Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has come and gone again. It was very special for me this year. Because school was cancelled, I had time to prepare a semi-authentic Thanksgiving dinner for my Thai cell group the day before Thanksgiving. We invited our English students and 7 of them came. They really enjoyed trying food they haven't tasted before. I also got to explain the history behind Thanksgiving. To conclude, I shared that Christians (our students aren't Christians yet) believe that God created the world and everything we have comes from Him--even down to the families we are a part of and the friends we have. Everyone had the opportunity to share what they're thankful for. It was a great time to strengthen our relationships with our students and share the love of God.

On a slightly more comical note...
I told the Thanksgiving story in Thai and I said that 90% of Americans eat turkey on Thanksgiving. After the 3rd or 4th time I said the word turkey, my friend told me that I was saying it in the wrong tone. I was saying "sleepy chicken" instead of "turkey."

After 5 years of waiting, I finally got to have turkey on Thanksgiving. My friend and I went to a "real American Thanksgiving dinner" with some Thai teachers from our school. One of their former students went to cooking school in the US and he wanted to cook for all of his friends. It was one of the best Thanksgiving meals I've ever had. For dessert, we had traditional pies, plus homemade sorbet, graham crackers and marshmallows. Who knew you could make your own marshmallows?

Every time I stop to think about what I'm thankful for, I think of my family and friends at home and here in Thailand. It's difficult to be away from home during the holidays, but having great friends here makes it a lot easier. I'm also really thankful for my apartment. So many Thai people are living at flood relief centers right now and many still live in their flooded homes.

I've had 2 opportunities to take food, water and other supplies to families living in the flood zone. My church rented a huge flatbed truck to drive through some lower flood waters to get to one flooded area. We had to load everything onto boats and then take it into an area that doesn't get much outside help. Most donations are taken to relief centers. A church near this flooded area coordinated our deliveries. It was humbling to see people using large slabs of thick styrofoam or large wash tubs for rafts and boats. Some people had real boats, but all were in great need. Please join me in prayer for the flood victims and the Thai government.

I joined my school's flood relief effort on Thanksgiving day. We went to a relief center and played games with the children. We gave away lots of snacks and toys, which helped brighten the children's day. We also gave useful supplies to the adults.

I thank God for using me to bring hope to those in need. I believe He is bringing good out of a desperate situation and drawing Thai people to Himself.

Going native?!?

I think lots of my American friends would already say that I've gone native, but I think I have something new to top my existing list. I moved to a studio apartment near my school a few months ago. It's great--cheap rent, high security (you have to scan your keycard before you can push any elevator buttons), a restaurant that delivers to my room, and laundry facilities. I didn't think about how Asian it actually is until I was describing my bathroom to an American friend. There isn't a designated shower area--the whole bathroom is the shower. I stand in front of the sink when I shower and if I put up a shower curtain, there'd be no room for me to fit in the small space between the shower head and the sink (as you can see from the picture). I don't mind it actually, but I do have to squeegee the floor after every shower because I don't like getting my feet wet every time I enter the bathroom.

The school year started in May and I've really enjoyed my students this year. I'm not supposed to speak Thai in the classroom, so some of my students don't know that I can speak Thai. I think those that know seem to forget when they're upset and call me "jai lai," which means "mean" in Thai. This happened one day and I reprimanded my student for it. I asked if he could say that to his Thai teachers and he looked at me with a horrified expression and said no. I have some very sweet students in the same class who immediately said "teacher jai dee tee soot nai loke" to make me feel better. It means "you are the kindest teacher in the world." They were exaggerating but it was very nice of them to say.

A first or second grade student who I don't actually know came up to me one day and said "hair...is...fantastic." I think he was commenting about my curly hair, but he could have just been expressing his appreciation for hair itself:). It was cute.

The missionary team at my church has started teaching English classes during the week so that we can get to know more people in the community. I teach one group of 4th to 6th graders and one group of 7th to 9th graders. We had a special event for the students and their mothers last Wednesday to celebrate Mother's Day (Thailand's Mother's Day is August 12). We had over 50 people! The elementary students learned to sing English songs about mothers and presented them at the event. We gave small gifts to the mothers and a Thai female pastor spoke briefly. Most Thai people will receive a blessing, no matter what religion it comes from. We closed the presentation by praying for all the mothers and their children. After it as all over, we served food and had time to get to know some of the families. Thank God for the seeds that were planted. There is a mission team coming this week and we're having some more community events. I'm believing God to move in people's hearts as we continue to build relationships and share the hope we have in Christ.

