June/July 2011

Hello! This is Dora. We are trying to get back on a regular blog schedule, so this blog is actually a bit shorter than our typical entries (believe it or not)! Here’s what to expect:

            Dora has finished her Master’s Degree--Woo hoo!

            New Team Member

 Acting--Funny skits to connect with the kids

           Teaching at Church--Sharing the love of Christin Thai and English

           Music Lessons--Saxophone, violin, and guitar, oh my!

           Visit from Chris’ Mom--Grandee in Thailand

           Prayer

           We Ain’t in Kentucky Anymore!-Funny cultural observations

Enjoy!

Master’s Degree

            At long last, I have finished my master’s degree!! I turned in my final project and gave my oral defense over Skype on June 27. I now officially have a Master of Arts in English Language Learning PK-12. I have already used the concepts that I learned in my degree program quite a few times while teaching in Thailand. Finishing was a little rough with Natalie and everything and on many (many) occasions I told Chris that there was no way I could ever finish. God pulled me through, though! I’m so happy to be done!

New Team Member

            A couple of weeks ago, we received a new team member here in Roi Et. Her name is Lanese and she has been working on her master’s in Intercultural Studies in New York. She also has an undergraduate degree in music education, just like us! It’s been really great having her here so far, and she is an excellent singer. She has performed for the students several times. Along with teaching English, she has been helping us teach music lessons, which I will talk more about later!!

Dora and Lanese teaching together on Thursday evenings 

Acting

            Each week, we teach at 8 different schools. Most of the time, we teach for an hour and a half per class. For the last 15 minutes, we perform a skit. This is our chance as a team to teach some kind of moral story. Sometimes we act out stories from the Bible, but sometimes we just act out stories that teach a value such as honesty, humility, or contentment. It’s a lot of fun, and it’s a great time to practice Thai! We try to make them as funny as possible while also focusing on what we want the students to take away. After each skit, we have a discussion time with the kids so they can unpack what the story was all about. Then we invite the kids to church on Sundays and at one school, we take prayer requests and pray for them. Sometimes we perform some music for the students instead of a skit. Chris and Lanese performed a couple of songs together a few weeks ago.

Some of the stories that we have acted since returning to Roi Et in May include the Prodigal Son, How the Possum Got Its Tail (humility), The Emperor and the Dead Seeds (honesty), Impatient Lucy (patience), and The Black Duck and White Swans (inner beauty). This last story is of particular importance because skin color is a big deal for many of our students. They are constantly saying that they are dark and ugly because the culture here reveres white skin. The skit was a great time to illustrate that the way we treat people is much more important than how we look.

This coming week, we are going to perform “Cricket and Cicada,” a story about how we’re all better when we work together. Our hope is that these moral teachings will make the students feel comfortable having deeper conversations with us throughout the week and at church on Sundays. In the States, I never would have acted anything, but I do it all the time here! I’m not a great actress by any means, but I’m at least much more comfortable making a fool of myself than I used to be!!

Kat and Lanese acting in "How the Possum Got Its Tail"

Teaching At Church

                These past two terms we have been teaching every other week at church (we alternate with our teammate Kat). Sometimes Dr. Nantachai comes and teaches as well, but he hasn’t been able to come up as much recently because of some health problems. We have all been teaching out of the Gospel of John lately. We also found a movie called “The Gospel of John” that’s really great. It follows the Bible pretty much verbatim, and it has a Thai overdubbed version. So, at the end of the lesson, we show the students the clip from the movie to further illustrate the story. Some of the stories that Chris and I have taught these past two terms include Jesus Healing the Man Born Blind (John 9), The Woman at the Well (John 4), Jesus Healing the Official’s Son (John 4), and The Woman Caught in Adultery/The Truth Will Set you Free (John 8). Kat has taught the stories in between the ones that we have taught.  

               The last lesson we taught (The Woman Caught in Adultery/The Truth Will Set you Free) was pretty neat. We focused on how we are bound by sin, but Jesus sets us free just like He set the woman free. First, we broke the students up into groups and had them identify some common sins. They mentioned lying, stealing, gossip, unforgiveness, and selfishness, among others. In their groups, we encouraged them to talk about what they feel like when their friends lie to them, gossip about them, etc. Then we had them talk about how they feel when they do those things to someone else. After a pretty long discussion time, we invited one student to the front and we illustrated how each of the sins the students discussed binds us by tying the student up with strips cut from a garbage bag. After he was all tied up, we wrote the sentence “Jesus sets us free from _____” on the board. Each week after church we have “English Today” time in which the students learn an English phrase related to the message. We decided to do “English Today” as part of the message and had the students say, “Jesus sets us free from lying” (after explaining this phrase in Thai, of course!) while we cut the “lying” strip off of the bound student. We did this with each of the sins. After this, we taught that Jesus died to free us from our sins and that when we ask him to help us, we can stop hurting God, ourselves, and others with our sin. Then, we had the students pray and ask God to identify a sin in their life that they’re struggling with and write it on a little piece of paper. We told them that they could bring their paper and lay at the cross, and then pray for God to take away that sin. It was a powerful morning, and we feel like some of the students really connected with the message. 

