Elephant painting a picture!
Hilary and Aun Aun at the Brownie and Bingo Party
Amanda and P Aon waiting to begin English class with LST
Friday, September 17, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Finally Settling In
Our stay in Thailand is starting to feel more long term,consistent, and more like home and less like a vacation. We have been very busy here and are on more of a consistent schedule. We, the interns, are starting to feel comfortable in our driving and have been going many places on our own and are getting a good grasp on where things are in the city. We make a good team and it has been really fun learning each other's strengths and weaknesses and playing off each other and working together. We went in search of fabric and wound up at the Wararat Market. It is local market that is unlike any of the tourist markets we have been to. There is a whole section of local food including, but not limited to, pigs head, stomach, live eels, and many interesting sights and smells. It was quite the accomplishment to find it by ourselves, drive up the steep incline into the car garage (yeah Mark!), find the fabric store and somewhat communicate with the people there.
We also want to the Measa Elephant camp to see some amazingly talented elephants. These elephants were able to play soccer, throw darts, and paint pictures. It was amazing to watch them during the show. We loved it and so did the LST ladies. They all bought a picture painted by an elephant and were so happy to be able to ride an elephant!
This past Sunday we had an ice cream, brownie, and bingo party. It was a great success. We had over 40 people at the party and we made some new friends who are interested in studying with us. It was a lot of fun to watch the Thai people play bingo, many of them for the first time.
As interns we have equipping time twice a week to prepare our hearts and minds to be more in tune with the will of God. Right now we are studying about spiritual disciplines and it has been very insightful to have a deeper understanding of things we can do in our daily lives to be in the presents of God more often. Each of the interns are teaching three of the lessons and Hilary and I have both taught one so far. Hilary taught about Meditation and I taught about prayer. We are learning how to meditate and listen to the will of God and we learned about intercessory prayer and how the purpose of prayer is for you to be changed. It is impossible to pray and not be changed. We have also studied about fasting and learned the importance of ridding our body of our daily desires so that we can feast on God's word. Fasting is feasting. After we have our study on the spiritual disciplines we always listen to Dave Ramsey speak on healthy Christian financial planning. This have been very interesting and will be very beneficial to our lives. I am very thankful that Robert is helping us learn how to manage our money (or lack there of) in healthy and godly ways.
Other than our daily routines, we have been busy building strong relationships with the Thai people here. Hilary and I met two wonderful girls named A and Nong. Their English is good enough to have a simple conversation, but they are craving to know more. We start classes with them tomorrow and we pray that this will open a pathway for them to inquire and seek the Lord. We have also had the wonderful opportunity to assist the LST ladies purchase and hand out over 40 Bibles to new students who are interested in God's word. We are amazed at the work that is happening here. Please continue to pray for these people to continue to coming to the Zone and that they have a desire to learn more about Christianity. Pray that Hilary and I can be shining lights to them and that God will use us to bring more of his children to him. It is our prayer that we can be vessels to help bring answers and truth to a lost nation.
Lastly, we start our Thai classes at Payap University in a week and a half (Monday 27 Sept). We are so excited to be part of the campus life and improve our Thai. We hope that within a month we will be able to have meaningful (simple but meaningful) conversations with our new friends in Thai.
We also want to the Measa Elephant camp to see some amazingly talented elephants. These elephants were able to play soccer, throw darts, and paint pictures. It was amazing to watch them during the show. We loved it and so did the LST ladies. They all bought a picture painted by an elephant and were so happy to be able to ride an elephant!
This past Sunday we had an ice cream, brownie, and bingo party. It was a great success. We had over 40 people at the party and we made some new friends who are interested in studying with us. It was a lot of fun to watch the Thai people play bingo, many of them for the first time.
