Your Love Never Fails

Family Camp and Floods

Last weekend was Santisuk's family camp. The term family camp conjures up images of parents and children playing games and worshipping together. However, because there are very few families where every member is a believer, I learned that this family camp is really about being a church family. Our church was joined by the teams from the other Santisuk locations in Thailand and a team of missionaries from the Philippines. There was question as to whether or not we should even go because of all the flooding. Some didn't go for fear that Bangkok would flood while we were gone. Others believed that instead of going on a retreat, we should be going to help out those who have been affected. But the leaders really believed that God was saying go. So go we did! It was a lot of fun. I got to make better friends among the people at my own church, but also friends with people from other location and from the Philippines! The theme for the weekend was "One heart." You see, Santisuk's pastor and his family are currently in the US, taking a refresher year before jumping back into ministry here. The church is now led by a group of people who, obviously, have different ideas about how ministry should work. The intent of this weekend was to bring us all together and remind ourselves that we are all united in one purpose and share one heart. I think the most powerful time at camp was Saturday night. The speaker, from a Santisuk location about an hour away, called everyone to a time of foot-washing. If you know Thai culture at all, the foot is the lowest part of the body, both literally and metaphorically. In Thailand, it is an insult to show the bottom of your foot to someone. You must point your feet away from all statues of Buddha. So you get a little bit of my thoughts, right? It started with the leaders of the church getting down first to wash feet. People were hesitant to go up. After you got your feet washed, you were supposed to get down and then someone else would come to get their feet washed by you. I was moving to watch people humble themselves to both wash feet and to let their own feet be washed. Everyone participated. That was a big encouragement for me, but what surprised me is that after everyone had done it, the foot-washing continued. People began reaching out to others, asking if they could wash their feet. I think that brought a lot of healing to the community. There were tears and hugs and prayers and kind words spoken. Personally, my feet were washed 4 times and I also washed 4 people's feet, including the feet of my former co-leader. If you know anything about that relationship, it'll suffice to say it was strained. It was an incredible night of healing for many.

We returned home to more worry about flooding. Not surprisingly, God protected us and our area for the whole weekend. On Tuesday, I received word that within 60 hours, Latphrao (our street) would have water. We didn't know which part of the road (the road is reallllly long), but we were to be prepared. Then by the end of the day, the Thai government declared a national holiday from the 27-31. That meant we had to end our session a day early. My students got away with not taking their final! But I'm sure they would have done well. I just really wanted them to do it so that they could see how much they improved. Yesterday was my longest day by far. It was the last day, and as usual, I arrived a few minutes before 7 to start class. I had been sick the night before (Oh yea, I forgot to mention that.. I've been sick twice from eating food at the mall.. and they say not to eat from vendors!) so I really did not want to teach my 10am class, but I taught it. At 3, I went with my last class to get ice cream from the Swensens at the mall. They treated me, and then a couple of the girls took me down stairs to the big fair in the middle. We played a few games and I won two, so I got a free tote bag! Yay! I will now use it for my teaching stuff. :) Then we watched a mime show and then I went back to school because grades were due and I still had to correct the essays they turned in. I finally turned in my grade sheets and left for home a little after 5:30. That was like 10.5 hours of work. I was exhausted. I took a short nap, and then went to dinner with friends and hung out for a while. Now I'm here. :)

Other information that didn't go with the flow of the story above: Lisa (SES director) informed me that the school board would be meeting Friday to discuss salary for foreign hires. She told me that it would not compete with other places, but to pray about it. The contract would be from January to June. She told me later that she received information that flooding here would be low risk. It would be only about knee deep, more of an inconvenience than anything. She also said that if the risk were to become greater, like having to shut off electricity, we would be allowed to leave Bangkok for a while (normally as missionaries, we are supposed to stick around here). She told me that she and another long term missionary would go together if that were the case and I would be more than welcome to join them. But we'll see if it comes to that. For now, I'm stocked on water (my student brought me a whole case of water bottles, which was really sweet considering EVERYWHERE is sold out of water, even grocery stores and 7-11s) and now have a fridge full of food (for probably the first time since I've been here) that was mostly just given to me. Praise the Lord for being taken care of!

