Month Seven: Thailand
We still have more than a week left here in Thailand and I am already sad to say goodbye. This month has gone so quickly and I have loved every minute of it.
Team Kairos is living in Mae Sao Tambol, a little town as close to the Myanmar (Burma) boarder as you can get. We are living and doing ministry at a Buddhist school: 169 precious children from Pre-K – 6th grade that we get to pour into and share the love of Jesus with. We are living in one of the Kindergarten classrooms and it is perfect. A portable stove, a microwave, a fridge, chilly showers and a table where we can eat team dinners and just hang out. We are all sleeping on the floor, eight sleeping pads and blanket mattresses lined up along one wall. It is the best spot for movies, sleeping bag wrestling, shadow puppets at bedtime and rolling over each other to talk to people further down the row. We have a huge green yard right outside, with a track around it. It is perfect for hammocking, star gazing, walks and talks with teammates and to just spend time with Jesus. There is also a Buddhist temple right next door, we were able to go to the grand opening and surround the place with prayer. It was an incredible opportunity, one I will never forget!
I’m a teacher this month, to a class of thirteen first graders. You would think they would all be 6-7, but my children age from 7 to 12. All the classes are like this because some of the students are so behind. Some of them are Burmese refugees and school was not an option, but most of students have a huge desire to learn and that is so refreshing to see. I am in the classroom with my students for three hours a day and we also have Thai dance class and music class, in which the teachers teach US dance and music.
In Thai dance we wear big pieces of fabric tied and rolled and pulled in between our legs as pants. I, the shortest person on the team, was given the largest piece of fabric. Basically I look like I am five feet long, with a hot air balloon in my pants and have enough fabric between my legs to fully clothe a small nation. It has been hilarious, slightly disastrous and such an adventure. Don’t worry, I have video proof that I will gladly show you sometime in the future.
Music class is also quite the adventure. I have always said I am not very musically talented, now I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am not very musically talented. The instruments are some of the most beautiful instruments I have ever seen, they both sound and look beautiful. We are taught by some of the students and I try to follow their instructions and bang around like the best of them, but it’s a hopeless cause. During the first class my teammate Adri and I shared an instrument, I learned one part and she would learn the next, so when it came time to play the whole song neither of us knew it, it was a disaster and I felt terrible for my poor teachers. I’m sure it would be easier if I knew what the symbols on the xylophone keys meant, but instead I am busy trying to memorize the grain of the wood on each individual key.
We have been so blessed this month by our hosts Ajarn Dusit, his wife and his daughter, Jayto (the director of the school and his daughter is a teacher). They have shown us so much generosity! Ajarn Dusit hung curtains in our room so there would be “no peepers,” created a shower, continuously takes us to the store to buy our groceries and also gives us more food than we can eat. He took us to the hot springs and while we were swimming made us dinner on a portable stove, in a field with candles all around, under the starry sky. It was the nicest date I have ever been on, there may have been nine people on this date instead of two, but that doesn’t really matter, now does it? It was one of my favorite nights on the Race so far. He is the most generous and joy filled man and he has been such a blessing to our team. Him and his family are devout Buddhists and although he desperately needs Jesus, he doesn’t know it. It would be one thing if his life was falling apart, but he is more happy, more joy filled and more generous with what he has than most Christians I know.
This month is tied with Ecuador for my favorite month. I enjoy that we have a set schedule for ministry, I love the simplicity of our lives, I enjoy the laughter and community we have been having with our team. This month has been more full of intentional prayer with my team. The word I would use to describe this month would be FULL.
Full of children – laughter, hugs and pictures they drew just for me, or at least for the first white girl to walk by.
Full of team adventures – shadow puppets, having to make pancakes in a microwave, late night walks around the track with headlamps, cheering on wrestling, telling drunk Thai men that, no, we will no get into the ring to wrestle, movie nights, jam sessions in the backs of trucks and so much more.
Full of growth – months 5 and 6 were challenging growth wise. I hit the halfway point of the Race, where some days all I wanted was to go home. In my free time I could have pulled out my Bible or listened to a sermon, but instead I played a game on my phone or took a nap. Thank goodness this month has been different. I realized that the Race will end before I know it and I need to make the most of it. I have so much free time this month and I have been trying to use it wisely. I have been pressing in to what Jesus has to teach me instead of running from it, like the last few months. I have been reading fun books and serious books, listening to sermons with my team, writing letters and just trying to not waste time waiting. It has made the biggest difference and I think that is why Thailand is one of my favorite months.
So there you go, that is a little about my crazy month in Thailand. It’s been so full of life and I am so thankful for this month. Oh! And on Sunday we ride ELEPHANTS and I am so excited about it I could cry tears of joy.
Peace out friends! Thanks for reading!
