It has been approximately one week since we have arrived at our ministry location, and I am still in awe of how completely different ministry is this month compared to the last two.
We have been sent up North again for relational ministry to college students. From Bangkok, we boarded a luxury bus that took us on a 7-hour trek to Uttaradit. Now when I say luxury bus, I mean LUXury bus. The seats could have held two of me, they provided SNACKS, blankets, and my chair leaned back so far I was almost vertical.
We are staying upstairs in a store-front type building complete with air conditioning (praise the Lord) AND wifi. This is definitely a month that we are spoiled by a few comforts including a real toilet and the ability to cook for ourselves. We were able to find real JIF peanut butter, OREOS, and yogurt. Only the essentials of course!
We have had several guests make an appearance including a frog in our kitchen sink, snails that crawl up the walls, and a lizard friend who has been spotted sporatically through out the house on the bathroom wall, by the kitchen sink, and on the stairs. Lord only knows where he may appear next.
As mentioned before, our ministry for the month is to the college students of Uttaradit University. Every day we walk approximately 1 km to campus where we sit and eat with the students for lunch (an excuse to eat Thai food and talk? Yes please!), then invite them to learn English with us every day from 5-7 pm at the house where we are staying. At that time we play games, sing songs, and help them practice their English from basic beginning skills to conversation.
At the school cafeteria during lunch AND teaching the students how to "finger-joust"
There is such a joy in this country that is contagious. The students have welcomed us with open arms and every night so far we have had up to 40 students packed into a tiny sweaty building. The Pastor who we work with has literally given up everything he had in Bangkok and moved to Uttaradit 2 months ago to answer a call from the Lord. His son is our translator and we have been so blessed by their love and the way that they follow and worship the Lord.
Our team after church on Sunday!
