November Reflections

November has been an interesting month. I thought I would spend most of my time in Wiang Pa Pao because I had no business to attend to in Chiang Mai, but I ended up splitting my time in both places for various reasons.

One of the reasons being there was a huge festival that occurred in the beginning of the month called Loy Krathong. The whole purpose of the festival is to celebrate Buddha and it’s also a time where Thai people atone for their sins by placing it on floats that flow down the river or on sky lanterns (think of Chinese lanterns that have the ability to float like a hot air balloon) into the night sky. As I got to partake in the festivities, it was a sight to behold to see thousands of lanterns filling the night sky and fireworks going off to the left and right of me. It was a lot of fun to rub shoulders with Thai people and tourists alike as they were enjoying themselves in the festivities. At the same time I couldn’t help but think that there was something flawed in the whole festivity. If it were only that easy to atone for our sins, and ironically the lanterns eventually fall back to the ground, and the sins that these lanterns are carrying don’t really float away. I’m not trying to bash the festivity or the culture because like I said, it was a sight to behold and I enjoyed it myself. Plus, through this festival, you have an understanding that the Thai people have a concept of sin, which is a good starting point. Similar to a person who understands that they are sick and need help, than with the person who has an illness, but refuses to acknowledge it or receive any help. The festival is underpinned by this desire to be free from sin, and there is one who conquered sin, and offers us a way out, so it convicts me even more that Jesus needs to be shared here in this country.

Apart from going back and forth from Chiang Mai to Wiang Pa Pao and visiting new parts of the country like Pai and Nan, I feel myself being easily distracted these days. When I’m in Wiang Pa Pao, I have a lot of free time on my hands, and I’ve gotten lazier in some senses, and I’ve also having a harder time focusing on missions. I think it’s compounded by the fact that I’m nearing the last portion of my mission trip, it’s the holiday season, so I’m really starting to miss home, and I’m worried about the things I have to do when I get home (i.e. apply to schools). At the same time it hasn’t hindered me on what needs to get done like setting up for the JK Foundations first ever praise and worship contest in Wiang Pa Pao (I’ll blog on that separately), helping the Jasper Kids with their homework in the evenings and teaching skits and body worships in preparation for Christmas ministries. It seems that I haven’t given it my all, and in turn I’m not giving God my all. The whole month of November has been like that, trying to get used to going from having a structured schedule at GIS to more free time at the JK Home, and dealing with all the distractions. Fortunately, God has reminded this week, why I came here in the first place, and has given me a heart check.

As I was praying this week, I was compelled to read Psalm 57, and one portion of it stuck out, and it comes from Psalm 57:9-11 (ESV), “I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!” As I was reading it, I was reminded of the verse I used on my brochure, Psalm 67:1-3 (ESV), “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!” He reminded me that I’m still here serving His purpose, not my own. Also, I need to continue to exalt Him and praise Him and let it be known that He is to be praised. In the midst of forgetting my focus and purpose, God through the Word brought me back to what I need to do. It was a much needed gut check, hopefully and prayerfully, I’ll live out my final months here exalting Him and letting the nation of Thailand know who God is!

Alright I think I’m all caught up with the blog. Thanks for your patience, and I’ll resume blogging once a week on everything that goes on. With the Christmas programs starting this weekend, there will be a lot to cover, so stay tuned. Please pray for the ministry that God will reign over it, and that He will be the focal point to everything we do. More of Him less of us.

Pictures after the jump

Newsletter

November Newsletter has been posted, check the link on the right side of the blog to see what I've been doing the past month.

October Redux

Ok, it feels good to make some progress on the blog, especially when there is 3 months worth of experiences to pore over. Alright here goes reflections for...

October

October was a whirlwind month, I ended my volunteer term at GIS during the second week of the month and that same weekend helped out at a medical clinic up in the mountains. The following week, Pastor JJ, Junya, and I participated for one evening at a youth camp for Karen kids, which most of the Jasper Kids attended. Then I helped out at a retreat/youth camp for missionary kids (high school and jr. high combined around 500 kids), and during the last week of October, Pastor Gil and the family (the Suhs) came to Chiang Mai for some family vacation time. Overall the month didn't lack for excitement or things to do.

