Extraordinary Love in Thailand

prayer.

2008-05-27T12:25:00.002-04:00

"Tell God all that is in your heart, as one unloads one's heart, its pleasures and its pains, to a dear friend. Tell Him your troubles, that He may comfort you; tell Him your joys, that He may sober them; tell Him your longings, that He may purify them; tell Him your dislikes, that He may help you conquer them; talk to Him of your temptations, that He may shield you from them; show Him the wounds of your heart, that He may heal them; lay bare your indifference to good, your depraved tastes for evil, your instability. Tell Him how self-love makes you unjust to others, how vanity tempts you to be insecure, how pride disguises you to yourself and others. If you thus pour out all your weaknesses, needs, troubles, there will be no lack of what to say. You will never exhaust the subject. It is continually being renewed. People who have no secrets from each other never want for subjects of conversation. They do not weigh their words, for there is nothing to be held back; neither do they seek for something to say. They talk out of the abundance of the heart, without consideration they say just what they think. Blessed are they who attain to such familiar, unreserved intercourse with God."- Francois Fenelon

Prayer -athittan.

rice riot.

2008-05-27T01:40:00.004-04:00

Yesterday, Monday, May 26 one of my students didn't come to school because the road was shut down due to rice riots. On our way to Mai Suay (about an hour south) this Sunday, there was a road that was blocked by police due to the riots. Also, one of my friends was taking a bus here and was re-routed due to the problem as well. I searched for it on the news, and there's nothing on it really, but it's real. I can't find information on it, but I'm sure it's not violent or dangerous. One news article said that people are guarding their fields at night with guns. The protests are due to the fact that the sellers are doubling the prices, while the farmers arent seeing a dime of the profit. You really have no idea how hard they work to plant, maintain and harvest the rice, for sooooo little pay. Oh, and they do it all by hand. Yeah, these huge rice fields... It's an injustice.Imagine making less than $6 a day and the inexpensive staple to your diet almost doubles in price. What do you do?

here's a little article http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0327/p01s02-woap.html

Please pray for this situation to be resolved and all stomachs to have enough...and for God to be revealed as the one who will satisfy a deeper hunger...for free.

jai.

2008-05-26T13:04:00.007-04:00

Last Friday we were having a party for the June/July birthdays and everyone with a birthday is supposed to bring 15 treats to share with the school...and of course I forget mine. So I get flustered, and I go into the little snack shop at school and frantically buy 15 ice creams. As I was rushing about, grabbing the ice cream and pulling out my money and being all panicky, the sweet girl that works there looks at me and says, "jai yen". She was completely right. It means "cool your heart". wow, what what a pefect phrase.

This sparked a discussion with my friend Kyndra, who works at a Children's Home for kids who either have AIDS or have been orphaned due to the disease. The name of the home is "Baan Naam Jai" - literally translated, means - Home of the Water Heart. Water heart, how awesome...think about it - a heart that has this life-giving water just pouring from it - what a beautiful idea.

Anyway, so there are a bunch of these "jai - heart" phrases that I want to share...

1. jai rawn - heart hot - as a personality trait - quick to get angry, impatient

2. rawn jai - hot heart - upset (temporary)

3. nak jai - heavy heart - worried

4. taam jai - do heart - to follow the wishes of someone

5. phaw jai - enough heart - to be satisfied, content

6. jai dii - heart good - good-natured, kind hearted

7. jai yen -heart cool - cool, calm, imperturable

8. jai kwaang - heart give - generous, big hearted

9. man jai - to be confident

10. loong jai - to feel relieved, at ease

11. thuuk jai - every heart - to be to one's liking, pleasing

12. sonjai - to be interested in

13. greng jai - scared heart - to be afraid of imposing

14. naam jai - water heart - see above :)

My housemate -Phet, she is very jai yen and jai dii. Isn't she beautiful? I love her.

transportation.

2008-05-19T14:05:00.005-04:00

This is how we get around...I took all of these while I was waiting 15 minutes for my bus. Not an awesome picture, but it's the guy pedaling a bike and has that seat attached. The only time I've seen these in action is when they're pedaling around little old Thai ladies or a long trains of tourists. This is a tuk-tuk - my thai book defines it as a motorized tricycle. These guys are good for getting around the city in a hurry (they drive cRaZy) but get pretty expensive if you go more than a couple km.

This little blue guy is a baby song tau - this is my thai dream car - is that not the cutest thing you've ever seen? This is a normal song tau - these run from about 6 AM to 4 PM along the super-highway and you just flag them down and hop in the back - they tell you how much you pay when you get off. The other day I was taking one of these home from school and it was very full. There was an older man on it and he made a boy about 17 years old get up and give me his seat - he had to hang off the back. Well, that spot wasn't large enough for my rear end - so he made another boy around age 14 get up and sit in his friend's lap. Soooo sweet.

The bus system here really is unbelievable. So incredible. I wish we had public transportation like this in the US. The silver and green bus on the right is a "fan bus" and those travel from city to city and stop anytime someone flags them down. The seats are made for petite thai people, though. 5 seats across - not super comfortable...but for a $2 bus ride that takes you to all the way to Chiang Mai, you don't complain. The other bus - the yellow and green one there beside it is an "air con bus" and those have 4 seats across. There's also a VIP bus - which runs about $8 US to Chiang Mai. Those have 3 seats across and while the fan bus can take up to 4 hours, the VIP does the same trip in about 2.5.

This is my friend Kyndra on her rad fino. Motorbikes are pretty much the transportation of choice around here. I have to say after driving one for a month or so, I understand why. The gas is so cheap - like $3 a week. They wouldnt really fly in America though, b/c our cities and towns are so spread out...oh, that...and we're too performance driven to spend the extra time that it would take on the motorbike on the road. However, you will notice how everything just pretty much stops when it starts raining...

Thai Phrase of the Day: Khit waa khun khung aap naam prowaa mii men kha. I think you should shower b/c you stink.

*concidence? you decide. The Thai word for "a stinky smelly" is men. (hmm)

culture

2008-05-19T12:58:00.006-04:00

So, some life below the surface...lately I've really been reflecting on culture...specifically the one I'm living in. It would be good for someone to know where I'm coming from...

1. It is NOT rude to ask someone how much they paid for something, tea, peanut butter, a car...whatever. In fact, it shows that you're interested and appreciate the object.

2. Just today my friend and I were talking to a Christian Thai lady about her daughter who is 15. My friend said the daughter is "suay" which means beautiful. The mother immediately replied "no, may suay" - no, she's not beautiful. The woman said that she tells her that she's not, but the daughter thinks she is. I have NO idea how a mother can say her daughter is not beautiful to anyone, especially people she's known for less than an hour, but that's culture.

3. The only people that really touch in public are those of the same sex. Perfectly heterosexual girls hold hands, men don't hold hands, but it's normal to see a man grab another man's knee or shoulder, but it's VERY rare to see couples being affectionate in public. I have older thai women come up and rub my stomach as they're talking to me, it's different, but sweet.

4. Quiet, subtle and displaying as little emotion as possible are the character traits that are most highly valued. The trait that is heavily frowned upon is having a "hot heart" which means you are quick to show that you are upset.

5. I haven't been able to read 95% of what I see in public. I am learning Thai phonetics, which basically means that I'm "functionally illiterate"...and I'm driving...haha.

6. It is rude to wear your shoes inside. This picture is of our worship time, and all the teachers' and kids' shoes outside the meeting room.