Anyway, I'm thoroughly enjoying this day off. I slept late and woke up leisurely and took a long shower and ate breakfast and read my Bible and wrote in my prayer journal and even found time to write a blog. ;) Later, I'll be going to hang out with friends and watch movies. Maybe we'll even order pizza. :)

Much love,
Tracy

So. Busy.

I never thought I would be so busy here! Each day, I teach 3 classes and then hang out with students for a bit then usually go home to change and then end up going out to eat with people and having good conversation and/or hang out time and then return home around 9, just in time to waste a few minutes on Facebook, shower and go to bed again. This is four out of seven days a week. The other days have not held much more rest! Last Friday, I went to the Grand Palace with one of my classes and then came back, changed and went to practice at church because I was singing and playing that night. (It went well, by the way. Check Facebook for the video to appear eventually.) Then Saturday, I went to lunch and Karaoke with another class. We ended up eating and singing for 4 hours! After that, I came home and packed a bag because I was going to have a sleepover with my cell group as a party for our friend Joy's going away party. So we stayed up late and hung out and then had cell group the next morning. And it was raining, so we stayed there all day and did facials and played music and hung out. And then I came back and went to dinner with friends. And then it was time to go to bed to start the new week! I have no time to be lonely at all! I also need to be careful about giving myself time to relax. I haven't been the greatest at spending time in prayer lately. I read at least a chapter in my Bible everyday, but then again, I'm reading through Ezekiel right now, and sometimes it's hard to glean applicable info. Lately I've been practicing with the band form church because I am singing again this week. It's really an honor to be asked, because they want worship to be Thai-led. It's a great blessing to get to share two songs in just a few weeks. Last night we had our English for Fun night. This month it was in the form of a speech contest, of which I was a judge and also got to share a bit of my testimony (why I came to Thailand). It was a great night, and my students did wonderfully. One of them won! I am so proud! Today I said no to something for the first time. I knew I needed to just be for a bit. I was able to read and receive and pray and spend some quality time with my Savior. It's been a good morning. I also got to talk to my family and my friend via skype. Soon I will be going to the mall to buy a couple gifts for my "buddy" that I will have at family camp. But we don't know if family camp is happening yet because of flood possibilities. Bang Kapi has remained dry so far, but places near us have been hit. I have been told that supposedly today it will happen. I'm past the point of trying to prepare though. It seems like it will never come. (But don't worry, I have cereal and food bars and dried noodles and water.) The place we are supposed to go for family camp may or may not be flooding this weekend, so it's really up in the air right now. But I'd really like to go because I want to get to know the people I have only seen once or twice. And I want to spend time with people I already love. I'm very excited, so I hope it doesn't get cancelled. Monday is a holiday, so I only have 3 days left of this session at Santisuk. Then I really have to pray about where God wants me in November. I've been told by the director at Santisuk that if a job comes along, it would be okay for me to take it. I don't know yet if that's what God has for me. Or if I should stay at Santisuk for one more session to gain experience and have more time to learn Thai. I really don't know. Please be in prayer about that, that God will make very clear which steps I am to take. Okay, time to be off again!

Run, run, run
Tracy

Finally. Friends and Floods

So I've been without internet in my room for the last few days. It seems like it's been out for forever. Well, since Saturday night. That's pretty much forever nowadays, right? It hasn't bothered me much except for the fact that I know my parents (and maybe other people?) want to know what's going on in my life! Let's start with a response to a comment I received on an earlier post.

What have been some of the differences in my thinking this time around?

(That was all written Tuesday. I have since been SO busy. )

Differences:

I came in recognizing that it wouldn't be the same. And the first time I walked into Santisuk (the school), I felt that difference. I saw all these pictures from when my team was here last time and missed them dearly. It felt so strange to not know what to do without them. Right away I consciously chose to be open to people. I walked up to the only other person in the lobby, a student that I had only known by name the first time I was here. I spent some time with her and loved her immediately. And the great thing is, I felt loved right back. It was such a reassuring meeting. And I got to meet with the director of the school for a long time. We had barely talked on my first trip. We actually stayed in her office talking for a couple of hours about life and ministry and how to take care of myself while here. Her advice? Balance. Make sure I have time for me. I don't have to say yes to everything (though I may still be having a hard time with that one.. hence the lack of blog posts). But already, I have spent much more time outside of my room and actually with people. I'm working more and (up until 2 days ago) I'm (was) sleeping more, too. I've realized that I laugh just as often, though maybe not to the point of tears, but I am  truly enjoying the locals' company. I didn't really give them the chance last time. People ask me if I feel lonely here by myself, but the truth is, I'm not ever really by myself, and when I am, it's a fantastic few moments of relaxation!