When I think about all that happened in October, there are a couple things that stick out. In my time in Thailand, I have met some amazing people and worked alongside some awesome people. In October, God has given me the opportunity to do the same. Before, I helped out at the youth camp, the JK Foundation partnered up with Doctor Hume (friend of Pastor JJ's during his time in China) to run a medical clinic up in the mountain villages. Watching Doctor Hume run the clinic with his wife, Debbie, was incredible. Throughout the day it was very relaxed, and you could tell Doctor Hume loved the Lord in the way he was treating each patient. The greatest part of it was, was that a few came to know Christ on site at the clinic, and we were able to help the local pastor make inroads for the Gospel in this village. To catch you up to speed about this village, it is close to Mae Chang Khao, where a lot of our Jasper Kids are from and there is a good number of Christians there. Because of that fact, the other village we were ministering to, did not have good relations with Mae Chang Khao, where the pastor there wanted to reach out to the neighboring village, which is also where he spent his childhood. For whatever reason, the village had this us against them mentality, and the pastor could not make any progress. Now that your up to speed, because of the success of the clinic (all props go to God) the pastor of Mae Chang Khao is able to build relationships in this particular village and hopefully will be able to share the gospel soon.

The clinic showed that God is able to use whoever and whatever for his Kingdom. If your a doctor, he'll use your skill set, if your an auto mechanic, he can use your skill set. It isn't merely just preaching the Gospel, but you can show people the Gospel by living it out and using your profession and skills that God has bestowed on you. Just depends on whether you will let him.

After the clinic, I got to meet a fun group of people from Hume Lake, California. They were in Chiang Mai, running the youth camp, and they come every couple years to do so, and they run camps every winter and summer out in Hume Lake, California. You can check out there website here and also for pictures from Hume Lake Thailand here. The way they ran their camps, and to run back to back camps for both high school and jr. high kids, knowing how exhausting it is...I give them much props. Everyday they were pouring out the love of Christ to the missionary kids, and that challenged me to do so too, even when I was exhausted as a counselor. Having the opportunity to be a counselor, I really got a chance to get to know a lot of the high school and jr. high kids from GIS. While I was working at GIS, I didn't have much of an opportunity to do so, because I was working mostly with elementary students. Most of the high school or jr. high kids that I hung out with were a good bunch of kids. Some of them knew and loved God, and some of them didn't, it wasn't any different than being in the States. It made me realize, even missionary kids need to be reached out to, and what Hume Lake was doing was meeting that need. After it was all said and done, it was sad that at the end of my time at GIS, I finally got to know some of the secondary students. I can't help, but feel shorted that I built these relationships, but I can continue to foster those relationships as a volunteer at school. At least there is facebook (the beauties of social networking and the interwebs!)

Finally, my time spent with Pastor Gil and the family was a blast! We actually got to hang out a lot, went to the mall, went bowling, stopped by an elephant camp and visited the JK Home. It was like as if I was hanging out with them in the States, sans the elephant camp and the JK Home. Personally, it was encouraging to talk to both Pastor Gil and Joyce about life and missions. It was doubly good to hear about the progress that God has made through them in Cambodia, and also the needs of Cambodia. Plus it's always good to get sage advice from a pastor. We all need wise men and women in our lives to be examples for us. Shoot, I mean, even Paul told his fellow Christian brothers and sisters to follow his example.

What put the whole visitation over the top was being able to hang out with David, Isaac, and Mary (Pastor Gil and Joyce's kids). They have grown up so much since I saw them last year, and they're still oh so adorable. I was humbled that they wanted to hang out with me and play with me because back in the States, I rarely ever did, something I regret now, because they are a lot of fun being around. Oh and if your reading this Jessica aka Ji Young, Mary misses you, told me herself.

