Sunday I went to a Thai church with 5 other people. It was entertaining because everything was in Thai. They had 2 rows in the back with headphones at each chair. They had a translator there speaking into a microphone so we could understand what was going on. In the Thai culture you take off your shoes when you enter temples so the tradition continued into the church. I have to mention that I enjoyed not wearing shoes in the sanctuary. We should bring that back to America. After church we went to eat and then headed out to an orphanage in the middle of nowhere. It was BEAUTIFUL. I enjoyed that ride so much...even if I was in the bed of a truck smooshed with three other people (Will, Jen, and Emma). We got there..played games, sang songs, made bracelets, and just chilled with the children. Roomer has it that a couple of the kids just became Christians. Praise God! They put on the Christmas story play for us. The oldest ones were 13, but the average age of the children was about 10 years old. They were so stinking cute. The girls also made up a dance for us. It was so special. When we arrived back to Wongen (the place we're staying) we got out of Larry's truck and boom there was a baby elephant on the street right next to us. Two guys were walking around with the elephant trained and following them. We fed the elephant...so stinking random!!! It was sooo funny. I hadn't even noticed the elephant and Carrie was like Sarah there's an elephant behind you. hahah only in Thailand...
Monday we taught English at an elementary school. I taught occupations with Will, Saul, and Max to 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. We played red light/green light after, duck duck goose, sharks and minnows. Sometimes the language barrier is a challenge...not for teaching English sake...it's because sometimes I really want to express how much I loved hanging out with them...but I can't. I know they see it in the way we come there and act around them, but at times I wish I could use words to tell them that. There was this adorable 10 year old boy who was fascinated by my blue eyes. I took like 10 pictures of him. Some of our team did a skit for them and we also sang some carols for them! I was completely exhausted when we got back...we all were. I took a 2 hour nap!!! We had our usual class Monday night.
Tuesday we went to a different elementary school and practically did the same thing. We were in the classrooms longer and this time I was in 2nd grade (the best grade ever) with Will. We taught clothing and animals. They were soooo stinking cute. When we entered they stood up and said "good morning teachers" in unison. SOOOO cute. We played games with them as well. I was exhausted Tuesday night when I crawled into bed. I was almost asleep and then God totally woke me up. He was speaking to me hardcore and it was so unreal. It was obviously God to me because 1.) I never have a problem sleeping 2.) He was speaking something to me that I had thrown away the 2nd week of DTS and never thought it would come back up again and 3.) He is a faithful God and during my prayers in the morning I was pleading with Him asking for guidance about direction for the next season of my life and then 14 hours later He talks to me about it. Just keep me in your prayers because God is speaking definitely...it's just that I'm having a hard time figuring out the order of things in my life.
Wednesday we had the chance to sleep in until 9. I got up, showered, and then had an amazing quiet time. I believe God's speaking big time to me so I'm pressing in hardcore. I was talking to Synnove about everything that's going on and then she received an email from a staff person back at the LA base. In this email she was talking about how she felt that God was calling her to something...the same thing as me. Wow wow wow this was sooo encouraging. Literally at that same moment she was typing this email to Synnove I was talking to Synnove about the exact same thing. God does cool things like that to encourage me. I'm not saying I know exactly everything that's going on, but I have an idea. We went on a prayer walk around Chiang Mai University. We prayed against the evil spirits that have these people blinded. The University is covered in idols on Buddha and 'spirit houses.' Their religion here is a mixture between Buddhism and Animism. Crazy stuff...God is bigger and it's awesome that we carry that authority in us with the Holy Spirit. I literally could feel the pressure of these spirits when we were standing right next to one of the spirit houses. My eyes hurt and I felt sick...Synnove's eyes were hurting as well. So crazy! We had class and then after class Ton and Mama went out to eat with Max, Carrie, Tony, Will, Megan, Laura, and myself. Such a great time with them. Ton is in the class that Carrie and I teach. He's so fun to be around!!!
Tonight we are going out to dinner and to see Narnia as a team...plus Ton and Mama are coming with us as well. =) Keep them in your prayers. Today we are preparing for this next week. We are leaving tomorrow morning for 2 different villages. We'll be gone for a total of 6 days. We'll be teaching English and doing a lot of random things. I believe we'll also have the chance to ride elephants and ride bamboo rafts. Wahooo...what a Christmas experience. Kind of excited to get away over Christmas. I think it would be harder staying here not very busy. I would think about being home too much. This Christmas will be a different one...but a rewarding one at the same time. It'll be amazing having the chance to serve Jesus on His birthday. Please keep us in your prayers!!!!
