Summer Rush Pt. 2

So continuing from the last post, the STSM teams have started to come, and beginning two weeks ago, I had the pleasure to serve with Great Harvest Church in Buena Park. I know this will put a smile on the team, but I truly had a blast getting to know this group and serving with this group. I couldn't have asked for a better first team to serve with, now that I'm on the other side of the perspective. Inititally I was both excited and nervous about meeting the team. Excited because I'd be able to talk to people my age and especially have fellowship with guys my age, which I do lack. I was also nervous because I didn't know how I would fit in within the short termers-missionary relationship. Seeing that this was my first time hosting a team, I didn't know what to expect. Luckily, the first day when I met the team, we all clicked, Jeff, Chris, Monica, Lisa, and Jane. I guess it's good to have mutual friends that we can talk about...hahaha... thank you guys for making me feel as if I was part of the team!

Anyways, the team stayed in Thailand for about 11 days, and the time went by real quick. I guess that's what happens when you do ministry and you enjoy doing kingdom work. So GHC had the opportunity to teach at two schools, one in a mountain village and another in the town of Wiang Pa Pao. The team first went to Thung Kha Chi School in the village, there were about 30 kids in all, and it was a joy to see some familiar faces, since I had the chance to teach at that school last summer. Basically the team taught English and split the class into Kindergarten, 1st & 2nd grade, 3rd & 4th, and 5th & 6th. I taught the 5th & 6th with Jane and Pastor Peter (pastor of GHC), and I was impressed with how well the team prepared their lesson plans, so thank you for making it easy for me! After teaching the kids, we played some outdoor games like tug of war, sack race, etc. That was much pretty much the schedule when we taught at the Wiang Pa Pao school as well, just on a slightly larger scale.

After teaching English for a couple days, Pastor Peter had to go back to the States for Sunday worship. I really enjoyed his company and wished he could of stayed longer, but he's got his duties to fulfill, so I'm happy that he enjoyed his time with the Jasper Kids. The weekend following the English teaching, we all went to Mae Chang Khaw village to do a Saturday VBS. I went late because I had to teach English to the Jasper Kids and town kids in the morning, but when I got there, it seemed like the VBS went smoothly. I definitely saw the team enjoying themselves, enjoying the ministry, and enjoying the kids. I guess the only downside was that Chris was sick and Monica had bad allergic reactions to her bug bites, so they had to go back to the town and pay a visit to the doctor's. Even though something like this could have put a downcast on the whole team, the team was pretty upbeat the whole day! Mae Chang Khaw was especially rewarding for me, because I got to come back to a village that thoroughly enjoyed last year, and again bask in God's creation. Seriously visiting the mountains are sooo fun! After spending the night at Mae Chang Khaw, Pastor JJ, Missionary Alex and the family, myself, Lisa, Jane, and Jeff had Sunday worship at the village church. It's always encouraging to see God working in the village tribes of Thailand. After lunch, we came back down to the Jasper Kids home, and I was relieved to find both Chris and Monica in good spirits. I was worried that they might be bummed not to be able to spend the night at the village with their teammates, but it wasn't so, so praise God! The following few days, we all worked on building the sliding doors for the Jasper Kids closets, and I got a kick out of how much GHC team enjoyed doing some construction work. There's something about doing manual labor and working with your hands and building something.

After all the ministry agenda was finished, the team spent their final night at the Jasper Kids, Home, and I can tell how much the Jasper Kids loved having the team at their home and how much the team enjoyed being with the Jasper Kids, definitely a touching moment. It's awesome to see how God can use different people from different parts of the world to encourage one another. Afterwards, the next two days the team spent their time in Chiang Mai doing touristy things, so that they can take in Thai culture. So I tagged along and we went to the elephant camp, Tiger Kingdom (the team got to pet tigers, pretty awesome), Night Bazaar, and most importantly, we ate a lot. We ate soo much in two days that I skipped dinner on the second day. To the team, thank you for the Sizzler dinner! I will always cherish the New York steak! Hahahaha...That pretty much sums up the last three weeks. As of now I'm serving the Baltimore team, and so far it has been fun. I know most of posts lately have been updates on what has been going on, but within the next few days I'll have a post where I'll be more introspective on all that has gone down in the past few weeks. Until then, enjoy some pictures.

Jeff, Monica, Lisa, Jane, and Chris

(photo courtesy of GHC Team)

Thung Kha Chi School

(photo courtesy of GHC Team)

Tug-of-War with the Thung Kha Chi school children

(photo courtesy of GHC Team)

Chris and Lisa's class

(photo courtesy of GHC Team)

Jeff and Monica's Class

(photo courtesy of GHC Team)

Jane, Pastor Peter, and My Class

(photo courtesy of GHC Team)

The school kids running after us.

Local Wiang Pa Pao School

Kids eating lunch...aroy (delicious)!

(photo courtesy of GHC Team)

Teaching the 5th and 6th graders.

Chris trying to even the odds!

(photo courtesy of GHC Team)

Working on the sliding doors.

(photo courtesy of GHC Team)

Last night at the Jasper Kids Home.

(photo courtesy of GHC Team)

Ajan Somsak's pick-up getting stuck on the road on the way to Mae Chang Khaw Village

(photo courtesy of GHC Team)

GHC's picture frame craft! Impressive!

(photo courtesy of GHC Team)

Pastor JJ giving a short message at the VBS.

Chris showing off his guitar skills.

(photo courtesy of GHC Team)

Balloon fight with the toddlers.

(photo courtesy of GHC Team)

Chaos