So Far So Thai

From Ruth Anne

If ministry here is unpredictable at best, this trip has started out to prove that to be exceptionally true.  Beginning even before we left, we were informed that the plans for English Camp, laid out last October, had changed due to the schedules at the school where it was to be held.  Nothing Suradet could do about it.  We just weren't going to be able to do the camp within the two weeks we're here. 

Then, in the car on the way in from the airport, Suradet told us that the school had planned an outing to Chiang Mai Zoo as an end of year reward for the students.  Our scheduled trip there, and the funds that we had raised for that trip, needed to be redirected.  Okay then. 

If my times in Thailand have taught me anything, it's how to unplan the plans.  English Camp will be all ready for next year.  And we're talking about taking the kids instead to Chiang Mai Night Safari, another outing they have never been on and would not be able to afford otherwise.  No date set as yet, but we'll keep you posted.

Sunday was the highlight day for me so far.  With considerable help from some of the girls and also Yupa, I was able to preach my second sermon in Thai.  This is an act of grace on the part of my listeners, who assure me they've understood, but are mostly certainly demonstrating great patience and love in listening to my stumbling efforts to communicate.  More importantly, I love Sundays at Hot Springs because of the sweet people that call this their church family, and who have remarkably adopted me into it with them.  It was a delight to my Thai-parched soul to embrace and welcome and fawn over the little ladies, and to be ever so formal and yet ever so excited to say hello to some fine and strong gentlemen whom I have also missed.

Megan was all composed and relaxed giving a short 'testimony' about waiting on God's timing, handling the translation component like a pro.  Later she was able to minister to one of our older girls in that beautiful big-sister kind of way that is only possible because she's been here before to make that kind of friendship possible. 

While the mornings begin cool and fresh, around 23C the days are cooking up to about 36C, making us ever so grateful for the AC at the guest house and the chance every day so far to escape the heat and take the last edges off the jet lag in the afternoons.

For me, coming back after my 3 month day, this feels like home-away-from-home more than ever before.  I continue to be amazed by, impressed with and totally crazy about both Suradet and Yupa, and the deeply honest work they do.  If ever there was a reflection of Isaiah 58 in action, this is it.

From Megan.

Well, I've certainly missed this place. I'd already known it, but as soon as that first little face peeked around the corner at the airport, it hit me like a ton of bricks. How happy I was to be back. How much I'd been craving to be back.

This is my fourth time going over the course of six years, so I've been able to watch these kids grow up. In fact, most of the ones who were "youngins" my first time around are all now University students, and I'm meeting new little faces.

Some highlights of the trip so far:

- I tried one of their hotter peppers! Try everything once is what I *attempt* to make my motto while here (but I will admit, I draw the line on a few things - living things, for one, and quite a few types of seafood). But let me tell you, that pepper was HOT. There may have been a couple involuntary tears shed, but the actual taste was good. Suradet was both impressed and concerned for my lack of white person common sense.

- The impromptu Thai/English lessons that occur. I've spent several lovely, fresh mornings with some of the girls, teaching them English for fun girly words while they teach me the Thai form (hey, you never know when you'll need to say braid, hair, nail polish, colours, etc).

- Singing karaoke with Miki. Now in University, it's much rarer to see her, and the other University students. But she and Thim came yesterday, and I got to spend some time with my closest Thai friends. Miki LOVES to sing, and while I mostly hide in groups on the rare occasion I do sing in public, I quite enjoy it too. So we sat on that front porch in the heat of the day, and sang for all we were worth to a couple of her favourite bands - One Direction and Justin Bieber.

- Spending time with Thim. This being my fourth time around, (and thanks to Facebook and the fact that Thim is studying to be an English teacher), we've developed a nice relationship, and communication is fairly easy. On Sunday she was going through some heartache, and I was so pleased that the two of us could just sit down and talk it out, like I would with any of my friends back home. The amount of trust that we've built over the last few years warms my heart.

- The morning sunrise. I'll never get over it. Every morning, seeing the hazy orange sun break over the mountains just takes my breath away. Be prepared for multiple pictures when I get home.

All in all, though our plans have now become God's plans and no longer our own (as they should have been from the start, I suppose), I'm excited to see where these last two weeks will go!