NORTH KOREA 101.

23 more days. I'm an super stoked! I'll be posting periodically on here facts and prayer requests for the upcoming trip. So, here's my attempt #1.

North Korea is a country isolated from the rest of the world because the leaders wants total control of the way people think and live. The brainwashing starts at a very young age where citizens are taught that their country is thriving and achieving great accomplishments while the rest of the world is suffering and falling apart. The citizens have no contact to the outside world and the outside world has very limited contact/information about the country. All newspapers, tv/radio shows are government run. Internet and cell phones are not permitted.

Within each homes, you will find two pictures hung on the wall of the great leader, Kim Il Sung and his son the dear leader, Kim Jong Il. This is to remind them they are the only two people to praise and worship. Besides the pictures, every house also has a speaker that is use to pump out reminders of what the great and dear leaders have provided for them and how lucky they are to be living in such a thriving country on a daily basis. Due to such isolation, North Korea is known as the Hermit Kingdom.

Please click on the image below to read more on how you can pray for this country.

Some of you may think I'm crazy for wanting to pursue this, but God has laid it on my heart for the country and the people. I have been preparing myself the last couple of months by researching, reading, watching documentaries, and discussing about North Korea. Having to know all that is going on, I just can't ignore it anymore.

So, will you please join me on this journey? The team of 8 leaves in 23 days and we need your prayers! Here are a couple of things you can pray for:

1. Details: There are still a lot of logistics and details that needs to be worked out.

2. Finances: As a team, we are still in need to raise a chunk of money to cover all the costs.*

3. Health: Pray that God will keep us healthy now, during and after the trip. Swine flu is in full swing in that area.

*If you would like to contribute in any way, please contact the office at 888-524-2535 and ask for Michele Miller.

Thank you so much for journeying alongside with me! I couldn't do this without your prayers, encouragements and support!

"Having seen all this you can choose to look the other way,

but you can never say again 'I did not know.'" -William Wilberforce

I HEART STEVEN CURTIS CHAPMAN!

Last night, my friend invited me to go to Women of Faith. I normally wouldn't even think about attending things like this...a bunch of strange Christian women/estrogen gathered together is not my ideal choice of spending my Friday night or time. But I wanted to hang with my friend and it was free, so I went. To my surprise, I actually enjoyed it. We heard from Patsy Clairmont (HI-LARIOUS!), Rich Stearns (AH-MAZING! He's the CEO of World Vision, which is currently where my friend, Ange works), and lastly Steven Curtis Chapman performed (SPEECHLESS!).

I haven't listened to Steven Curtis Chapman since my college days. I remember my friend Gina and I would always belt out "We will abandon it all for the sake of the call!" I have his recent album on my iPod, but haven't listened to it in awhile. But last night, I was reminded why I love his music so much. All his songs are from his heart and personal experiences. It has depth and meaning to it. I pretty much cried the whole time he performed. I am now going to upload all his cds that I have onto my iPod and blast it! He's coming out with a new album soon and he debuted "Heaven is the Face" last night. This is a song dedicated to his daughter that tragically died last year. Yup, I think all 15,000 women were pretty much balling at the end. I CANNOT wait for the new album to come out. I HEART SCC!