Chulalongkorn University Work

Nam Jai, Pop, Me and Jah (Freshman at Chulalongkorn Univ.)

Me and Puppap (4th year student at Chula

Fon and me (the other 2 girls we met at the canteen that are interning near Chula but from a different university)

Kwang, Me, Fhonn, and Eye (4th year Chula students)

Me, Pop, Nam Jai, Beta, Mook, and Jah (all freshman at Chula)

Me and Orn (4th year student at Chula)

Me and Jinn (4th year student at Chula)

Dream, Me, and Noi Naa (4th year students at Chula)

Melissa, Me, Kate, and Katy (3 of the American university Texas girls)

Sorry for the boring title.  It has been so long since I wrote that I just decided to give an update of the work from the "American summer months".  This past summer (June-August) we had a team of 4 American university students from Texas come to work with us.  They are always very helpful and I enjoy having them here but when the 8 weeks are finished there is also a sigh of relief. 

It is hard to believe that Chulalongkorn University (the university I now target) only has another 4 weeks and this semester is finished.  Where did the time go?  I remember the first week in June when the semester first started and I was meeting lots of new students and helping the freshman (they call them freshy here) find their way around campus. 

There are too many stories to tell for one post.  I have met a lot of students in the past few months and continue to meet more weekly.   God is doing great things at Chula and has opened many doors.  God is good!! 

What is His plan?

Well I have been back in Thailand serving my 2nd term for almost 2 months now and loving it!  The weird thing is that it feels like a much longer time and hard to believe that I was in America not long ago. 

Maybe the busy schedule is the reason for it feeling like a much longer time.  Immediately upon my return to Thailand I began studying Thai at ULS (Union Language School).  The schedule for studying is 8:00-12:00 Monday-Friday so I am getting 20 hours of formal language study per week.  I understand most things and can usually answer the question in Thai but the vocabulary is overwhelming.  We learn about 30 or so new words per day which averages to about 150 per week.  My poor little brain can't take in that many but I do the best I can do. 

2 weeks ago the Universities here began the new semester.  Different schedule than America.  The semester here goes from June-October.  So now after studying Thai for 4 hours I go to Chulalongkorn University and meet with students.  This past week was amazing!  I had appointments to meet with different students that I know every day and each of them brought 3-5 friends with them so I met about 10 or more new students this week. 

In the evening I still go to the BSC and try to meet students and talk with people I know from before.  It is a long day for me but I always feel so blessed with all of the great Thai people I meet throughout the day. 

Sometimes I wish I knew God's plan for me for the next 3 years but it doesn't work that way.  I know God has great and mighty plans just like the Bible says in Jeremiah 29:11-13.  I am overwhelmed right now with the many doors that God has opened for me and am just asking daily for His leading. 

Just taking it all in

I was considering not writing this blog anymore.  It has been almost 4 months since I posted last and I'm not faithful at writing anyways.  I will give it one more try and see if I do any better in 2012. 

Taking it all in is the perfect title to summarize my life.  I had 3 wonderful months in America (January-April).  I got to travel to several states and see almost all of my family and friends.  I didn't get to go everywhere and see everyone but almost.  I felt like 3 months was the perfect amount of time.  I enjoyed the wonderful weather in America and the great food but most of all just spending quality time with family and friends. 

Now I'm back in Bangkok and happy to be back.  Although the weather is very very very hot!!!  April is the hottest month of the year.  It has been around 100 and above every day.  I go through clothes quickly since I have to wear at least 2 outfits a day. 

I'm now back studying Thai at Union Language school.  I really want to be fluent in Thai so I'm trying to work very hard to get it this time around.  So far it hasn't been too hard because now I have 3 years of experience listening to Thai people speak.  It is a whole different experience then what I had 3 years ago when I first arrived and studied Thai.  3 years ago I was so lost and had no idea what the teacher was saying and spent hours just trying to understand and complete my homework.  Now I understand almost everything the teacher says and it takes me only about 10-20 minutes to do my homework, but I am trying to study 1-2 hours so I will get more of the vocabulary.

There are lots of changes in my ministry since coming back.  I am now only focusing on reaching Chulalongkorn University.  It is the #1 university in Thailand and has about 24,000 + students.  I am really excited to see the doors that God is going to open there. 

Well that is a very brief summary of the many things I'm trying to take all in at this time.  Hopefully more blogs to come in the future!

3 years and a visit to America

It's hard to believe that I have been living in Thailand now for 3 whole years!!  It has become my life and I can't imagine anything different.  Some days I could do without the hot and humid weather but overall I just love it here.

