Introducing our Team...

The benefits of having a small team is that everyone's role is magnified as many of us will have multiple roles in Thailand. I am so thankful for each person's willingness to accept different roles, learn different tasks, and being open to God's calling to serve.

Here's our team...

First, we have Suzie Ahn. Suzie is 30 years old and was part of last year's Newsong Thailand Team. Suzie is a UCLA graduate and is currently working as a kindergarten teacher at 24th Street Elementary School. Suzie will be co-leading this year's team and also handling the administrative duties, which includes informing team members about trip details, facilitating team training, and working with our Newsong Thailand hosts to plan our trip.

Next, we have Katie Lee. Katie is the baby on our team. She is 20 years old (going on 21) and is finishing up her 3rd year at San Diego State University, studying Liberal Studies. Katie hopes to one day be a teacher. Katie will be our team's worship leader, ushering us into God's presence through worship and praise.

Next, we have Nan Natanom. Nan is 22 years old, a graduate from UCLA, and a civil engineer at Psomas Engineering (Costa Mesa office). Nan is our only Thai speaking team member and we will be relying on her alot to overcome the language barriers. In addition, Nan will also be teaching us about Thai culture and customs. Nan has also volunteered to be our team's videographer, capturing video of our trip to share with all our supporters.

Now for the boys....first we have Myles Harrold. Myles is 30 years old and is originally from Vancouver, British Columbia. Like Nan, Myles is also a civil engineer at Psomas (where they both met). Myles is our team medic and he'll be responsible for making sure all team members are properly vaccinated before leaving for Thailand, administering CPR, and providing basic emergency medical services. Myles recently went through the waters of baptism, declaring his faith in the Lord.

Next we have Kio Tong-Ishikawa. Kio is 24 years old and a native of Hawaii. Kio left Oahu to attend UC Santa Cruz and after completing his undergraduate coursework, he moved down to LA to pursue a Masters in Asian American Studies at UCLA. Once he gets back from Thailand, he will be starting his new job as a social worker for the County of LA. Kio is our team's accountant and he will be tracking all our receipts, submitting reimbursements, ensuring that we stay within our team's budget, and balancing our books in case we get audited by the IRS.

Lastly, we have Wilson Poon. Wilson is 31 years old. He is also a graduate of UCLA and a big fan and supporter of Bruin athletics. Wilson works for LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, advising the Mayor on how the LAPD is spending it's budgeted funds. The highlight of Wilson's job came when he took a LAPD helicopter patrol ridealong and threw up in the helicopter. Wilson will be co-leading the team with Suzie and will also be the team's scribe, which is responsible for keeping our supporters abreast of our activities.