More Than Words

For the last week or so I have been reading the book of Titus over and over.  I am so compelled by this book to stop sitting around and talking about doing something.  I want to do something.  Titus says that we should not be idle, that we should teach those that are older than us and those that are younger than us.  What is the use in talking about strategies and having meeting after meeting after meeting when there are people starving for truth and people dying in the streets?  I think that we as christians need to wake up.  We need to give up on our conservative urge to simply committee everything to death and become a little bit more liberal.  Jesus was indeed much more liberal than christians today.  I challenge you and I challenge myself to not ignore things anymore, don’t think you’re too busy to help, feed someone who is starving, give someone a home, do something.  do anything.  do not allow yourself to be idle because you hold something that is too good to not be shared.

 Well classes have started for August and I am Teaching Level 1.  Last month I was teaching Level 2.  The classes are very full and very fun.  I have two classes with 10 and 12 students.  That’s a huge class for Santisuk, they barely all fit around the tables :).  We are learning consanat sounds, there was a quiz on the ‘th’ sound yesterday and one on the short ‘i’ sound today.  Yesterday my second class played a huge game of speed scrabble and in two weeks there will be a speed scrabble championship at the school. 

Everything is going well and I really appreciate all of your continued support through prayer.  God is doing wonderful things here and it is so exciting to watch him work.  Please add Michael Devries to your prayer list, he is going to China to distribute bibles to the people there.  He will come to Thailand as well.   Please pray for his safety and health as well as for his mission to be a success. 

Hello everyone!

I have had this week off from classes and have been keeping myself really busy, it’s very fun to go out with the thai people and to see all of the things that I would never get to see at home. 

A couple of days ago I went to see Thai Boxing, it was so much fun.  The old Thai men all around me were betting all the way through every match.  I couldn’t see how they found anything even remotely resembling order but at the end of the night we watched them all pay up and there seemed to be no confusion whatsoever.

I moved from my apartment that I shared with Lisa to a room that I now share with Rung, a girl that works at Santisuk.  Rung is very nice and she has been helping me with my Thai.  I’m slowly learning but it’s extremely difficult.  Yahk mahk mahk as the Thai would say.  I have been forming my first small scentences and it’s kind of fun.  Yesterday I said “Rung gaap Hannah ja baay gin aahaan yee poon.”  or ” Hannah and Rung are going to eat Japanese food.”  Like I said, pretty basic but still fun.

This is a picture of Rung and I on the floating market trip:

 Rung and I have been talking since before I came to Thailand and she is one of the most joyful and kind people I have ever met.  She always has this gentle christian love of everything around her.  Santisuk is lucky to have such a loving woman on staff at the school.

Today is the last day of school. Both of my classes have their finals and then we will go out and celebrate. I will go to my uncles for the weekend and I leave early Sunday morning. God’s work here hasn’t been  as visible to me as it was in India. But we planted seeds and only God’s spirit can make them grow. God, however, brought to light some issues of my own. I know God has a bigger plan and we will never get to see the whole picture, but I did get to see how he has changed some things in me. It’s funny, you go thinking you are bringing God to the people, but for me, He has brought himself Closer to me.  Thank you all for your support and prayers. This trip has truly been a blessing.

Lisa

Hey- Sorry We haven’t written in awhile. We were at English Camp in Chamberi(?).  It was a chance for students to work on English outside of a school setting. It was right on the Bay of Thai. We left early Friday morning and returned in the evening of Sunday. We sang songs, played games(taught the Thai students how to chicken fight in the water), read bible stories, and had time to talk with students individually and go swimming. The beach, however, was not sandy clear blue beach. The ocean floor was laced with sea shells, coral and other rocks. Many feet were bleeding by the time we got out of the water. It was still fun to be in the water. We even got to see fish jumping right by us. The funnest part was the Talent show. For the weekend we were divided into ten groups of eight. Each group had to do a skit or musical performance for five minutes. As you can guess, Hannah’s team one. She was the glue that held the her group together. My group won first place in the games catagory.  All in all, it was a great time.  I never went to camp so it was a great experience for me.

