Summer Introspective

Sorry guys that I haven't posted in a while, it's been hectic the past two weeks, I feel like I've been running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Before I go into how great the summer has been, I'll get you up to speed as to what's been happening the past couple weeks. These past two weeks I've been volunteering at Grace International School (GIS), which is the school that Pastor JJ's son, Ethan, attends. It's also a school that focuses on missionary kids.

Two weeks ago, I had to attend new staff orientation meetings at Grace for the whole week. That preoccupied all my time, but it was good to learn the origins of the school, the vision, as well as get to meet my fellow new staff members. The latter half of the week, GIS, held all staff retreat at a golf resort in Chiang Mai and I really got to hang out and meet with all the different teachers and Thai national staff. I'll just add that I definitely put on some weight at the retreat, oh how I've missed American breakfast!

Last week was the first week of school and I've been helping out with the ESL Department, trying to plan for this year. Everything is very new to me, so there are times when I feel like I don't know what I'm doing, but it hasn't been overwhelming. As a volunteer I can't do too much, because I'm only volunteering until Oct, but hopefully I can be helpful and effective in the short time that I'm here. More or less it's been a good learning experience to see how the school functions, and it's really cool to see 3rd graders reading the Bible as part of their curriculum.

Now to switch gears, (hopefully now that everything is settling down, I can be up to date on my blog within the next couple posts) now that I've had about a full month since the last summer mission team has come and gone, I've been spending some time reflecting on all that has gone on in June and July. Simply put, it has been both familiar and different at the same time, and all the while eye opening. Familiar in the sense that the many different ministries that the teams did were things that I had done before when I went on summer mission trips like VBS, and teaching English. Even with the familiarity of working with summer mission teams it was also very different in that instead of being received by the missionary, I was the one helping to host teams and being invested in each team member. I think that's where God opened my eyes to a lot of things.

One of the things that I came away with hosting teams this summer was a deep seeded respect for both Pastor JJ, Junya, and the whole Jasper Kids Foundation. It's not easy to host 4 summer teams back to back to back to back in a two month period. All the planning, all the traveling, making sure the teams have everything it needs, and the time and energy expended working with the teams can take a toll especially when its non stop. I can attest to that after working myself to the bone and getting sick after 3 out of 4 teams departed. To watch Pastor JJ,Junya, Ajan Somsak, and Ajan Arunee tirelessly planting seeds for God's glory alongside teams, its hard not to be encouraged. It's been awesome to work alongside these older brothers and sisters as they show a genuine love for Christ and a servant attitude through it all. Looking through the perspective of a host, I've been encouraged how God has worked and spoke to the hearts of the STSMers.

I think having been an STSMer myself, there is a sense of "I want to see how God is working in other parts of the world," or "why did God send me out on missions," or "how is God going to use me out here," and the focus tends to be inward, which isn't a bad thing since I see short term summer missions as a tool to see how one fits in God's grand scheme that is missions as much as it is to serve God overseas. The same applies for me this year, as I try to inquire of the Lord a vision and path for my life, but in regards with the STSM teams, I've had the privilege to really focus on serving and seeing paradigm shifts in the way people think about God and missions, as well as seeing the various needs in this country.

One of those things that have been a tremendous blessing that I've been able to witness is the life changing aspect of missions. There were several people who I encountered, who had flipped 180 degrees on their views about missions, and God's heart for the lost, and when you see the power and glory of God changing these lives, you can't help but praise him. One such case was my friend Daniel Park (I know if he reads this, he's gonna be in a fit for even using him as an example) but I was blown away at his transformation. I've known him since elementary school, and he's one of my closest friends, and growing up I could never imagine him going overseas on missions. Even in the beginning of the mission trip to say that he was spiritually prepared would have been a stretch, but man, God just used him out here. Even in the midst of a family tragedy, while serving here, Daniel did not even "bat an eye" about going home, he continued to press on to serve God. Over the course of two weeks, whatever discomforts came his way, obstacles, or what not, he pressed forward for the Gospel. In the end, what once was a small view of missions, expanded, and he was so amped about missions that he talked about wanting to come back or at the very least get a missions program started at his church. This is what I witnessed constantly, over the past two months, God changing people's hearts.

Working with the different teams, and constantly going out and doing ministry in different villages, I definitely got to see where the needs are. There is so much potential in using English as a tool to further God's kingdom here in Thailand. There are so many children and teens, and college students, who desire to learn English and I can see what an awesome tool it can be to spread the Gospel, and it really made me appreciate that I know English, and its a gift from God that I have that privilege. Aside from the needs, as I have the chance to re-visit the places we minister to, it's also wonderful to see the plants that have been sown by the teams. I think all the times I've been on short term missions, one the things I was always curious about is, whether or not whatever I did on the mission field made a difference, and now that I am here for a year, I can say that it does. Especially from the children, they remember the VBS and the English lessons and the time teams spent with them. Already those seeds are planted, and God willing those same kids will come to know Christ. It has been encouraging to see that even the short amount of time that a short term mission team comes, it does have an impact in building God's kingdom!

