sawadee ka.

once again, i must say that i am sorry that it has taken me so long to give you an update on my life in thailand. well we got here on february 4, i think. and the first few days here, we just rested and learned a little bit about the culture, ya know the what to do and what not to dos. things here are very different from anywhere we've been and its quite interesting here. but i like it for the most part. they call thailand the 'land of smiles.' that's because thais smile at literally everything, when they are happy, when they are sad, when they are mad, its just what they do. the culture is all about 'saving face' so you never do anything to make yourself or someone else look bad, ever.

the second day we were here we went to visit a school. they had arranged for us to go and meet the director of the school and he would decide if he wanted us to come and teach english the next week. we got there and met him for only like five minutes then they decided that we would come back everyday the next week and then if we did good then we would come back the following week. then immediately they sent us off to a classroom and gave us an hour to teach. well, we weren't exactly prepared, at all, for anything. we all just kind of stood in the front of the class and after we introduced ourselves, we didn't know what to do. luckily we had Jesse with us and he took over. let's say that was just the beginning. on saturday the third day we were here, we had to teach an all day english camp at the church. none of us had ever taught english before. and despite what you may think, my degree in liberal studies did not prepare me for that. it was a good thing that rob and cy helped us prepare the night before, because we didn't plan that well. although the next morning when we got there only 3 kids had come. but we had run out of things to do by lunch time, it was a good thing the pastor said that we could end the camp at that time because i don't know what else we would have done. that sunday we had church in the morning, where steven preached and then we were done for the day. we went downtown and found a wonderful coffee place and just walked around. monday was our free day. we rode elephants, which is super touristy and not as great as it sounds, at least not where we went. it was kind of sad to see them all tied up and i don't know how well they are actually taken care of. but we did meet another pastor and he invited us to go see the church they were building and we got to prayer over the church being built. so that was really cool. then later we went to this tribal place where there are people from five different tribes all living in one place and you go and see the different people. it was really weird, and i didn't like it. i don't know if any of us really wanted to go but the pastor took us and he thought that's what we wanted so we just went in anyway. it was so forced it seemed like they didn't want to be there at all, and i probably wouldn't either. needless to say, we didn't want to be "tourists" anymore.

on tuesday, the real work started. we went to the high school at 7:30 prepared to teach english to four classes that day. when we got there, the plans had already changed. the eight of us had to split off into pairs to teach classes seperately, we had planned to teach altogether and had a big lesson all planned...oh well. so scott and i went to our first class and it was alright, the second class was worse because the teacher just left us alone and the kids barely knew any english so we couldn't communicate. wallace joined us for the third and fourth classes which went pretty well. all in all it was a very interesting day. then we went back to the ywam base for the afternoon. at 6:00 we headed over to the smoothie shop ministry that we are helping with. Jesse and his wife Uab, have a smoothie shop and a ministry for the local university students. that night we went on a prayer walk around the university. it was a lot longer than we were expecting, it took almost a half hour just to walk to the university, almost another hour walking around it, and then another thirty minutes back to the shop. i was exhausted after such a long day. the next day we went back to the school and they told us after that day they didn't need us to come back because all the students really needed to study for their exams, which was alright with us because we don't really know what we're doing. that night at the smoothie shop we went to the local market and did evangelism and handed out flyers for their valentine's day party. we did the same thing on thursday night. we did dramas and dances in the marketplace. then friday night we had a really fun free party at the smoothie shop. we sang and danced and did drama and shared testimonies. it was great.

we had another english camp last saturday. it was better, but still only five people showed up. but we had a way better plan this time and the students really liked it. and we had fun too. yesterday was church again, scott and susanne preached. then the boys, or wallace rather, taught some soccer skills in the afternoon. today we went to a couple different temples. one was the white temple, it was rather extravagent, you should look it up. and it was really sad. it seems so empty and hollow and i don't understand it. that is something that is so sad here, the religion is so empty and it makes me sad for the people here.

it is so hot here. aahhh. and its the 'cold' season. let's just say i would hate to be here during the hot season. yuck. at least it cools off at night and in the morning. this week we get to go to the university everyday and eat lunch with the students and then play sports there in the afternoons. that should be fun. we've met some really great people here. some from here (thailand), some from the us, and some from australia. and we've had a lot of fun with them. although being here has been a bit hard for me, and i think for most of my team. it's reaching the end of outreach. and i know that none of us want to leave outreach on a weird note. so if you could keep us in your prayers that would be appreciated. i should get going to bed now.