Various sins that bind us

Taking sin struggles to the cross

Students on the way home from church 

Music Lessons

            In addition to teaching English, Chris and I teach music lessons throughout the week. Now that we have Natalie, Chris teaches more music than I do. I used to have a few piano students, but they are seniors now and are focusing on getting ready for college, so they don’t have time to study piano anymore. However, I have had several students interested in studying violin. I teach one student on Friday nights, and I used to teach one student on Thursday nights (Chris teaches her now because I’m always busy with my English class). I also have several students interested in the violin on Sunday afternoons after church. I used to teach the students using the little bell sets that we have, but now I teach violin while Lanese and Lila teach bells.

          Throughout the week, Chris teaches guitar to a couple of students at our home school, Suksasongkroh, and at the English center in Banon. He also has one saxophone student named Dtong, who is pretty dedicated. Once, Dtong mentioned that he felt like he was a better English student since he’s been studying the saxophone because he feels like playing music makes him smarter. 
           Chris also teaches guitar on Sunday afternoons after church. He usually has a big crowd every week. Some of them came to church the first time because they wanted to study guitar, and now they come every week. We love teaching lessons, and it’s a great time to connect with our students. 

Dtong, Ay (one of my violin students), and Mot, one of our team members

Visit from Chris’ Mom

            Chris’s mom had the opportunity to come visit us for a whole month!! It was her first time meeting Natalie, so it was a pretty exciting time. When she first arrived, we spent a couple of days in the mountains at Khao Yai National Park. Then we all came up to Roi Et and she stayed for 3 more weeks. It was so great to spend time with her (we watched lots of movies and had some great talks), and Natalie thoroughly enjoyed having her “Grandee” around (her name is Andee, so “Grandee” just flows)! She was also a great help as she took care of Natalie while we taught, and she helped us clean up our wreck of a house! Besides that, she helped read with the students, organized the “library” of English books in our house, and taught the little girls in Banon how to make necklaces. We miss her now, but we are glad to have had the opportunity to spend so much time with her. 

Making necklaces with students at the English center in Banon

Sunday morning worship

Reading with a student at our house

Visiting a Chedi (a place that holds Buddhist relics)

Prayer

            --Please pray for Dr. Nantachai. He has recently had some health problems and hasn’t been able to come up to Roi Et.

            --Please pray that God will continue to send rain to Roi Et. Most of our students' families are rice farmers, and it would be so wonderful for them to have a big crop this year.
            --Please continue to pray for our students--that they would come to know Jesus
            --One day, as I was taking Natalie to the doctor in Bangkok, I had to walk between the skytrain station and Bumrungrad Hospital. It was about four in the afternoon when I was walking and between these two places, I saw 6 or 7 prostitutes waiting to be picked up, several children or women with babies begging for money, a lady digging through the trash, and men looking at tables with sexual paraphenalia. It was a good reminder to me of some of the lifestyles and situations that we are trying to help our students avoid. Please pray that God will protect these children from those kind of situations. 

We live in such a beautiful place!!

We Ain’t In Kentucky Anymore!!

             Every Friday morning, Lila, Lanese, and I all teach an 8^th grade class together, and Natalie hangs out in her stroller in the classroom. A couple of weeks ago, Lila was leading the students in a game while Lanese and I monitored how they spoke. As they were playing, I looked over and saw a boy with a big hunting knife out on his desk, carving a piece of wood! Lanese and I laughed about how that kid would definitely have been arrested had he been in an American school!

            At a recent English event, I was talking to a fellow teacher of ours. He started asking me questions about America and Kentucky in particular. Between questions, he would mention that he really wanted to go to Texas. The he asked, “Does Kentucky have a desert?” When I told him no, he looked a little disappointed and talked more about how he wants to visit Texas. When I asked him why, he replied, “Texas has cowboys, and I want to ride horses like they do." I told him that Kentucky has horses too, but he said, "No, I want to ride in the desert.” He definitely knows what he wants! :)

An Issan "School Bus"

We love and appreciate all of you!

