My fans have been begging me for an update... basically, my mom said it's time to write again! Anyway.
Things have been really busy here. English camp went really well- it's sad it was only two days. I was asked to share a story, so I shared a real-life adventure tale (only some of the facts were changed- it made the story more exciting.) And I was speaking through a translator, so that was really cool to hear. I had two volunteers from the Oklahoma team work with me in a small group, and it was good to have them share stories and talk with the students as well. On Thursday night, Scott and Valerie went with me to talk with Pi and it was really good. He seems excited about learning more about God and reading the Bible. Friday morning a girl named Nancy made the decision to follow Jesus! I don't know her that well, but she said that sometime last year she heard "Seek me and you will find me" and she said that since then she had been reading the Bible and studying about God. After a long process, she gave her life to the Lord. yay!
Saturday and Sunday working with the children was exhasuting and hot, but they are adorable and I'm glad we went out there. We played games with them and just used really basic English. It was really fun to see them out of their uniforms and in just regular kid's clothes.
Midterms for students started last week, so classes have been a little thin last week and this. Their midterms last for two weeks, and they are as intense as our finals (I'd hate to see how their finals are!) So we've just been having conversations and playing games (Uno is a favorite here... We have played it so much, I think I will never touch another Uno card as long as I live... :)
Saturday I got to see the Dark Knight in Thai. It was intense- I followed it for the most part- the action played a huge role in that- but I've been picking up alot of Thai phrases. I know more than I think, which is cool. I've been learning to write Thai and order basic foods at a restaurant (because here, you are supposed to write down your order and turn it in- for the "farangs" they have to come to our table. Now we can impress all of the people are our favorite restaurants by writing in Thai. Of course, maybe our food orders will be wrong. We'll see :)I've also been learning a few Isaan phrases- Isaan is the area of Thailand we are living in- NE. Isaan is like it's own culture within a culture. They have their own language, which is close to Lao. So I jokingly say that I can speak four languages- English, Thai, Isaan and Lao (like the majority of the students here can!)
On Sunday, our friend, T, a Thai believer took some of us to the Wat across from our house. The Wat is a Buddhist temple- and they are on every corner. There are idols and shrines everywhere- it made me so sad- these things are false, they're dead, but everyday people are bowing down to them! We learned that the monks are fed by people in the community, so it's the responsibility of the people to provide and bring food to the Wat every morning. There's a big open room with mats on the floor, tables in the corner and ornate gold statues. The monks sit in these huge wicker chairs and the people lay the food at their feet. We see monks regularly- they are clad in orange fabric and walk around town- I don't really know what they do. We weren't allowed to go inside the actual temple, but it was ornate. I took pictures. I will upload them after I get home.
Sunday night we had two students from China who are studying at MSU spend the night. They are so cute- and one of them is very interested in Jesus. While she was in China, she actually got some Christian material (I'm not sure if that is illegal in China, but I think it may be.) Now she comes to church and Bible study and is asking questions about Jesus. It's so cool. I'm amazed at how God sent someone from China, a closed country, to our small town in Thailand just to learn more about Him. Nothing is coincidence! Pray for her- and for China and for all the people she may be able to reach in that country. Wow.
Last night, our friend P'bor cooked an amazing dinner for us at our house. I love Isaan food and I think that Thai food in America just won't be the same, sadly.
I think that's about it for an update- I know I threw alot of information your way. Here are a few prayer requests:
Kristal is leaving tomorrow- pray for her safety in traveling.
Rachel has been feeling a little sick, my throat has been sore, and Beth had a little run-in with some peppers burning her hands last night. Please just pray that we will be well and enjoy our last few days here.
Pray for the children at the village school- I want them to grow up knowing Jesus, and most of them won't. It really makes me sad.
Next Tuesday morning we will be leaving super early to go to Khon Kaen and fly into Bangkok. We will spend the day in Bangkok and then Wednesday morning we will fly from Bangkok to Tokyo and then into San Fransisco and Atlanta and then Danette and I will fly to Jacksonville. All in one day- it will be a long day. Pray for safety. And sanity. Being on planes for almost 24 hours will be exhausting.
