Views from our recent trip with family to the floating markets of Thailand
This is going to be a shorter Power in Meekness blog this month….really (despite the addition of LOTS of pictures which will surely offer the illusion of length)!!! I know we always say that, but I hope to live up to my promise since we are going to be launching our new website in just a few days and we will have more new fun things to check out there, too!!!
A few highlights of this past month:
- Singing “Mighty to Save” and “Amazing Grace” in front of the Buddha statue at a school of 1,200 students!
- Dora’s students run back from school break to study English!
- Ministering to college students at Mahasarakham University!
- AND the explaination new website and Ministry update video coming your way soon!
Singing with the Buddha
Students leave recess for English class willingly…..WHAT?
Dora had an incredibly encouraging moment with her students last week. Dora’s 6th grade class of 45 students at our home school has been anything but an easy class this year. Most days they have the energy of elementary school students with the growing obstinence and aloofness of middle school students. However, as Dora approached the primary school building to teach them last Wednesday, she saw them all outside playing different sports and climbing on the concrete models of animals and dinosaurs. She assumed teaching class was a lost cause that day since the kids were already outside playing, but when one student saw Dora, he called out, “Teacher Dora is here!!! Yay! Let’s hurry back to the classroom,” in Thai. Dora was very excited that her students chose her over playing, and was reminded again why it is that we are doing what we are doing.
Teachers and students on the grounds of Suksaasongkrah (our home school)
A Thai goddess of fertility and abundance built by the students on the grounds of our school
College Ministry…Definitely an answered prayer!
I will make this brief because I have already been writing longer than promised! Ever since God started preparing us for Thailand, I have always hoped that we would have the opportunity to do some college ministry as well, just because I love it. We have been working on this with Mot, a former student of this ministry who met the crazy love of Jesus through the blessings of the Mejudhons and other Thai and foreign missionary teachers. Mot now teaches drama and directs our Sunday morning worship times at the English center every week. Mot is a drama student at Mahasarakham University, which is located about 30 minutes on the opposite side of Roi Et from our home and the English center, so she has a LONG motorcycle ride to get to us each week. Her university has about 45,000 students without even one campus ministry! She has been expressing a desire for us to come and have a meeting and hang out time for her friends and many other former students of ours, so we finally got the ball rolling last month. Our team (sans Dora and Natalie because college ministry starts WAY too late at night for her!) went to Mahasarakham on a Sunday evening and had dinner with Mot, three other former students and two new friends. Then Lanese, Mot and I led some worship songs, and we could just see the joy light up the faces of our former students who had not worshipped since leaving for the university. After that we shared a message about true freedom from sin through the cross of Christ and we secretly wrote down a sin, and symbolically laid it at the foot of the cross. Then we took all the papers outside and burned them! Not only was if fun, but the activity really seemed to connect. Then we spent about two hours playing "Monopoly Deal" while eating ice cream. It was such a success that the two new students have been hounding Mot about when we would be coming back again! As soon I finish writing this blog, I am off for round two of our fellowship at Mahasarakham University!!! Please join us in thanking God and praying for this new adventure!!!!
Mot, Lanese and Chris leading worship
Fellowship with Ice Cream-Is there any better way?!?!!?!
“Things we take for granted"….what does that mean?
I just taught a reading lesson to my seniors in high school called, “In Praise of the Sense of Taste” which was all about how our sense of taste is really a sense that we ‘take for granted.’ The article begins with the statement, “We take so many things for granted: running water, electricity, safe travel, good-quality food, cell phones, computers, the internet…” I tried to explain the concept of ‘taking things for granted,’ and I was met with complete stares of no comprehension. As I explained in Thai how “we” as Americans and Westerners take each of these things for granted, they were completely confused! As they talked amongst themselves, I hit the hard realization that not ONE of the things of this list can be taken for granted for these Esarn children. They told me that they couldn’t believe that we, as Americans, would simply EXPECT our water to run, electricity to flow etc. In fact, I am currently watching three guys from the internet company splice a new line off the telephone pole on the street in front of our home to run through the tree in front of our house and down into our office, after our internet has been shutting off each time the wind blows! Now I completely understand how all the inconveniences of living in Esarn, like our regular water outages, hit-and-miss Internet, and often unclean food are taken in stride by these people. They don’t expect conveniences. I think the only thing they do expect is relationships, and they just take all the problems of life in stride. This realization has led me to pray, “Father, teach me what is really important and help me to not expect the things that are not. Let me take each convenience of life as a blessing when it works, and an opportunity to depend on my community around me for help when it does not.”
Teaching in our home, the English Center, and around Roi Et
THE WEBSITE AND OUR NEW MINISTRY UPDATE VIDEO
We have been delaying on releasing this blog because we intended to have our exceptionally functional, fun and flashy website up and running by now, but alas, life has gotten the better of us. Life with Natalie has really been amazing, but it definitely ramps our already busy lives up into hyper drive!
Needless to say, we hope to have the blog up and running VERY VERY soon, and we are excited about the new ministry update video that will be posted there. I will send out another email when the website is launched, but PLEASE check out our ministry video and share it with your friends and congregations. It should be easily downloadable as well in full definition. It is a 10-minute blast through life and ministry in Roi Et, Thailand over the past year. And, if you think that video is fast, the 5-minute version is on the way!
What the website will have:
--Our blog plus our newsletters, all of which will be viewable on in smartphone compatible formats as well!!!
--All videos we have created highlighting the ministry, plus family videos (specifically of Natalie, by request). All will be downloadable for use at worship services,etc!!!
--Pictures in high resolution of ministry and family life.
--Opportunities to engage in ministry with us in Thailand
--Connection information to the Mission Society’s website for more information about the ministries of TMS and donation information.
As always, we love and appreciate all of you so much! Thanks for your support!
-Chris, Dora, and Natalie
As always, we love and appreciate all of you so much! Thanks for your support!
-Chris, Dora, and Natalie
Pictures of vacation with Chris' Dad, Step Mom
and Step Sister
Elephant riding in Ayutthaya, the ancient capitol of Thailand
Pop with his favorite (and only) grandchild!
The fam at Koh Phi Phi in Southern Thailand
