Recent Photos

Friends have shared some pictures they have taken of me recently. Here's a few of my friends on this side of the world.
Yu is one of my housemates. God has been so faithful in preserving and maturing our friendship over the last three years. We are the same age, so in Thai culture, that makes us even closer of friends.
Jane is a new believer and member of our church. She is such a joy to be around with her zealous faith and love for God's word. She stays at our house some weekends because her house is across town nearer to the university where she is a student.
Jane loves to take pictures, so here we are at church last Sunday. On the right is another of my housemates, Krystle, who has been an intern here the last year. She leaves in October, so please be praying for her transition out. Noah, on the left, is on a vision trip here through late October to see how God might want him to serve as a missionary here in the future. He may help us with mercy ministry, which is an answer to prayer! Praise God for these friends!

Leadership Bio: Kieow

A couple of my future teammates have interviewed our Thai staff by email so those in the US can get to know who we work with here. Check out Trey and Kiki's blog on the right column called "Bangkok and Other Places" to read about Kieow. She is my housemate and good friend. We work together in mercy ministry and right now, she is my chief Thai homework editor! Please keep her in your prayers as well as Trey and Kiki. They are raising support and finishing seminary so they can be here next summer!

To see all my teammates, check out our team website. Click here.

The Year 2553

It is currently the year 2553. No, I have not entered a time machine. The Thai people have counted their years beginning with Buddha's birth which is supposedly 2,553 years ago. So, they use the Buddhist Era while we use the "Christian Era" as my Thai language textbook explains it, it being 2010. There's some FYI.

Language Class

What do you call 2 Japanese, 1 Korean, 1 Chinese, and an American? My Thai language class!!! Yep, its crazy. And there's definitely some struggling communication within that. If one of us doesn't understand something, we have to struggle through the only language we have in common to explain it to each other--Thai! I'm not sure why they're all in Thailand, but we have had good times in class together. The Japanese guy made all the sentence patterns he had to say out loud today about 7/11.

Please do pray for me as I'm living off little sleep. It's tough to go to sleep early and wake up early. It's exciting to be here among my friends and fellow teammates! I spent tonight visiting with folks at Mahathai (doing my homework with them) and then eating with some teammates. Too much good stuff to miss. Yet now its midnight and I just now got home! Caffeine is needed tomorrow in order to not fall asleep on the way to school and miss my stop. Praise God for great language lessons and relationships.

Church Sunday

What a great church service today! We were led during Sunday School through the first chapter of Isaiah. What a great testimony of how we all need God because we are not good enough on our own to be chosen as his people. He must have mercy on us and choose us! I'm so grateful for the teaching that was given not just for me, but our Thai church members so they can disciple those new and seeking the faith.

Our two new interns have arrived safely to Thailand. It's always fun to help welcome folks to this place! The service felt especially worshipful as we all sang in one voice! Some college students performed a dance to a Christian song which reached the hearts of many of the Mahathai children.

After church, we had our church-wide prayer meeting which happens once a month. We prayed and sang together as a group and in smaller groups. I'm so thankful for the church God has brought together. Our church fills up the bottom of our office and we can't even make a large circle for the meeting because we have so many. Please be praying with us for 100 people to be coming in the year ahead, each week.

I pray each one of you enjoys your Sunday at church as well! Praying for you!

Lullabies and Karaoke

My housemate, Kieow, called me from my room to stand with my ear against a wall in our hallway this evening. She said, "Listen, he's singing to his baby." Our neighbor has a new baby boy and we could hear him sing the baby to sleep. How sweet!

Last night at about 11pm, I heard a bunch of men singing together. Kieow said they had a karaoke night at the apartment complex behind ours. It was a hilarious sound.

A big contrast between my home in the US and here is the amount of noise and activity outside the houses. When you walk outside my front door, you are right in the middle of the main street of our neighborhood--definitely not suburbia. I am thankful for the lullabies, karaoke singing, and many fun neighbors we have surrounding our townhome.