7. There is a strong value for the elder. The other day I saw a young man driving his grandmother and then making sure she got on the bus safe. It was sweet. The roots of this are in Buddhism, but I like it.

8. To be polite, when you're walking by someone, you lower your head. Not all the time though, but for example, if I'm walking down a narrow stall in a market and I kind of have to slip by someone, I would duck down a little bit to show kindness. There's a specific word for being considerate - Gren Jai - and that basically means that you bend backward to be hospitable, polite, kind and generous to people. Sounds like what community should be like, eh?

He restores.

2008-04-23T13:03:00.007-04:00

Like I said in my blog a couple days ago...at first glance Cambodia may seem like a dirty and poor nation with stunted development, but if you look close, you can see glimpses of God trying to redeem this thirsty nation.

Let me tell you the story of the past few decades in Cambodia - in case you missed it (as I had).

In the early 70's Cambodia was doing alright for itself in the ways of the world, life was pretty peaceful and good for most folks. Then, this guy named Pol Pot came along with his Khmer Rouge, a militaristic, Communist regime. He defeated the American's weak attempt at democracy and converted the peaceful nation into one that would turn neighbors and families against themselves.

When Pol Pot took over, he forced all of the people out of the major cities, and into the countryside. The people who lived in the cities (called "new people" by farmers) were the majority of the well-educated and the people who lived in the country were mostly farmers (referred to as "old people"). You did hard farming labor and were fed 2 bowls of rice soup a day. If you didn't die of starvation, but showed any kind of infidelity to the Khmer Rouge, you were killed. The estimate is about 2 million people died during the 4 years. For a population of 7.5 million, that number is critical, especially when it was mostly those with higher education who were killed. There was scarcely a family untouched.

The brutality is staggering. The Khmer Rouge would use hoes and picks to kill people, so they wouldnt waste bullets, and they told the "New Members" (those forced from the cities) that "To keep you is no benefit. To destroy you is no loss."

While in Cambodia, we were able to visit a Genocide Museum, outside Phnom Penh, and they had dug up skulls and clothes from the mass graves. I saw a similiar mentality as the Thais about the tsunami, when visiting the south. The Cambodian people want people to remember what happened regardless of how horrific it was. Standing in that same place 30 years ago, I know the scene was much different, I imagine grassless, dusty ground, stench and a dark spirit surrounding the place. Today, walking around and seeing a place where over a thousand lives were lost, you couldn't help but notice the green grass growing, the birds singing, flowers blooming and beautiful sunshine.

The only hope is that life overcomes death. Flowers bloom where many lives ended, God overcomes man's death and destruction and redeems the land with beauty. and bigger, Jesus overcame death on a cross and redeemed you.

huaro = laugh.

2008-04-22T12:45:00.008-04:00

These pictures made me laugh. I hope they put a little smile on your face too. :)

English is a difficult language to learn and blunders like this are commonplace, but this one was pretty cute. Please, don't call if you're boring!

I really liked this sign. It was in the bathroom at Angkor Wat. I could imagine a poor old Cambodian woman, looking at the western toliet trying to figure out how she could stand up there. "This ain't no squatty potty, grandma!"
This picture is of me crunching down on a fried grasshopper. I feel like that's a pretty appropriate face, but it's still classic.

kampucha 1.

2008-04-16T08:49:00.007-04:00

Kampucha is thai for "Cambodia".There are 7 people in this short-term missions program I'm in. Aimee is one of them, and is currently working in Chiang Mai, about 100 KM from here. She and I were fortunate to be able to travel last week to visit 2 other girls, Morgan and Katie (also involved in the program) who are working in Cambodia. They work in Phnom Penh at an organization called Hagar International with women and children who have been involved in human trafficking. Morgan works doing prision research, looking for ministry opportunities, and Katie is doing great work in the office. They blessed us with the opportunity to go to a birthday party (complete with icing to face smearing), a prayer meeting and a Khmer New Year party at the shelter. The women were so welcoming, and we had a great time. I'm probably being overly sensitive, but I wish I could post all the pictures of these beautiful women and children, but I dont think it's appropriate.

The traffic was the most chaotic thing I've ever seen.

These vans were everywhere, packed with people and possessions. This one only had 1 guy on top, I saw one van with 6 or 7 people sitting on top.

The theme I saw repeated throughout the trip was just how much destruction, poverty and corruption there is, but how beautiful God is and how He alone can redeem it.

basketball.

2008-03-28T16:04:00.007-04:00

Our school doesnt have many opportunities for the students to get involved in sports, so an event like the basketball game that happened the other night was a big deal. We dont have jerseys and we played against the team from a nearby university and got creamed (32 to 68) but the kids had fun and it was fun to see them enjoying athletics. Soccer will be starting after spring break, and I'm so excited!

Thai Phrase of the Day: Tuk wan dichan len futbon kha. I play soccer (futbol) everyday!

mae sai.

2008-03-27T14:22:00.010-04:00

What I want to communicate with these pictures is the beauty that is everyday life here and the manifest of God's extraordinary and infinite beauty. I went with my friend Aimee to Mae Sai, the border town where we exit Thailand to go to Burma. These are a few of my favorite pics... This is a man taking his goods across the border, he's walking those boxes through immigration. These are some girls that were riding in the bus. The last picture is just a side street off of the main road through town.
Life is going well, there have been some challenges, but I feel like God's strength alone is getting me through them. Also, I know this is becoming a theme, but I was still stressing about my plans for next year, and I was saying to someone else, "but perfect love drives out fear" and suddenly it took on a deep meaning in my heart as well. The cross was perfect love and His resurrection screams our freedom.

Thai Phrase of the day: Khon thai may khehy kin khaaw khon diaw kha. Thai people never eat rice alone.

maintaining homeostasis.

2008-03-05T01:36:00.009-05:00

So my really rad friend patrick williams (whose beautiful wife is pregnant!) kindly put a link to my blog on his, and he says interesting and intelligent things on his (http://www.pwandsw.blogspot.com/) and i imagine people actually read it, and might go to a link that he posted b/c folks spend A LOT of time on the computer these days...so i figured i'd go ahead and update mine, just in case :) My camera is on it's way here from SC right now, so I haven't been posting much b/c I think people get bored with just reading my words and want to see pictures...there's probably only 10% of you that have even read this far :) haha. So here are some pictures my friend Kyndra took... This is me helping lead worship in church - on the far left. I'm not really sure how that happened. :) So the girls on the right are Thai and they are singing the Thai lyrics, as we farang (white folk) are singing the words in English. Singing Thai and English simultaneously is great, and I love it, but 2 problems are created. 1. For most songs, the words just don't fit with the music for one language or the other. 2. Farang clap on the beat and Thai people clap of the off beat. Rhythmically challenged people like me just clap. :) This is a picture from the flower festival. That is a float and the king made from flowers and that's a really cute old Thai couple in the foreground. The man is wearing his yellow shirt. Something really interesting is that Thai people celebrate more of the day of the week you were born, not the date. They also have a corresponding color for each day, so if you were born on Sunday, red is your color. Yellow for Monday, Pink for Tuesday, Green for Wednesday, Orange for Thursday, Blue for Friday, and Purple for Saturday. The king was born on Monday, so every Monday you should wear your yellow polo shirt that has the king's crest on it.This is a pottery place called Doy Din Dang. The Thai artist who makes these is Buddist, but his son went to my school. He's pretty famous, and the pottery is so beautiful.

