As of tomorrow it will be officially one week since I've been home. I think. That couple of days kind of all blends together due to the time change, lack of sleep from jet lag, and quick happenings. It's been good being home though, I got to hang out with my brother who had just gotten his wisdom teeth taken out. So that was fun, him being tripped out on drugs, and me running on less than 4 hours of sleep for three days. We were a pair. A pair of what I don't know but a pair that's for sure. My parents arrived on Friday and on Saturday took my brother, my two friends Lauren and Erika, and I to the spa. It's nice to have Mom and Dad here :). They came out to see my brother and I and to take care of me while I am recovering from my surgery that I have tomorrow. My mom is staying with Lauren and Erika so she thought it would be a nice way to thank them. It was definitely a fun day. Today the three of us (Mom, Dad, Me) came down to LA where my doctor is and spent the day down here and got a hotel so we didn't have to wake before the sun tomorrow. We had a good day of just chillin and seein what there is to see. Our hotel is about 10 mins from Venice Beach so we went and hung out there for a while then grabbed some dinner at Islands and went to see The Dark Knight. Awesome. Again.
But the real reason I'm blogging is to tell you that it is good to be home. I definitely miss Thailand and maintain the feeling that I could easily have stayed, and am being a typical first time over seas goer fighting my cynicism for American consumerism and ethno-centrism. However it's good to be back and see loved ones.
Well that's all for now I guess.
7.28.2008
7.21.2008
The End
Welp... it's official. Our time here has come to a close and let me tell ya, we finished with a bang. We will be boarding our plane tomorrrow afternoon and have just enough time to go to breakfast, pack, and maybe if I'm lucky squeeze in one more Thai massage before we depart for the airport. But back to today. It was our "fun day". We left in the morning for the mountains to go on an elephant ride through the jungle and bamboo river rafting. We got an all you could eat Thai buffet included for lunch and an awesome elephant show along with our rides. I was amazed at the gentleness of the elephants and how smart they were. Our guide hopped off and was having a full on conversation with our elephant, who was about 15 years my senior, in Thai (I don't even speak Thai!). As we walked the elephant did exactly what he asked when he asked. The show was a blast too and we even got to take a group picture with some elephants.
The bamboo rafting was definitely a trip. It was LITERALLY ten bamboo trunks tied together and floating in the river and two guides (one in front and one in back) with big poles to steer us. When we got to the bottom, they untied the bamboo threw it in a truck and took it back to the top. I'm convinced we had the best guides because they let us have pirate wars between our two rafts (and participated some themselves) and even let us do some of the steering down the river. I was struck as we floated along by the beauty and density of the rainforest. It's amazing how God is revealing himself so clearly to these people through the beauty of His creation.
We ended the night with our host having us over for dinner at his house and a little debriefing time. It was great to spend some quality time with him and his family that we've come close to throughout our ministry these past couple of weeks. Truly we could not have asked for a better way to spend our last day here. So Thailand, here's to you. And readers, here's to YOU. Truly all that was accomplished in this short time is only because of our risen and returning Savior and all of you interceding to Him on our behalf. Lives were changed, thank you.
The bamboo rafting was definitely a trip. It was LITERALLY ten bamboo trunks tied together and floating in the river and two guides (one in front and one in back) with big poles to steer us. When we got to the bottom, they untied the bamboo threw it in a truck and took it back to the top. I'm convinced we had the best guides because they let us have pirate wars between our two rafts (and participated some themselves) and even let us do some of the steering down the river. I was struck as we floated along by the beauty and density of the rainforest. It's amazing how God is revealing himself so clearly to these people through the beauty of His creation.
We ended the night with our host having us over for dinner at his house and a little debriefing time. It was great to spend some quality time with him and his family that we've come close to throughout our ministry these past couple of weeks. Truly we could not have asked for a better way to spend our last day here. So Thailand, here's to you. And readers, here's to YOU. Truly all that was accomplished in this short time is only because of our risen and returning Savior and all of you interceding to Him on our behalf. Lives were changed, thank you.
7.20.2008
The Thai
Our time here is coming to an end VERY quickly. Our sports camp came to a close on Saturday and was a huge success with 129 of the Thai children professing faith and getting connected with a local pastor. Please be praying for the continued follow up and ministry that is now starting through all of that. We moved into our new location down in the city. It's a hotel thats pretty nice and another blessing to us on this trip. Being in the city is great because all of the access that we have to pretty much anything that we could want. Food, transportation, the people, and my personal favorite: Thai Massages. I had one tonight and I must say it could single handedly keep me here for a while longer. Tomorrow we are getting to go on the famous elephant rides and bamboo river rafting so hopefully I will get some good photos to show all of you from that trip. It poured down rain again today for about 4 hours so hopefully it stays a little more dry for us tomorrow. I will do my very best to update you guys one last time before we head back to the states but in the meantime here a few photos from the past two days.
