Sandwich Man Part 3

He was there today. The Westerner who sells sandwiches beside the skytrain station. I felt it. Today would be the day I would interview him.

Up I went, trying to smile to not make him scared as I approached. (I can be intimidating to some people, you know.) Starting right in on the questions, I asked him what brought him to this profession. He said, "It's something to do." He went on to explain that his Thai girlfriend sells them on the other side of the station. I never got his name, but he did tell me he is Russian. In time, he and his girlfriend hope to find Thai people to take over the two sandwich stands--so sadly, he will not always be the Westerner street vendor.

He did refer to the "evil rivalry" happening between he and the Thai woman still selling sandwiches beside him. I could tell by his face that he was angry about her. She even sells them at the same price! I encouraged him in his endeavors and even bought a tuna and egg sandwich (the less weird of all combinations). He warned me that it was sweetened for a "Thai taste". I have to say it was ok, but I think I'll spend an extra 15 cents and buy a ham and cheese sandwich from 7-11 instead.

Leading in Thai

After our church each week, we have some other sort of fellowship group--women's/men's, concert of prayer, or leadership meeting. This week was Concert of Prayer, and I was in charge of leading the music portion!! **nervous**

What do you tend to do when you are nervous? I tend to speak fast and skip to middles of stories without telling the beginning or end. Then, add another language too it, and wow! I'm just glad the Bible remains the same no matter who reads it. I enjoyed singing the songs, but I do believe I gave little explanation for each song in fear I would speak badly.

Now I just pray for another opportunity later so I can learn from my mistakes. The blessings were singing between two Thai brothers and singing two of my favorite Thai worship songs since I was the one picking!

Sandwich Man Part 2

(This story continues from Thursday's post.)

Getting off the bus on Friday, I remembered to look around for the Westerner who has become a street vendor beside the Skytrain station. I've never seen a Westerner street vendor, so he has gotten me curious. I spot him and see that the Thai sandwich-selling street vendor is still competing next to him. As I walk over there to talk to him, I see there's eight young businesswomen in line waiting to buy sandwiches! I glance to the left and see that the Thai sandwich-saleswoman has no customers. Could this be true? The Westerner has won? He has for today.

Due to the number of customers, I could not talk to him. I will try again on Monday. et I did find out--He can speak in Thai, which could be a good reason for his fame. And his sandwiches were selling for only 13 Baht, which is about 40 cents a sandwich. That's cheaper that a 7-11 (convenience store) 25 Baht ham and cheese sandwich here! I didn't catch the price of the Thai woman's sandwiches. More researching will continue on Monday.

Thai Church Website

Our Thai church has a website now! One of the main motivations to start it was when a church member told us she'd like to have the sermons somehow accessible to her from her home computer. She felt that if she could listen to them at home, the rest of her family who does not yet believe in Jesus would hear about him too! Please pray God uses the website to help reach many more people and helps us share our church with our neighborhood. We celebrate our 4th anniversary of holding worship services next week! Please praise God with us for his faithfulness.

New City Fellowship Church คริสตจักรสามัคคีธรรมเมืองใหม่
http://www.ncfcthailand.org/

Our MTW-Thailand team's website is also listed on the right-hand column with the website of my sending agency as well, Mission to the World.

Sandwich-Selling Competition

As I get off the bus and onto the skytrain everyday, I walk down a sidewalk full of street vendors selling fried bananas, fresh-squeezed oj, fried rice, pork, hairbands, alarm clocks...you name it. They are usually all sold by Thai people, obviously.

BUT for the last two days, a Westerner has been out there with his own table selling sandwiches! It's not abnormal to see some people selling sandwiches, but a Westerner? That was the surprise yesterday. The chuckle came today when a Thai person put up a table right in front and to the right of his ALSO selling sandwiches! When I passed, a customer approached and went to the Thai table to buy from the Thai sandwich-seller! The Westerner appeared to be getting upset, with his hands out, and he was saying, "Come on! Buy from me!"

I am left questioning why the Thai person has started this competition? Why has this Westerner even decided to become a street vendor? I wonder who makes better sandwiches? IF he is there again tomorrow, I'm going to go ask him!

