One of the ministries we are involved in here in Pattaya is teaching English to local Thai women. We teach every Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoon.
All of our ministries here in Pattaya are so good that it is impossible to distinguish any one as a favorite. This particular ministry is a lot of fun. These women are so sweet and happy. They love to laugh at us and with us. Before now I never realized the complexity of the English language. Trying to teach it to Thai women made it especially clear. The hardest part is trying to get them to say my name. The “H” sound is hard, but throw in the “th” and the “r” at the end and it is near impossible. They are good sports though. They laugh at the difference between my accent and the accent of the English lady that teaches them. They smile at me and repeat after me as we say new words over and over. They laugh sheepishly when they pronounce it wrong and give me a huge smile when I try to say the words to them in Thai.
Today we worked on body parts. I must say that our team does a rousing rendition of Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. We just have to make sure that we all sing the same version. Today we got caught 1/2 of us singing the American tune and 1/2 singing the African tune. Our Thai friends were thoroughly confused, but they just laughed, and we righted ourselves soon after. I have learned that no matter what the barrier is with spoken words, a smile and a laugh can cross almost any divide. Prayer bridges that language gap also. At the end of each class, we sing a praise song and pray together. Then we pray individually for the women that need it. It touches my heart every time to go to my Father on behalf of these women who need Him. They may not understand what I say when I pray, but the look on their faces when I finish shows a depth of gratitude words cannot explain. It is a sweet time. All I can say is Thank you Lord for allowing me to be a part of it.