Moving to the Left

Along with driving on the left-hand side of the road here, I realize people also walk down hallways on the left-hand side. So, when I encounter someone and try to move to the right-hand side of the hallway and they move to their left-hand side and we just run right into each other! It keeps happening! When will I learn? Even the escalator going up at the malls here is found on the left side. At least I know how to say the word "Excuse me" in Thai, because I have to keep apologizing for all the run-ins. :)

First Day of School

Thanks so much for your prayers for my first day of school. It went really well! We started off with dictation: writing a paragraph in Thai about going to the movies. Then, we learned some new vocab and sentence patterns, and then used those while reading aloud a conversation between two people about going to the movies. (The teacher did all this while speaking in thai 100% of the time.) I felt energized by all the new learning!

As for prayer: I have targets for learning language. I don't just want to get through the classes! I want to absorb these sentence patterns and words that I don't use. Though I can understand them, I need to put them in my everyday speech. I have a time period for this language learning time, and then I need to be prepared to disciple young women in our church in Thai. Please pray the Lord organizes my learning for the ministry goals he wishes to accomplish through me. Thank you!

And I continue to wake up at about 5am to get ready, travel, and be there at 8am. Please pray the Lord gives me energy for each new day.

My Own Personal Sauna

My housemate, Yu, walked past me as I was ironing my clothes on the 2nd floor and said, "You don't need a sauna, do you?"

"You are right, what a blessing from the Lord"--I responded as I wiped the dripping sweat off my chin and brow.

It's been a hot day here, as everyday is. We have to iron a lot more often here because we don't have dryers. After the clothes are hung to dry, they are all crinkly. And a clean, orderly appearance is important here. My appearance is especially important on my first day of language school! (Second first day if you count the first day of my first term.)

My Brain is "Laaaaaa"!

That's one of my new words today. It is only used for the brain, meaning my brain is tired or full or slow or something like that. I learned it sitting beside one of my shopping buddies today on our 1.5 hour bus ride back from downtown to our neighborhood. Wow, that's a lot of Thai speaking! Thank you for your prayers for my language skills.

Thanks to God, I'm starting new relationships and continuing some old ones. Krystle, my housemate, and I took some college students shopping today for our teammates' upcoming wedding. One girl with us is a new Christian, and the other two are not believers, but are spending a lot of time with church folks! Please pray for them! I also had some great conversations with my neighbors this week. I couldn't believe how much I could understand. Pray God helps all these people see Him through me!

P.S. Language school starts Thursday!

Did you Know??

...Most elephants weigh less than the tongue of a Blue Whale!*

(Anything I can find about elephants should get on this blog, since elephants are one of Thailand's great symbols. Speaking of elephants, I haven't seen our neighborhood elephant here yet.)

*This fun fact was brought to you by one of my hopefully future teammates. I found it on the wall of her blog.*

Dinner River Cruise

If you may remember my Thai friend, Oh, who used to work at a Thai restaurant in Asheville. She and I have reconnected now here in Bangkok, where we both live now. What a joy to have a friendship with her and her sister. For our reunion, they took me out on a dinner river cruise along the Chao Phraya river. I really think this activity has been one of the best I've done as a "tourist" here in Thailand. If you want to come visit me here, I'll take you out on one too!
Oh (left), me, and Bow, her sister (right)in front of our boat. Please pray that my friendship with them will be a good opening for them to hear about Jesus too!
Our table on the boat, looking out at the water and enjoying LOTS of food.





Some of the Buddhist temples we passed along the river. These temples shine attractively in the evening. Yet they still bring me sadness to see their beauty is not real. Their attractiveness is not eternal or hopeful.