Cambodia: Lakes and Snakes!

The last few months have been very eventful as the school year came to a close and I got ready to go home to the US.

Before the school year ended, I took 7 other teachers to visit House of Hope, the orphanage I often visit near the border with Myanmar. We held an English camp at the Christian school nearby for two days and rode bamboo rafts down the Mekong River. It was a lazy and relaxing ride until our picnic break got rained out. The local guides worked harder to stay out of the rain than all of us foreigners. It was quite funny.

The most memorable part of the trip was spent at House of Hope though. We took the kids swimming in the river in their village twice. They climbed and swam all over us. Some brought their shampoo and soap and took their baths right there! On the second evening, we treated them to dinner and made Chocolate Mud, a dessert made of chocolate pudding with Oreos and gummy worms. They loved it. They sang beautiful worship songs for us in English and took turns telling us thank you for playing with them, taking them to the river, and for providing their dinner. I thank God that the non-Christian teachers who went with me had the opportunity to see how God's love can change children's lives. It meant a lot to me to be able to share my passion and burden with other people who also want to make a difference. The other teachers helped raise money and gather donations before we went.

Along with gifts of school supplies, we gave the kids crocheted finger puppets. They told stories and played games with them for 2 hours. They don't have video or computer games, yet they find ways to entertain themselves. It's quite a lesson to learn.

Ok, so onto the snakes. Church of God Southeast Asia had a Relational Leadership Summit in Siem Reap, Cambodia at the end of March. The purpose of the summit was to build relationships and networks to further advance God's kingdom in Southeast Asia. At the summit, I got to spend time with friends from college, which was lots of fun. I still haven't talked about the snakes have I? There's a lake near Siem Reap called the Tonle Sap. It's the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia and home to over one million Vietnamese refugees. Unfortunately, the lake dwellers struggle financially and use any means possible to make money. Some sell sodas and fruit to tourists, but a more creative way to earn money is to display their pets, which are HUGE SNAKES! They drive their boat right up next to yours hoping that seeing a massive snake up close will move you to give them some money. I had some Cambodian Riel and thought they needed it more than I did, so I gave it to them. After that, they stayed right next to us, while all the other American tourists squirmed uncomfortably, hoping that the boat with the snake would go away. Oops! I'm afraid I caused them to hope and stay close by for a while.

Christmas and beyond!

This year I really had to remind myself why we celebrate Christmas. I think I was homesick at first and every time I would see Christmas decorations in early December, I would think "It doesn't feel like Christmas, it's 90 degrees outside, what are they thinking?" I was a bit of a Scrooge. Finally, I started focusing on Jesus' birth and how thankful I am that God sent His Son to earth. It's amazing that the Son of God lived a human life and understands how I feel. And to top it off, He died a horrible death on the cross just to save me. That's amazing love! When I thought of all that, I started to get into the Christmas spirit. It's a good thing too, because Christmas was coming whether I was ready or not!

We did Christmas activities with our students at school during Christmas week and my students enjoyed playing Nativity bingo and making snowflakes. The teacher's Christmas party was memorable because many foreign teachers dressed up as Christmas hula dancers and performed. We acknowledged the fact that there can't be a white Christmas in Bangkok and sang "Christmas Island" and danced the hula. Some also dressed up as reindeer for "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." We finished the performance with "Silent Night" to follow the school's Christmas theme "Blessed Night."

I had a Honduran-Thai-Argentinian-American Christmas. Many friends from church went to a Latin American friend's house on Christmas Eve and had a feast. I brought pumpkin pie, which was my favorite thing because it reminds me of home. We played games, read Scripture and sang Christmas songs until midnight, which is the Latin American tradition. My dad sent me flowers and I got to talk with him, brother and sister-in-law. I ended Christmas day by eating hamburgers with my Filipino friends at a mall in Bangkok and enjoyed looking at the Christmas rabbits (I have no idea how the 15 ft. tall rabbits in the mall relate to Christmas, but that's the theme the largest mall in Bangkok chose this year:).