Thai Phrase of the Day: Khit waa khun khuan ja aapnaam pro waa sokaprok kha. I think you should take a shower because you are dirty.

valentine's day.

2008-02-13T11:41:00.003-05:00

happy valentine's day. i love you! :) I KNOW that sounds totally cheesy, but it's true. I don't feel like it's just a day for lovers, I feel like it's a day to celebrate LOVE.
I LOVE Valentine's day. I love love. I mean, the idea that there's this invisible force that can tie people together and connect them and bring joy and pain and suffering and fun and happiness is so beautiful to me. I pray that God's love is real to you today and only increases.
I have about 16 weeks until I come home, but I feel like God is telling me to come back after the summer until January. So I'll be home (South Carolina) in June and probably leave again in late August and will stay in Thailand from late August to January. So, unless God delivers some BiG different message, that's the path.

Thai phrases of the day: *please note, these phrases do not include tones, and yes there are 5 of them*
1. Aahaan Thai phet kwaa aahaan farang kha. - Thai food is more spicy than white folks food.
2. Dichan ja bye boat wan aathiit kha. - I will go to church on Sunday.
3. Dichan rak khun kha. - I love you.
4. Hong naam thii nay kha? - Where is the bathroom?

Jesus is rad quote of the day: Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it and whoever loses his life will preserve it.

sporty sports day.

2008-02-13T11:13:00.006-05:00

Normally, the school takes the entire Superbowl Monday and turns it into "Sports Day". We had to postpone it a week though, b/c of the rain, you'll see our new "field" and you can imagine it after a couple days of rain. So I was on the official "Olympic Committee" jk, but I did get a plan and help a lot :) It was so wonderful seeing our hard work being paid off by the kids enjoying their day. We did the 400 Meter Dash, 60 M dash, shotput, discus, high jump, broad jump, long jump, baseball throw, basketball shootout, soccer shootout and football throw. The kids were divided up into 5 teams, Lithuania, Zimbabwe, Mongolia, Madagascar and Brazil. It was a fun day, here are some pictures...

Lithuania, the winning team!

So intense!

The Elementary girls running the 400 m dash.

Teak doing the high jump. I can't lie, she's one of my favorite students.

This is the amazing Pii Apa. He works "maintence" for the school, and he's great. He lined the field and is super-helpful. If you look back at the Akha Hilltribe village we visited, he lives there in one of those homes.

grace = unmerited favor.

2008-02-13T10:37:00.005-05:00

Here's a picture of my niece b/c she's so cute. She just gets in her car seat and trusts, she doesnt doubt that her Mom and Dad are going to take her somewhere wonderful, she doesnt worry about the ride. She just plays where she is and knows that they've got it all under control...

If you've never had to fall on your face before God and ask Him for forgiveness, I feel sorry for you.

If you've never had to fall on your face before another person and ask for forgiveness, I also feel sorry for you.

I had to do both recently. It was an extremely humbling feeling, knowing that your future depends on the way that these beings respond to your apology and repentance. The idea that your next few moments or days or life or eternity depends on whether you're forgiven or not is an extremely humbling feeling. Derek Webb says "you're only free when you have no choice". I believe it...there is freedom in knowing that your only option is to trust the One who will not love you any less or more tomorrow than He does today or did yesterday.

I had to apologize to my supervisor and his wife and it was really difficult, but really beautiful. After I nervously delivered the truth of my sin, they didn't even have to look at each other to decide that they were going to forgive me. They just knew. I really desire that one day, to be so in synch with my husband that we know we will give someone immediate grace when they sin against us. Like in Luke 17, when Jesus says to His disciples, "If your brother sins, rebuke him and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins 7 times a day and 7 times comes back to you and says 'I repent', forgive him." As Christians, Jesus told us to forgive. Not only did they forgive me, but they gave me so much GRACE. They prayed over me, said I was released and told me they loved me. I left their home knowing I had experienced Christianity.
However much love and grace they gave me however, I know that His love and grace and truth abounds all the more...

seriously?

2008-02-13T10:21:00.003-05:00

So, one of my very cool students, Emily, wrote this note about a motorbike accident she saw on the side of the road...

I saw a dead body today.We were just driving to drama practice, the same road we drive at least twice everyday. I wonder where he was going. On a stretch of road normally deserted, there were at least forty people, mingling casually. Death interests people. I wonder if he was popular while alive. While driving past this crowd, expecting a parade of sorts, I see a bundle wrapped in blood-soaked cloth. I wonder if he liked the color white.His body was lying on the side of the road. Everyone was just staring at the once-alive body now haunting the corner. I wonder if he really lived. It’s over for him. No more chances. All those thoughts he had buried inside him will never be known. I wonder if he was married.Maybe he left behind a family. Maybe he never said “I love you” to the woman he truly loved. I wonder what he wanted.And worst of all…I wonder if he knew Jesus. Did yet another human die without knowing the freedom and love of Jesus Christ? What if I could’ve told him? What if my lack of boldness cost him his introduction to Jesus? I wonder.

Well, so afterward, she found out that there were in fact 2 dead bodies. A family had been on a motorbike. The pregnant mother, a father and a small child. The mother had died instantly and the son had a broken leg (and later died in ICU), but the father got stuck under the truck and the truck driver didn't stop...because as all Thai's know, if you hit someone, it's just better to kill them, b/c if you hit them and they survive, then you have to pay for their entire hospital bill, but if they die, you only have to pay their family 40,000 baht (around $1200). It's amazing how as a race or culture we feel as though we can put a price on a life...

maybe...

2008-01-28T08:46:00.000-05:00

Alright, so here's what's going on...still struggling a little bit with the plan...
This weekend at church the message was about how sometimes the things that seemed foolish at the time, turned out to glorify God the most. For example, have you heard the story about Gideon? Alright, this guy had an army of 32,000 men and God was like..."that's too many men for me to show My power, just so I make sure you can't brag - I'm going to reduce that number"...and then God told him, "separate those who lap the water like a dog from those who kneel down to drink...and take the 300 who lapped and I'm going to give the Midianites into your hands." That doesn't seem to make sense, does it?
Another foolish thing to the world's eyes is that Mary had a baby as a virgin. The speaker said people probably asked, "Who's your baby's daddy" Mary said "God". Probably looked kind of foolish to the world.
So maybe the idea of staying another year looks foolish compared to the world's standards. "You probably should go home and get a teaching job with a good salary and good healthcare and be saving money up." I dont think it would be an easy decision to come back next year. It's actually kind of hard for me to even type about, but God is sovereign...always is, always was, always will be...

Thai Phrase of the day: Dichan rak sawn thii FLC kha! I love to teach at FLC!

Jesus is rAd quote of the day: and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for me will find it. - matt 10:39. (that sounds a lot like faith to me...)

step by step.

2008-01-17T13:05:00.000-05:00

I feel like this is a theme that God wants me to follow right now, here's how He communicated it.
So lately, I've been feeling a little pressure to make a decision about what I'm going to do next year. Whether I come back to Thailand, stay in SC, move to Montana (I don't know I just feel drawn there) or whatever...So I was feeling totally stressed about this...what am I going to do?!?!?
Then, last Saturday, Damaris and I went and did a little hiking around and we were going up to this waterfall and there were some really steep, difficult concrete "stairs" going up the side of the mountain. As I was climbing them, God said..."look, these stairs aren't easy andyou have to focus on one at a time".
I told Damaris that God just revealed that to me and it reminded me of one time in college when me and Sarah Anne and a few other girls were riding in Sarah Anne's car (connie) and the radio was turned down really low and we were talking about our futures and wondering who we were going to marry...and all the sudden without anyone touching it, the radio turned up in the song right at the line that says "and step by step I'll lead you"...and we all were in shock.
If I didn't have the point by then, God really wanted to drive it home by making sure that we sung that same song - "and step by step I'll lead you" in church last Sunday.
And He know's I'm stubborn and oblivious sometimes, so He even made sure that my friend Kyndra told me too. She said that God kind of told her that I just have take things one step at a time...
pretty rad huh?
so that means that my next step is home to Columbia on June 24 and looks like Charleston after that. please pray that i keep my eye on this step and all that God wants me to do here! thanks!

whyowhy?

