn His heart to use us. He is asking each generation, and waiting for us to fully surrender our lives to Him. When we decide to live our lives like this, He invades. Like a flood. Changing the landscape of history. I don’t know about you, but I want to be a part of that.

Recently, God spoke a very powerful dream to us. One that cannot and will not happen without Him intervening and driving that bus. Just the thought of what He has called us to makes us weak in our knees, our hearts start to race, our palms begin to sweat. Which is usually a good indicator you’re on the right track. We do not react in such a manner because we feel He is not able…no, no we believe WE are not able. That’s where trust comes in.

About 2.5 years ago while in New Zealand, we saw what it meant for the first time to live fully awake and alive to God. We had no concept of this before that. We had no idea what it looked like. We didn’t even know we didn’t know. Ya know? God began opening our eyes to how our lives were meant for something much greater. Everyone’s life is meant for something greater. Greater than the idea of building “our dream”. A new, bigger and better house, the nicer car, the promotions, the dream vacation. We began to see all the things we were dreaming were centered around one thing…US. We had faith – even shared it. We tithed, went to church, led a small group. We just never lived in a way that took risks for Him. We never lived in expectation. Our faith truly (even though we wouldn’t have ever been able to articulate it) was centered around how we make a successful life for us. God was still in the recipe, He just wasn’t the main ingredient. Most Christians live like this, and never even realize the great and amazing life that God has dreamt up for them is passing them by!

While in NZ, He began to stir; showing us life would never be the same. We were tired of living life like that. We were over progressing into the next stage of our lives, trying to figure out how we could accomplish our goals and dreams. How does God call us to live out His dreams for our lives (which I promise is so much more fulfilling) when we are too busy planning our own?

The Bible says  ^“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” Ephesians 3:20.

We really had no clue what He wanted, only that He was going to be the one to clue us in. So, we prayed a lot. We sought after Him. We said, “Whatever God, whatever it is, we will do it.” Scared and full of doubt, we decided our lives were not our own anymore. We were handing over our dreams to Him. We didn’t know if we were going to be in a mud hut in Africa, decided not to say, “Don’t send me to Africa, Lord!” because we all know what happens then. “Ok, Africa and all, God.” We just began to fully trust Him. For the first time really in our lives.

Then about a year and a half ago came the first glimpse. Only we didn’t even know it. That’s the part I love about Him. He is a gentleman, He never forces Himself on anyone. He is so gentle. This February, He spoke loud and clear. So clearly we were on our knees, crying and in disbelief. We now know this trip is just the first step, even though they say, “The first step is a doozy!” Or maybe it’s the last step…either way.

Our heart is to tell you. Yes you. God has a much bigger plan for your life than the next high, the next vacation, the next house. BELIEVE He knit you together and when He did, He encoded your very DNA with a purpose. A purpose to bring heaven to earth. Even if it’s small, start there! If you believe He is real, then He is fully able to do what He is asking. Trust me. I look at all our lack, and it can be depressing. I laugh at it! Then I read scripture. It is full of people that were the least likely person for the job. Ordinary. Or even screw ups – like you and me!

Moses – full of fear, shepherd, stuttering problem.

Noah – a drunk!

Joseph – started his life as a slave and then a prisoner!

Peter – an ordinary fisherman.

God even chose a helpless baby to bring forth the Savior! The very least likely candidate I’m sure the Jews thought, which is why so many didn’t believe it! He uses the broken and the humbled, the ordinary, to do extra ordinary things! Regardless of all the failures you think prohibit you from living out the calling He has for you, God says something else. He says because of the finished work of Christ, you, my friend, are VICTORIOUS!! Even if you are in a season right now where you are truly broken, know that in His timing He will restore you and breathe life into you and use you for His glory!!!

There is a gift or a talent placed in you that no one else in the world can offer. I firmly believe it. Hand it to Him. Watch as He grows you and forms you into the person He will use to help His people and bring Him Glory!!

 

Again we want to thank you all, we are so excited to see how God is going to wrap this all up! We leave in 19 days! We have 1,250.00 currently! We need to raise $2000.00 by the 14th and the last $1000.00 by the time we leave! We are confident He will do it in His time frame! If you would like to support us you can click the DONATE button on the top right of our blog!