The highlight of my Christmas vacation was going to visit an orphanage in Sangklaburi (near the border with Myanmar). The kids are so amazing! They are all from Myanmar (formerly Burma). Most still have families in Thailand or Myanmar, but their parents cannot afford to send them to school and they have been able to get Thai IDs, which allow them to study in a Thai school. I went to teach English (it worked out that the teachers in their village school wanted time off and declared the 27th to 3rd holidays. Only a village school could do that--classes in Bangkok went on as usual). I also got to lead their evening devotions. We went to the river to swim on my last day. Tourists come to that river to ride bamboo rafts and ride elephants. We played on the rafts that were not being used and one elephant owner brought his elephant to the river for a bath. I even jumped off a 20 ft. cliff into the river. Now I can say I've cliff-jumped, but I don't think I'll do it again. I'm definitely not a thrill-seeker.

The kids have experienced the love and blessings that come from God. They pray fervently and worship God from their hearts. They can speak Thai and Burmese. They understand English very well and some also speak tribal languages like Karen. I was touched by the story of one 8 or 9 year old boy. His parents left him in bed when he was 1 year old because their village was being attacked by soldiers. His grandfather came back for him but he lost all contact with his parents. He went to live at the orphanage a few years later. The head of the orphanage found the boy's father in Bangkok and took him to spend two weeks with him last summer. At the end of the two weeks, the father and son weeped when they had to part, but the father knew that his son has a better life at the orphanage because he can go to school. The father wouldn't be able to send him to school in Bangkok. This little boy is joyful and loves to have his picture taken. I thank God for helping him overcome, despite his difficult circumstances.

As I listen to people singing karaoke and celebrating New Year's outside my apartment (in the middle of the day), I think of the many blessings God gave me in 2010 and look forward to new opportunities to serve and grow in 2011!

Time Flies!

I can't believe it's almost Christmas! Time has flown by so quickly! So much has happened...I feel like I'm really Thai now...I've seen one of the Thai princesses and I've gone to 2 Thai military bases. Our school dedicated a new building on October 29th and the King's oldest daughter came. She did the ever-important "ribbon-cutting," but in our case she pushed a button that opened some curtains to reveal the sign on the new building. This was a major event for my school. I don't have any pictures because we weren't allowed to take any during the ceremony, but it was truly an august occasion!


I went to a camp in Sakeow (northeastern Thailand near the Cambodian border)in October and we stayed on a military base. Many of our 9th grade students went through basic military training, learned about wilderness survival, learned how to grow rice and mushrooms, and shot M-16s. Six native-English speaking teachers (including me) got to go along and hold an English camp for kids on the military base. We had a great time teaching the kids there. One of the highlights of the trip was going to the shooting range and learning to shoot M-16s. I got two bulls-eyes! We also got our faces painted with camouflage face paint and ate all of the wilderness survival food. Most of it was very good, but I drew the line at grilled frogs and eels!

I went to another military base last weekend at the end of a "Little Cowboy Camp." It was fun to see 5th and 6th grade students dressed up in western clothes watching a cowboy show and roasting marshmallows, hot dogs, and Thai pork balls over the fire. It was an English camp and I went along to help with some of the activities. On the last day, the students got to ride horses and ride on the tanks on a military base.


The equivalent of "Christmas break" in the US takes place in October in Thailand. We took advantage of the time off to hold a three day vacation Bible school for kids in my church's neighborhood. We called it "Kids of the Kingdom" and taught about Saul, David and Solomon. I was in charge of the crafts. My favorite craft was making Solomon's temple out of homemade play dough. Most of the kids crafted their play dough into shapes similar to the picture I showed them, but one made a medieval castle. All in all, I am glad that some new children came and we strengthened our relationships with our regular attenders.

I had the opportunity to reflect on all the blessings the Lord has given me in November. Asian Christians know that we celebrate Thanksgiving in the US and many like to take the same opportunity to thank God for all He has done in their lives. My school has a student church every Thursday and I got to share about Thanksgiving traditions as well as a short sermon on gratitude on Thanksgiving day.

Additionally, I'm very grateful for good friends here. Some of my co-workers and I had a Thanksgiving celebration on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. It wasn't traditional, but it was sooo delicious. One of my South African friends made lamb stew and duck l'orange in addition to the mashed potatoes and stuffing that some of us brought. We had apple pie and pumpkin mousse to top off the meal!

God has given me so much to be thankful for--eternal life, purpose, a loving community, a great job, and so much more!