If I took the time to really reflect on what God has done in my life in the past 3 years I would be writing on this blog more often.  I have so much to be thankful for as God has chosen to put so many wonderful opportunities, ministries, and Thai people in my life daily.  When I take some time to reflect and look back I am in awe.  I know I am not worthy and I know I have so much growing I need to do personally in my spiritual life but God chooses to use me anyways.  I am very thankful for that! 

I'm going to list a few of those doors that God has opened for me here in the past 3 years and I'm likely to forget some because He has opened so many.

* Teaching opportunities in the classroom at Sripatum University (SPU)
*Discipling some students who became new believers at Sripatum University
*Summer Team Ministry at SPU (2009,2010)
*Discipling one professor at SPU who became a believer
*Tutoring students at SPU
*Bible storying in English with students at SPU

*Teaching opporunity for freshman and sophomore chemistry students at Rangsit University

*Bible storying with P'Thai (worker) at Chulalongkorn University
*Bible storying with Aom and Pang (work in the chemistry department) at Chulalongkorn University
*Taking the summer team to Chulalongkorn (summer 2011)
*Meeting a student named Ant weekly at Chulalongkorn

*Just recently the Lord opened a door to a new University called Rajamangala Jakaphong Univ.

*Teaching Bible/English every Thursday night at the BSC (started in January of 2011)
*Teaching regular English classes at the BSC Monday nights

*Discipling many new believers using t4t (training 4 trainers)
*Starting new cell groups

**And many more great blessings!  Looking forward to seeing family and friends in America soon.

Baptism December 5, 2011

6 New Believers baptized!!

Fah, Kaew, Nan, Gig, Aom, Fon (left to right)

Nan Baptized

Where to begin??

I have been really bad about updating my blog these days. That is never good because too much time passes and I forget to update you on exciting things that happened or I simply just forget things that really are blog worthy.

 

 

The most recent one I don't think I will be forgetting anytime soon. This past monday december 5th we went to the beach to baptize 6 new believers! That is the 6th Baptism I have been able to be a part of in my 3 years here. I was so excited to see 6 ladies get baptized but the one that was the most special to me was Nan.

 

 

I met Nan about 1 year ago at the BSC. She is a University student. One evening I saw 2 girls sitting at the BSC waiting for class dressed in their university uniforms so I went to talk to them (Nan and Jae). I invited them to join my free Bible English class on Thursday nights and they did and have been faithful to come ever since that day. Both Nan and Jae have shown a lot of interest in the Gospel since they first started studying the Bible. This past summer at camp both of them were seeking but Nan was the one who made the choice to follow Christ in August. She is so faithful to study the Bible weekly and comes to church faithfully. She shared immediately with her mom about her decision and has never waivered. I'm so excited to see what God is going to do in her life and how He is going to use her to reach her own people. Please pray for Nan as even this Friday 16th I will go with her to her campus to tell her friends the real story about Christmas (her idea).

Flood waters Remain

My home is still flood free but so many Thai people are still suffering with flood waters after almost a month. The water appears to be receding in many areas which is a good sign but they are still predicting 2 weeks to a month to get rid of all of it. I have been able to help in a few ways but I wish I knew what to do so that I could do more to help people.

Once the water leaves the clean up process will be a large task so I'm hoping to be able to help many people clean their homes and move back the things that are still salvageable. I feel like that is something that I can do to help people in the recovering process.

Although my home doesn't have any flood water my daily life is affected in many ways by this flood. Here are a list of a few of them

*There is a water and food shortage at all of the stores. It's weird when you walk in a store and half of the shelves are empty and all of the normal things you look for aren't there.

*The Universities still reamain closed and are likely to stay closed until December. This limits my work during the day time. I'm trying to keep busy and make the most of each day.

*I can't go to some of the places that I often go because of the flood waters.

My list has just a few minor ways that the flood is affecting me but really my heart breaks for the people that have lost everything and just want to go home and start over but still have to wait for the water to leave so that can happen.

Please pray for the people in Thailand. I know God has a great plan for everything that happens.

New Beginnings

Despite the flooding problems that continue to be a huge problem in Bangkok there are new things taking place in my life. This past week I moved into a new condo even more into the heart of the city. I now live on the 12th floor of a 28 floor condo building. I can look out my window and balcony and see the skyscrapers lit up all around me. I also have a great view of the sky train (above ground transportation system) coming and going from the station that is about a 3 minute walk from my home.