Our screening to the powerful documentry that changed our life, called Nefarious will be shown on April 18 @7pm at The Crossing Church in Zimmerman. If you would like to come and check it out please just send us a note! Would love to see you there!

Its all about Jesus!

Samm & Angie

 

Yesterday my son Eli came up to me and asked me a question, a simple one really that brought forth a lot of emotion for me.

“ Mom are you excited to go to Thailand?”

I thought it over for a moment. How do you tell your eight year old that you are not excited. That you would be but so many other emotions rise to the top first. You are scared, nervous, unsure, angry, anxious, and already sad to look into the eyes of these beautiful children and tell them how much God loves them even though they were trapped in Hell. Then it hit me a little. Were. Trapped in hell. As in they have been rescued thru Destiny Rescue and given hope and a purpose. Although the recovery process is long and hard, they ARE rescued. But still I wasn’t excited.

 

“ No Eli I am not excited. I am…nervous. Samm and I shared a glance..hoping that would suffice.

A few thoughts that spoke to me after. I honestly LOVE that Eli has 100% faith that God will provide for us so we can go to Thailand. We don’t have the money yet, and he knows that. Yet his question never reflected an ounce of doubt. I will take double portions of that please! There are days when I believe it 100% and then there are days when I don’t. Faith of a child wasn’t a nice sentiment. It was the basis of our walk with Christ.

Like Friday I thought YES GOD! You got this! A friend asked if he could stop over a few minutes. Samm and I prayed the night before “ God if we are still on the right path, please let someone sow into this tomorrow.” So he stopped by and gave us a check for 250.00! We were so humbled and thankful, not just because He provided but because he answered prayer!!

Lately God has been highlighting all these powerful verses in scripture about helping and defending the poor and needy. The fatherless. The down and out. His heart is so beautiful that they always make the TOP of His list every time. I just love that the people society tends to cast aside or forget about are the very ones Jesus is hanging onto.

“ Deliver the poor and needy; rescue them out of the hand of the wicked.” Psalm 82:4

Its never a question IF this is His will, only If we will help in some way.We really wanted to ask you all for prayer this week. Someone said to me last week you guys need to be fully covered in prayer. Now and then.

 

If you would like pray to here are some specifics:

~Pray He would remain our primary focus. Nothing would turn our head to the left or the right.

~Pray peace in our home, our kids are getting anxious.

~Pray God will heal my tailbone. Most of you know that I (Angie) have had pain for almost three years, Its gotten so bad that I can’t sit for a minute without a lot of pain. I am getting prayed over this week and fully believing He will work a miracle!

~Please pray and JOIN us for our Documentary Nefarious screening at The Crossing Zimmerman campus on April 17 at 7! We are so exited to share with others what first broke our hearts. You will not be the same after you see this movie. Please come!

~Lastly, please pray that people would allow God to stir in their hearts to help support us! We currently have raised $500.00 and still have $2500.00 to raise!

Again you guys, our thanks will not be enough. For prayers, the texts, encouragement. For re-posting and re-tweeting our blog to create an awareness. We love you all!

In His grip,

Samm & Angie

Statistics are a love/hate relationship for me. On one hand, they portray what is happening in the world. On a larger scale and measure, success and failure. On the other hand, it certainly de-personalizes who is affected by sex trafficking. For instance, I could tell you that in America, there have been 300,000 children ages 6-17 sold into slavery since 2001. You might say, “Wow! That’s so sad.” For the most part, it wouldn’t interrupt your day. However, if I were to tell you the story of a little girl with dark hair and dark eyes from the Twin Cities who, for the past two years, has been raped 20-30 times a day every day by grown men. She’s been beaten daily, fed drugs to make her lethargic, and slept in the back of a semi while being driven across state lines to be sold to a new “market”. Listening to that story, you would feel the heartache, you would feel sick to your stomach. Now let’s say I showed you a picture of this beautiful girl…and you looked closely in utter shock…this is your neighbor’s daughter?! You know her…personally. Then what? Would you know in that moment you had to do something…anything?