My birthday and recent ministry

Since birthdays only come around once a year, it pays to make them special and make the celebration last as long as possible, right? I think that's what I did this year. I got to celebrate 3 or 4 times with various groups of people. Lots of lunches and dinners out with friends from work and church comprising many nationalities--American, Thai, Filipino and Chinese. Every year I am reminded of God's goodness in my life. I live far away from my biological family, but I always feel like I have a family here. I am thankful for the many people God has put in my life.

I share my birth month with my school, but I'm much younger. My school turned 158 this year and the celebration was big. Instead of learning and performing a Thai dance, my department put together a showcase of American music through the decades, starting from the 1950s to the present. I got to be a '50s doo-wop back up singer, a cowgirl, a member of the Village People, sing a Frank Sinatra/Celine Dion duet, and a member of Sister Slege, singing We Are Family. Needless to say, it was lots of fun to practice and perform.

I haven't written much about the ministries at my church, but they're a big part of my life. Along with Thai leaders, I get to serve with a couple from Latin America. They are a major blessing to the people in our church and the surrounding community. We have children's church every Sunday with about 20 children from unchurched families. A Thai seminary student teaches the Bible lesson and I teach a related craft every other Sunday. We had vacation Bible school in April and we're planning another one for October, which is the midyear break for schools here. We try to provide different activities for the kids because they will spend time with us at the church any time the doors are open. Sometimes the boys play soccer after the service on Sundays with the missionary from Honduras. We bought a ping pong table last week and so far it's been a big hit with the kids. Our goal is to show them the love of Christ in as many ways as possible.

We have a cell group every Wednesday. It's still very small, but we have one young woman who has not received the Lord as her Savior yet, but she is very open to the Lord and asks many questions. I believe the Lord is drawing her to Himself. We also have an English class for a small group of middle school students that meets twice a week. We have a team of teachers taking turns teaching them.

I have included pictures of some of the people I performed with for the school anniversary, the children at my church and the English class we teach at my church.

The last three months

I think my blog has become more of a newsletter. I used to post often because everything in Thailand seemed so new. Lots of the foreign-ness of Thailand has worn off for me, but there are days when it's abundantly clear that I'm still a foreigner. For example, I got caught in a heavy rain storm on my way home one night. The street my friend and I were walking on was flooded up to our ankles and there were no taxis or song taos (pick up trucks with 2 rows of seats in the back and a roof covering the seats) available. We decided to keep walking, but we got a little lost in the process. We asked a man how to get to the main road and he said to follow him. We arrived at his motorcycle and he offered to give us a ride. Under normal circumstances it wouldn't be a problem for two of us to straddle the back of his motorcycle and go with him. However, we were both wearing pencil skirts and didn't think we could both fit sitting sideways. He said it was still a long way to the main road and we should go with him, so we did. I believe it was God who kept us glued to the seat because we were both afraid we would slip off any minute. I arrived at the sky train station bedraggled because we couldn't use our umbrella on the motorcycle. Everyone else in the train looked neat and well put together, as Thai people always do. When I told my Filipino roommate about what happened, she just said "oh." My Thai friend at work said the same thing. Apparently monsoon rain storms and flooded streets are an everyday occurence in Asia and no cause for alarm. So what's the point of the story: I'm still a foreigner, no matter how good my Thai is or how adjusted I feel to Thai life.

My dad came to visit at the beginning of the month, which was great. We went to House of Hope orphanage for the dedication of their new house. The house is very humble by American standards, but they are so grateful to have it. There are two rooms for the girls and one or two for the boys and now they have separate boys and girls bathrooms. I guess they took turns before. The kids sang many songs and performed some human videos. I've said it many times, but I love worshipping with them because they're so sincere as they sing and lift their hands and hearts to the Lord.

My dad got to enjoy the finer things in life here, like inexpensive massages and good food. My friend took us sightseeing in Bangkok, which was fun. I had never been to the Vivanmek Mansion, the largest golden teakwood building in the world (I think). I've seen my dad twice this year, which is a record since I've moved to Thailand. I'm grateful that I could spend quality time with him.


To give you an update on Bangkok since my last blog...

Life in Bangkok is back to normal. We started school on May 24th. I like my students. I teach one class of 2nd grade this year and they are so cute (they are the smartest kids in all of 2nd grade at our school, so they're fun to teach). Bangkok is getting cleaned up quickly as there are lots of people volunteering to repaint and clean up the affected areas.

I just came back from northeastern Thailand because we had a 4 day weekend. Thank God for an opportunity to get out of Bangkok and to visit friends. That's all for now.