I have only lived here a few nights and have already fallen in love with it in so many ways. I love that I have a kitchen (fairly small) with a mini oven and an individual burner that I can plug into the wall. I can cook now!!! I can only cook one thing at a time on the burner and the oven is small but I can cook and am so excited about it. The other night I made macaroni and cheese and corn bread (jiffy mix). It was so much fun to cook again. I have to learn how to grocery shop again.

I also love that the place to do laundry is on the 7th floor which is also the location of the pool and the work out center. This is great because you can put a load of laundry in and exercise and come back and put it in the dryer and exercise some more. I desperately need to get into a good exercise routine. I have slacked in that area and need to discipline myself to bring it back.

This week will also bring about new beginnings work related. A new 7 week term will start at the BSC (Baptist Student Center) this week. I will teach 2 classes on Monday nights from 5:00-6:30 p.m. and then 7:00-8:30 p.m. and then will teach the free Bible/English class on Thursday nights at both of those times. I always meet new students every term and then continue building relationships with the ones I already know. My class on Monday nights at 7:00 is already full and I have 23 students. I'm not sure yet about my 5:00 class on Monday.

Another new beginning that I am REALLY EXCITED about will take place this Friday (Nov. 4th). I will start a new cell group/Bible study at my home on Friday nights (6:00-8:00) training some of our new Christian young ladies. P'Pom will help me with this group also. She is my Thai partner in the ministry. We will invite the following girls so please pray for them: Nan, Fon, Aom, Mum, Fah, Kaew, Luktarn. They have all become Christians in the past 3 months. They are already being discipled on Sunday afternoons but this group will give them another way to learn more about God's Word and how to share it with others.

All of these things will start this week as long as the flood waters do not reach this area. I'm thankful that they have not reached me yet but am trying to help others in need who have been affected by the flood. God is in control of everything so all of these new beginnings will start sometime soon (in God's perfect timing) and I'm excited about all of it!!

Flood or No Flood- that is the question?

Will Bangkok flood in the city is the million dollar question these days? A few days ago the word was that the water was receding and that Bangkok was spared. Today the news is that many dams and other safety nets built have failed and the water is coming this way. The outskirts of Bangkok have already been hit and people are leaving their homes.

I went on another food run today just in case because I was already starting to eat the food I bought before so that it didn't go bad. Right now I just wake up every day and check the news, look outside, and carry on with my normal day if I don't see water.

I have a large bin full of water in my bathroom also just in case I need it in the future to take a shower. I have plenty of drinking water stored too.

If the flood will hit my area it should happen within the next day or so and after that it should be clear sailing. Today it didn't rain for the first time in a long time which is good. The rainy season should actually end by the end of this month so we should be on the mend soon.

Please pray for the many areas and people devastated by the flood already.

God's Clear Direction

I'm always searching for what is God's direction for my life. What does HE want me to do and where does HE want me to go? At this time, God seems to be making it clear that it is His will for me to stay in Thailand longer. The reason it is so clearly His direction is watching all of the pieces to the puzzle fall into place. At a time when the IMB is struggling financially to keep people on the field I was given another term to serve. Although the ministry is often changing and I don't really know all of the details of what I will be doing in the next few years I know God will lead me since He so clearly opened the door for me to stay.

Lots of changes are to come with this new term. I will be moving apartments in the next few weeks and will have a roommate. After living alone for 3 years I think I am ready for some company.

If there are any people who still read this blog I will be going back to the U.S. for 3 months from January-April so I do plan to see family and friends before serving this next term. I hope to be able to share many of my photos and experiences with you and to hear about your life as well.

Every day is a journey to see where the Lord will lead me. I just have to keep my eyes focused on Him so I don't miss the plan.

Change of Plans

Things are always changing even little things like when to wash clothes. Tonight I had a great plan to get a step ahead of the game, so that tomorrow on my day off i can just relax. I got home from teaching at the BSC around 9 p.m. and planned to wash about 3 loads of laundry. I got to my apartment and realized I didn't have laundry soap so I planned to go out and buy some at the 7-11 store which is just around the corner. I got all of my laundry organized and together for washing, collected my laundry coins, and then I heard the sound of rain. Rain here is not normal rain. It is usually terrential and you can't go out and stay dry even with an umbrella. It has been raining now for almost 2 hours which means the roads are also flooded so no laundry being done tonight. So much for great plans of getting ahead of the game. Looks like it will be a normal day off tomorrow of doing laundry, cleaning my apartment, and all of those not so fun things.

