It's been a busy few weeks! The highlight was a trip to Songklaburi, a village near the border with Myanmar (formerly called Burma). I went with my Filipino churchmates. I was shocked that we fit 18 people and three massive bags in and around the large song tao (a roofed pick-up truck with two padded benches in the back and a luggage rack on the roof) that we took from the bus station to the orphanage. There are 26 children at the orphanage and most are refugees from Burma. The kids are so smart. Most speak Karen (or a different tribal language), Burmese and Thai. They know lots of English songs and English Bible verses, as well as other bits and pieces of English and Tagolog (the language of the the Filipino woman who runs the orphanage). The really striking thing is that they love Jesus Christ. They enter into worship quickly and they are very sincere.
While at the orphanage, I was almost never alone. There was usually a child at my side or sitting in my lap. They were so hungry for affection. We gave different material gifts to the kids, but I think the best gift we gave them was the time we spent with them.
Last weekend was the 155th anniversary of my school and it is a very big deal. They had vendors of all kinds all over the campus and several stages were set up as well. Different bands and groups performed all day long (Saturday). My part was to learn a Thai dance with other foreign teachers. The school rented traditional Thai costumes for us to wear and we performed in the chapel in front of a very large audience. It was a great experience and unlike anything I've done before.
Five girls from Lee University just arrived to student-teach at BCC for 2 1/2 months. It will be fun to have them here.
Pood pasathai dai nit noy ka. That means I can speak a little Thai. I am learning more all of the time from my friends. It's good to be here.
1 comment:
It's funny that there's a language called Karen. From an American perspective it sounds like they wanted to call the language something so they gave it a human name. Kind of like how bands sometimes give their albums human names. I dunno, that's just what came to my mind when I read that part.
I miss you Emily, but I'm glad to see how God is using you to touch the lives of others. I'll bet you're making more of a difference in Thailand than you'll ever know.
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