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Sawadee kaa!
The title of this blog is what we say every time we greet someone. Creative...I know. So this blog is going to be absolutely crazy because I have to cram so much in in such a short time.
We arrived to Bangkok late Thursday night/Friday morning. Slept some. Then ventured around Bangkok for a little bit. Saturday we went to three Buddhist temples. On our adventure we took a sky train, a boat, a 'tuk tuk', and a taxi. We saw a gigantic statue of the reclining Buddha. I hung around with my roomie, Mirjam, as much as possible. This girl has been an amazing blessing in my life during DTS. She has taught me a lot without even knowing it. Our Thailand A team left for Chiang Mai at 600 pm on Saturday. The other Thailand team came to say goodbye to us at the train station. Mirjam bought me a mocha frappe from Dunkin Donuts and then 20 short minutes later they left us. It was super depressing leaving people...again. Saying goodbye to her and Raphael was hard. I was a little heavy for a while. I'm still missing them like crazy. We took a train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. It ended up being a 17 hour ride on the train. It was super sweet because it was a sleeper train. They came around at 800 and set the beds up. At that point I was exhausted and ready for bed. I woke up at 545 the next morning, had a quiet time in my little bunk, and waited for them to take our bunks down. We were picked up by Ya (Thai man who works for the Centre and translates a lot for us) and Cory who is originally from Michigan but works for The Centre as well.
We arrived to Wongen Kafe, which is where we are staying during our time in Chiang Mai, a little while after we left the train station. Emmie runs the cafe and is a DTS graduate as well. She is a local Thai. The coffee shop is awesome. It's on the first and second floor. We live on the 3rd floor and our bathroom is on the 4th floor. Megan, Emma, Maxine, and I are in one room. Synnove, Jenifer, Carrie, Jacqui, and Laura are in the other room. Then the boys are all together, of course.
Sunday evening we went to walking street. It was a fun time! We ate some delicious food, shopped (bargained...wahoo), and checked out the environment. During dinner the national anthem came on and we had to stand up during it. They play it every day at 8 am and 6 pm in public places. You have to stand up or else they'll draw attention to you by blowing a whistle at you until you stand up (happened to a French lady near us there). Walking street is sooooo long. We didn't realize how long it was until it was too late. :) We were suppose to be meet everyone at a certain time at the end of the street. We left with 10 minutes to get there and we ended up arriving 13 minutes late. Woops...but it'll happen. The street is filled with so many different things to buy....Maggie Lee I have seen a bajillion elephant items. I wish I had endless money to spend and endless space to take these objects home in because I would bring you soooo much elephant crap home!!!! You must visit Thailand seeeska.
Monday we had orientation for "The Centre", a mini lesson on teaching English as a second language, and a brief overview about living at Wongen. We split up into our teaching teams for the classes. There are 5 classes we're teaching and 10 of us so it worked out perfectly. Carrie (my cousin) and I ended up getting put together. We actually started teaching right away (Monday night). Our class starts at 500 and ends at 600. We are teaching the highest level The Centre currently has. They are a high elementary to intermediate level. This basically means they know their vocabulary, but are in need of practicing conversationally. We do a lot of tense practices and conversational speaking/asking of questions. We LOVE our class. We have 4 students. Ton is a 21 year old student at Chiang Mai university. Ong is a 24 year old graduate of Chiang Mai, but currently works in the agriculture department researching. Hai is 35, from Vietnam, and is in his masters at Chiang Mai. Kee is 30 and is in her PhD at Chiang Mai. There is so much joy in our class. Friday night we had the chance to tell them about Jesus in our class. So cool.
Tuesday we went to a huge temple in Chiang Mai. It overlooks the city and has a beautiful view. We prayed when we were up there. I was feeling ill before we even left. After the temple I came back here and took a 2.5 hour nap. My stomach has been getting these random pain. Pretty sure it's indigestion problems from the different food. We taught class again and beforehand I didn't really feel up to it, but Will and I prayed before class together for an overwhelming amount of joy and God showed up. It was an amazing time. I laughed like crazy!! After class I was back in a rut. I had a really bad day spiritually. I felt overwhelmed, heavy, and rejected by the Lord...which is absolutely ridiculous but that's how I was feeling.
