It’s hard to put into words or summarize all that this month in Thailand meant to me. Even before the Race, I knew that Thailand was going to be something special for me—always telling people it was the country I was most looking forward to, but never really having an explanation as to why. God put this place on my heart some time ago, and I now can see why.
As our bus moved further and further from the city, the scenery from my window shifted from tall office buildings and the smog of car exhaust to beautiful green rice fields and lovely, rigid mountain ranges. Every minute closer my soul felt lighter.
We arrived at the school where we would be working for the month and met our contacts. Our host for the month was the director of the school and one of the sweetest men I’ve ever had the honor of knowing. In our time there I don’t remember a single time that I saw him without a grin on his face. He did not speak English, so helping him translate was his daughter, Jayto, who quickly became our 9th sister for the month. We were each asked to choose a grade to teach, kindergarten through fifth grade and we would be getting our own classroom for our time there.
Anyone who knows me knows I’m a kid person—and the smaller the kid the more my heart melts. That being said, when it came time to choose our grades, my initial instinct was to call dibs on the tiny kindergarteners or at least first graders. However, I felt the Lord asking me to step out of my comfort zone, so when it came time to choose classes, I held off. “Who wants kindergarten?” Adrienne asked. I stayed silent. “first grade?” “second grade?”… I sat quietly. Finally when she called for third grade, there was a long pause and that’s when I raised my hand.
Just like that I became a third grade teacher, and looking back on it I wouldn’t have it any other way. While the other girls had between 13-20 something kids, I had the largest class size with 30 students. My students ranged in age from eight years old to 14 years old. You heard me right, 14 YEARS OLD, in a third grade classroom. In America those kids would be in eighth grade.
The reason for such an age gap is that our school in Thailand was located only 15 minutes from the Burmese border, and because of Burma’s corruption they do not offer good education. That being said, many of my older students were refugees from Burma, and because they are not regulated by the Thai government and the Burmese government is so corrupt, there was really no one telling them when they had to begin school—hence 14-year-olds in third grade.
Confession time: Up until this point, I didn’t like the idea of being a teacher. I taught English in Ecuador and it stressed me out. I put so much pressure on myself to make perfect lesson plans and would constantly tell myself it was on my shoulders to make sure these kids got a good English education. In Colombia we didn’t technically teach, but we visited many middle schools and high schools to share our testimonies and talk to the kids about abstinence, big-picture perspective and self worth. I learned a lot that month, but to be honest, there were times I wanted to lose it. There’s something about sharing your soul with kids and looking back at them as they try to secretly text under their desk or make kissy faces at their girlfriend across the room that makes you want to take someone out. (To all my middle school and high school teachers, my deepest apologies for my brat-like behavior.)
But this month was different. I went into the first day of class (and every day following) with absolutely no plan. Every morning I would enter the room and my students would stand up and greet me in unison with a “Good morning teacher, how are you?” My students were sweet and most of all they were hungry for an education. During our time there we observed that the majority of the children’s time at school was spent outside in recess or “free-time” waiting for a teacher to arrive to class.
I remember when I was in school I would have killed for one more hour of recess, but these kids wanted to learn something new—they wanted an opportunity to use their brains and to test themselves. They could be spread across the school yard, engaged in an intense game with their friends, but if they saw me walking towards our classroom they would drop what they were doing, round up the rest of the third graders and run to take their seats, shushing each other so that I could start teaching them something new. We learned the sounds of the alphabet, random vocabulary words, key phrases, months and days of the week and an assortment of other things. I remember going over their numbers with them in English and their eyes widening every time I added a zero. “One hundred, one thousand, ten thousand, one HUNDRED thousand …” there were gasps. We played games, goofy ones and educational ones. We laughed and we teased each other and we learned—I would teach them the word in English and they would teach it to me in Thai. My kids were fun and they were good and they were smart. I felt blessed to be their teacher and I loved to hear them say it. “Good morning teacher”—My heart felt the words each time.
I’m learning a lot about myself this year. I’m learning my two favorite names to be called in this world are “teacher” and “Auntie”. I’m learning the truth behind the verse Philippians 4:13- “I can do all things through Him who gives me strength”, and was reminded of it each day I walked into my classroom without an agenda or proper materials and walked out with a smile on my face and a feeling of accomplishment in my heart. And above all I’m learning how well and how intimately my Heavenly Father knows my heart.
I couldn’t have planned a better month and a better experience, and He knew that. He saw the plans I was working out in my head this time last year and what my ideas were of the perfect situation and he chuckled. He saw this month in Thailand and these kids and the experiences I would have long before I ever arrived, and He thought, “Oh this one. She’s gonna love this one. She can’t miss this.”
Bravo Jesus. Bravo.
Here’s a few pictures of my 30 heartthrobs from the month—my students. It still feels so cool say.
Some of my girls.
Some of my boys.
Look out for my next blog, with more details about my month and the people that changed my life and my heart forever.
