WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE. My Adventures in Thailand.

I can’t believe it!  I’ve been in Thailand for a week!  Wow, it seems like a month.  I apologize to those of you have come to read my Blog before and it hasn’t been updated.  It sure has been a busy week, so it is very hard to spend time on here sharing stories and replying to emails.  But, let me spend a few minutes here updating you on what this week has been like for me.           

So, we arrived in Bangkok last Monday at sometime in the middle of the night.  At least that is what they told us, because we really had no idea what day or time it was because we had been flying for so long.  We checked through customs ok and all our luggage even made it to the other end all accounted for.  Praise God!           

One of our missionary couples, Dave and Louise Sinclair Peters met us at the airport and where we ever glad to see them.  We didn’t get the chance to talk to them for very long, but Dave told me that we were going to be staying at a guesthouse in Bangkok for a few days to get over the time change before heading to Chonburi.  (Chonburi is the city outside of Bangkok where all of our ministry is taking place)  The guesthouse is owned and operated by a mission’s organization called OMF.  OMF is an organization that has been around for a hundred years, and they use the guesthouse where we stayed as a place for Asian missionaries to go on retreats.             

So, Dave and Louise set my team and me off by ourselves in a large van with all of our luggage and we were off to the OMF guesthouse.  We got to see Bangkok for the first time, and despite the fact that our driver got lost quite a few times on the way, we eventually made it there ok.           

Andy Owen, one of our other missionaries greeted us at the guesthouse and gave us a tour of the place and even helped us carry our extremely heavy suitcases up the many flights of stairs.  Our place at OMF was really nice and we were excited that we got the chance to stay there for a few days to relax.  Our first night at OMF we had the best sleep of our lives. 

The next day we met up with Andy’s wife Carmen, and had a Bible study which was awesome.  I enjoyed spending time with Carmen and getting to know her better.  What a beautiful, faithful woman of God.           

During our time at OMF we spent a lot of time touring the community and really getting to know the area and what Thailand is like.  There were many things that I distinctly remember about my first walk through Bangkok: scooters everywhere, 7-11’s on every corner, people’s small houses which were also their shops, many mechanic shops everywhere and the most distinct out of all of those was the many Buddha statues and things they call “spirit houses” everywhere.  These are very special things to the Buddhists and they even leave food and water outside near the statues for the spirits to “drink”.  There are also many pictures of the Thai king adorned with yellow gold in every person’s house and shop.  The Thai people love their king, and as the longest reigning monarch in the world they have a lot of pride and respect.  They even where yellow shirts every Monday as a way of honoring the King.           

One of my favorite parts of our few days in Bangkok was one day when Carmen took us to get pampered, and we got foot massages.  We went to this little shop in the middle of a busy street and the Thai women there took very good care of us.  But, one of my favorite parts of that day wasn’t actually the foot massages; it was attempting to talk to the women with the little Thai that I know and also seeing Carmen talk to the women in Thai fluently.  It definitely made me want to learn more and more Thai so that I can become as good as her.  The Thai people are so kind and understanding; they really take the time to listen and try to figure out what I am saying.           

 We left OMF on Wednesday and we finally headed off to Chonburi where we are now, at the TLC church.  The Church is located on a busy, highway, where of course, the traffic flows in the opposite way of N.America.  The Church building is a bit different that I pictured.  It is a four-story building, made mostly of cement, with lots of glass walls everywhere.  It is a fairly nice building, and for the time being our whole team is staying on the third-floor in one room and sharing one bathroom.  The bathrooms in Thailand are really interesting actually.  They are similar to those in Mexico, that you don’t put the toilet paper in the garbage, and there showers are different too.  The shower consists of a shower head on the wall and hole in the ground across the room.  You basically just shower anywhere you want and then squeegee the water into the hole and the ground stays wet for most of the day until the ground dries.  Different eh?           

This week has definitely been filled with a lot of new cultural things, there are some things I can’t remember, and definitely some that I remember that are highlights.  I will share those with you now.           

The first highlight I had was being introduced to a lot of the people here at the Church and visiting the orphanage (The Abundant Life Home).  I have just really enjoyed getting to know the Thai people and they really are so kind and happy all the time.  The kids are also really cute too.  I am getting excited to work with them more closely as time goes on.           

The next highlight of the week was a fun thing that my team and I did the other day.  We decided to do something to lighten our mood a bit, in the midst of all this new cultural stuff.  So, we decided to go on a banana boat ride down at the ocean.  (Jennette, your favorite…lol)  For those of you who don’t know what a banana boat is, it is like a big plastic tube that gets pulled behind a boat and you sit on it.  The boat tries really hard to get you to fly off and fall into the water.  It might sound a bit strange, but it’s actually really fun.  We had a great time doing this, and it definitely refreshing after enduring the heat for a few days already.           

The next of my highlights was attending a Bible study at Andy and Carmen’s house.  It really was a good experience for me, and it was the first real chance I had to read the Bible and pray with some people there, despite the language barrier.  We had translators there for us.  We met a lot of nice people that night, and it is only the beginning of good relationships.  It really opened my eyes to what we have to offer the Thai people and what they have to offer us.  It is awesome to see how despite our different cultures, we can still study the same Bible and learn together.           

The next highlight was actually really funny for me; it was something that happened the other night.  We were having Church here on Saturday and as our Pastor was preaching his sermon, an elephant actually came up to the door of the Church, with his owner, apparently there to ask if we wanted a ride.  It just seemed so strange, something I definitely have never seen before.  I will for sure take the man up on a ride one day.  Hahah…oh Thailand!           

The other funny memory from this week was actually something disgusting.  Our team was gathered to celebrate a friend’s birthday party when one of our missionaries made an announcement that he had a treat for the TREK team.  We were all wondering what he was talking about, until it finally hit me that I knew what he meant, when he pulled out a tray of “snacks”.  I recognized these “snacks”, I had seen them somewhere before.  I had seen them at the night market down the street.  They were indeed a plate of GRASSHOPPERS and MAGGOTS!  Ah!  He wanted us to eat this?  He wanted me to eat this?  Well, he managed to pass this disgusting, and very large grasshopper to me and I didn’t take it at first.  I was shaking and I turned red.  Ew!  But, believe it or not, all you skeptics out there, I actually ate it!  Ah!  The texture was so intense!  Jennette, Kate and Ashley, you can only imagine me describing it.  I can’t believe I can now say that I have eaten a grasshopper.  Oh my…           

Well, that is pretty much the down-low of what my first week has been like here in Thailand.  There are of course many other stories and things I would love to go on about, but I am sad to say that there is no time for that.  I will have to save that for when I see you in person.           

If you would continue to pray for our team this week, we greatly appreciate it.  If you would especially pray for a team member Michelle and I as we move into our new place in a fishing village called Ang Sila.  It is going to be a difficult transition for us, and it means a whole new community of people to meet and ministries to get involved in.  So, if you would pray that the transition would be smooth and that we would fully rely on God to be our strength as the environment is going to be very poor and different from where we are now.  But, our whole team is excited to fully start our ministries next week and finally get into things.           

I also wanted to say thank-you to all of you very much for all of your emails and support this last week.  It is really nice to know that you are all there thinking of me and praying for me.  I will continue to try and keep in good contact with you as my time here goes on.           

I sign off then, and I leave this verse with you:  Isaiah 30:15-26.  It has been a real encouragement to me this week as I have entered Thai culture.  Remembering that God is my strength and peace…I love you all.