Wednesday I woke up and God renewed my strength. He met me in my quiet time big time. It was amazing. We had Thai language lessons from Ya Wednesday morning. It was a lot of fun. I stink at it. It's so hard because it's a tonal language. So you could be saying the right word but could be saying something completely different than what you're trying to say because of your tone. Some of us went to Mae Jo university to help pass out fliers for the English classes that are going to be started at a local church by The Centre. I had a really hard time trying to speak the one line they taught us in Thai, but Will carried us. God gave us our team such an amazing group of guys. I'm so thankful for their love for our Lord and team. They're so encouraging. After the passing out of fliers we went to a Thai Bible study. I was so encouraged it was unreal. I thought I would get to encourage them in their walk, but if anything they encouraged me. Their love for our Lord was so evident. They are so in love with Jesus and you could see that on their faces during worship. We had 2 Thai people there that could speak some English so they translated some of it for us and then translated our testimonies for them because one of the students asked us to give our testimonies. This was probably one of my favorite moments of outreach so far.
Thursday we went to Techno university and participated in the international festival. We sang Christmas songs in front of a ton of poeple. Soooo funnn!!! We got to have family time with the team and just chill out for the afternoon. Had class Thursday night
Friday we planned and got ready for the Christmas party then taught class and then had the Christmas party. It was a blast. White elephant, Jenifer shared about Christmas, and then Opal shared, in Thai, about the Christmas story. So a ton of students heard about Jesus!!!! So awesome.
Today we had the day off. Slept in. Went to the internet cafe. Went to a market! So funn...have to go!
PS. Synnove is break dancing in my room right now. Keep us in your prayers! love you all soo sooo much!!!!
We are going to a village on Thrusday or Friday for 5 days!!!! ahhhh so fun.
We arrived to Bangkok late Thursday night/Friday morning. Slept some. Then ventured around Bangkok for a little bit. Saturday we went to three Buddhist temples. On our adventure we took a sky train, a boat, a 'tuk tuk', and a taxi. We saw a gigantic statue of the reclining Buddha. I hung around with my roomie, Mirjam, as much as possible. This girl has been an amazing blessing in my life during DTS. She has taught me a lot without even knowing it. Our Thailand A team left for Chiang Mai at 600 pm on Saturday. The other Thailand team came to say goodbye to us at the train station. Mirjam bought me a mocha frappe from Dunkin Donuts and then 20 short minutes later they left us. It was super depressing leaving people...again. Saying goodbye to her and Raphael was hard. I was a little heavy for a while. I'm still missing them like crazy. We took a train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. It ended up being a 17 hour ride on the train. It was super sweet because it was a sleeper train. They came around at 800 and set the beds up. At that point I was exhausted and ready for bed. I woke up at 545 the next morning, had a quiet time in my little bunk, and waited for them to take our bunks down. We were picked up by Ya (Thai man who works for the Centre and translates a lot for us) and Cory who is originally from Michigan but works for The Centre as well.
We arrived to Wongen Kafe, which is where we are staying during our time in Chiang Mai, a little while after we left the train station. Emmie runs the cafe and is a DTS graduate as well. She is a local Thai. The coffee shop is awesome. It's on the first and second floor. We live on the 3rd floor and our bathroom is on the 4th floor. Megan, Emma, Maxine, and I are in one room. Synnove, Jenifer, Carrie, Jacqui, and Laura are in the other room. Then the boys are all together, of course.
Sunday evening we went to walking street. It was a fun time! We ate some delicious food, shopped (bargained...wahoo), and checked out the environment. During dinner the national anthem came on and we had to stand up during it. They play it every day at 8 am and 6 pm in public places. You have to stand up or else they'll draw attention to you by blowing a whistle at you until you stand up (happened to a French lady near us there). Walking street is sooooo long. We didn't realize how long it was until it was too late. :) We were suppose to be meet everyone at a certain time at the end of the street. We left with 10 minutes to get there and we ended up arriving 13 minutes late. Woops...but it'll happen. The street is filled with so many different things to buy....Maggie Lee I have seen a bajillion elephant items. I wish I had endless money to spend and endless space to take these objects home in because I would bring you soooo much elephant crap home!!!! You must visit Thailand seeeska.