peace.love.grace.

jetlagged....

so after almost 24 hours of traveling, 3 flights, 3 airplane meals, 4 movies, and only about 45 minutes of sleep we arrived in thailand! we are in Chiang Rai and i don't know the name of the city. susanne and i are staying with a lovely couple from the ywam base here, they actually used to be in the pichilemu base a few years back. and the boys have their own house. we've really only been here for a few hours but we've already eaten delicious fried rice and fried bananas and i've already rode on the back of a motorbike. i am really excited to be here and am really looking forward to everything here. it's so pretty and tropical. and hot, a big change from england. the day before we left england there was about 6 inches of snow. well that is all for now.
love.

next stop...thailand!

well. we've been in watford since last sunday. and it's been really great. we are at a church called soul survivor, and its a lot bigger than the other churches we've been at so far and its kind of nice to be in a bigger church and not really be in the spotlight all the time. the woman who is coordinating our whole stay used to live in pichilemu, chile for a couple years and she also did her dts there too. so it's been nice to have someone else who knows what it was like on the base and to know how it is to be on outreach for this long and she just has a little better idea of what we might want or need. plus, she's just great, so sweet, and we all love her. 

some of the things we've done this week are: 

-monday was our free day, but we had dinner at a fellow YWAMer's house and got to meet a few people from the church

-tuesday we met various people in the church and had coffee and just got to talk with them. met the pastor for evangelism and talked with her. a few of us (including me) went to an after school art club which is run by a teacher who goes to soul survivor. and the rest of the team went to a prayer and intercession meeting downtown. then at night we went to different youth cell groups.

-wednesday some of the team helped with the moms and todlers group. and me and the rest of the team went to a help out in a religious education class (for the same teacher as the day before) and we helped the kids make up dramas about moses, it was really fun. then in the afternoon we did practical work around the church. at night we went to different cell groups again. the group i went to does a kind of pub ministry where they live, it was really cool and interesting. 

-thursday we had a free morning. then we helped clean up at a local community center and it was freezing outside. then we all went together to another cell group that night. and it was such a welcoming atmosphere, i almost felt like i was at a family member's house. and we did a drama for them. and they prayed over us and that was awesome.

-friday we had lunch with the four focus students, who are like student interns. it was nice to meet some other young people who are doing something a little similar to what we are doing, in that they are giving up a year of their time to work at this church. then we did 'energize cafe' which is for families with young children to come and just hang out together and play and do crafts and just socialize. at night we went to an event called 'youth across watford' where different churches youth come together for a night and do worship etc. we did a drama there and that was really good. 

-saturday the girls, so susanne, tina, and i, went to 'coffee and croissants' which is just for women and just a time to have fellowship and there was a teaching on women in leadership which was interesting and good. then the whole team went to whots (watford healing on the streets). this is something they do every saturday. basically they go to the town center and just set up a banner that says healing and they hand out leaflets and basically just pray for healing to anyone who wants it. i thought it was really cool, but it was SO COLD and we were outside for about 2 1/2 hours. then we had free time and got to hang out and watch a movie together and eat fish and chips. then had a little get together with some of the people we'd met throughout the week and played guitar hero world tour of course. 

-sunday we helped with all the kids at the morning service. then went to lunch at someones house and hung out for the afternoon. then went to the 5 pm service, and they prayed over us. then we all just hung out with different people we met throughout the week and ate. then it snowed and so we played in the snow for a bit. and we got invited to a little superbowl party, which i never would've thought would happen in england. but there are 3 or 4 young interns from california and arizona, so they were super into it. and we went for al little while but then we had to go because the game didn't start here til 11:30 pm.  

overall this has been a great week. we have met so many cool people here and have gotten to develop some relationships. especially with the interns, who are the same age as us. i think one of the things thats been so great for us about this church is that there are people that are the same age as us here, and there wasn't really at the other churches. it would nice if we could stay here a few more days, oh well. tomorrow is our last day here then its off to thailand. which is exciting, but i really have no idea what to expect. and i don't know how much internet access i will have where we will be so i don't know how often i will be able to give updates. and i could probably write a lot more but its late here and i need to get to sleep. but please keep us in your prayers. i think that spiritual warfare will be intense in thailand so prayer for that would be appreciated and also i think that we need prayer for our transition to a new place, and for team unity, for energy and rest also. it's been a long but great 6ish weeks so far, and we are about to leave for our last leg of the trip. its exciting and weird that its already here. well i love you and thank you.

love.