-Chris and Dora

At the English Center

Starting the school year off with a bang!

Olympic Sports Day

Since our friends Justin and Amanda were coming and wanted to be put to work, we had the incredible opportunity of doing something unique to start up this school year!  So, we planned an Olympic-style Sports Day, complete with foam gold medals for each participant. 

The students were separated into teams and then they all paraded to the field in their team's colors while Dora and I played "The Saints God Marching In" on our horns.

We played kickball Ultimate Frisbee (just because it is a fun high-energy Western game that they didn’t know yet), some silly track events, an English game called “Cops and Robbers” and kickball (in lieu of baseball or softball since we had no gloves). On a side note, we didn’t realize how complicated the rules of kickball were until we tried to explain it in another language. 

 

Pure, last year’s winner of Thailand’s version of American Idol and a former student of this ministry, performed a concert at the end of the day. He also helped prepare the festivities. I think it was a great success, and the students really had a blast.  Plus, because of this event we had the opportunity to speak with the directors of every school where we serve and remind them of the English classes and the worship activities we are providing for their students. 

The Miracle of Saturdays:

This has been a term of firsts so far, including the first time we have tried to serve God with three members in our family instead of two, the first time we have directed and hosted a special event (Olympic Sports Day), and the first time we have seen our Saturday classes be something other than a tutoring session for a select group of students.   During the time of Justin and Amanda’s visit in Roi Et, we travelled to our two Saturday schools and shared both about the upcoming Olympic Sports Day, and also about our desire to see more students attend and study English in our special Saturday classes. When we arrived to teach on the first Saturday, almost two weeks ago, our classes had increased from approximately 5-8 students to 25 to 40 students!!!   Normally, Dora and I tag-team teach our Saturday 10^th-12^th grade classes, while Lila teaches her 7^th-9^th grade classes. However, due to the massive increase, we have changed strategies and I now float back and forth between Dora and Lila’s class to help Lila with Thai translation and to free up Dora to take care of Natalie. 

The true miracle of our Saturdays has been the return rate.  Normally, even if we had a very large starting group of students in a volunteer class setting, they wane off considerably by the second class, as some students realize that studying English is more work than they want to put in. However, while Dora and my first Saturday class waned a little bit, our second class went from 30 students to 50!  We have never seen a class so interested in studying and so seemingly thrilled to have native English speakers as teachers.  Thank you those of you who prayed for the students to return and please keep up the prayers.  The students at that school do not yet attend our Sunday morning worship, but with the right motivation from the Holy Spirit we could see a movement of new faces in Banon on Sundays!!!

Natalie, In and Out of the Classroom:

Well, we definitely have a socialite on our hands!!!  This beautiful baby LOVES to be around people and honestly seems sad when they leave. Every Thursday through Saturday, Dora and I take her along while we teach. Dora teaches every class with either Lila or me so that one person can take care of Natalie while the other teaches. She is such a laid-back baby, and as long as she has been fed, she’s happy! Natalie has been a JOY in the classroom, and she has been the catalyst for connecting to people that we all prayed she would be, even at 3 months old!!!

I want to take a moment and thank all of you again.  Your prayers have made this transition a true blessing to us all!  It has been transformed from the hurdle that we were scared to jump when I wrote the last plea for prayer, to a daily state of anticipatory joy wondering what doors God will open for conversation through this happy child.

We had been praying that God would open a door for us to connect with one of the Thai teachers that lives at our home school. She has two daughters, one os 3 and the other is 1. Since we’ve been back in Roi Et, she has been in our home at least once a week just sharing mothering stories with Dora.  Dora and Natalie also got to experience a Thai tradition when about 100 of the teachers of our home school came to our house to meet Natalie, give her gifts, and offer a blessing over her.  Each day we teach at our home school, we have lunch with some of the head teachers, and they enjoy passing Natalie around and talking with us about her. God has definitely opened many doors with our little girl!

The Challenges We Still Face:

watch and make sure no one is giving her water or food, because we’ve been asked by many why we don’t already give Natalie food or water. So far, all these teachers have been kind enough to ask if they can give her water, and we politely decline by telling them that she only drinks mother’s milk for the next couple of months.   However, we know that as she gets older, other people will want to give her things, so we will have to become that much more aware of what people are doing with her.

Secondly, our Thai friends, particularly the teacher who comes over to bring her daughter to play with Natalie, do not understand why farang have a separate room for their children.  We are not yet using that room, but we plan to in the next couple of months.  Our Thai teacher friend told us that many Thai believe children should stay in the same bed with their parents, often until they are in 7th grade.  Dora and I are praying for the right words to explain that while we care equally for the welfare of our child, we also think it’s healthy to have our own space.  Please pray that God gives us the right words.