As interns we have equipping time twice a week to prepare our hearts and minds to be more in tune with the will of God. Right now we are studying about spiritual disciplines and it has been very insightful to have a deeper understanding of things we can do in our daily lives to be in the presents of God more often. Each of the interns are teaching three of the lessons and Hilary and I have both taught one so far. Hilary taught about Meditation and I taught about prayer. We are learning how to meditate and listen to the will of God and we learned about intercessory prayer and how the purpose of prayer is for you to be changed. It is impossible to pray and not be changed. We have also studied about fasting and learned the importance of ridding our body of our daily desires so that we can feast on God's word. Fasting is feasting. After we have our study on the spiritual disciplines we always listen to Dave Ramsey speak on healthy Christian financial planning. This have been very interesting and will be very beneficial to our lives. I am very thankful that Robert is helping us learn how to manage our money (or lack there of) in healthy and godly ways.
Other than our daily routines, we have been busy building strong relationships with the Thai people here. Hilary and I met two wonderful girls named A and Nong. Their English is good enough to have a simple conversation, but they are craving to know more. We start classes with them tomorrow and we pray that this will open a pathway for them to inquire and seek the Lord. We have also had the wonderful opportunity to assist the LST ladies purchase and hand out over 40 Bibles to new students who are interested in God's word. We are amazed at the work that is happening here. Please continue to pray for these people to continue to coming to the Zone and that they have a desire to learn more about Christianity. Pray that Hilary and I can be shining lights to them and that God will use us to bring more of his children to him. It is our prayer that we can be vessels to help bring answers and truth to a lost nation.
Lastly, we start our Thai classes at Payap University in a week and a half (Monday 27 Sept). We are so excited to be part of the campus life and improve our Thai. We hope that within a month we will be able to have meaningful (simple but meaningful) conversations with our new friends in Thai.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Prayer Requests
Today we have a few things that we hope you will be praying about.
1. Bringing in more students to study with the Let's Start Talking teachers. Four women have come to teach English here through the Bible and they are having a hard time getting students to come consistently. We pray that we are able to build strong relationships with these new students and that they learn and understand about Christ in the material they are reading.
2. Aun Aun, Amanda's English student who she is studying the book of John with right now. She is curious and learning a lot. We pray for continued growth in her and for her heart to be open to what she is learning.
3. Dao, a student who is a regular here and is studying the Redbook now. She is a freshman at Payap and is so fun to hang out with. We pray that the lessons she learns will lead her ever closer to Christ and that she will continue to bring her friends and classmates to the Zone.
4. Team unity. After being here for four weeks we pray that we interns and the mission team will continue to grow closer to each other and that we will work together for the glory of God in all that we do.
5. Guidance for how to best reach out to the people around us. We are continually meeting new people and we want to draw them into the community here. We pray that God will show us who he wants us to draw in and how we should do it.
6. Thanksgiving for the time we have spent here and the relationships we have formed. We have been so blessed to have amazing Thai Christian friends here and many non-Christian friends who we are trying to connect with the church here.
Thank you for joining with us in prayer.
1. Bringing in more students to study with the Let's Start Talking teachers. Four women have come to teach English here through the Bible and they are having a hard time getting students to come consistently. We pray that we are able to build strong relationships with these new students and that they learn and understand about Christ in the material they are reading.
2. Aun Aun, Amanda's English student who she is studying the book of John with right now. She is curious and learning a lot. We pray for continued growth in her and for her heart to be open to what she is learning.
3. Dao, a student who is a regular here and is studying the Redbook now. She is a freshman at Payap and is so fun to hang out with. We pray that the lessons she learns will lead her ever closer to Christ and that she will continue to bring her friends and classmates to the Zone.
4. Team unity. After being here for four weeks we pray that we interns and the mission team will continue to grow closer to each other and that we will work together for the glory of God in all that we do.
5. Guidance for how to best reach out to the people around us. We are continually meeting new people and we want to draw them into the community here. We pray that God will show us who he wants us to draw in and how we should do it.
6. Thanksgiving for the time we have spent here and the relationships we have formed. We have been so blessed to have amazing Thai Christian friends here and many non-Christian friends who we are trying to connect with the church here.
Thank you for joining with us in prayer.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
God is at work in Thailand
Firstly, Mark's computer was returned! It was found in the back of our truck with a sign that said "In Car." We are so happy it is back so you can all expect more awesome videos soon.