That's as much as I can think of. Feel free to posts questions about what you'd like to hear about! I'd be glad to answer them!!

But anyways, back to the events of my life... which now have multiplied since I waited so long to write a new post!

Friday: I traveled downtown to spend a few hours with the lovely Natalie Cook, who was on a retreat here during her four month mission trip to India. We ate Mexican food, cupcakes with severely melted frosting, and talked about hour experiences thus far. Keep her in prayers- India is an entirely different world and it seems that there are parts of Kolkata that are very spiritually oppressive. Then I came back and went to church! I really like the people here. They just make me so happy!

Saturday: Rong Klua. A bunch of people form the church took a day trip to the markets on the Thai side of the Cambodian border. It was a great time to get to know new people and better friendships with others. But it was definitely different being there.. Wherever I went, people stared. That was new. I know I get it a little bit in Bangkapi, but it's definitely not like that!! I'm grateful for the general level respect of the Thai men. Natalie said that in Kolkata, they are constantly being stared at, and it causes them to keep their head down most of the time. Here, I am able to walk with my head high. I just pretty much decide not to make eye contact with the starers.

Sunday: At our zone meeting (all the cell groups get together) someone decided to be very honest with me and tell me that the last time I was here, I left the impression that I didn't really like or appreciate the members in my cell group. As far from the truth as it is, my actions said otherwise, and that broke my heart to hear. So I decided to consciously try to spend time with them and hope they feel loved and appreciated. After zone meeting, we had Bible study. In the foreigner Bible study, we just about our current environmental situation.Thailand has been having issues with flooding. The dams at over capacity, so there have been warnings issued to the Bangkok area that they will release the pressure this coming weekend. We have been told to stock up on food and water just in case we're stuck inside for a long while. Our director also said that she was told our area, if flooded, would be one of the fifteen worst areas in the Bangkapi area because it is so low. We have purchased sand bags and lined the nursery with them, but we're hoping that it won't end up being necessary. It's terrible, but part of me hopes it will happen cuz it's be a cool story. And I wouldn't have to wake up early, as classes would be canceled. But anyways, pray for protection in whatever way, whether it means the floods don't come or that we are safe when they do.

Monday-Thursday: Classes. Long days. Hanging out with friends. Rain. Straight hair. I spent five and a half hours on Monday night getting my hair chemically straightened because I was tired of wearing it up (my straightener broke the first day I was here). Five and a half hours. It was slightly ridiculous. I have a LOT of hair. I am not allowed to wash it for four days. (That means tomorrow will be a glorious day!) Tuesday, I spent time with a girl from my cell group, Nan. I seriously love her. We ate dinner together and then came back to my room and just talked aout my experience here last time and how it's different this time already. We discussed reading the book Captivating together. We listened to worship songs in English and I showed her some of the things I've written and even the song I recorded about a boy in high school! I never show that to people! Needless to say, it was a fantastic time of just being open with her. I'm so excited about the friendship that will develop there! Last night, I hung out with friends. They wanted to form a band. Apparently I get to be in it and sing harmonies. Haha. Also.. Someone here has revealed that they have feelings for me. Already. Pray for wisdom in how to handle it.

This weekend: Tomorrow, I will go to the Grand Palace with my 10am class. We'll leave at 8am and return at 3pm so that I can get ready for church. I'm a little nervous about this trip because normally we would take the boat taxi, which is faster than sitting in traffic, but the boat taxi hasn't been running on account of the waters being so high in the canal. I'm afraid of possibly getting stranded far away from home should the floods come. But tomorrow night, I get to sing at church! It's Friendship Friday, which is the outreach night the church has once a month. I'll be singing Your Love Never Fails by JesusCulture with a friend here and How Great Is Our God in English AND in Thai. I will have to work on my pronunciation. Pray that many students will come and hear the Good News. Saturday, (if there is no flooding) I will go with my 7am class to lunch and then in the evening, I'll be staying the night with my cell group at one of their houses. It will be a going away party for the Philippine missionary in our group, Joy. Sunday will maybe be a day of relaxation after I get home? But perhaps not. We never know anymore.