Listening to the Thai perspective on Scripture:

On Sunday mornings, Dr. Nantachai and I have been trading off teaching the high school students from the book of Exodus.  On the weeks Dr. Nantachai drives up from Bangkok to help us with Sunday worship (normally about half of the time), he teaches Sunday school and I just observe.  It is always a tri-fold blessing for me because he is an incredible teacher, I get to practice listening to Thai biblical terminology, and I get to listen to how he contextualizes the scriptures for the Thai ear.  Last week, he taught chapters 18-19, and I was struck by the way he, and the students, interpreted chapter 18.  I have always read it as a leadership training lesson:  “Gather others around you to share the load so that you don’t burn out,” while Nantachai understood it completely differently.  Nantachai said, “God has created a way to avoid corruption in the system, by gathering other reliable men around the leader who can keep his ruling in check.” As corruption is a deep-rooted problem in Thai politics, the Holy Spirit revealed to Dr. Nantachai that God has a plan for redeeming broken judicial and political systems, too!  God is truly amazing!  He has not left us in the dark at all, and He speaks reassurance to ALL people that desire to hear it!

Mot's story:  Struggle, Transformation, and Opposition:

   We recently went to Khon Kaen (the closest big city from Roi Et) for one night with our teammates Kat, Lila, and Mot.  It was great team connection time and it never hurts that Khon Kaen has a movie theater where we could see the newest Pirates on the Caribbean movie.  On the return trip, I was driving with Dora, Natalie, and Lila riding in the back seat of our car and Kat and Mot sharing the passenger seat (Definitely NOT ok in United States, but here it is the expected method of travel when you have just one more person than available seats!) I started asking Mot questions about her faith and her struggles with faith, seeing as how Mot’s family is folk Buddhist (worshippers of Buddha but also of spirits and ghosts), and Mot has only known Jesus for about 4 years. 

She spoke of her encounters with the Holy Spirit and the subsequent persecution from her mother like it was just the normal thing that all believers around the world suffer.  The reality of the nature of the Gospel and of the Power of the Holy Spirit is so present here you can taste them.  I want to share Mot’s story with you briefly so you may be as encouraged by her faith as I am. 

Mot came to the Banon English center when she was in high school, drawn by the love that Dr. Nantachai displayed when he came to teach in her school.  However, she was never interested in the Gospel and she told me that during those first three years she “hated Jesus.”  One day during her senior year, she was given a Bible to take home. When she opened it at home, she was overcome with anger.  She said, “I don’t believe,” and threw the open Bible into the corner of the room.  The next day however, Mot felt this irresistible urge to go pick up the Bible again, and she said she felt a ‘presence’ tell her to read, and that the words are true.  Jesus grabbed Mot’s heart that day.  When she told her mother that she interested in following Jesus, her mother told her she was not allowed to be a Christian.  However, her mother had no problem with Mot praying to Jesus because her mom prays to all sorts of gods and spirits for help.  Mot even told me about one time after becoming a Christian, her mother wanted her to go to a séance to pray that ghosts would help their family.  The entire time Mot recalls that she could feel these “evil and scary” presences all around her, but that she continued to pray to Jesus to save her from the evil spirits. 

One time when Mot brought home a Bible, her mother found it in her room and burned it in the fireplace.  Mot told me, “I was sad, but it is only the Words of God, not God himself,” so she got another Bible and hid it better in her room. Now, Mot has been a believer for four years, but her mother is still not willing to hear that she is a Christian.  Mot sees the persecution in her life as a normal part of loving Jesus, and not as a catalyst for drawing away from her family.  She continues to go with her family to the temple and to other spiritual events to show her love for her family, in the hope that Jesus will capture their hearts as well.

Brussels!!

I had the opportunity to go to a leadership training event in Brussels, Belgium in mid-April. I went with several other cross-cultural workers with the Mission Society. It was hard to leave Dora and one-month old Natalie, but the Mission Society staff encouraged me to go and it was an incredible time of vision casting and learning how we can better help support each other as members of the Mission Society all over the world.

We’re not in Kentucky Anymore!

Many of my older students at Suksaasongkrah school are now getting on Skype and using it as a medium for Instant Messages.  So it never fails that when we are Skyping with family or friends, one of them will write us a note just to practice using English.  We love it, and sometimes those brief conversations can get us laughing for hours.   For instance, in Thai if you want to use a basic conversation starter, you ask “Have you eaten yet?” instead of “How are you doing?” To say, “Have you eaten yet?” in Thai, you actually use the words, “Gin kaaw ru yang?” which literally translates, “Eat rice or yet?”  One night one of my students wanted to know what I was up to and used Google Translate to help him with the English. Use this as a word of caution: Google Translate is not always accurate!! This is what he typed:   

what is a teacher does?

or not yet is a teacher has had rice?