Secondly, I want to tell you an amazing story that happened to me last Friday. I have been teaching English lessons/ Bible studies with a girl named Aun Aun. She is 15 and her family is Buddhist, but she has been coming to the Zone since the beginning of the summer and is open to Christianity. She is the one who sought me out and asked me to be her teacher. We have studies three times now and we are reading form the Book of John. She read to chapter 4 with one of the summer interns and while there were no interns here she read to chapter 13 on here own in Thai. She and I started reading chapter 5 in English and are discussing it so that she can better understand what she is reading. So back to Friday. Aun Aun and I had a lesson at 6:00 on Friday. Everyone at the Zone had gone to dinner with a group of people, but I decided to hang back and do the lesson with her. When she got here, she was surprised that no one else was here. She asked where they were and I told her that they had gone to dinner. She could not believe that I did not go and that I waited at the Zone to do the Bible study with her. It almost brought her to tears and after about ten minutes of her telling me "you should have gone," I finally convinced her that I would rather study the Bible with her than go to dinner with other people. We had an awesome Bible study and she asked a lot of really great, thoughtful questions. I think she is studying and reading a lot on her own. She asked me if just reading the Bible was enough to be a Christian, and that gave me the awesome opportunity to talk to her about giving her life to Christ through baptism. She understood what I was saying and was very receptive. She also asked me about a lot of things that she was confused about. She had read "The DaVinci Code" and was very confused about all the contradictions. At that point, I was able to clarify a great deal to her and explain that as Christians we believe that the Bible is the truth from God. To close the lesson we prayed together. After our lesson, the group was not back from dinner yet, so Aun Aun and I went to have dinner together and walk around at a night market. We had a great time together. On our walk home she started to sing some church songs in Thai and in English. It was amazing to be there with my new friend who was not a Christian, in a country where the vast majority of the people at not Christian, walking down the road singing songs to God at the top of our lungs. It was almost surreal. We really connected and I shared with her some of my own personally struggles and she told me that she would pray for me! Wow, I was amazed. It was a great experience and I can not wait until our next lesson tomorrow!
-Amanda
Secondly, I want to tell you an amazing story that happened to me last Friday. I have been teaching English lessons/ Bible studies with a girl named Aun Aun. She is 15 and her family is Buddhist, but she has been coming to the Zone since the beginning of the summer and is open to Christianity. She is the one who sought me out and asked me to be her teacher. We have studies three times now and we are reading form the Book of John. She read to chapter 4 with one of the summer interns and while there were no interns here she read to chapter 13 on here own in Thai. She and I started reading chapter 5 in English and are discussing it so that she can better understand what she is reading. So back to Friday. Aun Aun and I had a lesson at 6:00 on Friday. Everyone at the Zone had gone to dinner with a group of people, but I decided to hang back and do the lesson with her. When she got here, she was surprised that no one else was here. She asked where they were and I told her that they had gone to dinner. She could not believe that I did not go and that I waited at the Zone to do the Bible study with her. It almost brought her to tears and after about ten minutes of her telling me "you should have gone," I finally convinced her that I would rather study the Bible with her than go to dinner with other people. We had an awesome Bible study and she asked a lot of really great, thoughtful questions. I think she is studying and reading a lot on her own. She asked me if just reading the Bible was enough to be a Christian, and that gave me the awesome opportunity to talk to her about giving her life to Christ through baptism. She understood what I was saying and was very receptive. She also asked me about a lot of things that she was confused about. She had read "The DaVinci Code" and was very confused about all the contradictions. At that point, I was able to clarify a great deal to her and explain that as Christians we believe that the Bible is the truth from God. To close the lesson we prayed together. After our lesson, the group was not back from dinner yet, so Aun Aun and I went to have dinner together and walk around at a night market. We had a great time together. On our walk home she started to sing some church songs in Thai and in English. It was amazing to be there with my new friend who was not a Christian, in a country where the vast majority of the people at not Christian, walking down the road singing songs to God at the top of our lungs. It was almost surreal. We really connected and I shared with her some of my own personally struggles and she told me that she would pray for me! Wow, I was amazed. It was a great experience and I can not wait until our next lesson tomorrow!