Cooking Thai Food

if you didn't know, I felt embarrassed to go home after last term without any Thai cooking skills. Here's an attempt to learn...
My friend, T, and I. In an attempt to spend time with her and get to know her mom while she was visiting, we made a plan to hang out today. T is a college student at the local university and spends a lot of time with our team, and has even come to church a few times.
Her mom graciously helped me learn to make some Thai food!! She lives down South in a province that borders Malaysia. She earns a living making Thai desserts and selling them out of her home.
The sour, spicy soup is one of my favorite foods! T kept asking me, "How spicy do you want it? Do you like sour?" I said "Really spicy! I LOVE sour!" The soup has shrimp, lemongrass, mushrooms, lime, and lots of other stuff in it that I don't know the names in English.
Taste-testing the noodles and vegetables I am cookin' up!
I invited a couple other friends over to enjoy the food since we had so much! Here's Katie (my housemate) with T and her mom.

Please pray for God to open T and her mom's heart to know Jesus!
Thank you to all of you for praying for me to have more energy while studying Thai. I have had some awesome ministry opportunities this week and the Lord has provided great amounts of energy. Thank you for partnering with me by prayer!

Skyping into Church!

Last night, the Mills family (my teammates) and I skyped with an entire church in Georgia. For 10 minutes of their Sunday morning service, they projected our screen onto the big screen at church and talked with us! We shared about our ministries here and prayed together. It was a lovely opportunity to interact with our ministry partners in the US.

I love to think that God has people from somewhere in the world worshipping him every hour for all of Sunday.

You can find the Mills family's blog on the right, "That Great City."

Powder Party

During our women's fellowship group after church today, they celebrated my birthday! We played a game very similar to "Hot Potato" in the US, but with a bottle of baby powder. Whoever has the bottle when the music stops must open up a folded paper and do whatever it says. Usually it says "Put powder on the person's face on your right" or something like that.
Today, all the papers directed people to:
-put powder on the birthday girl's face
-braid the birthday girl's hair
-close your eyes and put lipstick on the birthday girl

Katie, my housemate, and June, my women's ministry co-coordinator.

Hilarious college gang. I'm almost falling over, so that's why my face looks like a forced smile. It's hard to be the tallest person around.

Lots of friends volunteering to help share my bday cake with me.

I was given a sweet cake with my name written in Thai! They all wrote in a super huge birthday card for me too. I felt so loved.

Cheesy Party

As I mentioned before, there were a lot of birthdays this week at language school! My language school friends decided to have a party last night to celebrate all of our birthdays. Here the three birthday people are before blowing out trick candles!
The party host made cake and we were all supposed to bring snacks. The snack choices all ended up having cheese! Cheese and crackers, cheese dip and corn chips, and Doritos! What a cheesy party! (Thai people don't eat cheese much so that's why everyone wanted to buy some for this special occasion.)
My classmate, Roger, in the middle of the top picture celebrated the birth of his second son around Christmas. Here is baby Jack with me. He's not smiling much, but I was happy to have a chance to hold him!

In the Wilderness

Where are you in your Bible reading this week? I am in Numbers...wandering in the wilderness with Israel. Over the years, my love for this time in Old Testament history has only grown. The people reactions remind me of me and my faith in so many ways each and every chapter as I open to read each morning. The people continue to complain to God,

"Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water!" -Numbers 21:5

It seems like they ask this question every chapter. My devotional book asked me, "What evidence is there that God is teaching them trust and obedience through discipline?" God is helping them to see that he is who they must ask for all their needs in life. He is teaching them. Man, I could write about this for pages. I pray that I will grow in discipline, prayer, obedience, and trust by the time I get done reading and walking through the wilderness with the people of Israel in the book of Numbers.

Golden Triangle

Another problem affecting Thailand now is the drug problem. This week in my "Social Problems" class at Thai language school, I learned the word for addiction and I can now give you any drug's name in Thai. At one time, Thailand was a very well-known place for both drug-producing and trafficking.

The "Golden Triangle" distributed drugs between Thailand, Burma, and Laos. Now nothing but a scenic viewpoint, drug addiction is still a problem in Thailand, especially with teenagers. I'm thankful to know more about the problem from a Thai perspective since it affects many families I know.

Birthday!