Ok, this post is getting way to long, I'll just end it with this note. October was filled with a lot of activities, but the biggest impressions made on me were not the activities in it of itself, but the people. When people give themselves up to God, God will use them. I saw that in Doctor Hume, the Hume Lake staff, and through the Suh's, and I continue to see that in my time here. On top of that, I am building up friendships left and right, and I thank God for every one of those opportunities, and I can't wait for who I'll meet in the final three months that I'm here. Alright now for some picture time.

My last day at GIS, and the people I worked with in the Special Needs Dept.

More pictures after the jump...

September Redux

I have neglected this blog for too long. It's been three months since I lasted posted anything. Part of it was due to busyness and a lot to do with laziness. Also the longer and longer I waited to post, the more and more I racked my brain over what to blog because I didn't want to make blog posts too long, which in turn would make me give up posting at all. Once again, sorry for not being on top of things.

As I was thinking about what to blog, I didn't want to just go over what I've been doing the past three months because there is just too much to write about, so I'll just stick with reflections over each of the past three months. If you really want to know what I've been doing, you can always check out my newsletters which is linked on the left side of the page. So here we go...

September

Had the opportunity to work at Grace International School as a volunteer, but I had teaching responsibilities as I taught ESL on an individual basis with kids. To say that I wasn't overwhelmed in the beginning would be an understatement. As the month passed by though, it became easier and I felt more comfortable teaching. I really enjoyed working with both elementary students and secondary students. Most of all, I loved the environment at GIS. All the teachers and administrative staff were a pleasure and it was truly blessing to be able to work with Christians from different denominations, and backgrounds. I mean I worked with a Canadian-Filipino Christian who was charismatic, a conservative Texan Christian, Thai Christians, New Zealander Christians, an Englishman Christian (not British, got to make that differentiation because British can also mean Welshman, or at least that's what the Englishman told me...lol) and so on. The great thing about it all is, regardless of where we come from, they all were focused on two thing, offering an education for missionary kids while being Gospel driven, and helping these kids take ownership of their faith. People working together for Jesus, that's an awesome sight to behold, and here it was refreshing to see people being united in Christ, even if people were different in some ways.

Aside from school, in the month of September I got to go out to Payap Christian Zone Church for their cell group, and I got some much needed fellowship. Praise the Lord! It's a Thai church, planted by American missionaries, so most of the congregation speaks both Thai and English. I ended up going to their cell group because a lot of the staff I work with at GIS go to that church. What's been great about hanging out at this church is that it is thriving. God is using this church to spread the Gospel to the college kids in the area, and people are coming to know Christ. When I see a church like this, it gives me hope that even in a nation where less than 1% is Christian, God is working here using Thai people to reach their own. Even better the Jasper Kids Foundation was able to partner with Payap to run an English Camp, so we had a local church helping plant seeds of the Gospel in Wiang Pa Pao, again collaboration for the Kingdom work! In the month of September, God has been showing me the importance of collaboration with fellow Christians. We're in a spiritual war, and we can't be going off fighting alone.

Pictures from English Camp & no pictures from GIS because I wanted to be sensitive to the missionaries who do work in hostile areas and who's kids go to GIS, if you catch my drift.

Some Grace teachers and Payap church members

Playing some Family Feud

High School kids

Elementary kids

On a more personal note September has been a good month. I started listening to Pastor Soosang's (pastor of my home church SJNH) messages again after a summer hiatus, and it has been good. I felt like I was being spiritually fed, after a long time of not feeling like so. Nothing wrong with attending Thai worship service, but I could only go so long hearing a message in Thai and not understanding and leaving it at that. Anyways, I've been listening to these sermons and God has been using them to break me down! To elaborate, I've never felt or realized the deep sense of urgency of the Gospel to be spread until September. One thing I always struggled with throughout my walk with God was I had a hard time loving the lost. Whether it was volunteering at a family shelter in San Jose, or going on missions in Uganda, Africa, my heart was hard. Not that I didn't care for the plight of peoples, but I guess it didn't reach the deep recesses of my soul the extreme need for the Gospel for broken people. I definitely had the head knowledge as to why the Gospel was needed, but it didn't sink down completely to my core.