My House Tour

For today, I'll start showing you some shots of downstairs. We live in a 3-story townhome--me, 2 Thai staff (Yu and Kieow), 3 Thai Bible College interns (on the weekends), and an American intern, Krystle. There's three bedrooms and 2.5 baths. I'm still living in the same place where I was last time. I'll try to show you pics of the rest of the house and the front of it soon. My room's not too clean right yet! :)
Here's our living room area downstairs. There's the TV watching area with the couches. I'd say we spend our sitting 50% on the couches and 50% in front of them around the coffeetable. We don't eat at the table much except maybe breakfast? As you can see, the refrigerator is in the main room while the rest of the kitchen is through those doors. Our "pantry" is that bunch of shelves there. If you walk up those steps, you will reach two more floors where we live. All narrow areas like these.

Here's our kitchen area. The washing machine, sink, stove, and cabinet are all in there. There's a concrete floor and it's pretty open to the elements because the ceiling isn't really closed in between the corrugated tin roofing and the concrete walls. But it works just fine.

There's New Folks Comin' In

*You can sing the title to the tune of "There's a Ship Comin' In" if you know the song.*

Though I am still having dreams of packing after doing so much of it, I'm not going to be the newbie for long. I'm settling in and we've got two more folks coming in next week to serve with us! So excited that the Lord has called folks as "workers for the harvest." Please be praying for Katie and Noah as they say their final goodbyes and get on planes soon. May God be preparing them, body and soul, for the work "which God has prepared in advance for them to do." (Eph.2:10) Katie will be serving with us for nine months and Noah for a little less than two months.

Toy Cars and Paper Swords

You would have loved to see it. I went to visit folks at Mahathai today by myself. The main Thai staff that help with mercy ministry are also very busy in our handicraft ministry. So, I'm going to have to go by myself some. Please do pray for other folks to be raised up who will want to visit with me.

So, the normal ritual is just to walk the lap around the community. It's just like walking a block around a neighborhood. But its only a block. I started off by myself, but before long...I had one teenage boy following me. He looked up at me and said, "Pee May (that's my name here), my birthday is on Sunday." So, I promised him I'd come visit. He kept walking with me, to my amazement. As we stopped and visited with people, more young boys started following me. They were each carrying their toy cars, paper swords, and some riding their bicycles. Then when people kept asking, "Did you come here alone?", I could say I did, but now look how many friends I have.

Please pray with me for the males in this community. Buddhism has a strong hold on them in particular. I feel like we lose the guys once they become teenagers. And few men are showing interest in the Gospel. Pray for men to be raised up who are willing to visit and befriend the guys in this community. And until then, pray that God would use me in the lives of the young boys in Mahathai as He started doing tonight.

Testing Me

Thankfully, she didn't use red ink, right? Here's the writing portion of my re-entry test at my language school. As you can tell, I haven't used writing at a "school-level" in a while, so I couldn't remember how to spell everything well. But I did understand everything.

Entering the school today was such a vivid landmark of how God's grown my skills. I could speak to the teachers! I could understand them! Amazing. The teacher placed me in the reading comprehension classes again, which I have taken already but only with a tutor one-on-one. I'm looking forward to more language learning here and review. Please continue praying for my decision-making. I'm making so many important decisions lately.

Funny story: I forgot my sweater at the school so I had to walk back in and get it. I was telling the teacher what I forgot and accidentally used the wrong tone. Instead of saying "shirt", I said "tiger"!! Thankfully, she didn't hear me say "I forgot my tiger". Hehe.

Weather Update

I was often asked in the US what the weather is like here in Thailand. Not looking at the thermometer everyday or watching the Weather Channel, I usually know what the days are like because they are all the same--HOT! Some people say Thailand has three seasons--Rainy, Hot, and Cold. The going joke is just to call the three seasons--Hot, Hotter, and Hottest. Hehe.

Rainy season is upon us right now. Most the time, it just rains in the evenings. And when I say rain, I mean downpour!! Our kitchen has a tin roof, so its rather noisy. Yet the sound is also soothing somehow to return to. Today, it has rained ALL day! It is cooled down a lot, though still too humid to wear a raincoat. Heading to the gym, I told someone I had to practically swim to get there! I had to hold my umbrella sideways to shield the rain while waiting for the bus. Then, on the bus, when I got a seat, I was sitting right under a leak!

