Before we had to leave Sangklaburi, our team shared some amazing last moments with the Church. It was only about a month ago, but these days...months fly by quickly. I think my highlight of the month had to do with diving into His Word everyday, for hours, & then being able to teach a lesson or preach on Sunday morning. It is just mine-blowing to be reading the bible & see new aspects of God, & His great story, every single time I read it. God has woven His narrative & His Truth in ways I could never reject. & in that, I find it harder to understand why some people do...that is what I continue to learn & Thailand gave me more opportunity to have those experiences.
By the time you read this blog, I will probably be in Africa. I hope you enjoy these many pictures I have from Thailand--they are filled with special moments.
Above, is a young mother dedicating her child to the Lord. This was our last Sunday service.
After that, they put on a meal for the whole Church.
This is the yard we played in many times with the kids & where they baptized a new family on our first Sunday being there.
They showed us the new Church they were building right next to the current one. They needed to expand for a couple reasons mostly due to finances & the call for a larger space.
On Sunday nights they usually meet in someones' house from the Church. Sharing snack food with them, they praise God, impart words of encouragement, prayer requests, talk...
They do not have much materially, but they love GOD WELL & love one another WELL =)
I had to include these last two pictures of the gold Buddhas.
There is also a huge reclining Buddha in this town. Thunder drove too fast, so I did not have time to get a picture of it.
We left for Bangkok & planned on being there for just a couple days (Thanksgiving, a day of packing, & then flying to Africa). However, due to the mob at the airport we were stuck for about eight days! While we were trapped, we made the most of all our free time. For instance, one night there just happend to be a fair down the street from the base we were staying at!
I saw this time of being stuck, as a gift from God. I had gotten close to our translator, Mon & was able to share more time with her in the city. She worked for YWAM & so she was able to spend time with me before her next team out-ing. I also got to meet her friend, Bethany who was leading a mission team in Thailand, just after Christmas. That is her below, eating a traditional snack food one would eat at a Fair in Thailand. Above, is a large pan where she would strain the liquid sugar & then roll it off to make a stick.
Bethany & I spent almost everyday together while I was there & we had so much fun! She & Mon were great encouragements to me & we just enjoyed the brief friendship God was bringing along!
The fair was a blast to walk thru. So many shops to buy any & everything!
This is what a typical packing day looks like for us. It looks like a crazy mess, but it is more organized than you think. We had to do it again a week later for our flighthead to England, rather than to South Africa.
While we were stuck in Bangkok due to the protestors in the airport, our squad had a Race! It was a scavenger hunt & guess what team won!?!? Watch the video to find out!
P. S. Someone tell Shanda to give the winning team a prize already!
For the first part of November we were stationed in Sangklaburi, Thailand for our location of ministry. Our contact was with a small church, helping the Pastor reach-out to the members & the community. Pastor Boodi & his family took such good care of us while we were there--making some amazing Thai food! His family had a section of their house we stayed in, which they rent out regularly to missionaries who are there to work. This village is located on the far bank of a large, surrounding lake--where almost all are Mon refugees who have fled Burma.
After a night of teaching, this baby was ready to go home!
We played with the Pastors little girl & neighbor boy quite often.
After puting on a Childrens Program we tried to cross the border into Burma...unfortunately this crossing had already been closed a year prior.
I found a memorial built in this market area, dedicated to those involved & died in the construction of the Burm-Thai Railway.
It is in fact a time capsule!
The town which we lived in for a couple weeks, is also home to the longest man-made wooden bridge in the world! You can see it off in the distance.
Thunder, our driver & helper at the church, stopped the truck so we could snap a picture--the one you see above. We were on our way to the Safe House, if I remember correctly.
We visited the shop owned by one of the translators in the church. Her name was Neema (sorry, I do not have a picture of her) & she translated every lesson, every single day of the week! Here is where I stumbled upon a bunch of cloths that looked just like mine. In fact, they were mine! (That was seriously my response) Those are the cloths I have lived in the past six months. I had no idea the lady who was doing the wash, was someone in Nima's own house!
This is the main road in front of the house we stayed in.
We worked everyday, with our time split in half with the debrief. On our one day off, we decided to go down to the lake & make a day of it! We rented a boat for a couple hours, went off into the jungle, saw an elephant & some rubber trees, then enjoyed a team dinner where we met some Americans who had recently graduated & were just traveling abroad.