This is Nukie
And this is the view from my room
This is Nukie
And this is the view from my room
7.16.2008
the Rainforest
Hello all!
I hope all of your weeks have been going well because mine certainly has. I'm sorry this post will not contain any pictures because I'm posting from an internet cafe in the city and didn't bring my camera today because its pouring down rain outside. We are definitely in a rainforest haha.
Our week has been outstanding so far. We've had some awesome time finishing up painting our orphanage on Monday which the children were so thankful for and then said our goodbyes. Tuesday we did a little more painting at the dorms for our hosts and then finished the move to our new location. Yesterday we went to a community "college" and got to play games with the students there who ranged from 16-18 and were studying English so it was a great opportunity for them to practice language and for us to have some fun with them and then headed out to the village for a blessing service over a house that one of the teams was working on all week. It was great to see how much it blessed the Thais as we stood around praised and worshipped as they watched with tears in their eyes. After we were done they brought out the aerobics music and the ladies got to get their exercise on with all the village women. Great time. Wednesday night we headed back to the city for the night market and had some good bargaining and relaxing time. Starting this afternoon we will be helping host a sports camps for MK's here until Saturday. We're really excited to be able to spend some time playing sports and the more opportunities we'll have to make more relationships! Sorry for the run-on post and caraaaazy train of thought but it's been a long week haha. Continue to pray for us as our days come to a close!
I hope all of your weeks have been going well because mine certainly has. I'm sorry this post will not contain any pictures because I'm posting from an internet cafe in the city and didn't bring my camera today because its pouring down rain outside. We are definitely in a rainforest haha.
Our week has been outstanding so far. We've had some awesome time finishing up painting our orphanage on Monday which the children were so thankful for and then said our goodbyes. Tuesday we did a little more painting at the dorms for our hosts and then finished the move to our new location. Yesterday we went to a community "college" and got to play games with the students there who ranged from 16-18 and were studying English so it was a great opportunity for them to practice language and for us to have some fun with them and then headed out to the village for a blessing service over a house that one of the teams was working on all week. It was great to see how much it blessed the Thais as we stood around praised and worshipped as they watched with tears in their eyes. After we were done they brought out the aerobics music and the ladies got to get their exercise on with all the village women. Great time. Wednesday night we headed back to the city for the night market and had some good bargaining and relaxing time. Starting this afternoon we will be helping host a sports camps for MK's here until Saturday. We're really excited to be able to spend some time playing sports and the more opportunities we'll have to make more relationships! Sorry for the run-on post and caraaaazy train of thought but it's been a long week haha. Continue to pray for us as our days come to a close!
7.11.2008
One Week
Well, as of yesterday it has been officially one week since we've been in country. The ways that God has already moved through us, our teams, and our ministries has been so great to see and is such an awesome experience that we're so thankful God has allowed us to be a part of. Each day we can see how he has answered everyones prayers thus far so keep it up! We are so appreciative. The health and morale of everyone on the team has left very little to be desired and we have no one to thank for that except all of you who are praying and our Lord.
In my team specifically we were able to start and almost finish painting the whole orphanage this week and are scheduled to finish and move on to a new ministry site on Monday. The looks on the women's faces as they see their childrens rooms being completed, as well as the kids themselves as they come home from school make every fire ant, spider, gecko, anthill, and cobweb worth dealing with. Tomorrow (saturday) as the kids have the day off of school, we are getting to take them to the lake and a park with their sister orphanage to play and continue building our relationships with them. It's great to see each day a little bit more of their individual personalities come out each day as our friendships become deeper and our trust grows.
Here are two of the children we've been working with this week. Meet Dim, and Don
Also, when we got home today I went to get into the shower and as I reached to take off my shirt I found a stowaway. My little fiendish friend the fire ant (illiteration huh?).
In my team specifically we were able to start and almost finish painting the whole orphanage this week and are scheduled to finish and move on to a new ministry site on Monday. The looks on the women's faces as they see their childrens rooms being completed, as well as the kids themselves as they come home from school make every fire ant, spider, gecko, anthill, and cobweb worth dealing with. Tomorrow (saturday) as the kids have the day off of school, we are getting to take them to the lake and a park with their sister orphanage to play and continue building our relationships with them. It's great to see each day a little bit more of their individual personalities come out each day as our friendships become deeper and our trust grows.
