Already One Week

One week has gone by since I've arrived in Thailand.  To sum it up, it's been an eventful, but fun and satisfying week.  I say that it's uneventful because I haven't done anything ministry wise.  For Pastor JJ and Junya and their Jasper Kids ministry, the months of March and parts of April are their down time.  All the Thai kids have summer vacation right now, until May, so most of the Jasper Kids have gone home to their families.  For me there isn't much to do, and I just started taking Thai language classes today (Monday).   This past week, I've had a lot of time on my hands,  but it was fine because it gave my body some time to adjust and it gave me some time to get over a cold. (I got sick the second day of my stay, kind of sucks, but I guess it's better to get out of the way now, than say a couple months down the road)  

Since coming to Thailand, I've noticed that I've been more disciplined in terms of my daily schedule.  I've been waking up at 6:30 AM every morning, I do my devotions, eat breakfast between 7:30-8, wash up, chill/play with Abby or get in contact with people in the States, eat lunch around 12 or 1, run errands with Pastor JJ,  take a nap around 3 or 4, eat dinner at 6, hang out with Pastor JJ and the family, and wash up at 8, and go to bed by 9PM.  It's been like this, the whole past week, and I know that it sounds boring, but I'm enjoying it and I like having a schedule.  Back home I would go to sleep late, wake up whenever I wanted, and I hated it because I felt I was being unproductive, but now it feels good to wake up early in the morning and do devotions before anything else, to be able to eat three square meals a day (used to only eat lunch and dinner because I didn't wake up in time for breakfast), I feel more productive than before.  This has been my daily routine.

There have been some moments since I've arrived where I felt frustrated that I hadn't hit the ground running, ministry wise, but I understand that God has given me this time, especially the next few months, to learn Thai, internalize my new surroundings, and learn and experience the Thai culture.  Because starting in June I'll be busy helping out with the Jasper Kids ministry.  From June to August I'll be facilitating the short term mission teams  that come,  from September on, hopefully I'll be volunteering at Grace International School and helping out with the Jasper Kids college ministry.  In November - January, Ill help prepare and participate in the Christmas ministries as the Jasper Kids go out to churches and villages up in the mountains.  Before you know it, it will be March, and I return to the States.  I hope and pray that I'll use this down time dilligently to learn the language and culture and also in preparing my heart through prayer and Scripture for all the upcoming opportunities.

Some other observations from the week:

• The food is great here!  I get three home cooked meals by Pastor JJ's mother in law, and it's good every time.
• The weather is mild right now, but it can get hot during the day, like 90 degrees and upwards
• The air quality here in Chiang Mai is pretty bad.  A safe day for air quality rating is somewhere in the 120's, sometime last week it was in the 160's!  (I can't wait to go to Wiang Pao Pao and breathe in the fresh air)
• Everything is so cheap, I got some medicine for less than a $1.50, Dairy Queen ice cream cone was 25 cents, and the electronics store was selling 8gb Kingston Data Traveler usb drives for less than $10.  I can get used to this.
• So far the Thai people I've met have been very nice.
• Played basketball at Grace International School yesterday, and I was impressed by the skill of some of the missionary kids.
• The facilities at Grace International School is pretty nice, they have this giant swimming pool (biggest in Chiang Mai) I'll take pictures the next time I go.
• Had pizza last Friday because Ethan loves pizza and I will say that it tastes the same as in the States.  Only difference is pizza is considered high end food, so if you go to a pizza joint, you better have a date with you, because in Thailand it's known to be a date place.
• Ethan and Abby (Pastor JJ's kids) are adorable.
• My battle against Mosquitos has begun!

I put a band aid over my mosquito bite because it was irritating when I had shoes on.

Some sort of Japanese anti itch band aid, with 호빵 man designs on it

My weapon of choice to battle mosquitos

Sorry I don't have more pics, I'll try to make more of an effort to take my camera with me.  Some prayer requests:

• Pray for continued health
• Consistency in terms of devotions and spending time with the Lord
• Dilligence in learning the language
• Pray for Pastor JJ that God will heal him because he has a bulging disc in his neck which is touching and pinching his nerve and causing pain in his right arm.