Now, that is outstanding!!!

 This is a Dukay lizard, and for the life of me, I do not know what it is called in English.  But we found this 1 1/2 footer in the English center last week.  Most Thai are scared of them, but for the few brave, they can make a fortune catching them and selling them down south to the Malaysians!  :)

Buses: Several times while living in Thailand, we have taken public tour buses to go to various destinations (the beach, Roi Et, etc.). Often, the bus drivers will stop on the side of the road when they see a group of people and ask if anyone wants to go to whatever destination the bus is headed. We are always fascinated by the fact that more often than not, people will actually stop what they’re doing and get on the bus, even if the destination is hours away! This is something we have never encountered in the States!

God’s Provision in Natalie’s Birth:

Hey, this is Dora. I meant to put this in the last blog, but since it was so long, I just left it out. God was definitely with us when Natalie was born. I’m not sure if I mentioned it before, but the doctor that delivered Natalie is a Christian. Her name is Dr. Cleopandh. Throughout my pregnancy, she would always tell me, “God will help you in delivery.” During my labor and delivery, when Natalie’s heart rate kept dropping, she would tell me to breathe for my baby, and then she would leave the room. I kept wondering why she was leaving the room, but since I was in a good deal of pain, I didn’t bother asking at the time. When Natalie was born, she had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck three times. The doctor didn’t tell Chris or me this information while I was pushing--I guess she assumed it would scare us. I’m really glad she didn’t!

At my last post-natal check-up, Dr. Cleopandh told me that she kept leaving the room because she wanted to pray! She obviously knew that Natalie was in peril, and she asked God to help her! Dr. Cleopandh also said that she felt that Natalie would be a special person since she was born in this way. I think it’s amazing that God not only blessed us with a healthy baby, but He provided a Christian doctor (in a land where Christians aren’t common) to help us pray!

After delivery, I asked Dr. Cleopandh if she had any children, and she replied, “I have forty-four of them.” She went on to explain that she runs a home for abandoned children. To learn more about this home and the work Dr. Cleopandh does, check out: http://www.chaiyaprukchildrenhome.com/

Once on that site, if you scroll down a bit, you will see a video of Dr. Cleopandh talking about the home.

Thanks again for you support and prayers!!!!   To see a few more pictures for the beginning of the term, please click here

Summer in Thailand

Hello Everyone!! This is Dora! We apologize for not sending out a March blog update, but we thought since there is so much to report on, we would just send one blog to cover March and April! Sorry it’s a little long, but it’s been an exciting couple of months! The next blog will be at the end of May. Here’s what’s in store:

            Natalie!

            Academic Camp for Roi Et Students

            Visitors

            We’re Not in Kentucky Anymore!

            Goals

            Prayer Requests

           

Natalie!

            As you all know, on March 13, Natalie Paige made her debut! It’s hard to believe that she’s already a month old! It has been quite an adjustment for us, and it was pretty hard at first. THANK YOU to all who prayed for us and sent encouraging messages and emails. I can’t tell you how much your encouraging words meant to us both. The anxiety I was struggling with morphed into some depressive feelings for a couple of weeks, but that has all gone away now! Praise God! It was really great to have the students here for camp because I could go downstairs and talk with them or teach them music lessons and it would take my mind of any feelings of sadness that I had. We are still adjusting to how to live life with a child, but things are much better than they were. She’s a really sweet baby, and sleeps really well at night. God has truly blessed us. She loves “tummy time,” and is getting better and better about holding up her head. Every day she seems to do something new, and now she smiles and coos at us. She has a mobile with three stuffed bears, and it seems to be her favorite thing in the world. Every time we turn it on she smiles and “talks” to it! It’s so fun to watch. Thanks again for praying us through the toughest adjustment in our lives!

As many of you know, my parents had the opportunity to be here when Natalie was born. It was so amazing having them here! They got here on March 6^th , and we expected her to be born around the 8^th. Since she wasn’t born until the 13^th, we had a whole week to do a little bit of sightseeing around Bangkok. We did a LOT of walking to various parks, temples, restaurants, and markets. Then, they got to spend a whole week with their first grandchild! They were a huge help to us in our first week as parents, and we hated to see them go!

Here are a few pictures of her first month of life! Click here to see more!!