Monday we had orientation for "The Centre", a mini lesson on teaching English as a second language, and a brief overview about living at Wongen. We split up into our teaching teams for the classes. There are 5 classes we're teaching and 10 of us so it worked out perfectly. Carrie (my cousin) and I ended up getting put together. We actually started teaching right away (Monday night). Our class starts at 500 and ends at 600. We are teaching the highest level The Centre currently has. They are a high elementary to intermediate level. This basically means they know their vocabulary, but are in need of practicing conversationally. We do a lot of tense practices and conversational speaking/asking of questions. We LOVE our class. We have 4 students. Ton is a 21 year old student at Chiang Mai university. Ong is a 24 year old graduate of Chiang Mai, but currently works in the agriculture department researching. Hai is 35, from Vietnam, and is in his masters at Chiang Mai. Kee is 30 and is in her PhD at Chiang Mai. There is so much joy in our class. Friday night we had the chance to tell them about Jesus in our class. So cool.
Tuesday we went to a huge temple in Chiang Mai. It overlooks the city and has a beautiful view. We prayed when we were up there. I was feeling ill before we even left. After the temple I came back here and took a 2.5 hour nap. My stomach has been getting these random pain. Pretty sure it's indigestion problems from the different food. We taught class again and beforehand I didn't really feel up to it, but Will and I prayed before class together for an overwhelming amount of joy and God showed up. It was an amazing time. I laughed like crazy!! After class I was back in a rut. I had a really bad day spiritually. I felt overwhelmed, heavy, and rejected by the Lord...which is absolutely ridiculous but that's how I was feeling.
Wednesday I woke up and God renewed my strength. He met me in my quiet time big time. It was amazing. We had Thai language lessons from Ya Wednesday morning. It was a lot of fun. I stink at it. It's so hard because it's a tonal language. So you could be saying the right word but could be saying something completely different than what you're trying to say because of your tone. Some of us went to Mae Jo university to help pass out fliers for the English classes that are going to be started at a local church by The Centre. I had a really hard time trying to speak the one line they taught us in Thai, but Will carried us. God gave us our team such an amazing group of guys. I'm so thankful for their love for our Lord and team. They're so encouraging. After the passing out of fliers we went to a Thai Bible study. I was so encouraged it was unreal. I thought I would get to encourage them in their walk, but if anything they encouraged me. Their love for our Lord was so evident. They are so in love with Jesus and you could see that on their faces during worship. We had 2 Thai people there that could speak some English so they translated some of it for us and then translated our testimonies for them because one of the students asked us to give our testimonies. This was probably one of my favorite moments of outreach so far.
Thursday we went to Techno university and participated in the international festival. We sang Christmas songs in front of a ton of poeple. Soooo funnn!!! We got to have family time with the team and just chill out for the afternoon. Had class Thursday night
Friday we planned and got ready for the Christmas party then taught class and then had the Christmas party. It was a blast. White elephant, Jenifer shared about Christmas, and then Opal shared, in Thai, about the Christmas story. So a ton of students heard about Jesus!!!! So awesome.
Today we had the day off. Slept in. Went to the internet cafe. Went to a market! So funn...have to go!
PS. Synnove is break dancing in my room right now. Keep us in your prayers! love you all soo sooo much!!!!
We are going to a village on Thrusday or Friday for 5 days!!!! ahhhh so fun.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Sunland skate park
Today was our last day at the skate park in Sunland. We have been going basically every Friday since September from 230 – 630ish. We just hang out with the people in and around the skate park. I thought I knew how much I loved these people, but didn’t understand how much I really do love these people until we left today.
There are a few people who I connected with instantly and words can’t explain how much I’m going to miss them. On the drive back to base I began worrying about when I was going to see them again, how often I would be able to talk to them, if they would realize how much Jesus loves them without me being there, and so on. Instantly I sensed God asking me, “Sarah, do you not trust me?”
Instantly, I was reminded of how much more God loves them than I do. I was reminded that the only reason I was able to show up to that skate park and show them a minimal amount of love I have is because God loves us first. He loved me first and because of that I am able to love the people at Sunland park.
My prayer is specifically for the individuals that I came in close contact with. My prayer is that God, you will touch them in a radical way. Lord, show them your fullness, your power, your love. God show them that Jesus came down to this earth for our sins and that there is no guilt in what they have done because you’ve taken it away through your Son. Lord, show them that you are walking with them daily by the means of your Holy Spirit. I pray that Your Holy Spirit overwhelms them so much that they’ll feel you walking so closely with them. Lord, love on them and send other people to love on them just like we had the chance to do so. Thank you so much for letting me meet them. Thank you for who they are and who you created them to be. Lord, I pray that they would know that you have created them for a specific purpose. I pray that they would understand how much You love them and desire to have a relationship with them. Lord, thank you thank you thank you thank you for RYAN, Donovan, Tyler, Caleb, Jade, Lanee, and Hadley.
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