2008-01-10T12:06:00.000-05:00

Why do you think it is that people (Christians) naturally go 1 of 2 ways...
1. When life is good, they're always thinking about and praising God, spending all sorts of time in the word and in prayer and then when things turn bad, they turn the focus inward and forget what's important.
2. When life's peachy, they forget about thanking God and just think about themselves and when things turn bad, they immediately turn to Him for help.

**my camera is broken for a bit...im going to take it to the Canon store to see what they can do, so I won't have too many pictures until then :(

nye.

2008-01-08T11:21:00.000-05:00

New Year's Eve I had one of those brushes with the peace that surpasses all understanding and I knew there was no where else in the whole world that I would rather be that night.

We got home from the south on the 30th and then my friend Aimee came from Chiang Mai to visit/do a border run for her visa that night. Most of the next day was spent getting that done, but in the evening we went out to Baan Nam Jai - Home of the Open Heart. It's an orphanage mostly for children who are HIV+ it was so awesome to get to celebrate a new year with my friends and the kids out there. We had fireworks and they released the khom loys like we did for Loy Krathong. After the kids went in, we came back to our house and we had a party. That day, I (without thinking) asked Phet if normally in Thailand they have a party and watch the ball drop. Sure they do...at lunch time the next day...haha. So, I figured it really wouldn't be New Year's for me if we didn't have a ball drop, so I found the nearest soccer ball, stripped the lights off our tree and cleverly found a way to "drop" it from our curtain rod. Haha...it was a lot of fun and I was so thankful to be here. I hope your 2008 was as much fun and I have a feeling that 2008 is going to be the best year yet!!

"Sawat dee bee mai!" - Happy New Year!

krabi.

2008-01-08T10:08:00.000-05:00

The last stop on our trip was a day in Krabi. (pronounced Kha-robbie - except you say it like it's only 1 syllable) It was about an hour and a half in a van from Khao Lak. In Krabi Town you had to take a longtail boat about 15 minutes to this island. Totally worth the $1.50 boat ride. This is where James Bond Island and Ko Phi Phi are...the beautiful limestone cliffs that are on all the travel brochures. This area isn't preserved like the Similans though and there were SOOOOO many tourists, but it really was a beautiful area. There was rock climbing everywhere because of the cliffs. From Krabi Town, we got back on a bus and spent the night travelling back to Bangkok.

This guy roasting/selling corn was seriously in demand.

similan.

2008-01-08T09:16:00.000-05:00

My brother asked me if the beaches were like the post cards and I had to say yes after I saw the Similans. What a cool place to worship God on Christmas! We got on a speed boat with about 20 other people and drove for an hour and a half and got dumped off here! We spent 3 nights in this tent on the similan islands, an archipelago of 9 islands. We stayed on island 4, but we went snorkling on 3 of the other islands. You could walk from one side of the island to the other in about 5 minutes, so you could see the sunrise on one side of the island and walk to the other side in the evening for the sunset! This is where we spent Christmas...it was neat, Damaris and I sang Christmas Hymns by ourselves on the beach and we were joined by our tour guide (who isn't a Christian) and we read the Christmas story in Luke. It was pretty special and I really enjoyed being away from the hustle and bustle and commercialism that seems to have become Christmas in America. The idea of the purity and joy of celebrating Christmas on the beach I'll never forget. I love the way that they have preserved the island, there are only about 30 tents and a few bungalows.

The last day, a current brought in trash and it was so gross and sad. Plastic bags, food wrappers, just gross household waste was in the water and washed upon the shore.

tsunami.

2008-01-08T08:24:00.000-05:00

I didn't tell my parents b/c I knew they would worry, but the place that we went, Khao Lak was one of the places hardest hit by the tsunami. Even 3 years later, the impact of that day is still a reality in the lives of those who experienced it.

This is a boat that was escorting a Thai Prince. The wave took his life and washed this police boat over 2 kilometers inland.

This is a sign on the Similan Island we stayed on.

Our snorkling instructor showed us a video that his brother made of Khao Lak when the tsunami hit. You may know that the water went out...but I was very surprised that it was for 20 minutes. You could hear the people yelling for the people on the beach to run, but there were a lot of people (mostly foreigners) that were walking on the beach and looking at all that was normally covered by water...fish, shells, you can imagine. One image that I'll never forget was that of a young child looking at shells and unsuspectingly being engulfed by this wave.

It's very interesting to me the way that the Thais have embraced what happened. They sell DVDs and are eager to share what happened, I believe they just want people to be aware and to remember their loss.

the beach.

2008-01-02T10:47:00.000-05:00

For Christmas break, Damaris and I went down south for the beach. We left on the 20th and came home on the 30th, but the trip really started a few days prior to the actual departure. Damaris and I knew that our bus left @ 7 for Bangkok, and were discussing when we would be able to get to the bus station (b/c we had to take public transportation). Well, I KNEW for sure that the buses to go downtown ran later than 5:30 ish, so I insisted that we leave 5:45 at the earliest. Around 6:15 when no buses had come, Damaris was about to get mad at me...and a mini-car pulls over and drops a lady off. Another woman from the car approaches us and tells us that they're teachers and asks us where we're going. We said the bus station, and she said she'd be happy to give us a ride. So Damaris, I and our huge backpacks smush in the backseat for our ride downtown. HUGE blessing!

It's an over-night bus, so we left at 7 pm and arrived in BKK around 6 am. Not a bad way to travel really. The seats are pretty big and recline way back. I always have trouble reclining though, there's just something about taking someone's personal space that I struggle with... Around 1 am I was glancing out my window and for about a 1/2 mile this truck had accidently been dropping boxes and the contents were all over the road. What were the contents? Straws. White straws all over the road...hahaha

We arrive in BKK and ride the city bus from the north bus terminal to the south...an hour and a half. Not bad for 18 baht. So we eventually make it to the south bus station, and decide that rather than stay the day in BKK, we'll go to Hua Hin - a beach about 3 hours away and spend the day there and then take an overnight bus down to our destination - Khao Lak. Hua Hin was a nice place, but very touristy.

We took an overnight bus from Hua Hin to Khao Lak - this is the beach.

arrive around 6 AM in Khao Lak walked around for a while, try to communicate where we want to go, get sent to the wrong place, walk a couple km back to where we started and then call Bens, an amazing Thai girl that works at the YWAM base. So, we get settled in our guest room that's right next to the base there that ministers to tsunami survivors. We spent a couple days there in Khao Lak...to be continued...these are beautiful designs made by crabs.

Christmas break.