From Chris: Learning Parenthood-The First Big Baby Scare

I never knew I could be affected so deeply by the hurts and problems of someone so small.  About three weeks ago, we put Natalie down for a nap at about 7 PM so we could watch a movie on our day off. When I got her out of her crib to check on her at about 9:30, she had little ants all over the crux of her left eye. I was completely freaked out and started blowing them off as fast as I could. It turns out that the prolific ants in Thailand are attracted to baby tears. There is nothing we can do to stop the crazy onslaught of ants in a tropical country, so we just have to be very careful about how we take care of this little girl. The skin next to her eye got a little infected, so we took her to the doctor to get some antibiotic ointment. After freaking out over Natalie's sore next to her eye caused by ant bites, I broke down over the onsetting realization that there are so many life adjustments we have to make to keep our daughter safe in this new life of ours. This really is an incredibly daunting task, but we have an incredible God to lean on! 

Academic Camp for Roi Et Students

            Every March, the Muang Thai Church in Bangkok hosts a group of students from Roi Et at a month-long academic camp. Students study chemistry, physics, math, and art in the mornings with several university students from around Bangkok, and they study English in the afternoon with the group of us who teach up in Roi Et. In the past, there have been somewhere between 50 and 60 students attending camp, but this year there were only 27. At first I was a little discouraged that we had less students this time around, but it ended up being really great. Having a smaller group really allowed us to get to know the students much better and give them more individualized attention in English class, music lesson time, and in general “hang out” time. It’s been a super busy month with getting used to life with Natalie, trying to teach and minister to students, and Chris’ brother Hunter coming to visit, but we’ve had a blast!!

To see more pictures from camp, click here!!

             The theme of this year’s camp was “I Was Born to Be….” Each morning, the students listened to someone share about what it means to be a good child, a good student, a good teacher, a good friend, a good citizen, and a child of God. Throughout the camp, students were encouraged to think about the kind of person they currently are, and the kind of person that they want to be someday.

            The basic schedule of camp consists of the students waking up to eat breakfast, then spending an hour playing games, watching a skit, singing praise songs, and listening to a short teaching time. Chris faithfully got up every morning to go play guitar for the worship time with the students. We also helped teach during this morning session a few times. I taught one morning about what it means to be a good citizen of the world and I specifically focused on recycling. Anyone who knows me knows that this is a subject that is very close to my heart! I really felt like I was led to talk about how we can show love, justice, and mercy to other citizens of the world through how we treat the earth. 

            Chris spoke on another morning about what it means to be a child of God. He focused on the fact that no matter how much we try, we can never be a good friend, student, child, citizen, or teacher without the Holy Spirit. He shared about how faith in God and the help of the Holy Spirit working in us is what makes us a good friend, etc. There was a lot to share on this topic, so we carried it over to another day when we both taught together. We shared stories from our own lives and the lives of our friends about how God has empowered us all to be good friends, children, citizens, etc. We tried to communicate it well in Thai, and the students seemed pretty interested.

Teaching English: Games, Music, and All-Around Fun Times

            After the morning session, the students would go study chemistry, math, biology, physics, or art for three hours in the morning. After lunch they would go study English with either Chris, Lila, or another couple from a nearby college ministry. Chris taught the students in 10^th-12^th grade, while Lila taught the 7^th-9^th graders. Each day, they planned lessons out of the textbook series that we use to teach, but they would make them a lot more fun! Each part of every lesson came with a game in which students had to practice listening and speaking (and sometimes reading and writing). Some of the games that Chris had the students play included “Cops and Robbers,” “Swap, Steal, or Bust,” “Name That Country/Nationality,” and “I Have Never.” I won’t go into the explanations of these games, but they were really fun and gave the students lots of great practice in English (if you want an explanation, feel free to write us!). 

             Chris also discovered how much the kids loved to learn English praise songs, so he taught about 5 different songs over the course of the month. Each class, he would play them on his guitar for the students to sing along. It was a great language exercise as the students practiced listening comprehension skills when Chris explained the lyrics in English, and it spawned great spiritual discussions as Chris unpacked the more difficult concepts in Thai. The kids weren't satisfied with a day of English class if they didn't get to sing for at least 45 minutes, and they always sang so loud that I could hear them from our bedroom where I was staying with Natalie!

              Each weekend, the students would go sightseeing around Bangkok. The last Saturday of camp was Sports Day, in which the students participate in all kinds of crazy sports including Chair Ball (basketball on a grass field with people holding the baskets while standing on chairs), Water Balloon Volleyball, Dit Gup (they throw shows at each other to try to get everyone else out), Fear Factor (eat whatever is on the plate in front of you), etc.! It was a very fun day!