Thank you for keeping up with my blog! I will see you soon.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
As Promised
Time is just speeding up and flying by. It’s hard to believe that we have already spent 50 days in Thailand. It feels like we are really beginning to make a difference in the lives of students here, and it breaks my heart to think about our departure in a mere three weeks. The rest of this week is going to be consumed by camp. Thursday and Friday are vacation days for MSU, so we are having English camp for them (I’m sharing a story during a big-group session- I’m still not sure what I’m going to say exactly; please pray that they will not be my words, but from the Lord.) Then on Saturday and Sunday morning we are having camp for children at the elementary school. A church group from Oklahoma is coming today and staying for the week to help us with camps and teaching.
Okay, so let me share some things that have happened this past week. Last Thursday a couple of us went to a costume party for the Humanities department. Some of our students asked us to go (we didn’t know we were supposed to wear costumes, so we were a little out of place. We just said we were dressed up as “farangs” or foreigners ) It was really cool to see our students out of uniform and watch them perform little skits and dance with the live band. I had a really good time and danced right along with them. Friday we had our regular get-together with students at our apartment. Aa was playing the guitar (singing Avril Lavigne- he said listening to American music helped him improve his English… anyway) and Pi and I were singing along. Then Beth started playing “Your Love is Deep” and we sang along. I asked them if they knew what the song was about. Aa said “yes, God’s love for us.” Then he and Beth started playing guitar and singing more songs. Pi and I ended up talking for over two hours! (Of course, I was using T, a Christian friend, to help with some translation, so that made it take a little longer.) Pi and I talked about Jesus, the devil, demons, ghosts, reincarnation, other religions, how Jesus is ALIVE!! He asked how to become a Christian and if Christians have to follow any rules like Buddhists. I told him that in Mark 12:28, Jesus tells us to love Him first and then love other people like we love ourselves. I said that because we love Jesus we don’t want to do anything to hurt him and because we love other people we don’t want to do anything to hurt them (Even though we mess up sometimes- there is forgiveness). Then T shared his story with Pi (you can read about T in a previous post). I told him that the two things I love most about God is His love and the hope He has to offer- I know that sometimes this world is hard and sad, but I know that Jesus makes life worth living and that we don’t have re-live in this world over and over again for eternity. Freedom. He asked if we would pray for him, and T wrote down some simple verses for him to read in the Bible that Valerie had given him. I told Pi that God likes it when people ask questions and search for Him- because when we seek we will find.
Then on Sunday I talked to a girl about why she wouldn’t become a Christian even though she’s been studying the Bible for years and believes it. It’s because of her family. Thais rarely step outside of what their families believe because they don’t want to hurt the closeness and stability of the family. I told her that the decision to follow Jesus couldn’t be based on her family- and I couldn’t even imagine the pain of being rejected by my family. But I assured her that Jesus loves her even more than her family.
Pray for Pi and PM; and Green, Aa, AR and a few others who are really looking for truth and hope. For the team, please pray that our energy will stay up this week as we embark on 4 days of camp- and the team from Oklahoma for safe traveling and that they will not suffer from too much jet lag.
Here’s a run-down of the rest of our time here:
Camps: July 17-20
Teaching: July 21-31 (only two more weeks!!! Crazy.)
Day camp: Hopefully Aug. 2
Bangkok: Aug. 5
Fly home: Aug. 6
Okay, well thinking about only having 21 days left is making me sad, so I’ll wrap this up. I will write after I have recovered from camp.
Corinne
<><
Okay, so let me share some things that have happened this past week. Last Thursday a couple of us went to a costume party for the Humanities department. Some of our students asked us to go (we didn’t know we were supposed to wear costumes, so we were a little out of place. We just said we were dressed up as “farangs” or foreigners ) It was really cool to see our students out of uniform and watch them perform little skits and dance with the live band. I had a really good time and danced right along with them. Friday we had our regular get-together with students at our apartment. Aa was playing the guitar (singing Avril Lavigne- he said listening to American music helped him improve his English… anyway) and Pi and I were singing along. Then Beth started playing “Your Love is Deep” and we sang along. I asked them if they knew what the song was about. Aa said “yes, God’s love for us.” Then he and Beth started playing guitar and singing more songs. Pi and I ended up talking for over two hours! (Of course, I was using T, a Christian friend, to help with some translation, so that made it take a little longer.) Pi and I talked about Jesus, the devil, demons, ghosts, reincarnation, other religions, how Jesus is ALIVE!! He asked how to become a Christian and if Christians have to follow any rules like Buddhists. I told him that in Mark 12:28, Jesus tells us to love Him first and then love other people like we love ourselves. I said that because we love Jesus we don’t want to do anything to hurt him and because we love other people we don’t want to do anything to hurt them (Even though we mess up sometimes- there is forgiveness). Then T shared his story with Pi (you can read about T in a previous post). I told him that the two things I love most about God is His love and the hope He has to offer- I know that sometimes this world is hard and sad, but I know that Jesus makes life worth living and that we don’t have re-live in this world over and over again for eternity. Freedom. He asked if we would pray for him, and T wrote down some simple verses for him to read in the Bible that Valerie had given him. I told Pi that God likes it when people ask questions and search for Him- because when we seek we will find.