2007-12-19T14:15:00.000-05:00

We're officially on Christmas break until January 7. Today was the school Christmas party. It started after lunch and lasted until school let out at 3:30. They did fun Christmas songs - I got to sing a carol in Thai with 2 other adult Thai students! :) Then the students made ornaments/did activities while the adults did our gift exchange and then they played musical chairs and did a balloon pop game (where you put a balloon on your ankle and have to stomp on other people's balloons while trying to keep yours safe!) and then the kids all had a gift exchange. What a special place this school is...

My roommate Damaris and I are leaving tomorrow night at 7pm to get on an overnight bus to Bangkok. We'll arrive there at 5 am and look into purchasing another ticket down to Khao Lak. It will be about 13 hours from Bangkok. We'll be staying at a YWAM base in Khao Lak (where the red dot is on the map) and then camping for 3 nights on Ko Similan...then we're not sure..we might stay longer. It's nice to be free like that...did you know Thailand means "free" land. I love that. They really do have an awesome King here. He really lives to serve these people and make the country better.
This is where I was last Christmas Eve! It's amazing to think about what and where God has brought us in a year. I encourage you to think about that, I'll do it too on this trip. We can do it together :) So, where have you been in 2007? What have you learned? My friend pointed out that your "gut response" is really usually the most truthful.

HUGE prayer request is safety traveling and spending time at the beach and meeting people God puts in our path.

reaching out.

2007-12-18T20:30:00.001-05:00

We loaded up the entire school in trucks and went on an outreach Monday. We went to Sansuk School near Chang San. (i think) Sansuk means fun, by the way...it's also the name brand of sandals in the states :)

We pulled in around 10 AM to around 500 students waiting for us. We were welcomed with 2 beautiful Akha dances in their traditional clothing, followed by our kids doing the "funky chicken" haha. We played a couple games like the balloon stomp and gave them school a TV, DVD player and 90 kilos of oranges! haha.

Thai phrase of the day: Dichan rak khun kha. - I love you.

loy krathong.

2007-11-29T21:45:00.001-05:00

Loy Krathong is one of the biggest festivals in Thailand. They were shooting fireworks for a month prior to the day to prove it. This is a traditionally Buddhist celebration where they float these little rafts that are slightly bigger than a cd and made out of banana leaves out on the river. It happens on the night of the first full moon of the 12th month of the Thai lunar year. The rafts are floated to honor Buddha and also are used to represent letting go of grudges and anger. They'll usually put a piece of hair or a fingernail on the raft to represent letting go of the bad parts of oneself. The Thais we were with said that it all started to thank the Goddess of Water for all she provides. They also think it will bring them good luck for the coming year.

One of our ESL students invited Damaris and I to spend the evening with him and his friends for the festival. We didn't float the Kratongs b/c we have Jesus, but it was still wonderful to hang out with the Thais and observe this beautiful custom. This is the group photo we took when it was still light out. Our student is standing on the back row on the far left. This is a family putting their float on the river.

Damaris and I letting go of our Khom Loy!

mekong friendship festival.

2007-11-29T21:29:00.000-05:00

Thursday night, after the big meal, Phet and I met up with Lek, a girl from church to go to the Mekong Friendship Festival. It's a celebration of all the countries that border the Mekong River, China, Burma, Laos ad Thailand. It was a big festival, complete with what appeared to be used fair rides, traditional dances and fried bugs. They had everything from different artisans from those countries to people selling fake Prada. Lek, Phet and I had a fun time, the highlight was when we played this game where you paid 10 Baht to "go fishing" and you pulled a plastic egg out of this little kiddy pool and it had a number on it and the number correlated with a prize. I pulled out 16 and got this incredibly lumpy pillow with movie stars on both sides! So lucky!!

Thai Phrase of the Day- Duan naa dichan ca pay khao lak, klay talee. Next month I will go to Khao Lak, near the ocean.
**If the letters c, k, p don't have an h behind them, they are un-aspirated, meaning you say them without really pushing any air out of your mouth. The "p" in "pay" sounds a lot like a "b" like in spaghetti.

Jesus is rad quote of the day - Jesus replied, "What is impossible with men in possible with God."

yes, there was turkey.

2007-11-29T21:22:00.000-05:00

Many of you may be curious as to the Thanksgiving that we had here in Chiang Rai. Yes, there was turkey. A few grocery stores have them imported and one of the families here had a group of us "farang" (foreigners) over to share in the big day. Here are a few pictures of the spread. We had turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, sweet tea and a few other specialties. It was awesome and I ate my little heart out.

Afterward, we played wii, and sat around and shared laughs, just like a big family :) it was beautiful.

like a river.

2007-11-23T15:08:00.000-05:00

so this is what ive most recently learned...about pride and all that...is that ive really had this mentality about how life is only so short - I have to do all this and this and this and fill my life with all these projects and God is like..NO..it's not about what YOU can do, it's what I can do through you and I will bring you into relationships i want you to have and more than all that, you're just MY child, Jessie, that HAS to be enough for you first before I can use you completely, b/c other wise, your whole life is going to be about what YOU can do.

its like this...instead of me trying to give out cups of water - God wants his river to flow through me.

what does that look like?

symphony.

2007-11-19T08:07:00.000-05:00

There's this beautiful symphony of our lives being played as we live...sometimes it's fast, other times cacophonous, frequently somber and yet often harmonious and beautiful...but not a second goes by that the grand conductor will pull his hand from directing it all. Sometimes caucophonous/somber/sorrowful music isn't what the ear (or heart) longs for...but rest assured, the sweet melodious chorus of love and beauty are near.

broken heart.

2007-11-15T09:16:00.000-05:00

I dont know if this is socially appropriate b/c I've always been a little socially akward and with the new internet age, I dont know if there is certain protocol. I'll only leave it up a short time, and my sole intent with this post is to get everyone who reads it to pray for this family.

my heart was broken this week for one of my good friends from college. She lost her 7 week old baby...I'm pasting this from an email.

Last week she (the baby) was having a problem keeping milk down but theythought it was reflux. They took her to the hospital on Wednesdayafternoon and the doctors ran bunches of tests and ruled it a "virus"that had to "run it's course." On Thursday they brought her back fora check in and she had lost 2oz. so the doctors just told Christy and Aaron to keep giving her Pedia-lite every 20 min and keep feeding her. They did this throughout the weekend and she seemed to be recovering well. However, on Sunday night at midnight, Christy noticed Emeline was disoriented and very lethargic during her feeding. They took her temp and it was right at 100 so they immediately took her to the hospital because they knew something wasn't right. She was whimperinga lot and clammy. Once they got to the Abbeville hospital she had passed away. Christy said she died in her arms. Christy and Aaron had time with her from then until 5am.

it's just been so heavy on my heart this week and wanted to share it so that you can pray for this family. If you'd just take a minute right now and just lift up this family...that'd be awesome. Rest, peace, comfort, safety and healing are suggestions.

burma border hopping.