Before this post becomes super long, I'll just conclude with this. The summer has been fun, I've experienced and learned a lot, and from all the different people I've encountered this summer, we all have a common bond, and that is Christ, and it is because of Him, we do what we do. We hope that the nations will come to know God as it says in Psalm 67: 1-3:

“May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!”

The Summer Winding Down

The summer is starting to wind down, and I guess things are going back to normal, or how it was before the summer started. The Jasper Kids, finished hosting New Life Fellowship Church (NLF) of Houston last week, and like the other teams before it, I had a blast serving with them. Overall it was the most relaxing team to work with, because I didn't have to do much, so definitely a nice way to end hosting all the mission teams.

The big reason that working with this team was a lot easier was because they only stayed at the Jasper Kids home for only 6 days. The second week, they spent time doing ministry in Chiang Mai, so for the Jasper Kids staff, we were only responsible for one week. Regardless of how long NLF stayed with the Jasper Kids, it was a lot of fun working with them, especially since the ministry they had planned was different from what I was used to.

While in Wiang Pa Pao, NLF team planned to teach English at the local high school, which up until this point, with the previous teams had taught at elementary schools. Not knowing what to expect, I was curious how it would all pan out. In the back of my mind, I was thinking the high school kids would be a handful because back in the States, that's how it usually is. I remember when I was in high school and we had substitute teachers, we would try to make it difficult for the sub. To my suprise it was the direct opposite, the students seemed very excited to have the team teach English. Before the team split up to teach the different classes, I got paired with Michael and Matthew, both are college students and both were very chill guys.

As far as teaching went, it was easier teaching at the high school than at the elementary school because the students understood a lot better, and secondly, they were more responsive than the elementary school students. It also helped that the team pretty much had a well organized lesson plan for each day that we taught, and it was really awesome to see the team utilizing Bible verses to teach grammar. Aside from teaching, the whole teaching experience was surreal because of a number of things.

One of those things was the response we received from the students towards our teaching group. Literally, when we said Sawadee khrap (hello) to the students when we passed them in the halls or when we're teaching in the classroom, the students both girls and boys (I will elaborate on the boys a little bit later) would giggle sheepishly like from a movie or something. It was as if we were some sort of Korean TV or music personality and the students were getting all giddy over it. It was definitely surreal to be in that position and awkward at the same time. I guess an example would best describe what I'm talking about.

On the last day, as Matthew, Michael, and I were finishing up the lesson plan, saying our goodbyes, and handing out notebooks as gifts, we were bum rushed by the students to sign their notebooks and write down our email addresses. If that wasn't enough, we were taking pictures individually with the students as they were busting out their camera phones. Especially the girls were having a good time with it because after taking a picture they'd "eeek" with glee. Never would have thought that I would have to do that after teaching. Worst part about it all was when the gay students came up to take pictures with us. I politely obliged to their requests, but it was definitely awkward. On that note, it was eye opening to see how many effiminate guys attended the high school. There was a whole bunch, and to put into perspective, each class that Matt, Mike, and I taught had at least one or two effiminate guys. I mean, I know it's prevalent and the norm in Thailand, but I guess I didn't think there would be so many in a small town like Wiang Pa Pao. Definitely eye opening.

In whole, I enjoyed spending time at the high school, teaching and getting to know the students. It was also nice to talk to some of the Jasper Kids in their school setting and having lunch with them in the cafeteria. Let me tell you, Thai school food is way better than in the States. All the prices for food is regulated to 15 baht (33 baht = $1) and they have like 10 different dishes to choose from, and it tastes awesome!!!! Oh, and it felt good to play some basketball during the lunch break with some of the 10th grade boys, really reminded me when I used to play basketball during lunch in middle school and high school.

After teaching for three days, we went to Huay Ngu for the team's weekend VBS. The ride there was pretty long, I think it took 2.5 hrs, but time went by quickly since some of the Jasper Kids went too. Our trip to Huay Ngu was a first for any mission team, so it was exciting to get to see a new village, and also see the home of Israphon, Wanatsuda, Asawin, and Auto. As far as the ministry plan, the team prepared skits, bodyworship, praise and crafts, which reminded me of my time in Uganda (all those skits and bodyworships that I had to memorize), so it was very routine, and everything went well throughout Saturday. After the VBS was finished we were infor a little treat, as we got to go to a close by geyser and hotspring. To my dissappointment and some of the team members as well, the geyser we were so stoked about was artificially manufactured via pipelines, but we still had fun playing in the nearby stream. Unfortunately I got sick from playing in the stream, but it was fun nonetheless.