I have yet to start looking for a job. Pray that God creates a clear path for what I am supposed to be doing and where. I need guidance! And motivation!

Well, this is sufficiently long enough. Until next time (and hopefully it won't be son long!).

Peace to you.

They know I'm here.

Last night I was finally welcomed to Thailand by the residents who have no names and only stay for a short while. That's right, I received my first bug bites of this journey. Even though I put on bug spray, they decided to somehow get inside my shirt and bite me a few times under my arm! And I have a rather large one on my foot, right where my sandal strap is. It's great. Hopefully, these will go fairly quickly and not turn into the monsters I had this summer. We'll see.

In other news, my first few days of teaching have gotten better and better, as in less tiring. I was completely exhausted after the first two days, but today I have much more energy. I'm not drinking enough water, but that is at the top of my list to change. I just drank a liter, so I'm getting there! I don't have much else to say yet, but I get to see my Natalie this weekend, and I seriously cannot wait!

Pray I don't get sick and that I take better care of myself (eating, drinking water, sleeping.. those kinds of things)!

Until after the weekend.

HERE!!

Ah! I’m here! After a really long flight with a good entertainment selection but crappy seats and little sleep, I finally arrived!! Four friends came to pick me up at the airport and brought me back to my new room! This time I’m on the 5^th floor, so it will take much less time and effort to climb the stairs than it did when I lived on the 8^th floor for a month! I’m pleased about that! I spent great quality time with Lisa, the director at Santisuk, who is also from the US. We chatted for a couple hours about life and ministry and jobs before it was time for the church service. I got to see almost everyone I met last time! Reactions ranged from squealing, clingy embraces to “You’re not real!” to my student seeing me from his motorcycle on the street and waving maniacally, hoping that I would see him, too. I felt so welcomed back! And I’ve even made friends with people who were just acquaintances before. Yesterday I took it easy and just bought some minutes for my Thai sim card and got my iphone unlocked to use here. Then I went to a nice dinner with two friends at a place right on the river! They then proceeded to buy me food to eat for breakfasts and tell me that if I ever needed anything, they would be right at my service. People here are so kind and are sure to tell you upfront that they want to do things with you. We need a little more of that in the States. I’ve had issues trying to get my internet working here, which is why it’s taken me so long to post! My friend Natalie from home is here is this week and I’m so excited to see her and introduce her to everyone here and share with her a little bit of my life here. Today, I woke up much earlier than I had hoped, but that’s okay I supposed. I hope I can get over the jet lag quickly. Cell group was at the house of a couple I had never met before, but whom I already love. I can feel a definitely difference already in the way I am open to people. I am so excited to develop these relationships more. SO excited! Tomorrow starts my first session at Santisuk. Normally volunteer teachers are not assigned more than 2 classes to teach, but they had 3 teachers drop out at the last minute, so I stepped up and am teaching 3 classes, which still isn’t too bad. They are all level one classes, so I don’t have to do interviews with students outside of class and it’s the same as I taught already, so I am familiar with the material. I teach from 7-9am, 10am-12pm and 1-3pm, so it’s not too bad because my day is completely free after that! A really cool and important and possibly God thing that I found out when I got here is that Santisuk is possibly going to hire foreign teachers so that there will never be a shortage of native English speakers. Immediately it sounded like such a blessing, because I had already wished that it were a possibility. It really is perfect for me because the curriculum is set (I wouldn’t have to make my own lesson plans, which is something I would not feel comfortable/confident with) and I would get to be doing ministry full time. I need to pray about whether this is what God wants for me or not, but it certainly seems perfect. Pray with me? Thanks. So far, I am so excited to be here and live again amongst these people. I already have plans to go to the Thai side of the Cambodian border to hang out with people and (not) shop at the huge market there. God is so good. I think that’s all for now! More to come soon!!

Ps. I totally wrote this before my internet was working, so I have an update: Apparently there might be flooding here in the next few days. Don’t know why or really any of the details. I’ll be reading those later tonight! Thanks for all the prayers, friends!!