THE END of what Sangklaburi looked like. Only five more months left =/
October 26 was awhile ago, but I never posted the beautiful pictures of Siem Riep! We were there for three days (really only one day because of travel) & it was a nice detour leaving Cambodia to start our month of ministry in Thailand. Since we were so close to Ankor Wat--the largest temple in the world--we figured we should definately see it if we were so close! This magnificant temple was first dedicated to the Hindu god, Vishnu, & then became a significant temple for Buddhist followers. We arrived to the site early in the morning & spent the entire day there seeing the ruins & learning the historical significance of Angkor Wat.
Below, is a picture taken just to the right of the walkway over the mote you see above.
This is one of my favorite pictures (on top).
The name Angkor Wat literally means City Temple.
A favorite quote of mine comes from one of the first Westerners to visit Angkor & said that this, "is of such extraordinary construction that it is not possible to describe it with a pen, particularly since it is like no other building in the world. It has towers and decoration and all the refinements which the human genius can conceive of."
Built in the early 12th Century, these temples are a source of great pride to the Cambodian people.
The ruins are even more gorgeous when you see them with your own eyes. The tree roots grow over everything!
Another famous quote I found comes from the French explorer, Henri Mouhot who wrote in his travel notes, "One of these temples-a rival to that of Solomon, and erected by some ancient Michelangelo-might take an honourable place beside our most beautiful buildings. It is grander than anything left to us by Greece or Rome, and presents a sad contrast to the state of barbarism in which the nation is now plunged."
From Cranes camera...if I remember correctly?
That's are photographer!
That purse was a birthday present from my team! I loved it! It broke in 6 days =/
After two hours, I was spent.
Surprisingly, Angkor has survived thru the ages with little damage (some theft & destruction occurred during the Khmer Rouge).
Above is me with my dear Kara! & aside from Angkor Wat, we also made the most of the free time we had in Siem Riep.
They chose to play in the water with my camera...
...I chose to take a nap =)
Johnny (picture above) & his sister Tara (below) making a friend the morning we had to leave.
The day came when were we had to leave to dive into a months worth of work in Thailand. The picture under shows Melanie ready to start off the day of travel on the extremely over-packed bus.
Not even an hour into our trip did the bus break down. It was thankfully just a flat.
Kara took advantage of this free time by changing! Dre, Stacey, & Krystle made a wonderful shield for her.
By evening time we were still not yet in Bangkok, but we did not mind waiting for our next bus to arrive. Nurse Maithili took the time to help a little boy who was just wandering about the bus stop. He had a bloody toe.
As you already know, we did make it to Thailand & had a great time getting there! The month flew by! I'll be sure to post some blogs soon about how that went & more on what it has been like here in London.
THE END.
I hope you enjoyed the video of what our team was doing in Asia. (Crane made it. I don't make videos...sorry.) Here is some more of what went on:
November 12~16 was our Debrief & we were able to go back to Kosomet Island. After a couple days on the Island, the Jan. squad arrived for their Final Debrief. That is why our debrief was bumped up early. But, it was nice to share some of our time with the Jan. squad & for the ways in which they poured into us since we still had awhile to go on our Race. The weather was beautiful with the days we had there & we were able to really enjoy the free time that was given to us to hang-out & be.
I really enjoyed the island more this time around than our first debrief on the island. I think due to the holiday, there were many more couples & families touring the island. This was a good change since the previous time I was there, the sex tourist industry was pretty heavy. Everywhere you looked it was heavy--on the beach, off the beach, around the restaurants & hotels, etc. For instance, one night a few of us girls went into the 711 to pick up something things. As we were waiting in line, there were some old men in front of us being incredibly loud & vulgar. I looked over at them & grandpa had pulled down his pants, instructing his bought date to slap it! His butt, that is. To add, there was a married couple with a young child behind me in the line! Instead of hitting those old men (which I really wanted to do), all I could do was yell, "JESUS, JESUS, JESUS!!!" I just couldn't do anything else. It just makes me sick...but this time around it was a lot less heavy.
During our debrief, we had times of silence, time with our accountability partners, & sessions of speakers who came in to help us process what Asia has been like to us so far & how to prepare for Africa which was just around the corner (or so we thought).
During my free time, I would take walks with a friend, share a meal, & play on the beach! My favorite thing to do at the beach is play Paddle Ball! & I got to play everyday! Although they both broke on the first day, we still used them & yes, I brought them to London with me =) I think the record still stands for Zach & I. He says we made it to 98...but I think it was somewhere in the lower one hundreds.
Eventually, time came for us to leave to go back to work.