The very same evening on Saturday, we had evening worship and everything went fine, except for one thing. As I was sitting inside the church for the service to start, I felt something on my neck, and as soon as I put my hand over my neck to see what it was, I got stung by some sort of bug, and even now I don't know what stung me, I just remember grabbing it and flinging it to the ground and seeing it scurry away. Anyways, afterwards, I felt like something bit me, but when some of the NLF team members took a look at it, they said I had a stinger stuck in my neck, and they tried to pull it out. I think it was Robert (NLF team member) who pulled it out of my neck, but as I was sitting there, it still felt like something was there and I had them re-examine it, only to find that they hadn't pulled it, but rather, the stinger had broken and it was still lodged in my skin. To try to remedy the situation, one of the team members busted out their snake and insect bite kit, and tried to use this suction cup thing on my neck to suck out the stinger. It obviously didn't work because it's for sucking out the poison after a snake bite. After our failed attempt, we used Missionary Alex's leatherman pliers to get the stinger out. Moral of the story, don't use suction cups to pull out stinger, it don't work, and beware of random Thai bugs. Beside that little adventure in improperly using a snake bite kit, the rest of the weekend went smoothly. We had Sunday service at Huay Ngu, and we returned back to Wiang Pa Pao, and then to Chiang Mai, albeit I had a fever, but whatever.

Then most of last week, NLF time doing different ministry things in Chiang Mai. Like Monday, they went to Chiang Mai University and held a prayer walk and random EV. I didn't take part in it because of my fever, and I thought it be best staying home and getting rest, especially since at the time people were antsy about the swine flu here in Thailand. Then on Tuesday I went with the team to Agape Home, a orphanage for children with HIV/Aids, which is run by a Canadian missionary named Avis, who has been serving in Thailand for over 30 years. Here's the website if you want to check it out, http://www.nikkisplace.org/. The first part of the day, we were building a house for a family who's child has HIV and the second part of the day we spent at the Agape Home. I came away very impressed with their facilities. It's huge! and they have so many resources to help these HIV/AIDS kids, and it's just awesome to see that these kids aren't being neglected. One of the things that the Agape Home has are six separate houses that accomodate six kids each with two live in parents in each home, so that these kids don't feel like orphans. It's just very cool to see a ministry on a larger scale like at the Agape Home. If you time, I implore you to check out the website. I really wanted to talk to Avis, but she was so busy, hopefully I'll have a chance to talk to her because I've heard that she has an awesome testimony about how Agape Home got started.

At the Agape Home, I got to hang out with some of the orphans, and truthfully, these kids were so playful and full of energy, it just put a smile to my face. I mean there were some boys who were trying to pull off some break dance moves, and some others were doing flips like you'd do in a gymnastics floor exercise, it was hilarious. Personally, I couldn't really interact with the kids, because I still had a cold and I didn't want to get the kids sick, maybe next time I'll get to visit again. This is definitely a place worth checking out if anyone swings through Thailand.

After Tuesday, everything else was ho hum. The team continued doing their ministry things as well as tourism things, but I stayed home the rest of the week because my cold got worse, after overexerting myself on Tuesday (I need to learn when to give in to my body). Then the team left on Thursday, and thus concludes the summer mission team. Although it was physically exhausting, it was a lot of fun, and I learned a lot from just hosting all the teams with the Jasper Kids. (In my next post I'll try to put some meaning into all the different experiences from the past two months, I know I keep saying that, but the next I will for sure)

Now I'm just trying to get back to my normal schedule, and the past week and a half, I've been trying to plan for what to do in the next two months. Currently, I'm trying to volunteer at Grace International School, and today I found out that if I volunteer, I'll be helping out with the ESL Dept. so hopefully that will work out. I just need my references to come through real soon. If I'm helping out at GIS, then I'll be here in Chiang Mai and will be starting Aug. 17th. If not, I'll be back in Wiang Pa Pao, and we'll see what Pastor JJ has planned for me. One possibility is going back and teaching at the high school in Wiang Pa Pao. Please pray for me that God will open and shut doors according to His will. Otherwise that's where things stand now. Also I'll have NLF pics posted up, on my next post. Thanks for reading another long blog, I promise I'll make the posts shorter, and I'll start posting weekly again, now that I have more time. Peac out till next time.