Thailand

Time to move on again!

We are just about to close the Thailand chapter of our trip, and thought we'd include some thoughts and photos.

Bangkok is crazy busy. Every form of transportation is over crowded and in a constant deadlock. You can walk, but scooters drive on the sidewalks too. Its a little crazy for our liking. We visited some of their many many malls and markets, checked out their amusement parks and wave pool, and found an amazing church to attend. 

We also took a trip to Kanchanaburi, which is a smaller town a few hours outside of Bangkok. We stayed in a guest house with a pool and cheap mango shakes, which was a welcome change from the craziness. We visited animal parks, rode elephants, fed giraffes and zebras, and got bucked off an elephant into a river! We also discovered the worlds lousiest beach (especially given the extra three hour bus ride).

We are glad to be moving onto new things and perhaps a little less heat. As it stands now, it is uncomfortable to walk in the sun for more than a few minutes, as all clothes become soaked with sweat. We have many many stories, but to write them all here would not do them justice!

We are frequent users of skype if that is up your alley. Feel free to add us zakk.fast

One final note, we have a prayer request. We are scheduled to stop in China after Vietnam, but have had some difficulty getting a visa. We have non refundable tickets (doh!) and so we need to make every effort to get the necessary documents. Theres a lot...    Anyways, we could use some prayer for either entry into china, or acceptance of a bit of collateral damage financially. Either way, we always appreciate your prayers!

The WORLDS LARGEST WAVE POOL (felt all warm...not very refreshing)

 A log flume. And ice cream

The Double BIG SHOCK! A walk through horror house that was ultimately very lame. But this guy puking blood made me laugh.

Kanchanaburi Sunset

Sprayed in the face. Later bucked off.

Our stubborn friend.

He is actually quite alive and did some roaring, but we decided the lady need not poke him with a stick to have him pose for us. We were cool if he just chilled. 

We were bombarded by giraffes, who wanted our banananananas

Zebras too!

No visit to the (crappy) beach is complete without an undersized 'hello kitty' themed tandem bike ride!

A New Chapter

Well, our time at Hope for the Island has officially come to a close. We felt somewhat like we did the first night we left Canada on the eve before our departure. This tropical paradise had become our home and it was not easy to leave behind. During our last dinner, the lovely ladies who make Hope function as wonderfully as it does wrote us a song and told us what they'll each miss about us. We really felt the love, and even shed some tears as we remembered our time together. We were also bid adieu by the local youth, and some of the young adult ministry we partook in. It was an emotional evening.

The morning of our departure we were to take the local transportation to the airport. We were met at the road by a few of the ladies, and the family of the maintenance worker, Jerry. It was tough to leave them behind, but we were glad to have shared life and laughs with them while we could.

All in all we look at our time at Hope very fondly. We became part of a new, much shorter family and had the chance to share the gospel with some of the locals, even though we didnt share a common language. We found that in general, people of the Philippines are extremely friendly, hospitable, and loving. It was an experience of a lifetime and we will certainly never forget our time at Hope for the Island.


Since leaving, we have spent nearly a week in Bangkok, Thailand and have been enjoying the change of pace and atmosphere. Palm trees have been traded for skyscrapers, and dirt roads for pavement. The rice remains however. We will be exploring rural Thailand soon, and find that we are already missing the blue skies and smog-free salt air that we enjoyed for the past "winter" months.  We have more regular access to internet now and will try to post pictures as we go, though in all honesty, it is hard to remember in the whirlwind of activity we are experiencing.

We hope to share all sorts of stories with you when we return, and are always open to finding a friendly email in our inbox. Thank you for your love and prayers, we are doing great!

                                     The morning of our leaving, with Jerry's kids: Prince and Princess

                                             Riding through the jungle roads in the back of a truck

                                                        Kim and 2 of the lovely Hope ladies

                                     The youth who came to say goodbye before we left. Playing UNO

                                                               Our last Filipino Sunrise

Nearing a new beginning

Hello and welcome to another blog post by the Fasts.

We are coming close to the end of our time here in the Philippines and excitement is building for the next leg of our journey. We have booked all of our flights and are doing what little research we can into what types of things we will be exploring in each country.

We are both excited and a little saddened by our leaving this place. We have certainly come to develop a Filipino family here and have taken well to many of their customs. We will miss the ladies who keep this place running and the youth for which they are here. We have appreciated the time spent in devotion staring at the sea and all the time spent in prayer. We have experienced many new things and will certainly look at our time here with fondness.

We do have some prayer requests as well. First ´-- for the continuation of the ministry that we are leaving behind. Hope is affecting the lives of many towns on this island in the name of Christ. They are feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and loving the unloved. We are blessed to have experienced Christs example demonstrated in a real way. Second - Prayer for our future. Having spent time in a place such as this we have come to question what really matters in our lives and what our lives should look like when we get back home. We know that no man (or woman) can serve both God and money, and we desire that we should find jobs that are not solely driven by cash. That being said, prayer for wisdom and provision would be greatly appreciated.

We are excited to share our stories and pictures with you when we return, and promise to put up...at least a few more pictures. We will continue posting as we travel, with our next stop being Bangkok Thailand on Thursday, March 14.

Thankyou for your prayers and support.