THAILAND TEAM 2011

So much to share, where do we start?

So here we go - try to keep up. LOL No really, there is a lot that God has done since we left early Thursday morning.

We left the church at 3:15 a.m. and headed off to the Springfield airport. From there we flew to Chicago; Chicago to Seoul, Korea; Korea to Bangkok; Bangkok to Chiang Mai. We were told in Springfield that our luggage would be checked all the way to Chiang Mai; however, upon arrival in Bangkok we decided to play things safe and check for our luggage. Springfield was correct, our luggage was checked all the way to Chiang Mai. We boarded our next flight on Saturday morning early to Chiang Mai. All flights safe and sound - no problems. Upon arrival in Chiang Mai we went to Domestic for luggage - "no luggage" - then off to International. There were six lonely bags sitting all by themselves - BOY WERE THEY A BEAUTIFUL SIGHT TO OUR EYES. We then had to run them through the scanners. We were had - it was discovered that four bags contained many items. We were asked several questions - of which we did not understand, time for the interpreter. Long story short, we ended up having to pay tax on the crayolas only. GOD WAS GOOD. We will share this story in detail with the church at a later time.

With luggage in hand off to the mountain we go. We all made it up the mountain without getting ill. Once in Mae Sariang we hit the ground running with going off to the school immediately. We also went into the village. There has been an enormous amount of rain causing mudslides. The government has ordered the people in the village to evacuate; however, only two families have done so. This is their village and their homes and most have no money to rebuild or go elsewhere. We need to be in specific prayer for a hedge of protection around this village. Some of the students homes have already flooded causing loss of school uniforms as well as other belongings. After discussion, it was determined that we needed to have our own church at the school on Sunday morning, so that is exactly what we did. Oh lead the children in music, Marinda taught the "Jesus Loves Me" song and explained as well as doing sign language, Leona shared a message of scripture. Yes this blonde likes to talk - especially when it comes to talking about my King. God had this all planned and boy was it a blessing. We had 43 students, two Thai teachers, Oh, and us. We learned this morning that we did this on a Buddhist (sp) holiday. WHOW!!!! We could have never done this five years ago.

Once we finished church, off to lunch, back to the hotel to change our clothes, and then off to the afternoon youth service with Vannalee. There we heard the sermon in Thai, Karen, and English. We were asked to share while we were there. Again, Marinda and Leona shared scripture, explained that it is through God that we are able to be here, and that we loved them and God loved them.

It was then back to the hotel to prepare and organize for the beginning day of English Camp and most importantly "prayer". We finally ended the evening around 10:00 p.m. and off to bed for a little sleep (which is what most of us are getting) but that is ok.

We started the day off early this morning with breakfast at 6:30 a.m., leaving for the school at 7:30 a.m., and upon arrival we were informed that the students would be honoring the Buddhist holiday with a school program. Therefore, we did not get started with English Camp until approximately 9:30 a.m. This meant shortening lessons and being flexible. MAI PEN RAI - NO WORRIES - NO PROBLEM. Marinda taught the first lesson going through vocabulary picture words; John shared an object lesson; Leona told the story of the John 3:16 House; we made a John 3:16 craft with the children; John told facts about octipus; and then we made YARN octupus with all 45 first, second, and third graders - yes we had a great time but boy did it take a while - IT WAS WELL WORTH THE TIME. We did determine that boys do not know how to braid.

The afternoon session begin with Jesus Film and it was broken into three sessions - with stories, games, and vocabulary lessons being done at each break in the film. All activities were centered around each section of the film that we had just watched. We ended with the wordless book being shared.

The children were very attentive and glad that we were there. Of course, they all want to know where Kara and Jonathan are. It was an AMAZING DAY and we will start tomorrow with the 4, 5, and 6 grades.

Continue to be in prayer as we continue to share about our one and only God.

THE END OF DAY 1 POST.

Blessings and love,
The Thailand Team 2011
John, Marinda and Leona

P.S. We tried to post pictures and the computer we are working on - DOES NOT - like to cooperate. We will try again tomorrow.