As I sit in the room listening to my teammate teach English I get chills. Not because it is chilly (which it actually is) but because I am realizing how big the world is and yet how our hopes and fears are the same.
In our province there has been a lot of flooding. Roads are washed out and right now travel in and to some places is not possible. This morning we got news that one of the churches in Nan is flooded as is Lotus (the main biggest store within several hours of here). It poured for over 36 hours straight and now it is falling in spurts. While the farmers are glad to see the rain (after a week of no rain) the rest of the people are distressed. The forecast now is showing scattered storms for the rest of the week.
Rain or shine my teammate and I will be traveling up to a hill tribe this weekend. Please ask the Father to keep our roads safe and to keep us safe during our travels. Please pray that the rain would subside for a time so that the roads can get fixed and so that everyone can have safe roads to travel on. Last Saturday we traveled up to visit two villages and meet the girls parents. Some of the roads were already partially washed out and there were signs that there could easily be more damage. This weekend we will be camping out in the village. We will have no electricity, no bathroom, and we aren't sure exactly what we will be eating! lol. But we are excited. Although we will never really be Thai we are learning.
We were told on Friday that in order to be a REAL THAI woman there was a very difficult job that we would have to do. (My house father reminds me so much of my real dad which has been a blessing!) When our house father sat us down outside he brought us a bag, a big bowl, a small bowl, and two wicker plate type things. Our job? We had to sift the rice to get the seeds and bugs out. It wasn't a hard job, but it wasn't the easiest thing to do either!!
Also last Saturday we had another experience that confirmed that we were really becoming more and more Thai. We were heading to a village. (We hadn't known we were going so we had no camera, no water, no backpack, and most importantly no toilet paper!!!!) My teammate and I both had to go to the restroom!!! When we stopped we asked our house father (In THAI!!!) if there was a bathroom, he pointed to a building. We walked over and then "decided" which was the girls bathroom. We walked up and behold, it was a squaty potty!! We had to use the restroom and so we went for it. It was pitch black, a squaty potty, and we had no toilet paper. When we cam out someone handed us hand sanitizer and we were very proud of ourselves!!
Then Saturday night and Sunday morning we walked to the local church!!! In the rain!!! Today we will ride a motorbike back to the house from the school. Needless to say we are sooo proud of ourselves and how easily we have adapted to the new way of life. There are a few things that I miss, but it seems that as soon as I think of them God provides. I was missing chocolate and my house mom made brownies for breakfast, I was missing ice and my house father surprised me with a frozen coffee, I was missing American English and last night we found another "Ferong" from the great USA!!! It was so nice to hear a familiar voice even though my teammate and I had never met him before.
Please ask the Father to bless this region of Thailand. It is the rainy season here, but this type of steady rain for so long is not good. Please ask the Father to look after my teammate and me as we travel this weekend into the village. (I am not 100% sure when we are leaving but I think we are leaving at some point on Wednesday and coming back on Friday). Please continue to ask the Father to bless our hands, feet, and mouths as we teach in the schools and form relationships with the students and teachers. Especially for our Person of Peace! She is so open to listening to what we have to say. And is open to our friendship!
Rain or shine my teammate and I will be traveling up to a hill tribe this weekend. Please ask the Father to keep our roads safe and to keep us safe during our travels. Please pray that the rain would subside for a time so that the roads can get fixed and so that everyone can have safe roads to travel on. Last Saturday we traveled up to visit two villages and meet the girls parents. Some of the roads were already partially washed out and there were signs that there could easily be more damage. This weekend we will be camping out in the village. We will have no electricity, no bathroom, and we aren't sure exactly what we will be eating! lol. But we are excited. Although we will never really be Thai we are learning.
We were told on Friday that in order to be a REAL THAI woman there was a very difficult job that we would have to do. (My house father reminds me so much of my real dad which has been a blessing!) When our house father sat us down outside he brought us a bag, a big bowl, a small bowl, and two wicker plate type things. Our job? We had to sift the rice to get the seeds and bugs out. It wasn't a hard job, but it wasn't the easiest thing to do either!!
Also last Saturday we had another experience that confirmed that we were really becoming more and more Thai. We were heading to a village. (We hadn't known we were going so we had no camera, no water, no backpack, and most importantly no toilet paper!!!!) My teammate and I both had to go to the restroom!!! When we stopped we asked our house father (In THAI!!!) if there was a bathroom, he pointed to a building. We walked over and then "decided" which was the girls bathroom. We walked up and behold, it was a squaty potty!! We had to use the restroom and so we went for it. It was pitch black, a squaty potty, and we had no toilet paper. When we cam out someone handed us hand sanitizer and we were very proud of ourselves!!
Then Saturday night and Sunday morning we walked to the local church!!! In the rain!!! Today we will ride a motorbike back to the house from the school. Needless to say we are sooo proud of ourselves and how easily we have adapted to the new way of life. There are a few things that I miss, but it seems that as soon as I think of them God provides. I was missing chocolate and my house mom made brownies for breakfast, I was missing ice and my house father surprised me with a frozen coffee, I was missing American English and last night we found another "Ferong" from the great USA!!! It was so nice to hear a familiar voice even though my teammate and I had never met him before.
Please ask the Father to bless this region of Thailand. It is the rainy season here, but this type of steady rain for so long is not good. Please ask the Father to look after my teammate and me as we travel this weekend into the village. (I am not 100% sure when we are leaving but I think we are leaving at some point on Wednesday and coming back on Friday). Please continue to ask the Father to bless our hands, feet, and mouths as we teach in the schools and form relationships with the students and teachers. Especially for our Person of Peace! She is so open to listening to what we have to say. And is open to our friendship!
-Bailey