A Life I never Imagined

The title of this blog means so many things to me. I really am living a life I never would have imagined. Mostly, all better than I could have ever imagined. 5 years ago I didn't even know much about the country of Thailand and now I live here and somewhat speak the language. God's plans are always so much better than our own if only we trust Him and follow those plans.

If I was a faithful blogger (which I'm obviously not) I would be writing about all of the amazing things that are happening all around me on a daily basis. When I take a step back to look at some of those things I see HIS Hands on every one of them and how He orchestrates divine appointments.

Galatians 6:9 "Let us not become weary in doing good for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." This verse has come to life in so many ways recently as I'm seeing new believers come to Christ on a monthly basis and finding seekers all around me.

I thank God for giving me the life that He has for me which truly is A life I never would have imagined!

A Day Off

Today is my first "somewhat" day off since May. I say somewhat because I do have to teach one class tonight at the BSC at 7:00 but I won't leave my home until about 5:30 0r so. A day off usually consists of nothing exciting just staying home all day and catching up on things. I got out of bed around 11:00 today and did 2 loads of laundry. I read my Bible and tried catching up on organizing some things from the summer. I went through all of my papers that I need to make copies of tomorrow and now I am sitting at my computer at 2:25 in the afternoon writing this blog post. I still haven't taken a shower yet and my apartment could use to be a little bit cleaner but that will have to wait.

I honestly am the personality type that thrives on being on the go all the time. I love the excitement of being with Thai people on outings and running around taking care of things. I love being with Thai people! However, when I stop for a few minutes I often realize oops I have some kind of infection/illness, i'm exhausted in all ways, and I have neglected some things that really need to be done. I'm always struggling to find a balance between it all.

Right now there is no rest in sight for the month of August. I have classes every day at the BSC that must be taught to finish up this term. I am putting on my schedule some serious days of rest at the beginning of the month of September before the next term starts. I hope to one day catch you all up on my blog to the great things happening here. Not sure when that will come because this blog is at the bottom of my list of priorities (but it is there).

Until that time comes here are the highlights:
**3 more ladies became believers this past Sunday (August 7, 2011) Aom, Rain, and Luktarn. Aom went to camp with us this summer and she works in the Science department at Chulalongkorn University. Rain and Luktarn are university students that we met at the BSC.

**Tomorrow I will go to Chulalongkorn University and meet Aom to study Bible/English and she is going to bring several co-workers with her. I'm excited to see what doors this may open at Chula for me in the future!

So much to tell

August is already here and the summer team just left. I am exhausted in every way but am so excited about what the Lord did this summer in Bangkok! It was a non-stop summer for me. I worked 10-13 hour days 7 days a week. God always gives me the strength to do it for 2 months straight and as soon as the summer team departs I slow down a little and then realize that I am just plain exhausted.

There are so many things to tell about the summer but here are a few highlights until I have time to write more.

****4 young ladies became believers Sunday afternoon July 31, 2011 at canaan. (nan, nui, mum, and morg)

**Camp (July 15-17) was amazing. We had 23 Thai non-believers go to camp and they all heard the Gospel! (3 of the young ladies that became believers on july 31 went to camp)

**Bible/English classes at the BSC are averaging 10-20 students per night! Almost all of the students who attend are non-believers and are hearing stories about Jesus!

** I have some great new contacts at Chulalongkorn University that could open the door more for me in future ministry there.

**I really was blessed to get to know 8 American University students. I enjoyed spending time with them and watching their lives be changed by the work here in Thailand this summer.

There will be photos to come....

July already????

Where has the time gone??? The summer team arrived (8 American Univeristy students) on June 9th and I have been on the go ever since that day. It has been a real blessing to have 8 students to help in the ministry here even if it is only for 2 months. The main work this summer is at the BSC but we are also going to Sripatum University one day a week and Chulalongkorn University 1 day a week. I'm very busy but it's a good busy so I don't mind.

I will try to update my blog again another day but just wanted anyone who might read this to know that I'm still here :)

Busy is my excuse

Well it has been a while since I last wrote on my blog. There are many reasons for that. one of them is of course that I am busy! But we all really know the truth to that. Everyone has time for things in a day that REALLY matter to them and that is important to them. I honestly don't really know what to write about anymore. There are lots of things happening here (exciting for me) but they aren't always interesting for others to read about.


I am going to try to do better to take time to reflect upon what God is teaching me and write some of it here. More to come soon............

Baptisms in May

Note and Koy baptized at Canaan on May 29, 2011

P'Jum baptized at the beach in Hua Hin on May 17, 2011

Baptisms- Praise the Lord!