Anyway, there's your weather forecast. You should come visit me right now and enjoy this fine weather!

Book Recommendation: A Praying Life

Today as I thought about how God's taken me out of my world again to bring me here, I wondered what he had for me here. It is true that though I come to serve the Lord and impact other people, I'm well aware that I will be the one most impacted. Living outside of all understanding and ability right now, I think this sense of being might be why I'm here. God is growing me to be more like Christ. And one big way of doing that is quitting trying to know what's next, and giving God my whole life and the controls to it.

So this book is all about bringing the idea of prayer back to being a conversation with God. Praying like a child, praying unceasingly, and as I read today, praying through anxiety. Here's a quote I liked, "Instead of trying to be out front, designing your life, you realize you are inside God's drama. As you wait, you begin to see him work, and your life begins to sparkle with wonder." Now that sentence is found at the end of a long chapter about praying in the chaos. Jesus came and lived on earth just like us, and entered complete anxiety to die for us. Now through him, we can have a relationship uninterrupted with God, and pray instead of take the whole world on our own shoulders and be anxious. I'm still working on that....of course.

Funny Stories and a picture....

1. I ate raw crab yesterday for the first time. Crab is the best flavoring with papaya salad. They eat the crab when the dish is all eaten, so I tried it. It was very soft but still crabby!

2. A woman was talking in a phone booth tonight. Right there at her feet was a street dog sleeping. The weird things of Thailand.

3. On the way back from my teammates' house, I rode the motorcycle taxi to the bus. The taxi driver told me all about going to church that morning and asked me where I went. Isn't that great? It's just not normal to have anyone talk about church with me.

4. My roommates were done with English class at the church office last week at the same time as it started the evening downpour. They showed up at the front door looking like this--

Retreat Re-Cap

Thank you so much for your prayers. Highlights--I found a lot of opportunities for joy and laughter! With all the transition of coming back, I am thankful for the times to enjoy one another. My teammates always help me see Jesus more clearly by the grace and love they show to me and each other. I am so thankful I came back in time to go on this retreat because I was able to get such a wide scope of our ministry. All of us were able to have open discussion with wisdom about the future year. Our team represented, but missing a few people. You can see we have the missionaries from the US and their families, Thai staff, as well as Thai Bible College interns that come on the weekends. We had a lot of fun at the pool together as well as sharing two apartments in a condo by the beach!The mornings held two times of discussion together.
Nam Fon, a Thai teammate and I, enjoying fish!
Charin, another Thai teammate, also was excited about the main entree of the meal!
Kieow and Chai relaxing after a long road trip to a meal of "moo-ga-tah" or "grill-your-own-meat".

I'll hope to show you more pictures as my term goes on so you can see the people I spend time with. Please pray that the Lord helps our ministry be fruitful from the time we spent praying and planning together.

Team Retreat

Headed off to a team retreat today through Saturday. It's our Annual Team Pray & Plan Retreat. Please keep us in your prayers as we discuss this past year and make goals for the upcoming year. It will be a good time for the whole team to be together. Pray God gives me endurance for the long days while I am still recovering from jetlag. Thanks!

Can I handle the Spice?

A "curry" with eggplant, cabbage, and greens cooked with pork in a broth of some sort. (Don't ask me, I can't cook!)

Okay, so I might have bragged a bit while in the US about my ability to handle spicy food. What can I say? After having my mouth burn for so long, I adapted or would not have survived. Though I've tried, I could not keep up my abilities in the US, and they have dissipated. (Is that the right word? I'm trying to keep up my English skills while here.)


Last night was the first test. I ordered "Geng Ob" from my next door neighbors' restaurant. This dish is one of my favorites, but I ordered just a little spice blaming it on my need to adjust. Its from the NE side of Thailand where my Thai housemates are from, which has food full of flavor and SPICE! After just the first bite, I knew I'd have to take it slow. Thankfully no housemates were there to be ashamed at my inability. I couldn't finish it, but I will persevere! Tomorrow night, I go to Mahathai's prayer meeting. I'll probably eat dinner at my favorite cook's house. She's the best, but she's also who has taught me to handle spice after my mouth burns for that half hour. Keep up the prayers!