Five birthdays at language school this week. Two teachers and three students. We cooked two cakes and had a party!
Cheesing with a former teacher of mine. She's a good friend now.
Here's the bday cake I made and the sign made for me!

Red Hots, Sweethearts, and Airheads

Thanks to a sweet package I got just in time for Valentine's yesterday, I went to Mahathai bearing gifts! I was like the Santa Claus of Valentine's. Does that make me St. Valentine?? My friend I disciple on Mondays wasn't there, so I had the opportunity instead to walk around the neighborhood passing around candy and wishing everyone, "Sook Son Won Valentine!"

The kids were hilarious with the Red Hots. Some of the younger kids had their tongues sticking out panting because they said they were spicy! The airheads and hearts with messages written on them were big hits too.

Praise God for good time with S's grandmother too, since S wasn't home. I read Psalm 23 to her, prayed for her, and tried to encourage her about God's character as she's struggling with sickness. Praise God I understood her well and we grew in our friendship. May God open up her heart to know Jesus!

Me or Disney World?

My friend's sweetest Facebook status quoting a conversation she had with her daughter recently.

"Mommy, when are we going to Disney World?"
"I have no idea, Anna. Maybe when you're 7 years old."
"MOMMY!!! We can't go then!! That is when Melanie comes home!!!"

(That's a nice Valentine's present to wake up to.)
Happy Valentine's Day, everybody!

Church Family

I really need to reiterate how thankful I am that our church has grown. We have a church family now. Today, after church, Sunday School, lunch, and a Sunday School teacher training meeting, a bunch of us went to a coffeeshop. We all just sat and hung out for two hours! W. turned to me and said, "I feel like life is perfect right now." I had to agree. We shared about how remembering God's love for us throughout the week can be hard. Yet when we are surrounded by this community, it feels good. W. works hard in our handicraft ministry (website found on the right column) and I had been studying at language school all week. We shared Bible verses with each other and encouraged each other.

God has grown his church here and made it a family. About 15 people sat around laughing together this afternoon at that coffeeshop. We had a woman from Mahathai, some college students, and some folks from a nearby apartment complex. All walks of life and not even all believers yet. God is making his church in this neighborhood. I LOVE being part of it.

Corruption

In language school this week, we studied a story on corruption in Thailand. I can't share too much about the subject, but I sure learned a lot. In one small way, we talked about how there is collusion among vegetable oil producers and others in high positions. (My dad says that's the word used in the US when the oil companies come together to discuss how to get the prices to increase). Vegetable oil is an essential for Thailand, particularly for cooking--and many street vendors make their money through cooking. The producers hold back their product to make the price inflate. This type of corruption has really hurt the population, particularly those not affected by wage increases since they have their own small businesses.

My homework Friday was to ask some questions to someone about this issue. I had a good conversation about it with my friend across the street who sells stir-fry. Since she is a Christian, I asked her what she feels like the Lord is calling her to do in reaction to the corruption she sees around her. My friend said we must pray, we must hope for the quick returning of Jesus Christ, and we must share our Hope with other people who don't know. I am thankful for her witness.

You Know it's Hot When...

...you can't open brand-new envelopes because they've been sealed shut by the heat!

Sweet Father and Daughter

Sitting on the bus the other day, I am drifting between being awake and asleep on the evening ride home. I look around to see most of the other people on the bus doing the same thing.

At the front of the bus, sitting on the bench nearest to the front window are a father and his daughter. The father looks so tired from a long day at work. His head is bobbing up and down while he drifts off to sleep. His daughter, about four years old, sits in front of him staring out the window. At one stop, I see her turn around to check on her dad. She puts her arms around him, while his head bobs to lay on her head. It seemed like they had a sweet relationship. He was a loving dad. When they finally came into the neighborhood where the last stop is, she tapped his knee to wake him up. Everyone woke up, got out, and walked home.

Laughing Garbage Man

Not able to beat my favorite neighborhood singing policeman, this guy comes in a close second for funniest person in Bangkok. My friend and I decided to take a walk through downtown instead of taking the monorail system as we usually do getting home from language school. We needed exercise. It was great also to pass by all of Bangkok.

I was laughing at something my friend said as we passed a garbage collecting truck. (You know my laugh is far from quiet.) Right after I laughed, I heard a guy's voice laughing behind me...and it sounded like he was mocking me! He was mocking my laugh! I reciprocated with an even louder laugh at his hilarious attempt to mimic my laugh. I love how Thai people value silliness, smiles, and laughter.