& so I am making my way down to the flock of children you see on the right, following our church contact (far left) who did all the transportation for us. His name is Thunder.
November 19 is the day you see. We drove out to a Childrens School specifically to put on a program for the kids. The children cross over the border everyday to come to school (for free). They have two sessions, this being the morning session.
We kept all of them in one large group & taught them songs & games.
Having all the kids in one big group was rather chaotic, but it still worked out ok.
Here is our interactive bible story time. The Walls of Jericho seems to be the most popular.
This is the school. It is all outside, with about four rooms & a kitchen area.
Our pastor all the way on the right.
Next comes the bible college.
We arrived on campus, receiving an orientation & meeting all the staff & students. I think there are about 5 teachers & 18 students (if I remember correctly) all in different years. We spent hours talking to them about our work & the way of life which we left back home. They sang songs for us (which were amazing) & asked us to sing as well. I learned from our visit just how much of an encouragement we were to them. To see Christians from the other side of the world, meet them & learn about them, really made their day. It made mine too!
Another stop brought us to this church. Here we helped them mix rocks, sand, & water to make cement. We would fill up our bucket & then carry it to ...
...this part of the new building, were they are laying down the floor.
For some of the time, Kara & I talked with the pastor & asked him LOTS of questions. These are the kids that stuck around & found it fun to play with our sunglasses.
This is there new church which still has a little way to go. Some of the girls came back the next day to help direct Sunday Service. (I & Jennifer stayed back to lead teaching & worship @ the church we were serving in. Sundays always seem to be quite busy for us.)
On November 3 (Monday) we headed off to the Safe House for ministry. This was during our first week of work in Northern Thailand & was one of my favorite days in Thailand. The SHouse is haven for refugees established by a native Thai lady who had a big heart for those who had no where to go. It has numerous buildings on its grounds & is supported partially by government aid, but mostly by contributions from visitors & helpers. They try as best as they can to cut costs by working on their small garden & keeping some pigs. They also teach the residents skills (singing, english, writing) & trades (sewing, weaving, craft)--which they can sell the items they make for profit.
They have about 70 residents, many mentally & physically handicapped.
This is there garden below, with our translator on the left. They are doing there best with the little about of land for a vegetable garden & crops. There biggest need is to have a rice crop of there own.
This baby has a rather sad story of how he came to be. He was abandoned by his mother (due to her mental illness). She became pregnant with him by rape & after he was born, she left him. A miracle this little baby is alive today, since this was her second baby--The first baby, (pregnant the same way) was not cared for by her (feeding) & died of starvation.
The highlight of my time there was this old man below. He was an old man who somehow made it to Thailand as a refugee from China. He has been @ the SH for years, sadly he has not talked to anyone. He only knows Mandarin, is partially deaf, & completely blind. He sleeps most of the day because he does not even know the difference between night & day. He cannot talk to anyone & no one can understand him...no one speaks his language. Years of no one talking to you or understanding what others say to you. This just broke my heart hearing about this man & I asked to see him. She took me to see him & he was just rising our of his bed. This man looked to be in his 60's & I wondered if he had any family. I yelled what I could in Mandarin, telling him hello & that God loved him. It is sad that all I can remember is a few common sayings but I tried with what I could remember. I spent a good 5-10 minutes yelling Mandarin as it took him that long to get out of bed & make his way to the bathroom with his walking stick. Maybe he never heard me...or maybe he did...I don't know, but I pray for him still.
Leaving the Safe House. We were able to talk to the owner & her family for hours. She told us of how she started the SHouse & how God had provided for there establishment going on 25 years now! We prayed with the lady that made the purse I bought. She has HIV & was very sick the day we visited her. We were able to hear the current needs they still have & left knowing we would be back again.
The next time we were back, it was the following Saturday for their 25 Anniversary!
Many people from the surrounding area were there for this big celebration. Above (in blue shirts), are members from the bible college. They sang after the group of children in the back sang. This celebration took all morning until the afteroon. They also asked us to perform a "Special Song" which we were happy to do...even though we had no warning.
This establishment started all by a women seeing the need of refugees being left @ the border between Thailand & Burma...left with nothing. She just asked God what He wanted her to do. 25 years later & so many lives being touched, I learned a big lesson. One person can change the world.
Inbetween our time in Thailand, we had debrief. We usually have debrief @ the end of the month, but plans were different this time around So, we had to leave Sangklaburi & make our way to Bangkok.