This month was a special month. We had 2 baptisms in the same month at different places. The first baptism was on May 17th, which was a Thai holiday, so we went to the beach in Hua Hin. 11 people from Canaan church went in a van and P'Jum was baptized. P'Jum has been a believer for a few years but had never really been discipled and was not an active church attender until recently. She has been coming now to Canaan every week for several months and decided she was ready to be baptized. Praise the Lord for her faithfulness!

The 2nd baptism was May 29 at Canaan Baptist Church. This is the first time they have used the baptism in the kitchen at Canaan in over 10+ years. We worked very hard on Saturday to get everything cleaned and ready for it. It turned out to be a beautiful event. Note and Koy were baptized on that day. Both of them have become believers within this past year. We met both of them at the BSC. Both of these young ladies are being discipled weekly and it's such a blessing to see them grow in their faith.

Let the Crazy Summer Begin!

My third summer in Thailand is approaching and this one is likely to be the busiest yet. 8 American University students will be arriving here next Friday evening. We are all looking forward to their arrival! What makes this summer different than the other 2 is that I will be in charge of them. My supervisor and his family will be going stateside in 3 days so i will be overseeing everything throughout the summer!


We already have a skeletal calendar for the whole summer with lots of fun events planned. Another thing that will be different this summer is that we will mainly be focusing our ministry at the BSC (Baptist Student Center). We will go to Sripatum University only 1 day a week and to Chula university 1 day a week. We will be spending every evening teaching English classes and Bible/English classes at the BSC.


I am already very busy because the 7 week term at the BSC has already started so I am currently teaching 3 English classes (M,T,W) and 1 Bible/English class (Thursday). The summer team students will be taking on some of these responsibilities once they arrive but for now i am busy teaching. I am a teacher by nature so it's not too difficult and I love doing it!


My favorite part is still teaching my Thursday night English/Bible class. I know I have written about it many times on my blog but I still am in awe of how the Lord has used this class to reach people. I first started teaching this class in January with only 2 people attending. That first 7 week term the most I ever had was 5 people on a Thursday night. Then the 2nd term started and the most I had in one night was about 16 and the smallest Thursday night group I had that term was 9. Wow, what a change! I am currently in my 3rd term teaching this class and it is still going very well. 5 of the students that studied the very 1st term are still studying with me on Thursdays. Since I use chronological Bible storying they have gone from Jesus birth all the way to tonight studying about when Jesus ascended into Heaven after being on earth for 40 days after His resurrection.


I know I don't update often on my blog but if you notice even a longer period of time passing by you will know why......the crazy summer has begun!

My Journey to China

This month I got to go on a very special trip. May 1-10 I went to Beijing, China. My mom met me there for a 10 day journey. I have always wanted to walk on the GREAT WALL and I finally got to do it!!!

After living on this side of the world (Asia) for over 2 years I see lots of things differently. Thai people and Chinese people are so very very different! Actually almost everything about the 2 cultures are different. I am going to write down some interesting things that I observed and felt in China.

*The Chinese language sounds like people are always yelling at each other. They speak very loudly.

*Chinese food in China is absolutely NOTHING like Chinese food in America!! If you love Chinese food in America don't assume that you will like Chinese food in China. I really didn't like the food that much.

*China has some amazing ancient history (The Great Wall, The Forbidden City, etc.) I loved seeing everything

*China is very advanced despite what many may think. There are many shopping malls and nice hotels there.

*Chinese toddlers wear pants with a big slit in the back and sometimes wear underwear under that with the same slit. The first child I saw with this on I just figured they were poor and the pants were ripped but NOPE. The pants come that way and it's because the child can just squat and go to the bathroom anywhere at anytime. They are definitely potty trained way earlier than American children. I wanted to get a good photo of this but it didn't happen.

*China was a lot more expensive than I expected. The food was not cheap like Thailand. I am so happy to be back in Bangkok where I can eat delicious food for $1.00-$2.00

*The traffic makes perfect sense and is organized to an extent. There is a special lane for bicycles and they have many bicycles there. I was very surprised that it was much better and safer than Thailand. You still have to be very careful but safer than Thailand.

*The GREAT WALL is the most amazing thing I have ever seen. I used to teach my 2nd graders about it in Virginia so it was extra special to be able to walk on it. I wanted to walk all day but the tour was limited so I had to settle for just 2 hours. This was definitely my favorite part of the trip.

It was a fun journey and extra special because I got to do it with my mom. I think we saw almost everything there is to see in Beijing within 10 days! Making the most of the time given!