Six Stars!

Yes, I'm a goofball, a "goody-goody", and a teacher. I still like stars on my papers. And thankfully my Thai language teacher gives stars. We have a dictation part of our lesson each day where we get checked on spelling. I'm actually quite a neurotic speller in the US, yet while learning the Thai language, my spelling has not been so swell. So, today is a day to celebrate! I got six out of six stars on my Thai dictation! First time!!

Iron Stomach Myth

As Apostle Paul said, we should only boast in Jesus Christ, who He is, and what He's done for us. Yet I did boast after last term about my "iron stomach." I got sick only once in a two year term because of food. Since coming back, I have had my share of sickness from food. You will hear no more boasting about an iron stomach. It's good to remember that I am weak and only He is strong.

The Superbowl is Today?

I must confess that I didn't know until the day before. I kept seeing flashing words about it on Yahoo and thought to myself, "was that last week?" That is life as a missionary in a country where she doesn't watch the news too often and doesn't keep up with sports well anyway. Thanks to my friend who was updating his facebook status every minute since he was at the game in Dallas, did I know the game was yesterday. I then got excited that something that huge was happening in the US at 6am Thailand time. I actually had a group of friends from language school skipping school to have a Superbowl party at 6am! I did try to bring up the subject of the Superbowl with fellow students at school. My first attempt was with a Thai teacher, a guy from Ireland, and a lady from Switzerland. They laughed and I'm sure they thought to themselves, "You silly American."

And he spoke with him.

After 24 oxen, 60 rams, 60 goats, and 60 lambs, and many other dedication offerings were sacrificed, the Tent of Meeting was completely dedicated by the Israelites. Then "Moses entered the Tent of Meeting to speak with the Lord, he heard the voice speaking to him from between the two cherubim above the atonement cover on the ark of the Testimony. And he spoke with him." (Number 7:89)

WOW! That verse leaves me in awe. It took all of that for the Holy God to live among his people, Israel. And now, we can "approach the throne of grace with confidence" through Jesus! God lives IN us now. (Hebrews 4:16)

After language school today, I hope to disciple S. about how sin came into the world and how our relationship with God was broken in the Garden of Eden. I pray she can understand that well. Thanks for praying. (Genesis 3)

Alleviating Ailments

Sour mango! This is not an unripe mango, but a whole 'nother kind found here in Thailand. Yes, the kind that makes your mouth pucker up worse that SweetTarts. Surprisingly the fruit can cure numerous ailments including car sickness, dizziness, and even the "translating headache". Add a little spicy fishy paste to dip it in and my headache was gone by the time the mango was eaten.

Just one more thing I have learned from my amazing Thai housemates.

Elephant Art

I invested in some inexpensive and rather interesting artwork recently. Drawn by elephants themselves, this artwork shows both their ability to draw concretely and abstractly. It's taken five months here to get much on my walls, but now they are happily decorated!

(You will also see my SE Asia map and Asheville pictures too. I do love maps and I do love my Asheville.)

Cat's Bananas?

Borrowed this pic from Carolyn, a fellow teammate here for four more months. I love how new folks help me appreciate Thailand from their eyes. The neighborhood market is full of cats and dogs. I don't hardly see them anymore. When a friend was visiting last month, we ate at the market. He looked startled as a dog walked by while we were eating and I realized I should explain. :)

First day of language school went great. I got there early and sat down at a picnic table in front of the school to eat breakfast. I had a cat try to steal my ham and cheese sandwich from me. She was so cute, she almost talked me into giving her the whole thing instead of small tidbits.

New Songs for New Adventures

Long as we tread this desert land,
New mercies shall new songs demand.

-quote out of 2/2 devotional,
Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon


I look forward to NEW mercies and singing NEW songs as I start language school up again tomorrow morning. I wake up early at 5am. iPod is all charged up with those NEW songs to sing! Thanks for your prayers for energy and joy!

Just adding all the silly pictures taken of me lately. I thought you'd enjoy the NEW JOY God gives me each day to serve Him!

You Know You've Been in Thailand a While When...

....even the fishhead starts looking delicious.