-Amanda
Monday, September 6, 2010
The Mystery of the Missing Computer
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Case Number 1
Detectives: Hilary and Amanda
8:30 It started out as a normal Sunday here in Thailand. All was well in Chiang Mai. We woke up.
10:00 The first out of the ordinary event was the arrival of four new farang. They are the new Let's Start Talking group from Longview. They all seem very nice and are very excited to be here.
4:00 The second unusual event was the LST sign up where there were many many new people in the Zone who were signing up for times to read with the new readers. We met a few new people and we saw nothing to cause concern. Our friends P Tik and P Oan from the English lessons at the courthouse came and will be studying here for the next few weeks. They invited us to go to Walking Street with them and to eat a Japanese dinner.
5:00 Of course we accepted and had a great time. P Tik was very generous and showered us with gifts, drinks, and an amazing dinner. She even said she was falling in love with us and asked us to call her Bah "Aunt" Tik.
10:00 When we returned we were shocked to find that Mark's laptop was missing! He remembered putting it in the spare room to charge it and saw it last at lunch time. In order to solve this mystery, after a long search and a discussion with Robert and our friends Wut and Bon, we decided to call the local authorities.
11:00 A drunk cop came with a teddy bear notebook and a pink pen to investigate. After unlacing his combat boots and leaving them outside he searched the scene of the crime in order to find the guilty culprit. After inquiring if he had a way to track the serial number or mac address he responded by saying, "Is that possible?" After seeing he would not be much help we proceeded to seek out higher authorities and took a trip to the local police station.
11:30 Mark gave the detective all of his information while we sat outside and watched the goings on of a Thai police station. We saw two people go in the jail and one was a transvestite.
12:00 A post-police station roti(fried sweet pastry thing smothered in condensed milk and sugar) was in order. We ate the last ones on the man's cart.
The odds of this mystery being solved are slim to none and we are sad for Mark's loss, but he is taking it very well. We are going to be much more careful with our belongings now.
Case Number 1
Detectives: Hilary and Amanda
8:30 It started out as a normal Sunday here in Thailand. All was well in Chiang Mai. We woke up.
10:00 The first out of the ordinary event was the arrival of four new farang. They are the new Let's Start Talking group from Longview. They all seem very nice and are very excited to be here.
4:00 The second unusual event was the LST sign up where there were many many new people in the Zone who were signing up for times to read with the new readers. We met a few new people and we saw nothing to cause concern. Our friends P Tik and P Oan from the English lessons at the courthouse came and will be studying here for the next few weeks. They invited us to go to Walking Street with them and to eat a Japanese dinner.
5:00 Of course we accepted and had a great time. P Tik was very generous and showered us with gifts, drinks, and an amazing dinner. She even said she was falling in love with us and asked us to call her Bah "Aunt" Tik.
10:00 When we returned we were shocked to find that Mark's laptop was missing! He remembered putting it in the spare room to charge it and saw it last at lunch time. In order to solve this mystery, after a long search and a discussion with Robert and our friends Wut and Bon, we decided to call the local authorities.
11:00 A drunk cop came with a teddy bear notebook and a pink pen to investigate. After unlacing his combat boots and leaving them outside he searched the scene of the crime in order to find the guilty culprit. After inquiring if he had a way to track the serial number or mac address he responded by saying, "Is that possible?" After seeing he would not be much help we proceeded to seek out higher authorities and took a trip to the local police station.
11:30 Mark gave the detective all of his information while we sat outside and watched the goings on of a Thai police station. We saw two people go in the jail and one was a transvestite.
12:00 A post-police station roti(fried sweet pastry thing smothered in condensed milk and sugar) was in order. We ate the last ones on the man's cart.
The odds of this mystery being solved are slim to none and we are sad for Mark's loss, but he is taking it very well. We are going to be much more careful with our belongings now.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
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