 

For whatever reason, humans only really feel the need to help people that are close to them. In our sphere. It’s something about the ability to relate to others, especially in another country, as if “they” are different. Over time, our hearts become hardened to the injustice of the world. Whether it’s poverty-stricken countries, genocide, slavery, etc. Is that really the gospel? I’m speaking to myself in this also. Not long ago, I asked God to help me live fully alive and awake to His people, whether it’s in the gas station or Cub Foods. I just wanted my heart to break for the things that break His. I was tired of living asleep. Tired of looking the other way. How can we, as Christians, be the “light” in this dark world from our recliner? How do we move from “Oh, that’s so sad” to “I need to help.”? All throughout scripture it was Jesus that was constantly loving on the “least” of these. He was teaching us in that moment: Do the same.

 

The other day I was looking at our 10-month old beauty, Tessa. She is so precious and, being our baby and our only girl, she has us all wrapped around her finger. In that moment, God spoke to my heart, “What if it was her? What wouldn’t you do to get her back home?”

 

Nothing GOD! There is nothing I wouldn’t do. All of my time, resources, energy, prayer would be spent in getting her back. Even if it meant prison.

 

Just being real. In that moment I was so convicted, I wept.

 

Then He said, “Angie, they are all my children, and I love them more than you love Tessa. I want my people to do whatever it takes to get them…home.”

 

Guys, I know it’s overwhelming and so uncomfortable to even talk about. It’s hard to imagine all these lives that have been sold like a piece of merchandise into the hands of ugly. There are many nights when I lay awake crying out to God to awaken us, to help me be strong when I feel so weak. I struggle with it, too. God always uses our brokenness to bring Him the most glory. He often allows us to go through hard stuff to become the platform we are passionate about to help others. Samm and I both are allowing Him to use our brokenness and even publicly hoping that it will ultimately bring Him glory. The good news is, light always overcomes the darkness. Darkness has to flee…but we must go to the darkness first.

 

We leave in exactly 29 days. We recently found out that Destiny Rescue would like us to be paid by two weeks before we go. Which is in two weeks. We have raised $200 so far. My math isn’t great, but that means that we need to raise $205 per day! God is so so good and He stirs the hearts of man. We are just believing in faith He will. We cannot do this without your help. I know we think sometimes “someone else” will donate, or pray or re-post. It’s simply not the truth. It’s exciting to see the body of Christ come alongside you. We are anxious to see the hand of God working!

” He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?” declares the Lord

Jeremiah 22:16

 

Isn’t Jesus magnificent!?

Much Love, Platts

Hello again! It will have been THREE years this July since we left on one of the wildest journeys that we could have never dreamed of. It was amazing in every way and we are so thankful we could be a part of something like that. God has spoken a lot of things to us in these last couple years, and we would like to share a small piece of what He has said our next step is.

Sex trafficking. Maybe you have heard those words, maybe you haven’t. In any case, you might not be fully aware of the horrific evil that this encompasses in literally every corner of the earth…yes, including in our own backyard. Two and a half years ago, God began breaking our hearts for those who are victims of this billion dollar, unspeakable “business”. We were doing mission work in New Zealand and God spoke to us, telling us we had to do something. He confirmed that we would somehow be involved in combating this. We felt He kept saying, “Thailand,” and then the next day, He confirmed it! So this entire time we have been seeking God about how He wants us to be involved. With many prayers, and trials, and tears, God has begun to shed light on how He wants to use us. We are not prepared for what He is doing and we can offer up all our excuses to Him about how we are not the right fit and so on, but He is never asking anyone if they have what it takes to do His will. He is only EVER asking one question, “Are you willing?” On our knees, we are saying, “Yes God, we are.” All that to say, we are taking the first step of this journey that we believe He is calling us to, and we are going to Thailand for 10 days!