We had to take the Thailand-Burma Railway (aka Death Railway) much of the way there. It was the most adventurous train ride I had ever been on in my life. The train was full of loud Asians from only God knows where, a large group of old, rich Europeans in search of an African Safari in Asia, & my team-mates head permanently stuck out the window due to her stomach bug. It was a very interesting & adventurous ride.
It was a beatiful day for a train ride though.
We all eventually fell asleep & stayed that way as the crowded train slowly decreased.
Here is a X-Mas video Katie took charge of creating for all of us. I forgot to wish my wonderful Grandma a Happy Christmas (she doesn't have a computer so I'm sure it's ok) & I forgot to add my appreciation to all of those who supported me to be here! Please know how thankful I am for you all, your prayers & financial support are just huge blessings to me as I am able to serve abroad. I will post more about what ministry has been like here in London after X-Mas (since we just ended out-reach on the 23). I just finished 2 blogs about Thailand & what ministry was like there--I'll post those now, but more is coming. I need to get to bed now since it is so late & it being Christmas, I should get some rest! Love you all & I am praying for you & missing you much, much, much =) Enjoy the video!
Our ministry varied each day while we were working in Thailand. We mostly spent the mornings visiting, praying with people, & doing childrens ministry. The evenings were filled with teaching--EVERY SINGLE NIGHT WE HAD TO TEACH BIBLE STUDY! This helped each one of us better learn how to prepare & share what Gods Word says. I really enjoyed the learning & teaching the most.
Above, is a picture of my favorite little girl! For most of my time there, I was convinced this was a little boy...my bad =/ But, just look at those cheeks!
Above, is my favorite picture (on the WR thus far).
(Above) This was our last Sunday service.
(Above) This was our first Sunday service. [I know, they are out of order!]
We had to drive to border for a morning of childrens ministry. The kids were able to cross the border to spend a couple hours with us!
You can see Kara, our Childrens Ministry Coordinator, doing a fantastic job. These children are all orphans...it was a blessing to be able to spend time with them!
This little boy wanted nothing to do with the bible story play.
He just wanted to run around in the sun, with a blanket around his head, & play.
They loved this game! (We still do not know the name of it!) Two people holding hands walk around the out-side of the cirlce & tag whoever they choose. Once you are tagged, you & your partner must run around the circle, switch partners, & make it back to where you started before the other two make it around the circle. It is crazy fun--especially when you have very little kids playing...it takes them forever! I usually just pick them up & run.
This was just a taste of some of the ministry we were able to do while in Thailand. The girl on the far left of the picture, was our translator named Moan. She & I became good friends & I learned a lot from her. I was very surprised overall with how different Thailand was compared to the other two Asian countries I had come from. I would sum it all up by saying my favorite ministry was in Cambodia & my favorite surprise country {involving the beauty of the area, the people, the food, & culture} is actually a tie between Thailand & Guatemala. My least favorite country is definately Vietnam...sorry =/
Our time in Thailand was a very unusual month to say the least. Our time of ministry was divided between our Debrief (usually at the end of a month of ministry, but for schedual reasons was in the middle this time around). Our team was assigned to a town called, Sangkalburi to help a small church. The village is beautiful! It is near the border of Burma & is a small town with a tourist appeal.
Above, is our first day out on the job doing house visits.
These houses are just near the river & beyond is the boat houses that many people live on.
It was such a blessing to be able to visit the church members & new believers. It was an honor to be able to spend time with them & pray for them.
Below, is her new house. It was built in just a matter of a couple of days!
The path (below) to Ekines. We would usually have to take the truck up the hill, park it, & walk the rest of the way.
When we first met Ekine, we found her sitting in a chair which she would sit in all day long (even to go bathroom). It was so sad to see. But, thanks be to God because over the course of the time we were there, we were able to see God do some big things in her life. We inquired about a Walker to help her & found one! It turns out, her neighbor had one he was not using anymore! With some physical therapy & love, she slowly gained something amazing called HOPE. We also took her wheelchair to get fixed so we could use that as well!
On our last day with Ekine, she & her middle daughter came to church with us! It was a lot of work to pick her up & bring her, but it was worth it! They joined us for lunch & spent the rest of the day with us. It may sound silly, but we were also able to wash her hands & feet & give them both manicures & pedicures =) The little girl had her nails painted for the first time ever! She was around 8 years old.
The sad part: Our last few days she was there, we received bad news. Ekine had fallen out of her house & had to go to the hospital. She was there for a week & we were unable to see her. We have not heard anything, but we were told by our contacts there, they would continue to bring her to church as often as they could & visit the family. She is still in our hearts & we pray she is doing better.
