Updates from the land of smiles

I'm in Korat right now on a 30 baht/ hr ADSL internet service. Been a pretty good trip so far. Good in the sense that we aren't staying in mosquito infested open areas but actually in a suite with queen size bed per person! Hmmm... God's providence?

So far, we have

1) Visited the missionaries in Alpha Center, such as Pastor Dickson, Julie, Wee Shun, Kim Yien and Tong.

2) Did outreach by playing games and teaching English language to students in Nakhon Rachasima Sec School. Felt a bit like what we did in Sri Lanka, when we had to break into impromtu sing-along christian songs (remixed a bit so as not to offend the Buddhists).

3) Did hostel survey to introduce Thai Uni students to the new Alpha Center.

4) Visited a fish farm in the countryside. The owner of this fish farm is a christian but his family isn't. He invited us over for dinner as a way for us to reach out to his family. It was pouring heavily when we there, and by the time the sky was dark, there were many bugs flying around. I was ok with it, since nothing beats the swarm of flying cockroaches that I had to sleep through in a field camp way back in NS. But of course, the 2 princesses of the team, Amelia and Brenda, both 13 year old, were like super edgy and jumpy. Created a bit of a commotion when I had to shoo off this snake for them while they were stuck in a toilet. But anyway, it was a meaningful night as Timothy managed to share the story of Jesus to them.

5) Visited a slum just off the railway track opposite our hotel. It wasn't part of our program, but I felt the need to visit them, since Tong is working on a series of projects with them through World Vision. Playing football with the 5 year olds down there reminded me of Mr Broody of Cambodia. The visit to the slum struck a spiritual chord in us, and we are thinking of giving our financial love gift to this four orphans that, according to Tong, are in dire need of financial assistance.

We will be facilitating more English lessons for the rest of this trip at Vongchavalitkul University, doing outreach to students at this 'Center for Delinquents', as well as doing more hostel surveys.

On a more reflective note, I have kinda assume that this might be my last mission trip for a while, as I thought that I would be working next year and it would be hard to take leave and stuff like that.

YWAM preached the idea of 'Go-er', 'Sender', Mobilizer' or 'Welcomer' as we become 'World Christians', and I thought maybe I'll be more of a mobilizer in the future, having been blessed with the opportunity to be a go-er to the fields 4 times in the last 5 years or so.

Hmmmm, but I don't know; maybe this isn't the last mission trip for me, if you guys know what I mean. Such thoughts can be exciting but scary at the same time. Words like 'long term' and 'full time' really scares me. Oh well, 1 more year to figure everything out!

Prayer Request:

1) That the team will continue to see things from the eyes of their heart, and from God's perspectives.

2) For strength and good health.

3) To do His will and not our own programs and agendas.

4) For Min Sin and her family.

5) Lastly, quite a bourgeoi prayer request; that somehow God will sort out my euro plans cos I haven't done anything at all! Been doing mission preps for the past three weeks and it almost took the wind out of me a few days prior to leaving Singapore. But thank God for His sustainence and strength, and I really feel that He is giving me the second wind to last the 2nd half of this year.

That's all folks. Keep the smses coming!