campy camp.

Saturday - Tuesday was a camp for the high schoolers. Hume Lake is a camp in California and they take their counselors and equipment to different countries to minister to MKs. They come every other year to Chiang Mai and it happened this past weekend. They needed extra counselors, so Stefanie, Jo and I got to go be counselors. We each had 5 girls in the room with us and basically did the camp counselor deal. It was so awesome to see the kids compete, worship, and listen to an incredible speaker who had a disability, but used it rather to multiply his joy rather than hide it. Pretty rad. You're probably thinking that MK's have parents who love Jesus and are doing incredible jobs overseas that they wouldn't need camps or much ministry. What I see though...is that they're teenagers and really...it's impossible to love them too much.

being honest.

I know that if you've been keeping up with this blog you probably realize what a blast I'm having and the ways God is really working through and to me. My heart is so full of JOY and PEACE about being right where I'm supposed to be...but let me be completely 110% honest with you b/c I feel like we can pray about this together...
It's not easy being over here alone. You long for people who know you and who love you and give you hugs all the time and that you can call anytime you need them. I have virtually no desire to come home right now, but I'm homesick. I get sad. I feel like it's normal though, and I'm not worried about it, but bottomline...my heart is sad.
It's also an awesome challenge, but a challege nonetheless to make sure that your output does not exceed your input. I found myself telling these girls the other day some truth about God's infinite love that I haven't even completely sold myself on.
So I guess the prayer is that I can really get over my loneliness/homesickness, take ample time to input and really die to self here.
thats me. being real. :)

Bongprabhat VBS.

This week, Wednesday - Friday the senior high kids were all doing a community service project in various places. Our group did a VBS camp at a local hilltribe village b/c their school was on break. I was slightly overwhelmed when planning it b/c I can't communicate what I need, I don't have my own transportation and I didn't know where I was going. God helped me out though, and Phet was super-gracious and spent her Saturday running around town with me. :)

It went pretty well though...the first day we talked about the Prodigal Son and how God loves us just b/c we're His. Then, we drew ourselves with rice. The second day we talked about David and Goliath and made the crown of David. The schedule wasn't rigid, we just had fun with the kids and tried to love on them as much as possible. I was sick on Friday and couldn't make it out there...these pics are about to make you wish you were here though.

If you want to see more pics - just click the link on the right :)

Jesus is Cool quote of the day: "In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost" Matthew 18:14

Thai Phrase of the day: Baan khun yuu thiinoy kha? Where is your house located?

i have a dream...

I have dream and a desire in my heart to open a bakery/coffee shop. I just wanted everyone to know :)
I think sometimes it's scary to share our hopes and dreams b/c we might fail, they may not come true or maybe we'll let opportunities pass us by and live in regret. I'm just staying open to any opportunities God may be placing in my path. I'm really just a girl who likes to bake cookies, loves Jesus and wants others to enjoy cookies and know Jesus.

thankful.

I would be remiss if I didn't give thanks to everyone praying for me and also for God for blessing me like crazy. I can sincerely feel your prayers - please keep it up. Here's where I can feel/see God really working...
1. Learning Thai. I have so much fun learning and I feel like I'm learning it fairly quickly.
2. Thai friendships. I put this in the last newsletter as a prayer request. Since then, my roommate and I have decided to co-teach an ESL (English as second language) at the church. This is a great opportunity b/c it's open to the public and there are a lot of college students involved that aren't Christian.
3. Community. I love living with 3 other Christian women. I was re-reading "Blue Like Jazz" today and Miller was talking about how we're meant to live in community, I agree.
4. Teaching. I'm really enjoying teaching. Especially middle schoolers - I can still baby them a little bit, and yet talk to them like their adults, perfect.
5. Student's Lives. I shared the past 2 times at their youth group and the last time it was at our house, I just love being able to serve them and share what God's done in my life. They're doing community service this week and I'm working with an amazing group in a hill tribe church doing a VBS, very cool. The high schoolers are going to a camp this weekend with all the other Christian Schools from the nearby city, Chiang Mai. They needed more counselors at camp and so Stefanie and I are going to get to serve there too :)
Those are my top 5 that immediately come to mind...God's doing some really rad work here in Chiang Rai, and I thank Him daily for the opportunity to serve Him here.