2007-11-11T08:41:00.000-05:00

With the type of Visa I have (passport, not credit card) I have to leave the country every 90 days and get a stamp. The closest place to cross the border is a little town called Tachilek in Burma (Myanmar). Yeah, there's a lot of bad happening there right now. Here's a few questions that arose in my mind as we were travelling, and may shed some light...
1. What's the difference between Burma and Myanmar? Myanmar is the new name given to Burma when the militaristic regime took over.
2. What's up with Burma now? Seems to have quieted down since the initial protests... read about it here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071111/ap_on_re_as/myanmar
It's a super-oppressive country, and people try to escape to Thailand. This picture with the barbed wire is the border. The side closest is Burma and the other side it Thailand. There's a river in the middle you can't see from this angle.
3. Why are these policemen boarding the bus? When you ride the bus to Chiang Rai, or anywhere really, police board every trip and check everyone's citizenship card to make sure there aren't any illegal immigrants. Really by everyone, I mean anyone that looks Asian. We don't really get asked for ours.
4. Is going to Burma safe? Oh yeah, the little town we went to has a large market and we just stayed there and shopped for a bit. The most dangerous thing we encountered were the boxes of Marlboros being shoved in our faces...no less than 50 times. Also, evidently I had "lucky money" and they wanted me to spend it. haha. If you were going to travel through the country (which you could...and go to China), Burmese officials would accompany you, and make sure you spend the night in hotels, and not in homes with residents.
4. Are they going to keep my passport? So when you walk through the border, no lie, they ask you to step into this little room, behind this curtain. They take your picture, 500 baht ($15) and hold your passport until you come back through. They give you this "entry permit" that's good for 2 weeks, and you just turn it back in when you leave.
I hope you learned a little...I did. As we sit here on our computers, safe and peaceful, I implore you to do 2 things...Thank God you live in a democracy and PRAY FOR BURMA!!! We have no idea how blessed we really are.

Passaa Thai Phrase of the Day: Khun pay nay Burma phrungnii may kha? You will go to Burma tomorrow?

Jesus is rad quote of the day: By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. John 13:35

new rice festival = thanksgiving.

2007-11-03T11:27:00.000-04:00

A couple Saturdays ago, October 27, we went to a "new rice" festival in a Akha hill tribe village. It was the same village that we visited about a month before. It's time to harvest rice, and for Christian villages like this one, time to thank God for the rice. The girls and some of the women dressed up in their traditional hilltribe attire and sang and danced. This is them hanging out after the dancing.It was very similar to a church service...except longer. A lot of people spoke, we sang Akha hymns and it was held in the church. Afterward, they went and had a big feast. They had chunks of what i thought was bananas and turned out to be pig fat, and pork, bowls of very oily substances and new fresh rice in a banana leaf. You just scoop the food on your rice, then eat with your hands. I love it. This is the Thanksgiving table we sat around.

How rad is it that God gave me a desire to eat rice with my hands over a year ago?

God writes the bEsT love stories.

2007-11-03T11:03:00.000-04:00

That's the quote of my other roommate, Damaris after the story we heard tonight. Our neighbor, Vita, came over to tell us about her trip to Laos. Vita is from Lithuania, 29, beautiful, has been in Thailand 3 months and works with refugees. Well, did work. Her job ended a few days before she left on her trip. She went for about a month, started in the north and headed south to see Laos.
Well...as it turns out...she had a companion on the trip. He's from California, but is a pastor of a church in Albania. An American (no doubt) thinking that Lithuania is close to Albania, tried to set them up. Well, after emailing for about 3.5 months, he decided to come "see Laos". Right. They trekked all over, small villages, big cities, tree top houses, temples, jungle, rice fields, muddy mountains, and cavernous rivers. Well, it may have been the way the Laos light shined in her hair, but 2 weeks into the trip, they were dating and a week later...they were engaged. It's so sweet, they bought dollar jade rings at a market and exchanged them at a meat cutter's stall.
She says is amazing how God guided everything and how there's nothing really about him she has to settle on. Good love story, eh? ;)

it's like we live in Helsinki.

2007-11-02T23:13:00.000-04:00

That was the comment my Thai roommate, Phet, said jokingly as we walked to a neighbor's house last night. The temperature may have dropped a degree or 2 below 70, but I think I'm acclimated now, so it's hard to say. It was a cold front though, and it's raining today. She just looked at me like I'm crazy for telling her to "bundle up" before going to the market. Of course, I had to explain what "bundling up" means, but THEN she looked at me like I'm crazy. Of course she was going to. The kids playing outside yesterday had on "toboggans" or whatever you call those stocking hats.
side note: My brother got made fun of in Canada for calling his hat a toboggan, and I just looked it up on dictionary.com and all 6 definitions said it was a sled. I wonder how southerners got the 2 mixed up.
Anyhow, I thought one of my students was a little crazy the other day for saying that his father had built a fire in their fireplace. I wondered why he had built the fire and why they even had a fireplace. Makes sense though. Our house is very nice, but has no heat or air. If you want to be cooler, turn on your fan, if you want to be warmer, build a fire.

Jesus is cool quote of the day: Therefore I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven - for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little. Luke 7:47

Thai phrase of the day: Sapparot tawray kha? How much is the pineapple?

campy camp.

2007-10-24T08:13:00.000-04:00

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.

2007-10-23T12:16:00.000-04:00

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.

2007-10-19T11:45:00.000-04:00

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...

2007-10-19T00:02:00.001-04:00

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.

2007-10-17T10:31:00.001-04:00

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.

2007-10-09T11:21:00.000-04:00

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.

2007-10-06T09:42:00.000-04:00

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.

Mom, please send pants.

2007-09-30T00:23:00.000-04:00

Well here's a funny little anecdote...

Couple things you should know before the story.

1. The Super-highway is a 6-lane road that runs all the way through town with some stoplights and the speed limit is around 50 mph. People sit along the road at restaurants, selling fruit, sitting outside shops, whatever.
2. I was commenting to my roommates this morning about how I felt like I may have gained weight...and blamed the rice. (haha)

In the middle of the church service, they release the kids to go to a "Children's Church" much like in the US. Well, as I was getting up to go help my friend with the Children's Church and I bent over to grab my Bible on the floor. RIIIIIPP. It wasn't loud, (I don't think) but I felt it...yes, my pants had ripped in the back down the seam. Thankfully my wonderful roommate Stefanie covered the kids thing for me...but I sat in my chair thinking..."well Jess, now what are you going to do?" The best plan I could think of was to leave while everyone's attention was diverted and then, stop eating rice. So I slip out of church with the bulletin covering my rear end, no idea how bad the damage was and begin the journey home. Well, a big hole in your pants is embarassing in any country really, but even more so when your only mode of transportation is your feet and the only road home is the Super-Highway. So I begin my walk home, 2 miles down the Super-Highway with a church bulletin covering my rear, holding my head up, pretending like in America there was the SLIGHTEST chance this could be normal and thinking about how funny of a blog post this would be. I didn't dare look back to see the amusement I had brought to the many, many Thai people I walked past. Don't worry, I made it home safe and I'll be cutting back on the rice. Here's a picture of the pants.

I hope you got as big of a laugh out of this as I did, and please keep praying for me. My next post is going to be a lot deeper and tell you some areas that you can really pray for me. Love y'all!

School Dance.

2007-09-29T15:15:00.000-04:00

Tonight was the first school dance. The theme was "Hollywood" and kindergarten through Seniors were there. My roommates and I were totally uncreative, and didn't really dress up (boo!...I know) The kids' outfits were awesome though. There was Jack Sparrow and Shrek's wife, Sam Wise, Napleon Dynamite and 3 Spidermans!

It was a typical dance...minus Boyz 2 Men...but yes, I'll still classify it as a dance. The kids had a swing dance class last year, so when that music came on, they amazed me with their dancing abilities.

This is how we roll in Thailand. On the way to the dance I was sitting back here trying to hold an umbrella with 6 other people b/c it was raining.

Jesus is cool quote of the day: For everyone who exhalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exhalted. -Luke 14:11

Thai words of the day: yaanlop - eraser, paakaa - pen, dinsaa - pencil

month one.