Here are two of the children we've been working with this week. Meet Dim, and Don
Also, when we got home today I went to get into the shower and as I reached to take off my shirt I found a stowaway. My little fiendish friend the fire ant (illiteration huh?).
7.08.2008
Sa Was Dee Khrap
Hello from Thailand!
I apologize for the delayed post but we had some internet difficulties our first few days here. The connection is pretty slow but its a huge blessing just to have access at all!
Our first days here were such an experience. We had a chance to do a lot of cultural immersion and spend a lot of time in the city practicing our Thai (right up there by Manderin in difficulty), so you can imagine the comic relief that must have been. We loved interacting with the Thai people though, they are so helpful and understanding and many of them know a few words in English and are eager to practice on you to see how you think their English is. I really have grown to love this city and its people. One of my favorite times so far was getting to go around the city in groups of three on a "cultural scavenger hunt". We were forced to use our Thai as we had lunch at restaurants on the streets, flagged down our own song-taows (Thai pick up trucks with benches in the bed that serve as taxis), had to buy certain things from street markets, and had to learn different things about the city. One of the most interesting experiences so far was when a sang-taow I was riding in rear-ended the one in front of us giving us a... small jolt in the back. Both drivers acted as though nothing had happened and went about business as normal, meanwhile I'm in the back thinking, "Wait don't we have to exchange insurance information!?" :).
Today we made it to an orphanage that we will be helping to paint in the next few weeks and had an opportunity to scope out our upcoming projects and play with the kids. The love that they showed us as soon as they came home from school was really touching. It wasn't thirty seconds after they walked in the door and they were jumping all over us, tickling us, and wanting to play. We were able to play with them for the next hour or so and the fact that we spoke different languages never crossed either of our minds. It was great to see how much fun we had with each other and any cultural or language barriers were never even an issue. Our God is so good.
Keep praying that our team will continue to experience such blessings as we have to this point and that Christ's light would shine through so brightly in this dark place. Pray that our teams would continue to function as one unit without any dissention and that the Devil would have no foothold in our time here and our ministry.
I miss you all and can't wait to see you all again. Here are two pictures from our trip so far.
I apologize for the delayed post but we had some internet difficulties our first few days here. The connection is pretty slow but its a huge blessing just to have access at all!
Our first days here were such an experience. We had a chance to do a lot of cultural immersion and spend a lot of time in the city practicing our Thai (right up there by Manderin in difficulty), so you can imagine the comic relief that must have been. We loved interacting with the Thai people though, they are so helpful and understanding and many of them know a few words in English and are eager to practice on you to see how you think their English is. I really have grown to love this city and its people. One of my favorite times so far was getting to go around the city in groups of three on a "cultural scavenger hunt". We were forced to use our Thai as we had lunch at restaurants on the streets, flagged down our own song-taows (Thai pick up trucks with benches in the bed that serve as taxis), had to buy certain things from street markets, and had to learn different things about the city. One of the most interesting experiences so far was when a sang-taow I was riding in rear-ended the one in front of us giving us a... small jolt in the back. Both drivers acted as though nothing had happened and went about business as normal, meanwhile I'm in the back thinking, "Wait don't we have to exchange insurance information!?" :).
Today we made it to an orphanage that we will be helping to paint in the next few weeks and had an opportunity to scope out our upcoming projects and play with the kids. The love that they showed us as soon as they came home from school was really touching. It wasn't thirty seconds after they walked in the door and they were jumping all over us, tickling us, and wanting to play. We were able to play with them for the next hour or so and the fact that we spoke different languages never crossed either of our minds. It was great to see how much fun we had with each other and any cultural or language barriers were never even an issue. Our God is so good.
Keep praying that our team will continue to experience such blessings as we have to this point and that Christ's light would shine through so brightly in this dark place. Pray that our teams would continue to function as one unit without any dissention and that the Devil would have no foothold in our time here and our ministry.
I miss you all and can't wait to see you all again. Here are two pictures from our trip so far.
7.01.2008
Its True...
... the day has finally come. I'm heading off for Thailand this evening til the 22nd and couldn't be more excited. We would really appreciate it if you would keep us in your prayers. Please be praying for safety in country and travel, unity among our team, and that the Holy Spirit would really work through us in our short time there. I'll be doing my best to blog while I'm gone with updates and new prayer requests. So without further ado... Heeeeeeeeere they are!
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