Music Lessons 

            Chris and I also spent a large part of our time teaching music lessons to the students in the evening. Chris taught guitar, saxophone, and flute, and I taught piano and violin. The music students are amazing!! They practice all the time and learn very quickly! We had already been teaching a few of these students in Roi Et, but several of them just started taking lessons at camp. We hope to continue teaching all of these students when we return to the northeast. It’s so fun to teach such motivated people!

 Wednesday Nights at Camp-Hearts and Hurts are Revealed

            Every Wednesday night at camp, the students were involved in a Bible study session. Each week, someone from the Muang Thai Church would come teach for about an hour, then the students would split into small groups to talk about the speaker’s topic and share a little bit about their lives. Each session ended with a prayer time. I participated in this time with students for three weeks. The first week, I facilitated one of the groups, which was really hard because they were speaking in both Thai and Issan. I don’t understand Issan at all, and the Thai words they were using were words that I’m not familiar with yet. The speaker that night had shared about forgiving others who had wronged you or someone close to you, and the students shared experiences they had when it was hard to forgive someone. It was hard on me because I really wanted to be able to understand them, but I couldn’t! One girl even started crying and I felt bad because I couldn't help.

             The next week, we combined two of the small groups so that I could help facilitate a group with our teammate Kat. This was much better! I actually did understand quite a bit more than I did the week before, and Kat helped fill in the gaps for me. On that night, the speaker had spoken about how we sometimes have something missing in our lives and we try to fill it with what the world has to offer when we should be filling it with Jesus. During the small group time, the students shared about what they felt was missing in their lives. One girl talked about how she needed money to help pay off her parents’ debt. Another girl talked about how she has no close friends, only acquaintances. Around 4 or 5 students spoke about how they long to know their parents. Many of you may remember us talking about how the majority of children in Issan live with their grandparents or other family members because their parents have to move to Bangkok or other large cities to find work. I have known this was the case for a while, but it really hit home when the students were talking about how much they struggle with this reality. One girl talked about how her father had visited her at the camp several times, and although she was grateful to see him, she felt like he was a stranger. She wanted to be able to connect, but found it hard to figure out what to say. Others talked about how they haven’t seen their parents in a year or longer, and they want to visit them but don’t have the opportunity. Most of them were very emotional about this fact. Please pray for these students. I don’t know what the solution is, but God does and I believe He hurts with these kids. 

            The last Wednesday night of the camp, Chris went to the meeting in my stead, and they were having a Candlelight Service in which they provided each student the opportunity to thank or apologize to any of their peers, teachers, or leaders. For Chris, it was one of the most affirming moments in our ministry in Thailand thus far. He had two girls thank him specifically for teaching them English, and another girl named Bow broke down crying and told him that she has always felt she was stupid and unable to learn, so she has never wanted to study English. However, she also said that she felt so affirmed and loved in Chris' English classes at camp that she now believes God has given her the ability and the desire to study! Thank God for the way He moves through us in unexpected ways!!! We truly are amazed at what He does! 

            During the camp I also had the opportunity to have several conversations with one of the girls in 11^th grade named Pam. She is a Christian and is struggling with what she wants to study after she gradates from high school. She talked about how she wants to do whatever God wants her to do, but she’s not sure what He’s telling her. I’m not sure that I offered much wisdom, but I felt like God gave me words to encourage her. She told me that she loved talking and hopes we can continue these conversations when we return to Roi Et. 

To see more pictures from camp, click here!!!

Visit from Hunter

            On March 30, Chris’ younger brother Hunter came to visit us for two weeks! It was so great to see him, and since he was here during the camp time, he had the opportunity to meet many of the students with whom we work. To say that the students loved him is an understatement!! They had so much fun trying to teach him Thai (and he learned quite a bit I might add) and practicing their English with him. He was a great sport--participating in their dancing time, English classes, and even eating some gross goo in the “Fear Factor” game during Sports Day! He was also great with Natalie, fitting nicely into his role as uncle. We took him to several places sightseeing, and he seemed to enjoy trying all of the wonderful food Thailand has to offer. It was a great visit!

TMS staff

            During the week before Natalie was born, several of the staff from The Mission Society came to Thailand to attend a conference. It was really great to see them, and we were thrilled that they were some of the first to meet Natalie!