2007-09-27T12:41:00.000-04:00

Alright, so I've been here one month officially today. Time to reflect.

The People.

The Thai people are so beautiful, I like making them smile :) My heart breaks when I walk down the street and think 99% of the people I pass don't know the beauty of Christ. Sometimes I get frustrated at the idea that I can't communicate it to them, but I really just have peace that this is exactly where I'm supposed to be and that God is still at work by my presence. So I pray for them and flash a smile :)

The farang (foreigners) I work with are phenomenal. Let's see if I can name all the countries represented by my co-workers, students and friends...France, Lithuania, Holland, India, Switzerland, China, England, Germany, US, Laos, Australia, I'm sure there's more I can't think of at the moment. Pretty neat, how people can come together and work for Christ. The kids are so much fun to be around and so beautiful. Their parents are wonderful as well...the work they're doing for the Lord here is incredible. Starting orphanages, helping the gospel spread,

My roommates are perfect. Stefanie from Colorado is super-caring, warm, funny and friendly.

Damaris (Acts 17:34) from Germany is super-independent, rides her bike when it's pouring, works super-hard at everything she does and makes me laugh when she does her "American" accent. She says we talk like we have a potato in our throat. hahaha!

Phet means "diamond" in Thai and she is exactly that. She is so beautiful, selfless, funny and wants to meet "a man from France who is at least 180 cm and 7 years older" than her.

boys.

2007-09-27T12:23:00.000-04:00

We had another rainy night last night and PE today. So, imagine...the "field" from my previous blog + 12 hours of steady rain + 20 middle and high school boys = this.

Jesus is cool quote of the day: Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matt 6:21

Thai Word of the day: naam - water

bucket ball.

2007-09-26T10:43:00.000-04:00

First, I just want to start off by saying THANK YOU, (especially to Shari) for giving me a little kick on updating this blog, I may need that from time to time. Also, THANK YOU for just taking time out of your day to read about what's up in Chiang Rai :)
I'm helping with the PE class on Tuesdays and Thursdays and this was what they played on Tuesday. It's a very fun game for the resourceful (aka MK's) when you don't always have sports equipment like a basketball goal, court, field or...anything really. At first, I was a little confused...but here are the rules (very similar to ultimate frisbee). You move up and down the "field" (shown here) and try to throw the ball to your teammates.

When you catch the ball, you can't take any steps and you're trying to shoot and score on the "goal". The "goal" if you notice is a girl standing on a plastic stool holding a basket.

They didn't complain or fight, and no one kept track of the score...they just played hard and had fun :) The kids here are so awesome, I'm really enjoying getting to know them.

I'm starting to help with youth group on Tuesday nights, it's wonderful to see youth really wanting to learn more from the Bible. There are also aspects of sterotypical middle and high school, same drama (she likes HIM!?!) maybe without the drugs and violence. :)

Jesus is cool quote of the day: Matthew 10:39 Whoever finds his life for me will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Lately I've been thinking about this idea. If you saw the movie "V for Vendetta" you probably have a good idea what I'm talking about. The point that we can't truly live until we're not afraid to die. What if it's true, what if we can't really be free to live for Jesus until we're not scared of the idea of dying to ourselves. Just a thought...

My INCREDIBLE friend/teammate Rene' who's spending a couple years in Nigeria has a blog - http://www.renemarshall.blogspot.com/ where she puts a word she's learned there up everyday, I think I'm going to include that as well b/c I'm taking Thai classes 3 days a week and learning a ton! Some words aren't going to be exact though, b/c they have like 32947 vowels.

Thai Word of the day: thuay - coffee cup

holiday flood.

2007-09-18T10:25:00.000-04:00

Today school was released @ lunch time b/c we had a VERY heavy rain last night and about 75% of the campus was flooded. Walking through the puddles isn't that big of a deal...unless your electricity is all underground! Here are a few pictures of the parking lot.

Jesus is RaD quote of the day - "Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, "Don't be afraid; just believe." - Mark 5:36

Rasta

2007-09-17T09:45:00.000-04:00

This is seriously the cutest dog on earth. He lives in our neighborhood and I named him Rasta, b/c he looks so Rastafarian. :)

holiday fever.

2007-09-15T12:50:00.001-04:00

So I woke up Wednesday morning feeling a little warmer than the normal 90 degree temperature we normally wake up to, and a little ache-ier than the usual stiffness from the Thai mattresses. I looked at the picture of me holding that big snake...thought about how tough I was and I went to school...and was quickly talked into going back home. I thought an afternoon of rest would kick the little bug and I'd be back at it the next day. I was treated so kindly by Ellen and Julie, giving me vitamins and treats to help me bounce back. My roommates get home with the good news that there was no school the next day (Thursday) b/c we have an electrical problem. So, I got an extra day of rest.

Thursday I expected to jump out of bed, but I felt worse. Said goodbye to Danielle :( and headed back to bed...watched movies all day and took my temperature late afternoon and it was like 38.8 C - almost 102 F and decided we should go check with Cindy, our wonderful FLC nurse/neighbor who by the Grace of God had some medicine from a Dr. supporter. Well, it was strong and kicked that sinus infection right out before it invaded my brain :) yay!

The point of all this was just to show how God really plans out how he's going to take care of you, before you even get sick. Danielle was still there to be my sub, Ruth allowed me to go home, Ellen was at the school and so sweet and gave me a ride home and treats to help me feel better, Stephanie was awesome and so nice and caring to me and Cindy was literally right around the corner, armed and so willing to help :)

"Jesus is Cool" quote of the day: "Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!" Luke 12:24

This is a little bird we were feeding in the Akha village. Sometimes God uses others to make sure we get all our needs :)

pic of the day.

2007-09-15T12:02:00.000-04:00

In the green shirt is my roommate, Stephanie, playing frogger. I'm not in the picture b/c i chose the crosswalk b/c it's safer. (that's for you, Ma) So, the rule of driving here is that bigger is better. Motor bikes yield to tuk-tuks, b/c they're slightly larger, tuk-tuks yield to cars, cars to trucks and everyone will slow down for a double decker tour bus. In the picture you can see a motorbike with a food stand attached to it. Which poses another question...can you be late to work if your job is attached to your moped?

"Jesus is Cool" verse of the day: The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me' Matt 25:40

Phet's Birthday!

2007-09-14T11:39:00.000-04:00

Thursday the 13th was our roommate Phet's birthday! That girl spent the ENTIRE day cooking a birthday feast. She was in the kitchen from 9 AM until 7 PM straight. Here's a picture of her with the spread and her lovely friends behind her. Phet is the kindergarten teacher at school, runs this house, and is just all around awesome. We'd be lost without her, for sure... I love the way she covers her mouth when she laughs, screams when she sees worms, loves kids, winks at you, is always willing to help, how she appreciates the white flowers on the road we walk to the market, always has her pink umbrella, and lets me be her "helper" when she can't finish her piece of cake :)

"Jesus is Cool" quote of the day - 'If you can'? (psh!) said Jesus "Everything is possible for him who believes. - Mark 9:23

a full week.

2007-09-09T09:17:00.000-04:00

I'll start with last weekend, b/c i was waiting for some pictures before I posted from that day...

Danielle, Stefanie and I took about an hour long boat ride and rode elephants! It was awesome! Afterward, we ate lunch and I held a Reticulated Python (mostly just to show my brother and to intimidate my roommates). Then we headed home.