Calling my Teacher

Yesterday, I called my old language school about registration for classes. Who was to pick up the phone but my former teacher?!! I started to use all my best Thai speech for him since he's the one who taught me how to speak! I asked him how he was doing, and he said he was feeling a bit sick. I tried to tell him in Thai that I hope God took away his sickness fast, but instead I said something like I hope he disappears! We both laughed. Then I had the gall to ask if he thought my language had gotten better!
Anyway, I will head over to the school on Monday to be tested and placed in a class. Then I will speak with my team leader about how much time he thinks I can put into language learning. My first class will start September 23. Please pray for my testing time. I want to make good decisions regarding how much time to invest in more language learning and which classes to take.

Noble, Pure, and Lovely

My teammate, who picked me up at the airport, encouraged me to spend some of my first few days in prayer, reflecting on my time in the US and considering how I want to use my time in ministry here. I am so grateful for his wisdom. So today I marched myself over to the nicest Starbucks within 20 minutes (by van), and sat down for some good prayer time.

MTW gave me an excellent "Re-Entry" book for when I went back to the US. Good reflecting questions that I decided to use in the reverse (coming back to Thailand instead of the US). Today, I spent the majority of my time on these verses, Philippians 4:8-9, "Finally brothers, whatever is true, noble, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy--think about such things....And the God of peace will be with you." I made a list under each heading of "true", "noble," "pure," etc. and listed what I am grateful to God for during my time in the US. SO MANY things! In doing that, I was reminded again of God's faithfulness. Please pray my time is protected for prayer over the next few days as I ask the Lord to show me what he taught me while in the US and how he wants to use me now in Thailand.

First Sunday

I was "welcomed home" today at church. I love it when everyone says that. It's nice that they recognize this place as home for me as well. (There are so many homes for me!) Here's a few superlatives:

Best hug: would be from Nong. She just hugged me and started crying. Since I left, she has become a Christian. She said she couldn't believe I was coming back. When I left last year, she's the one that said, "Hurry back soon!"

Best first words: Rhianna, one of my teammates, saw me on the back of a motorcycle on the way to Mahathai kids' bible club. She put down the van window and screamed out at me. :) She said everyone was looking and she made a spectacle of herself. I didn't mind. I was just happy to see her.

Best view: That would have to be a tie. When I stand facing out from the Mahathai community center, I can see the palm trees waving under the blue sky. Then as I rode the bus out to our "Wal-Mart" called Tesco Lotus, I enjoyed the swampy grasslands blowing in the wind.

Most shockingly different: The roads. As I said, the gov't is having to put new pipes in for drainage since that huge flood last October caused horrible pot holes. Add that to the normal dodging of water during rainy season, and I have to think a lot about how to get around. I had to take a bus down a short road last night, since I couldn't wade through the water.

Challenging: Most people say my language is great. Thanks to my friends at the restaurant, I remember a lot. But it's hard to have big gaps in my vocabulary. I feel so silly trying to explain things. Today, at Lotus, I tried to explain my need for a power plug adaptor. It took 5 minutes and I left without one. :)

Hailing from Land O' Thai!

I made it here! Wow, what a trip! I am SO tired, but good. The airplane trip was so much better than the last trip I remember. Thanks for your prayers for my knees. They are healing really well. I didn't have someone beside me on the 14 hour flight so I was able to stretch out!

So far, I've been to our team prayer meeting this morning and then to kids bible club at Mahathai. The streets here are full of potholes since that flooding last October. That's really shocking. I feel like part of me has never left. So much of the same but a lot different too. I will try to put it all in words over the next few days.

As for now, I smile over muddy feet (rainy season), hugs, and reunions!

Leaving in 23 Hours

Leaving on a plane from Charlotte in 23 hours. Spending time with family. Weighing suitcases and packing the last one. Woohoo! Wanted to update everyone!