Why Thailand? Thailand is the “sex capital” of the world, where men from everywhere go and pay for sex. Women and children starting as young as just four years old are trapped in this horrific nightmare. This is something that is not easy to talk about (or even to think about), however that’s exactly what the enemy wants. To keep us silent. To make us look the other way. To stop reading this blog. This post is not going to go into all the details of it, as we will be shedding light on some things in the future. So, that’s why we believe He is saying, “Thailand”. We are going to come face-to-face with the evil that is destroying young girls’ lives! There are dozens of organizations that help rescue and restore these girls, doing the hard work of erasing the lies and terror, and instead speaking life and destiny into them. We have chosen to go with a great organization called Destiny Rescue. Last week we were in prayer on whether we would take the trip coming up in April and felt in faith we should use our savings to buy the airline tickets. God gave us GREAT favor, and we are so thankful! It was a big step of faith we knew we had to take…so we did. Now what?

What will we be doing? Destiny Rescue has several homes all over Thailand and also one in Burma, so we will be visiting each home and loving on the girls and doing whatever the project manager says is needed at each home. We will also be visiting two different red light districts where all this terror happens right before your eyes. We will cover the streets in prayer. We may witness to the prostitutes and again, loving on each one of them however God asks us to. We will literally be following it full circle by going into the hill tribe villages (where many girls are taken from) all the way into the streets of Bangkok (where the girls are forced to “work”).

What does this mean for you? Each person has a part to play in making our world a better place. We firmly believe that is Jesus’ heart – to be the light. We need to raise $3,000 to be able to cover hotels, food, and the traveling between cities, both by air and bus. We are praying that God opens the eyes and hearts of many, just as He has with us. Please consider donating to this!!  As we read Matthew 25, we can no longer look the other way. Either what the Bible says is completely ludicrous, or it’s all true. We can no longer pass it off hoping “someone else” will help them. We cannot simply chuck up a prayer any longer and think that’s our part in all of this. We used to live like that and still see that even now, it would be easier to do so. Yet God is constantly reminding us not to live like that. It’s hard sometimes when you see all the brokenness and don’t know where to start to help. I know that helpless feeling. I do. However, maybe this is your chance to make a difference!?

We asked God to break our hearts for what breaks His. That is a dangerous prayer because He will, and then you must make a choice. Secondly, PRAYER. This moves the heart of the Father and it’s powerful. We covet your prayers in this time. Pray that He guides us with wisdom. We need SO much wisdom. His plan is much bigger than our own. Pray for our children. They have never been away from us for this long. It’s not easy for anyone. Pray for those who unselfishly have stepped up to watch them and open their homes and hearts for children that aren’t theirs. I pray everyday that God would bless them tenfold! Please pray for protection and peace, even in the midst of such horror. You can’t unsee the things we will see. We want you to know that we cannot do this without others standing in faith with us, giving and praying for us. It’s an honor to serve with those who are willing to risk being uncomfortable for the sake of the call.

When does it happen? We leave on April 24 and fly home on May 4 – less than 5 weeks. We are CONFIDENT that He has already done all of this. We are excited to see it happen! We have seen God work Many miracles and every time we are so honored to watch Him show off how incredible He is!

Lastly, for the past two years we have been seeking God on whether or not He was calling us to start a life in Thailand doing missions…we feel God will make it clear once we are there and would LOVE all your prayers for wisdom and clarity.

So, that’s pretty much the gist of it all. Please email us with any questions at platt14@msn.com. You can donate right here on our website. We will be updating this often and would love if you followed us. Thank you to all who have been praying and encouraging us through this process. We are excited to see how God will impact you all.

A verse that has really spoken to us, and what we hope comes from this trip is:

Isaiah 1:17 “Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encouraging the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.”