Then, this past week was my first week of school. My schedule is like this...1st Period M,W,F - Thai Language Classes. Tu- Worship, Th - Chemistry Lab, 2nd period - planning, 3rd period - Algebra 1, 4th - Science 6, 5th - Science 7, Lunch, :) 6th - Advanced Math (this is more of me just watching them so I can take over a Biology class this spring) and 7th - MWF - Chemistry, Tu/Th - PE!

I was really challenged the first week b/c in addition to trying to adjust to the Thai culture, I was a little uneasy planning for my classes. In the states, you're handed a set of standards that you are held responsible for the children learning. Here, it's more just - "here's a book". Also, I'm teaching the children of some parents who have AWESOME stories and are AMAZING things on the mission field. That can be a little intimidating as well. Really though, its been so wonderful getting to know the kids though and remembering how fun 6th graders can be.

This weekend, our principal took us on a tour of the north. We saw a wall built around 1200 AD, the Golden Triangle (where Burma, Laos and Thailand meet) the Mekong River, the Mae Fae Laung Gardens and stayed the night in an Akha Hilltribe Village. We played games with the kids Saturday night and joined them for church on Sunday morning.

God has been blessing me like crazy here and everyday I'm more thankful that He has allowed me to serve Him here.

Day 2.

2007-08-30T09:37:00.000-04:00

So I arrived really on Tuesday, but Wednesday here was my first FULL day. I'll give you a pretty special day, mostly b/c it was my roommate Danielle's Birthday.

1. Got up, had a nice cool shower, was picked up and got to school around 9. Got my room key!Had a few meetings, ate lunch, set up my room a little bit, got my class schedule figured out and did a bit of work. The school is actually an old hotel, so it's a perfect set-up. Here's my classroom (and rad principal). Leave your shoes at the door! (I know Candace is jealous...I teach barefoot).

2. After school, we went bowling (courtesy of our beautiful principal, Ruth). The bowling alley was actually nicer than all the ones I've been to in the states. The best part was that they had attendants, so if there was something wrong with the computer, they were right there to fix it.

3. After bowling, we went to a Mexican Restaurant...here's a pic of "Kae's Burritto Casa" The sweetest woman on earth runs it. She's Thai, but evidently her last ex-husband and her ran a Mexican Restaurant in like Nevada or something. Her and her cute puppy cocoa.

4. THEN after dinner, I had a new experience...a Thai Massage (courtesy of my Department Head/Everything Director, Vickie) For 2 hours, it was only 200 Baht...like $6 or $7. You wear pajamas and they take care of the rest.

Lots of fun and new experiences, and I know I've only been here a couple days, but I'm really praying hard for friendships with Thai people, believers and not.

Sawat dee kaa -j

beautiful whirl-wind.

2007-08-30T09:10:00.000-04:00

I'm taking a little break in my lesson-planning to update this blog :) So, let me tell you how awesome God is.
1. Training was fantastic. I arrived in Seattle on Aug 20 and we spent that day and the next 2 getting to know the home office there and the fantastic office staff. We got to bless them a couple days by helping them with a little bit of work there around the office. I can confidently say I'm a master envelope folder now :)
2. Wednesday after work we went out to "the Homestead" about 45 minutes outside of town. Beautiful Christian retreat center, complete with rope swing. We went through some training sessions out there, played around, went paddling, etc and on
3. Friday night we went to a fellowship for International students and "led worship" :) Saturday we had a lunch and a couple Thai guys came and picked up Aime'e and I. We spent the next couple days in the home of Pastor JR, Merinda, his wife, and sweet baby Jada. They also have 3 girls and 3 boys staying with them. Vicky was one of the girls, sweetest friend ever, so helpful.
4. Sunday night I left around 12AM. WELL, it just so happened that one of the guys from that house, Chane, was on the same flights with me from Seattle to Taipei and to Bangkok. It was SUCH an incredible blessing to have 1. someone to travel with, 2. someone who knew the language. Thanks for the love, God.
5. Tuesday at 2 I caught a flight in Bangkok to Chiang Rai, alone and was greeted by 5 or 6 of the folks from the FLC. That afternoon, we just chilled out and I got to unpack and we went to the market for dinner.

my traveling companion.

2007-07-22T17:53:00.000-04:00

Meet Ice E. Bear, my travel companion. He was an awesome gift from the coolest u-13 girls' soccer team ever - LCSC Ice. He even has his shirt tucked in, like I always asked my players to do! I miss that team so much, but Ice E. is coming along, as well as the 15 hearts they put in him for the 15 players I think the world of. If they can't come with me, this is the next best thing. Where will Ice E. be next?

29 days...

my visa

2007-07-21T21:27:00.000-04:00

If you were wondering what a visa to Thailand looks like - there it is! It came in the mail today. I had to send my passport off, with some other info and they sent it back stamped and signed :) I sent that little guy off Monday and he made his way all the way to the Royal Thai Consulate General's office in Portland, Oregon and back by Saturday! If only I could get there that quick! :)

30 days...

36 days.

2007-07-15T00:14:00.000-04:00

That's the amount of time I have here in South Carolina until I leave! yay! :)

I took some pictures of the Thai dessert that I made my parents for Father's day back in June. It had Jasmine Rice (what you get at Chinese restaurants) and coconut milk and coconut cream maybe, but it didn't really taste like coconut. VeRy tasty :)

I've been talking to the Director of the school and the missionary I'll be working with and the sender here in the states and it just gets me sooooo pumped. I've bought my ticket, I'm applying for my visa, and everything's becoming real.

Pete - the director of the Luke 10 program said something that has really resonated with me. He said our focus right now has to be on our relationship with the Lord, b/c everything around us will be changing, but God is not changing, and we need to cling to that.

If I keep working 6 more weeks, by my estimates, I should still be about $1500 short right now with my support, which is great, 1 more yard sale, selling my t-shirts, and people allowing God to provide through them - we're set. If you'd like to get a shirt or be one of those people - there's a link over on the right.

the Yard Sale

2007-06-10T00:59:00.000-04:00

I'll be updating this more when I'm in Thailand, promise.

Yesterday, June 9 from 8 AM to 1 PM I was having a yard sale at the Salvation Army Church on Irmo Drive to raise support. It was a beautiful, sunny day (I have the pink shoulders to prove it :) When all was said and done, a little over $1,400 dollars was raised!!!

I'm infinitely thankful to the people who helped, it was mostly my parents and their awesome friends...the generous and loving Jim and Jan Buck, the fantastic and sincere Henry and Sherri Johnson, the ever-entertaining Charles Ayer, our wonderful next door neighbors Mike and Marion Moore, and my beautiful aunt Pattie.

When I was driving away from them yesterday, I began to think...Why would those people give so much of their time and energy for me? Oh yeah, it's not about me. ha!

The night before the yard sale, I was reading in Acts, and the chapter I "just so happened" to be reading is chapter 4 and I found this verse "32All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. 33With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all."
My prayer was simple: "God, the purpose of this yard sale is to glorify you. The purpose of this trip is to glorify you. The purpose of this life...is to glorify YOU :)"

The Trail to Thailand

2007-04-07T03:55:00.000-04:00

So...here's the first post of this deal...I'm getting ready to leave for Chiang Rai, Thailand on September 1st. I am going with an organization and specifically their Luke 10 program. I'll be teaching science at the Family Learning Center (www.flcschool.com) there and I'm super-excited :) From the girls who are already there I've learned that the students are a mix of Thai and missionary kids and Christians and non-Christians. God's been preparing me for this for a long time. This is going to be awesome!