God of This City!

sabaay dee mai kha? (how are you?)

WOW! So, I had my 22nd birthday in Thailand. That was fun. We waited until midnight and then it started to rain, so we ran out on our balcony and danced under the stars. Then, celebratory birthday hot dogs... which weren't so much fun. During the day we went to see our landlady and when my supervisor told her it was my birthday, she gave me a silk scarf as a present. It touched me so much. All of the people here are so generous and go completely out of their way to make us all feel at home. Later, Scott and Valerie took us to a nice restaurant and surprised me with a birthday cake that Valerie and Charlotte had made. It was a wonderful way to celebrate away from home. Let's backtrack one night:
On the 2nd, some our Thai students, Aoy, Art, and Ninja (yes, Ninja) invited us to see Narnia in Thai. It was amazing- I'd seen it in English twice and felt so cool that I could keep up with the plot (although I only understood about three words.) After, they helped us get home and went with us to eat. We had some brief but good conversations about Buddhism and their beliefs.
Yesterday, we were sent out alone. It was slightly scary, but we made it. We walked down about a block and found a bakery, then caught the songtow (PT) to the somthi (mall) to buy groceries. Which came to 1,124 dollars. Okay, baht. Which is cheap :)
Today we went back to the university to sign students up for English classes that we will start teaching next week. (So far we have almost 100 interested students. yay!) It's exciting- they are friendly and so adorable. I love saying sawatdeekha and bowing. The students yesterday bought us food and snacks just to try, and random strangers will give us fruit. The lady who does our laundry is so nice and well, it seems everyone in this town knows who we are and where we live (which is a little creepy, but we don't feel threatened.) The people look at us like we are celebrities, which can be unnerving, but I think that not many of them have seen white people in person before.
God is amazing and I love, love, LOVE the girls on my team. They are so cool and laid back and up for anything. Rachel ate congealed blood (yes, I have it on video! ew) Danette and Beth allowed a lady at our favorite restaurant (we call it starbaht for its excellent iced coffee) to fix her favorite thing on the menu. Thai food has mostly agreed with me, although I am getting a little tired of rice.
Please continue to pray for us. Tomorrow we have the day free to explore the city a little and in the evening we will be having some students over to eat and play games or whatever they want to do. On Sunday we will be leading an English Bible study followed by Thai church. Monday, our classes at the new campus start. I still feel slightly overwhelmed and in over my head, but the Lord is so faithful and I am not alone.
Here are some of the students we have met so far (I'm giving you their nicknames because their names are so hard to say- and spell :)
Pat (G), Art (B), Art(II) (B) Aoy (G), Nick (B), Ninja (B), Mimi (G), Dream (G), Puy (G), Tiw (B), and Nuup (B).
Pray that these students will see Jesus so brightly in us that they will want to know about Him.


One last note:
We have been singing and praying a song over the city. It was written in Bangkok spur of the moment. Chris Tomlin covers it. It's called God of This City. Here are the lyrics. Pray is over where you are and where we are. Love y'all.

You're the God of this city
You're the King of these people
You're the Lord of this nation
For there is no one like our God
There is no one like our God
Greater things have yet to come
Greater things are still to be done
In this city
You're the Lord of Creation
The Creator of all things
You're the King above all Kings
You're the strength in our weakness
You're the love to the broken
You're the joy in the sadness
Greater things have yet to come
Greater things are still to be done
In MAHASARAKHAM!
Where glory shines from hearts alive
With praise for you and love for you
In this city
Greater things have yet to come
Greater things are still to be done
In this city
Greater things are still to come
And greater things are still to be done here