Then on one Sunday afternoon in September at the Jasper Kids Home, God showed me his heart. I had an opportunity to give a message to the Jasper Kids, and to make a long story short, I preached on the history of missions beginning in the book of Acts, and at the end I challenged the kids if they were going to be a part of God's kingdom work. As I closed in prayer, I mentioned how we were fortunate to be saved by Christ's blood, but there were plenty of others in Thailand who did not and were broken. At the utterances of those words, something clicked, something resonated, and before a crowd of kids, I wept (bear in mind, I don't cry during prayers and I hate bringing attention to myself this way, so this was a huge surprise) because of the mere fact that there are people who are broken out there and not saved. At that moment I understood the urgency of the Gospel, people are living broken lives, they turn to this and that for answers, but only the Gospel can give hope and salvation. Since then, I've been looking at my surroundings in a different light. We live for this Gospel and it needs to be shared, and it rings true for me more than ever. God has been good in the month of September!

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.

New Hope is in the house

One day after the Baltimore team left, San Jose New Hope came to the Jasper Kids Home. To say that I was excited would be an understatement. First of all it was my church coming, and secondly, I was gonna have a chance to work with one of my closest buddies, so I was downright giddy. So all of Saturday I waited eagerly for the team to come because I couldn't pick them at the airport since I teach on Saturday mornings, and lo and behold when the team arrived what did I first notice... both Daniel Park and I were wearing similar get-ups. We were both wearing navy blue Champion Dri-Fit shirts from Target and we were both wearing blue and white shorts, albeit his was Nike's and mine was Starbury's (yes...Starburys). This was probably the most befitting way for Daniel and I reunited, wearing almost the exact say clothes. I guess it's not as funny reading it, than if you were there. It was definitely nice to get a few chuckles in with my team. Aside from that everything went as scheduled for the duration of the trip. Like the other teams we taught English, did village visits, and held weekend VBS at Huay Hin Rat Nok village. Couple other things we had a chance to do with this team was to do eye glass ministry because Jenny, one of the teammates, is an optometrist. Secondly, the Jasper Kids had a three day break for holiday during the mission team's stay, so we held a day to have games with the Jasper Kids. Overall there was a lot of different planned ministry on their plate, and I'm proud to say they took it in stride and without complaining, no matter how tiring it was.

From the beginning, New Hope had to hit the ground running because there was so many things packed into the first week. After settling in Saturday and having Sunday worship at the JK Home, we got to cracking on hammering out our lesson plans for the following day. As the unofficial leader of the team, I'll say that I was encouraged by their openness and willingness to discuss and go over lesson plans, even if it was tedious to do so. On Monday, we taught at Thung Kha Chi School, up in the mountain. I was paired up with Jeff as co-teachers for 1st-3rd grade, and I was pleasantly surprised at how well Jeff was doing teaching English to the kids, to the point where I could just stand back and assist him. I say this because, when teaching English as a second language the first time, it can be daunting and frustrating because it's easy to quickly run through the lesson plan, but Jeff kept a nice pace throughout, so good job Jeff! After finishing up our lessons for the day, we had lunch with the students and then played some games. We played games like Steal the Bacon and Dodge Ball and it was good to see both Jeff and Daniel get into it with the kids. After a long day of teaching English and playing with the students we all hopped in the truck, students included and spent the night at one of the nearby villages, Pakka Village.