Then on Sunday I talked to a girl about why she wouldn’t become a Christian even though she’s been studying the Bible for years and believes it. It’s because of her family. Thais rarely step outside of what their families believe because they don’t want to hurt the closeness and stability of the family. I told her that the decision to follow Jesus couldn’t be based on her family- and I couldn’t even imagine the pain of being rejected by my family. But I assured her that Jesus loves her even more than her family.
Pray for Pi and PM; and Green, Aa, AR and a few others who are really looking for truth and hope. For the team, please pray that our energy will stay up this week as we embark on 4 days of camp- and the team from Oklahoma for safe traveling and that they will not suffer from too much jet lag.
Here’s a run-down of the rest of our time here:
Camps: July 17-20
Teaching: July 21-31 (only two more weeks!!! Crazy.)
Day camp: Hopefully Aug. 2
Bangkok: Aug. 5
Fly home: Aug. 6
Okay, well thinking about only having 21 days left is making me sad, so I’ll wrap this up. I will write after I have recovered from camp.
Corinne
<><
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Speechless
Wow. The past week and a half has just been incredible. I have so much to share, but I never have enough time to pour it all out. Be patient. I will write more soon. Keep praying, because God is doing amazing things in this city. Remember the God of the City song I posted back in June? Re-read those lyrics. Pray for Bible study that I am leading this week (yikes) and English camp coming up this weekend and for Piyak and AK (a couple of students who are really searching for Jesus.) Hopefully I will be able to write more extensively on Tuesday.
love.love
love.love
Monday, July 7, 2008
The Ratpack
It was a dark and stormy night. The rain had fallen long and hard. The rat lurked in the rain, waiting for the right moment. The girls had left their apartment. He knew there would be food inside. And he could maybe nap in a pile of clothes. He did just that...
Yeah. We had a rat in our apartment the other night. Yikes! Three of the brave girls cornered it, and killed it. I videoed the whole experience. It shook us up. But we're good now. hmmm.
Classes are still going well. It's been raining alot this week, so yay!! It's been very cool and wonderful.
I can't believe in a month I'll be home. It seems surreal. I feel as though a lifetime has passed since I boarded that plane in Atlanta.
We have two more weeks of teaching, and next week we are having English camp, which I'm pretty excited about. Then on the 5th we fly to Bangkok and get to spend an afternoon in the city before we fly out on the 6th headed to Tokyo then onto San Francisco and into Atlanta.
Please keep praying that we will have an enjoyable 4 weeks and thank you for all the support you've shown me this far!
Yeah. We had a rat in our apartment the other night. Yikes! Three of the brave girls cornered it, and killed it. I videoed the whole experience. It shook us up. But we're good now. hmmm.
Classes are still going well. It's been raining alot this week, so yay!! It's been very cool and wonderful.
I can't believe in a month I'll be home. It seems surreal. I feel as though a lifetime has passed since I boarded that plane in Atlanta.
We have two more weeks of teaching, and next week we are having English camp, which I'm pretty excited about. Then on the 5th we fly to Bangkok and get to spend an afternoon in the city before we fly out on the 6th headed to Tokyo then onto San Francisco and into Atlanta.
Please keep praying that we will have an enjoyable 4 weeks and thank you for all the support you've shown me this far!
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Whew
I seem to have a knack for catching diseases in foreign countries. I have been sick three times in five years- twice have been when I was out of the country! haha. In Mexico I somehow contracted bronchitis and here in Thailand I have a bacterial infection in my small intenstine. I don't even know what that's all about... Oh well- the Thai hospital was actually kind of an adventure and I kept my little medical admission card to show everyone when I get back. I am feeling better- still not back to eating the Thai squid and congealed cow's blood (kidding) but just keep me and the rest of the team in your prayers for our next month here- we don't want anymore health issues. (I think I was whiny enough for a whole team's worth of sickness :)
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