Much Love! The Platts

30 days. Wow in so many ways our first month home has gone in a blink. In others it seems like forever that we were in New Zealand excited to come home. People ask me “I bet it was a culture shock going to Nz” My response is actually its been more of a culture shock coming back home. Its almost like we need to find our place again…in the town we literally grew up in. Everything seems so different, we know its not the place that has changed but us. We are not the same people with the same goals and dreams in life any more. God has opened our eyes to so much more and I know its not even a sliver of what’s to come. Pretty much not a piece of our lives was untouched by what happened. God seems to work like that, when he desires change He means business. I think what I’ve taken away the most and its very hard to narrow it down, is where does my identity lie? We say we are a child of The King but is that how it plays out day to day? Not for me it wasn’t. I was so wrapped up in my relationships with people, trying to help as many as I could. If a relationship had troubles it bothered me so much. Why? My identity was in that. Now I’m still a human, a woman with feelings and hang ups, but I see that if so and so doesn’t like me or gets mad or whatever the case may be, I can rest in knowing that I’m His daughter and He radically loves me. Its ok. No matter how hard we try we get wrapped up in the materials in life, our home , our gadgets, our STUFF. Again He has opened our eyes to this. I will say living in a 500 square feet flat with five people and no kitchen makes you forget about the small stuff. We were so deliriously happy! The first time I walked in I was like “um yeah, where the heck is the rest of this place…I’m a gonna kill someone if I have to live this cramped” It took a few weeks to really reset my priorities and in the end our family grew super tight. I guess again I learned my identity is not in my stuff, its easy to say, easy to judge but a lot harder to live out. I’m working this all out. Our identity should be “God of ALL loves me” Thee end. Nothing more to say. I can conquer this world if I get that, really get that into my soul.

 

So a few months before we left to go home we both felt God say do not work for the first 30 days when you get back…I want to blow you away with my blessings. So that’s what we have done. At first when we were living with someone, its ok. A few people gave us some money to fill our gas tank and what not. Our boys had an amazing Christmas. We saw a ton of blessings. Then came the house. We moved in a week ago and have been very busy remodelling for the last two weeks. WE LOVE IT! God has totally blessed us in So many ways with this house….you wouldn’t believe it if I told you. So we moved in and had literally no money, BUT someone had given us a gift card to Cub so we got a few groceries…not a lot but it was a start and we were so thankful! Then a few days later someone came to our house and FILLED our cupboards. Like went shopping and dropped off ten bags of food. Samm and I were speechless. He is so faithful and such a good God. We sat and thanked Him for a long time. What is so so cool is that Eli and Max totally get it. Eli said “ mom we had no food and now we have lots…God is taking care of us Mom!”

So its been a month. Back to work. Well we asked God to open or close the door with Samms old job that we assumed he would be going back to. Well He closed the door…shut. So we are praying in different things knowing in the midst He is faithful and He is our provider. I encourage you to believe in Him for something Big! I mean really if we believe He died and came back to life, how much easier to believe Him for something like your marriage or your bills. Puts it into perspective doesn’t it? Believe that He is good , Believe that He has your back, Believe that He knows you intimately.

Thank you all for being there, praying, giving and stretching your own faith muscles in your own lives!

He gets ALL the glory.

Love, Samm’n’Ang

Ps we are having an Open house on February 7^th @6:30 to share with you all what happened in Nz. You should come…its going to be Great!!!!

We are home. Finally we are here! The plane ride was long and exhausting but the good news was we prayed we could an extra seat and we actually ended up getting two all in the same row! We arrived at midnight last sunday so we no have been  home for over a week! We are staying with a couple from our church and we will be renting from some close friends of ours. We are eager to get into our new place. There has been many God providing stories for us along the way and it has humbled us now more than ever and we are so grateful for what God has been doing in our lives. It has been nice to come home with so many of you welcoming us and making us feel like home. There is so much Id love to write about but honestly we have been processing so much lately. We wanted to share the ways God has been blowing our minds!

So three weeks before we were to leave we had run out of money and we felt God really wanted us to stay so we asked God to provide if He wanted us to stay. So the next day one of the directors came and told us and said ” the rest of your stay is paid for” I just started weeping!!

A few days later we knew that we would need to come up with $150.00 to go to the airport so we just asked God to provide. The next day the same  person came up and said ” by the way your ride to the airport is covered” Again SO amazing.

4 days before we were to fly home we still had no temporary place to live or a permanent place. We had 5.43 in our bank account and we had to spend a lot of time in airports the next 24 hours. Again we just asked God…becasue we got really good at relying on Him even in the toughest of situations.

A friend emailed me and said that she had gotten us a groceries gift card for when we came home. She had also gotten us a Target one so we could get some xmas gifts for our boys ans some gas money for our car. I read the email to samm and just cried. I was so touched by the love of the Father. So touched.