At Pakka, we got to tour the village a little bit, and this was the first village that I visited when I came back to Thailand in March, so we it was nice to see some familiar faces. After touring and and eating rotisserie chicken (picture will explain everything) we held an informal eye glass ministry at the village. I came away with two things from this ministry. First off, I was in charge of Visual Acuity, basically the guy who points at the E's on an eye test to gauge if one's vision is 20/20 or not, and to put it bluntly, it is hard. It's not the actual testing that is hard, but the translating and having people understand what to do, and the repetitiveness of it all. A lot harder than I thought. Secondly, Jenny is a monster!!! Even after I was tired after an hour or two, Jenny just kept on working tirelessly, and she had the hardest job of all since she was doing all the real check ups. I give mad props to Jenny for what she does! After a long exhausting night, we slept and woke up the next morning to teach.

The next day we taught at Thung Kha Chi school again, and teaching went a lot more smoother for most of us. Jeff did most of the teaching and Jenny had a better teaching experience, which is usually the case after knowing what to expect now. Daniel had it a bit tougher the second day because one kindergartner was being disruptive throughout the class (I feel your pain Daniel), needless to say, he didn't let it faze him. It also started to rain on Tuesday, so immediately after lunch, we went back down to the JK Home for some R&R.

Tuesday afternoon, we spent the day doing some laundry and resting up, and helping the Jasper Kids with their homework, overall it was a low key day. The following day we headed out to Phrao Village, the home of Jesse, one of the new Jasper Kids boys. It had only been visited once by Ajan Arunee and Ajan Somsak, and a team had never gone before, so it was very exciting for all of us to make the trip out there. We headed out after lunch, and it took us two hours to get there, but fortunately I knocked out in the car until our arrival. Going into this trip, I had no idea what to expect, other than that we would be an encouragement to Jesse's family who are the only Christians in the village. Upon arrival, we took a tour of the village and suffice it to say, it was a pretty well developed village, it reminded me of Baan On in the sense that it had electricity, and the scenery was nice too. After the kids arrived home from school, we held an impromptu craft, praise, and game time with the kids. Unfortunately, we didn't bring craft materials other than origami paper, and the photo printer, due to my lack of preparations, so there were some concerns on what to do. As usual God used even our unpreparedness to minister to the kids. Long story short, we made origami swans and turtles and decorated each kid's picture with origami paper. After crafts we played games like Simon says and sang some praise songs like "Jesus is My Rock, and He Rolls My Blues Away." It was definitely humbling how God made the day a success even when we didn't have our resources, and it was made even sweeter that the team clicked as a unit to really make things work! This is where I began to see how God was taking the totally different personalities of each team member and unifying them to work for His kingdom! Truthfully, outside of the mission trip, I would tell you that because of their different personalities you probably would never see them hanging out, but I guess that's the beauty of Christ and how it bonds us. In that same evening, we held an evening worship service with Jesse's family and it was just so beautiful to see Christians encourage one another. I say this because, Jesse's family is essentially on an island on their own as they are the only Christians in their area. To see them faithfully living for the Lord even though they're physically apart from any Christian community, is a testament to their faith. Over this summer, I'll have to say this village visit has to be one of the most blessed trips I've been on.

*SIDE NOTE* Up until the Phrao trip I have eaten snake with both Daniel and Jeff, which kind of tastes like chicken, but not as tough, and I've eaten what I think is possum meat at Jesse's home. How to describe it, well, it has a very gamey flavor to it, and it is definitely musky. If you've eaten wild game like deer (venison) or buffalo, you can see what I'm talking about, and overall the meat was very tender. Would I eat it again, maybe if I had to, but if I had a choice, probably not because seeing an animal paw in the soup kind of freaked me out.