Well I have finally figured out pictures as the internet at SES has been fixed.  The first pictures here are from the day trip that Lisa and I took to the floating market and the rose garden.

this is from left: Tong, Hannah, Pee Kai, and Muay.  All of these women are in Hannah’s night class and are in the second-level english class. 

Lisa and I cannot remember the names of the two older ladies on the left, they were so funny and they chatted with us all of the two hours from Santisuk to the floating market.  The girl to the right of Lisa is Hannah’s student Tong.  Everyone bought these silly hats and Lisa was so excited about hers!

the floating market was so much fun and we saw and smelled and tasted lots of things that we’d never seen/smelled/tasted before.  Hannah saw a lizard kill and eat a bird right next to the boat, it was really cool.  Lisa was bummed that she missed it. 

The one thing that I (Hannah) kept thinking through the whole trip was how much my daddy would love it there.  It’s quiet and serene and the best part is that the only way to get anywhere is by taking a boat.  The houses literally hang over the water.  It’s so beautiful and so… just so John Noser I hope you get to see it someday Daddy.

Last year I got a tattoo around my wrist with the date I went to India and the words from Mathew 7:7 . I did this as a reminder for myself. But God has used it in another way. Everyone that I meet wants to know what it says. So I tell them what it means and why it is important to me. I have found that I have spoken the most about God when people ask about my tattoo.

This weekend was a busy weekend. We spent a lot of time outside the classroom with our students. On Saturday, two of my students took me to a city about an hour outside of Bangkok. I got to ride my elephant. It was amazing. We rode the elephant around some old temple ruins and in a park. It was beautiful. That night, the school put on a “party” called East meets West. We taught the students how to play four square and how to do the electric slide. We also had a cake walk and served sloppy joes for dinner. The Thai people showed us some of the cultural dances and songs. We had a great time.

Sunday, we went to JJ market to do some shopping for our family. There were about 2000 venders. It was hot and crowded, but we survived. Also, we found some good bargains.

Thank you for all of your support and prayers,

Lisa

Today I took the day “off” and instead of going out with students I stayed in my room and took it easy, I’ve been feeling ill and the english camp is next weekend and I do not want to be sick for that.

I was reading Luke today and the passage that caught me was in Luke 12 verses 42-48.  The reading is about how people who are given much have much required from them.  I definitely suggest meditating on these words, the NLT is the translation that I feel is the easiest to understand.  The words helped me to see that only a foolish and selfish person would misuse things that they have no right to own.  None of my gifts are my own and as such they belong to God and His children.  If I know my duty and do not do what I should, I am not only a fool but a theif.  God has given me much and therefore much is required of me.

~Hannah

I have been listening to a christian singer named Ginny Owens. She is one of my favorite singers. She said something that really hit a chord with me. She was talking about how a woman said that when God gives us trials in life, it is so we can learn and become stronger. But, Ginny said it is not the trials per say that makes us stronger, but what we do with those trials. Do we lay them at the foot of the cross? I do not always lay my problems at the cross. I am doing that now, and it is amazing what peace comes with doing that.  

Hello all,

Sorry that that it has been a couple of days since I last wrote. This weekend we got to spend time with our students and go on outtings with them. It was a wonderful time to get to know them and tell them about us and why we are really here. On Friday, My class and a few of the American teachers went to the Grand Palaces, one of the King’s mansions and to the Emerald Budha temple. It was was amazing. There are so many colors in Thailand, it almost hurts your eyes. Saturday, Hannah’s class and another teacher’s class and I went to the Water Market and the rose garden. At the water market, I felt like I was back in Venice only here there were way more colors and smells. At the rose garden, we got to see some traditional Thai dances and ceremonies. One of the shows that we saw had elephants in it. I got to go up to the elephant and it kissed me on my face and head. It didn’t realize elephants bark. I also got to see how silk is made. It is such a long and tedious process. On Sunday I went to two temples with just my adult students. I saw the longet budha and I also got to climb on of the temples. All in all it was a wonderful weekend. The best part was being able to interact with our Thai students. The rainy season has begun. It will rain hard for about twenty minutes a couple of times a day and will be cloudy. This has created very humid days. The humidity is so thick you can feel that, along with the polution on your skin.

Have a blessed day-Lisa