Jesus is cool quote of the day: Matthew 10:8 - Freely you have recieved, freely give.

Thai Phrase of the day: (for those of you who bought the green shirt) Phut Thai dai nit noy kha. I speak a little bit of Thai.

Dietary Intake.

So my dad asked me about the food I've been eating recently, but this isn't so much a daily occurance. I really enjoy trying new food...most of the time. There's some semi-questionable "meat-on-a-stick" at the market that I try to avoid. The most recent culinary adventure was this "gift" from another teacher, Richard Fish...a bamboo worm. Supposedly when they're fried, "they taste like french fries". I'm not going to call anyone a liar, but the only thing that reminded me of french fries was that it was a little bit salty. For the record, I made one of my students bite the head off before I ate it. For some reason, I felt better when it wasn't staring back at me :)

Other than worms, I've been eating amazing pad thai (yes, the pad thai we pay $15 in the states for, but is about 80 cents a plate here and tastes way better), awesome pumpkin dishes with rice, sweet and sour vegetables with rice, scrambled eggs with rice, fried rice, noodles with soup. I've been gagging on fish meat balls, fish flavored vegetables, and octopus (or was that squid?). They put egg in a lot of dishes, one in particular was this scrambled egg with what I thought was onion. I took a couple bites before someone told me that it was pig skin. Nice. I wonder if I would have ever noticed...haha :)

Jesus is cool quote of the day: Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Luke 12:23

Thai Phrase of the Day: Wannii khun pay talaat may kha? You will go to the market today?

Spiritual Darkness.

So far, this blog has been talking a lot about myself. I want to share a little about what I've been learning about Thai people and their culture.

Thai people are so beautiful, I love when they smile. This is Amy Fish and her beautiful daughter Audrey. SOOO cute.

**The culture here is that lighter skin is more beautiful. Therefore, instead of building beauty lines like we do in the states around getting that sunkissed, bronze, tan look, they have the opposite. Commercials are all about whitening creams, body washes, lotions, etc.
**Thai people LOVE their king. The King's color is yellow, and Monday is the king's day. So you should wear your yellow shirt on Monday :) It's difficult to find a home, store or restaurant that is lacking a picture of the king. In our home, ours is hung beside the dining room. News from the royal family is aired daily.
**All the kids that go to school wear uniforms. Their school year runs from May - March.
**It's rude to point your feet at people, b/c it's the lowest part of your body. For that matter, you shouldnt hang your pants above your shirts b/c they're lower on your body as well. You NEVER turn a fan on with your foot or wear your shoes inside someone's home.
**It seems like every store and business is over-employed b/c labor is so cheap. For example, they were doing some landscaping outside the entrance to the airport and there were sooo many guys out there working on it and i was told that it's because the labor is cheaper than the flowers.
**They drive on the opposite side of the road and there are probably 3 motor bikes for every car.

If you read my first newsletter you maybe saw that less than 1% of the Thais are Christians. Outside almost every business and home is one of these. A spirit house. These are where the spirits live so that they won't come into the business or home and wreak havoc. They make offerings to the spirits to keep them happy. There are entire stores near the market that sell only sacrifices for the spirits. In villages where Animism is still VERY strong, they kill twins b/c they believe one is good and the other evil and you can't tell which is which, so they kill both.

If the only reason God has me here is to pray for these people as I walk by them in the market or by the homes, then I feel that my time here has not been in vain. Please pray for Thailand, for the hearts of these people would be open to see God and that the Holy Spirit is more powerful and real than those they believe to be true.
My friend Melissa was pointing out the other day as well exactly how selfish Buddhism is. You don't give alms b/c you want the person to improve, they give alms to the poor to increase their nirvana. You never see people letting someone go infront of them while driving, it's kind of a "me first" mentality. This isn't saying that they aren't super-friendly (for the most part), but that's the culture...

All that to say...pray for Thailand.

Jesus is cool quote of the day: "It's the heart, not the dictionary, that gives meaning to your words. Matt 12:35 MSG

Thai Phrase of the day: Dichan chawp rian passaa Thai kha. - I like to learn Thai language.