On Thursday we came back to Wiang Pa Pao, but we couldn't rest because we had eye glass ministry at Pasak Village which is 15 min away from Wiang Pa Pao. Around 3 o' clock in the afternoon we headed to the village to see a boatload of people waiting at the community center. Initially I thought they were having a town meeting, but all the people that were waiting, were actually waiting for us. Excitedly we set up our stations and equipment because this was one of New Hope's main ministries, but over the course of the next couple hours, you could tell the team was getting hungry, frustrated, and tired, except Jenny. Essentially we stayed at the village from 3PM to 9PM tending to about 75 - 80 people. About half way through the ministry, I felt ready to give up, because I was so tired, and I could see it in the faces of Jeff and Daniel as well, that their frustrations were mounting. At the same time we couldn't complain because we just saw Jenny go through patient after patient without tiring, and from her expression she was enjoying it, so it definitely motivated me to suck it up and continue on. I seriously think that around 6 PM, God was giving us the energy to finish, because I was dang tired. We were able to get through it, even up to the last patient. What was so awesome to witness was the joy on people's faces as they received their glasses and actually see things more clearly than they did an hour before. Like the other times, the eye glass ministry stretched the patience and will of the team, but I was very happy to see no one complaining, no one slacking, and everyone pouring their heart into the ministry and being flexible.

After a long day of travel and eye glass ministry, we all came home got some rest, and started a new day on Friday. On Friday we didn't have much down time because we had to prepare for VBS and leave the same day, no rest for the weary, but it was nice to get everyone on the same page for VBS. Most of the day was spent hammering out the details of the VBS and in the afternoon we went to Huay Hin Rat Nok Village (the village of Nilawan, Orathai, and Anupong) and basically fellowshiped with the villagers there. It was also a nice time to bond with the guys on the team and Brandon (Missionary Alex's son), as well as keep my mind off of ministry. I'm usually the type to over prepare and over think things, so just relaxing at the village was a nice getaway from myself. The next morning, we started the VBS early, around 8:30 AM, and for the whole day everything went smoothly. Jeff did well as Saul in our skit and presenting the message, everyone participated in praise, thanks to the Jasper Kids who went to the village, they were a big help as usual, both Daniel and Jenny did a good job reinforcing the theme and message of the VBS through their Paul/Saul description activity, and Jenny did an especially good job with the crafts. Also a huge shoutout goes to Brandon, in helping organizing the games for after worship. Here is a kid who I've seen this summer continue to make strides in maturity while helping out the summer mission teams. Always good to see young guys taking initiative and serve fervently for the Gospel! As I'm gushing about the VBS, I guess you can kind of tell that VBS went over very well, and its due to the fact that everyone pitched in and helped out.

The same evening, we had evening worship with the villagers, and after worship Pastor JJ had a little treat for us. He told our team to come outside and to our surprise he had fireworks all ready to be set off for us to play with it being 4th of July and all. With the villagers and the Jasper Kids, we got to set off bottle rockets, roman candles, and some other cool fireworks, it was a nice touch to end the evening. Now that I think about it, I haven't celebrated 4th of July in the States in 3 years, but it's all good. Sunday worship was awesome as usual, and it was even better because Daniel got to share his testimony, and I'm really proud of him, and how far he has come in Christ since I've known him. It definitely got a little emotional, as he was sharing in his testimony a tragedy that happened during his stay in Thailand, but the guy showed a lot of resolve and commitment to this mission trip even in the midst of hardship. So big ups to you Daniel!

After Sunday worship, as we were coming back down to JK Home, we hit a little snag on the road. As it was raining the previous evening and into Sunday, the dirt road became very muddy and on the first hill out of Huay Hin Rat Nok, all three of the trucks got stuck at the foot of the uphill road. Luckily, Pastor JJ had a winch on his car, so he was able to pull his car up the hill via the winch. The bigger problem was Ajan Somsak's truck which was only 2 wheel drive. Everyone got out and tried to push his truck up the hill to no avail because there was no traction as the rain continued to pour. After a few pushes, some slipping and falling in the mud, and a little help from the Pastor JJ's winch, we were able to get Ajan Somsak's truck up the hill and out of danger. Missionary Alex's truck also had some trouble getting up the road, but eventually after backing up and getting some momentum, he was able to get his truck over the hill. That ordeal definitely sapped a lot of my energy, but it was also some of the most fun I'd ever had. How many people will be able to say we helped get trucks out of a slick mud road while trekking through the mountain jungles of Thailand, once in a lifetime experience! Unfortunately expending all that energy and getting hit by the rain and the cold made me sick for the rest of the week, the price you pay for fun.