We’re Not in Kentucky Anymore! 
Cultural Bloopers and Life Experiences


MK Robot

            One night we had the pleasure of going out to dinner with several of the staff of The Mission Society. We went to a restaurant called MK, which serves food that you cook at your own table in a hot soup pot. One of the most recent MK additions has been a green robot that travels around the restaurant and is controlled by a magnetic track on the floor. The robot will bring food to customers, or you can put your empty plates on a little tray that it holds. We had taken Natalie to the restaurant and she was sitting out in the walkway in her stroller. The robot never came to our table until we had already finished eating. It was trying to get by, but since Natalie was blocking its track, it proceeded to bump into her several times! Some of the waiters came running over to help, but instead of just turning the robot off, they all tried to move Natalie out of the way! We guess that was their way of telling us it was time for us to leave! 
 

Monitor Lizard Tries to Attack!!
            Last week was the Songkran festival in Thailand, in which Thai people celebrate the Thai New Year by having country-wide water fights. We just HAD to participate, so we all went down to Lumpini Park (the central park of Bangkok) and took shifts leaving the park to enter the blocked off street nearby to join the party. While Chris was taking his shift with Natalie in the park, a giant monitor lizard (about 4-5 feet long) climbed up the bank of the lake in front of them. Chris grabbed the camera in excitement because it's not often that the big lizards will come up so close to people. While he was shooting away, the lizard suddenly turned his head and his attention to where Natalie was lying on the mat. Immediately he started into a trot directly towards Chris and Natalie, and Chris had his first opportunity to protect his little girl! He scooped up Natalie, stood up tall, and made a bunch of noise to scare this modern dinosaur! Yay for Daddy instincts! We thank God AGAIN for His protection of our sweet daughter! We won't be laying her down on the ground in the park anymore!

What happened to privacy?

            While at Lumpini Park, it was time for me to nurse Natalie. I went into a bathroom to sit on a bench, and I covered up with a nursing cover. Things were going well until a lady came into the bathroom and stared at me for about ten minutes. Even though I was covered up, I felt pretty awkward. I was trying to make conversation, but she really seemed more interested in staring at me than talking. I thought this was weird enough, but then another lady came in. She took the invasion of my privacy one step further by walking over and actually pulling the cover off of me so that she could see Natalie!! Needless to say, I felt pretty violated! The second lady talked to me about Natalie and only stayed for about two minutes, but I was thoroughly uncomfortable the entire time! They were both older women and I was trying to be respectful, but it was quite difficult!

Goals for the Next Few Months

            One goal for when we return to Roi Et is to really dive back into our language study. I personally feel like my language skills have slipped somewhat, especially since I had Natalie. We are planning on asking another teacher at Suksasongkroh to help us with language weekly, and will continue to rely on our teammate Kat to help us as well. We really want to be fluent in this language, and although we have come a long way, we still have so far to go!

            Another goal is discipleship. We are starting to think of ways in which we can get more teenagers involved with the activities at the English language center and the church, and we are praying that God sends us more students who are interested in diving deeper into their faith. 

            Last, we want to try to better connect with the adults both at Suksasongkroh and in the village of Banon. We are praying that God will reveal ways for us to make more friends among the teachers with whom we work.

Prayer Requests:

• Chris is currently in Belgium attending a leadership conference with The Mission Society. Please pray that God reveals to him how we can better serve the Thai people and the other missionaries here, and that he would have a safe trip back to Thailand.
• Please pray that God will show us how to foster better relationships with the students we serve in Roi Et. The camp was a great time to build upon the relationships we already had, and we would love to become even closer to our students. Also pray that God will reveal students that we can start discipling.
• I am still working on my masters degree, but I’m almost finished! I just have a few pieces of my final project to finish, but it is still quite a bit of work. Please pray that I can make the time to do my work, and that I will pass this final project and receive my degree!
• Two of our friends, Justin and Amanda Camblin, will be coming to Thailand in May to help us kick off the new school year with our students. Please pray that they have safe travel and that their time here is meaningful.
• As I said before, please pray for all of the students we serve and the struggles in their lives. Pray for one girl in particular. I won’t mention her name for confidentiality, but she is really struggling with the Christian faith. She has been resistant for a long time, and she seems to be on the brink of giving her life to Christ. Please pray that God would eliminate anything that could hinder her from making a decision.

Thanks to You All for Our New Ministry Truck!

            As you know, we purchased the new (used) ministry truck back in February. We are now getting ready to buy a CarryBoy top for the truck bed so that we can transport students to church during the rainy season! Thanks again for all your prayers and financial support. That truck is already a huge blessing to us, and will be well used in Roi Et.

Thank you!!

As always, thank you so much for all your prayers and support. Like I said before, we have really needed it this past two months, and the effects of your prayers have definitely been felt. You all are amazing, and are such a blessing to us!