Day 2 was simply adjusting to the time change. I woke up around 2am which is my customary wake up time in the US (11am) and I went back to sleep and woke up at 7 for breakfast. The real work doesn't start until Sunday when we start our meetings and shopping for supplies leading into our first day of class on Monday.
God has been everywhere as he always is, but in Thailand I really feel his blessing and favor especially being born an American. I feel I've been exceptionally fortunate to have been born in a country where not only do i live extremely well, but also the fact that knowing our native language and being able to teach can greatly improve a person's quality of life simply by the fact that they can take higher paying jobs. In this season of my life i feel that I have received enough blessings for a lifetime and they're still coming. I feel almost guilty and the chinese upbringing is telling me that I have not earned or deserve any of this. Which is completely and utterly true! But by the grace of God we are blessed, so instead of kicking myself and feeling guilty I receive with a thankful heart and excited to pour my blessings out to others when the time comes.
One other thing, it is said that there are more temples in Thailand than Christians in Thailand. Yet I am amazed how gentle and kind the Thai people are. Even though a majority of them have very little, they are very warm and kind people. I get so many smiles i don't know what to do with them, so i've been returning them as fast as i get them. Personally as a christian, most of the time I am no where near as kind as the average Thai person. It really puts my own attitude into perspective. Especially my motivation to be kind is Jesus's sacrifice on the cross.
Prayer Request: I hope you will continue to pray for the holy spirit to speak through my team and that the Lord prepares the heart of the students that they may receive the gospel.
some pictures following the theme of my day, transportation and food, because sometimes it seems like thats all were doing, we're driving to another food place. did i tell you the food here is DELICIOUS!?
We're eating lunch at Pizza hut, JK its 198 dollars my goodness! haha the conversion rate is 30 baht to 1 dollar. do the math and its still pretty expensive considering you could get some crickets and a thai ice tea for about 1 us dollar
MMMM!! delicious, true missionary food. I'll bring some home for all of you to delight in!
This is a girl in a wheel chair driving a converted moterbike, crazy. its a motor bike and a normal bike, and a wheel chair. CRAZY! you will definitely be seeing Jesus if you got into an accident in one of these
Jethro in one of the taxi's taking us to a EAT. this kid can only smile one way look at that. and he has deemed me his new best friend yet continues to ask my name on a daily basis
Family vacation! thailand styleThanks be to God,
Pat
The fact that Americans go over to poor counties to teach English so that those individuals can take higher paying jobs is something that I find to be quite a conundrum and conflicting issue. Perhaps knowing English will allow people to have a better life, but at the same time many kids/adults who are being taught English are barely schooled in their own language. And Americans come along and present English as a pathway to success.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of being born an American, I also feel an odd mixture of fortune and guilt. Guilt that I don't deserve it, but also guilt that the effects of American imperialism are still present in these countries today.
Also, were the crickets really that delicious?
the crickets were delicious, and were teaching english to university students, particularly engineering students. So i guess were not really reaching out to the marginalized in that sense, but to the future country leaders. I guess its sort of reaganomics but with ministry. Not saying this is necessarily better or worse. However, this camp has been here for 10 years and there has been a great increase in english usage by the native population and also an increase of foreign traffic, not saying the relationship is casual but the fact is there and there is more money in the region as opposed to 10 years ago. Meeting the needs of the people opens doors to spread the gospel. And the university students make an easier focus group with their partial background in english
ReplyDeleteTrue imperialism is horrible, but the disparity between the rich and poor would exist regardless of foreign influence. And i do love coca cola, and being able to get coke everywhere i go is amazing.
My motivation is that Jesus calls us to Go and to do his work. As humans we aren't perfect so our help might actually be harm. But there is much work to be done. We can't wait. We give our best to God and pray that he uses us to do good works
I know that you're a smart individual and this doesn't apply to you but there are many who say they do God's work but whose actions are questionable (e.g. stealing children from Haiti). And I agree that there is much work to be done, but I would venture to say that humanity's imperfections should slow us down before going out and doing, rather than speed us up to go out and do. Perhaps this is the cynic in me talking but I believe that blind passion can be a dangerous thing and that the passion to go out and do can easily be misconstrued as God's work/will. This is not to say that I think you are a lunatic. (perhaps for other reasons you are). I'm just expounding on my thoughts. blah blah blabh, you know.
ReplyDeleteAnd I do agree that teaching university students is very different from teaching kids in a poor village. The former already have a formal education and presumably giving them English skills will enable them to succeed. So I guess I was thinking mainly of younger kids from more rural areas that don't have formal educations.