The next day we started getting a little worried about how we could go thru the airports with NO money. Got another email from a friend saying she just put some money in our account for the airport! Only God knew what our need was!

So now we are home…and His amazingness (a word?) has not stopped. A friend got me a gift card to get my hair cut nad colored..what a joy when you havent even been able to dream about that!!

Good friends of ours is buying a home that we will be able to rent from them and we are waiting for that to close!

Its been the little things too. Like ive been wearing the same tennis shoes and I was thinking id love to get a pair of shoes but they are all in storage..next day a friend showed up with a cute pair of flats for me..

A few days ago a friend  called me and said she had a gift for me. I opened a card and there was $300.00 to cover some bills we needed to pay. Again she had no clue about this. God does though.

yesterday the people we are staying with gave us two bags of brand new toys that she got thru her work to give to our boys for Xmas!

yesterday a friend asked me she could give us cash and watch the boys so we could go get some winter clothes for the boys.

There are a few more things. All of this to Boast on the one true God that cares about every detail of our lives. He asks that we put Him first and walk in obedience, He does the rest. We are in a place of relying on Him. Samm hasn’t started work yet and we have never had to be in this place of total dependency on Him, while it is a frightening place to be we also have peace.

A year ago you could have never convinced me what would take place and I would have told you I don’t have that kind of faith…and its true I didn’t. God gives us the faith…we just have to take one step at a time. So this Christmas looks very diffrent…we are daily humbled. We are constantly giving Him the glory. Coming home has not been a piece of cake, but in this place of keeping my eyes fixed on Jesus I can truly celebrate His birth this Christmas. What an Awesome privilege!!

SourceURL:file://localhost/Users/teacher/Documents/This%20walk%20of%20being%20a%20Christian%20is%20never%20what%20you%20think%20it%20will%20be.doc

This walk of being a Christian is never what you think it will be. There are twists and turns where you thought the path would be straight and straight paths where you envisioned bumps on the road. Everyone is given a different measure of faith and to each we are asked to exercise that amount. Samm and I have had the pleasure and also the challenge to do just that. We thought when we got to Nz that it was exhausting to trust and press in that much to believe Him on His word, to know God is only good. We thought “ God I can’t imagine living my entire life believing like that, living on the edge”.  I search my concordance and there are literally hundreds of verses concerning that one little word…FAITH. The one that has stuck out to both of us is  “Without Faith it is impossible to please God” Hebrews 11:6 that there should always be something that we are trusting Him for, that we are really exercising that faith muscle. We wanted to let all our friends and supporters know what we are having to use faith for in this season.

 

We assumed when we got home that we could relax a little and not have to “trust” him so big. That a house would already be available or someone would offer to let us stay. That Samm would have a job to go back in some kind of ministry and that we would have money even just a little to get us groceries and gas. Needless to say God is defiantly having us trust Him for every one of those things. Every single one. Although we are only 4 days away from coming home two things come to mind. One is I remember His faithfulness, last time it was literally eight hours and he did a miracle! Two is we know this is part of the journey; He knew it would all shake out this way…so we keep choosing to trust Him. However it doesn’t make it easier, we are afraid and out of peace and wishing we knew what was going to happen. We have a family and have never lived this way before!! That’s why it’s a CHOICE especially times like this. When He brought us here Yes he did do a miracle but you know what? He used people to be his vessel. When you get a timely encouraging word from a friend out of the blue, you know its God but it’s still a person. He is constantly moving thru His people that is the primary way He chooses to use us. Our prayer is that there are people out there right now reading this and God is tugging on your hearts to do something.

 

Will you please be praying for us? I know many of you do and thank you so much. Please pray that we will be taken care of and ask God if you are supposed to help support us? If so the donate button is right where it has always been! That He will give us wisdom on what to do. That provision will be there.  In a weird kind of way it’s an honor to be able to trust Him like this, because when He is ready we get to see His hand on our lives and that is an honor. We will be posting when we know more and when God takes care of it all, we are so so blessed by all of you.

 

Love Samm & Angie