Week of Nothing Followed by a Week of Everything

Well, life changes rather quickly. The week before this was completely uneventful and I had nothing to share with no new pictures. Then, two friends came down from Chiangrai and suddenly my life was a whirlwind of motion. The first day they were here we left my apartment around 9:30 and didn't return until 8:30 or 9:30 pm. What were we doing? Shopping. There isn't a lot of shopping for them in Chiangrai, so we hit the stores. The first picture is us in one of the stores just enjoying the view.
















The second day was more touristy (is that a word? haha). We took a boat ride and saw the outside of the Grand Palace. We got there after it had closed, but we also got to see a temple at night, which was beautiful. We just couldn't get enough of the cute little kid who kept falling asleep next to Theresa. The bridge is an architectural wonder. The tall stupas are graves of past kings. There is so much detail in each one of them that you can't even see on these pictures, but they're still beautiful!

Then, while Theresa went to the beach with some other friends. Rachel and I visited some friends of mine in a nearby provice and saw a gorgeous waterfall! There were 5 different levels nad I think we went to 4 of them. The 5th one was the top of the waterfall and we didn't want to go up anymore steps! You can see us all with our umbrellas. Classic Thai style and it actually does keep you a little cooler.


Finally, it is graduation time at KU. On Sunday was one official rehersal. Here's a picture of one of my friends. I will be going to take pictures with students on Wednesday, Thursday, and on Friday. It will be busy, but fun to celebrate with my students and friends on this big day. Graduation is much bigger in Thailand than America. On the rehersal day everyone has to be dressed exactly the same as graduation day and many people hire professional photographers to follow them around and take pictures on the reheresal day as well the actual graduation day. It's quite interesting. They also give bears and flowers rather than money, which is kind of funny to me, but it's Thailand. :D.

Summer in pictures

The easiest way for me to show you what has been going on this summer is through pictures, especially since I have talked about many of these events, but didn't have pictures to put with them. I HAVE THEM NOW!!! :D I will keep the pictures in groups according to the events.

GAME NIGHT!





















This last picture was a lot of fun :D. There is something in Thai culture about a woman with a lot of arms. I have seen this same thing done, but the girl in front was dressed up and had about 20 girls behind her. It looked AMAZING! Here is a small rendition :D









Ayutthaya
























Just another reason to love Thailand. Where else can you see a car like this? Yes, it's a 3-wheel taxi. Also, why not just plop ice cream on a small wooden stick? haha. I love this country!

Nakorn Nayok Adventure Camp!!!!!













The camp was a lot of fun. My team was the gray team and we WON the whole adventure. We had about 80 people (group photo) and played crazy games, sang crazy songs, danced crazy dances, etc.

The purpose of this camp was evangelism, so we showed the movie "Facing the Giants" and discussed it in groups that night. The next morning, they showed part of the Jesus film and part of the Passion of Christ. One student did accept Christ. Please pray for Kat that he will not fall away. Many times students will become a Christian, but if they don't know a lot about it before they accept, they will fall away. Pray that the other guys at church will keep up with him and continue to encourage him.

Pray for the other students who went as well. One girl named Keng says she believes in God, but she has not completely committed to Him yet. One of the older Thai women was very honest with her, but I am not sure what her final decision was. She had come to the same camp last year as well, so she is seeking. There are many other stories of students that I could share with you, but please keep them all in prayer!

Black Hair?

Hello! This has been a nice week. I have been able to rest more because I was able to have a weekend off. The weekend before people from the church and I took some students to Kao Yai and it was a lot of fun, but I didn't get much sleep haha. However, this weekend was nice. I went to a friend's graduation and enjoyed eating Subway. The last time I had a Subway sandwich or anything LIKE a Subway sandwich since January or February.

Tuesday night was encouraging. We had a cell group with some students from the university. We ate good food, played games, took pictures, and talked. Please pray for one girl named Wa. She has been spending a lot of time with us and she is looking for something to fill up her soul, but she doesn't know what that is. She is asking a lot of questions, but she is not sure why she continues to come hang out with us. It is very cool in Thailand to have foreign friends and she is not sure if she's coming to hang out with the foreigners or if she's coming to learn about God. She feels God's love when she is with us and she knows we are different. This is one picture from cell group. Some of the girls wanted to see what I would look like with black hair and what one of my Thai friends would look like with red hair, so we set up a chair and one person sat behind the chair while the person who had the hair colored desired sat on the chair and leaned her head back. The photograper, Arm, arranged the hair so it would look as natural as possible. Mine turned out better simply because the girl's hair was layered, but I think he did a good job on both pictures.

Today was a good day at school. In Listening and Speaking, we have been talking about celebrations, so I tested the students' knowledge on Christmas. Just as I thought, they knew a lot about Santa Claus and a little bit about Jesus. I had a chance to tell them the whole story about Jesus. Please pray as on Friday we will be talking about Easter. I will get to share the whole gospel with them. Pray it will stay in their minds and they ask me about it later.

This weekend will be very interesting. The church is having an evangelization retreat in a nearby province. I will be going along and hanging out with students and helping with whatever they need me to do. Please pray that God will move in these students hearts. There are also some boys who are interested in Christ, but because many things seperate guys and girls in this culture, I don't know many details. However, one boy was asking the Thai pastor questions for about an hour on Tuesday night. He looked serious like he was thinking a lot. I am pretty sure he will be coming this weekend.

It is a big deal for Thai people to become a Christian and it generally takes a while. Most people think about it and watch for a year and a half, two years, or more. Some may argue with the Christians while others will just hang out. Please continually be in prayer. Sometimes it is very difficult to see people who know the truth, but have not decided to follow God for various reasons. It takes a strong conviction and a lot of strength to go against everything you've been taught, your culture, and your family and become a Christian and then to continue walking with God. Your prayers are powerful and much appreciated. May God bless you all.