When we got home that Sunday, we all ate some Neoguri ramen (soooo......gooood....) and passed out. Then on Monday, we worked on putting together a basketball hoop for the Jasper Kids, but could not raise it and cement it because the rain kept coming, so instead we prepared for our day of fun with the Jasper Kids.

The very next day, it stopped raining, so we put up the basketball hoop , but we still couldn't play on it, until the cement finished drying, so we had to wait to christen the basketball hoop until Wednesday. On the other hand, with the Jasper Kids having the day off, the team organized a bunch of games with the kids. Our game list included games like eating a watermelon and then putting it on your head and running, eating cookies on a string, to putting a spoonful of peanut butter and trying to whistle (yes, I know a lot of games involved eating...hahahaha...). Although I was running with a fever, the team definitely picked up the slack for me! From the looks of things the Jasper Kids enjoyed all the games. In the evening we were gonna play some FOB games with the Jasper Kids like Dibby Dibby Dip, and Ming Meng Mong, but we decided to end the night by watching Forbidden Kingdom feat. Jackie Chan and Jet Li. Let me say, what a terrible movie, too many cheesy scenes especially between the protagonist and the female character, but the kids enjoyed so that's all that matters.

Finally on Wednesday, we had our final day of ministry, holding the eye glass ministry at the JK Home. This one was a lot more chill and a lot less people came. We were able to finish everything by 4 PM, and the Jasper Kids helped out a lot too. In the evening, we had evening worship at the Jasper Kids, and it was nice for the team to spend some quality time worshiping with all the Jasper Kids.

Here is your lineup for San Jose New Hope

Left to Right: Jenny, me, Daniel, & Jeff

(Photo courtesy of Jenny)

Upon arrival, this is how we meet each other, wearing near identical outfits. God must have wanted to play a joke on us.

(Photo courtesy of Jeff)

Jeff and my class 1st-3rd

Jenny's class 4th-6th
(Photo courtesy of Jenny)

Daniel's Kindergartners

(Photo courtesy of Jenny)

Kids having fun praisin'

(Photo courtesy of Jenny)

The team doing "Jesus is My Rock"

(Photo courtesy of Jenny)

Steal the Bacon, who will grab it first

(Photo courtesy of Jenny)

Rotisserrie Chicken for dinner! Bamboo is the most useful wood ever!

(Photo courtesy of Jenny)

Following the kids to the stream in Pakka Village

(Photo courtesy of Daniel)

Jesse's village playing Simon Says...

(Photo courtesy of Daniel)

Jesse's family

(Photo courtesy of Daniel)

Jenny hard at work, and Daniel doing some excellent pointing

(Photo courtesy of Jeff)

Daniel's gameface as he checks for eye abnormalities

(Photo courtesy of Jeff)

Jenny the arts and craft master!

(Photo courtesy of Jeff)

Photo Frames

(Photo courtesy of Jenny)

VBS cup crafts

(Photo courtesy of Jenny)

Ajan Arunee serving some Thai Iced Tea!

(Photo courtesy of Jenny)

VBS Games

(Photo courtesy of Jenny)

Acting mischievious

(Photo courtesy of Jeff)

One of the games in action, requires a ball and nylon stockings.

(Photo courtesy of Jenny)

Picture before the Jasper Kids Games

(Photo courtesy of Jenny)

If you build it, Jeff will jump

(Photo courtesy of Daniel)

Final Night with Jasper Kids

(Photo courtesy of Jeff)

View from Doi Suthep

(Photo courtesy of Jeff)

At Rachaphruk Garden

At Rachaphruk Garden

Tiger Kingdom, it wants to eat us.

Role reversal, elephant petting Jeff

(Photo courtesy of Jenny)

If only we were allowed to ford the river with elephants in Oregon Trail

(Photo courtesy of Jeff)