I can't believe it's getting near my sixth month anniversary being here in Thailand! :) I'm so grateful for each day that the Lord has given me here. Sometimes, I giggle myself to sleep at night thinking about all the crazy stories of my experience here in this foreign country.
For instance, just a few days ago, I had the privilege of going out to dinner with a few friends and meeting a ministry that worked specifically with the Hmong. They're called HCC (Hmong Christian Connection), supported by Open Door Ministries in doing underground work for closed countries. Doua Her keeps introduced me to the group as a future employee (haha). They are in need of translators, and as interesting as the organization sounds, I have many doubts that I'll be able to work for them any time soon considering my young age and lack of experience (not to mention language deficiency in Hmong!). So anyway, the board/committee wanted Doua to translate something to the Open Doors missionary from the Phillippines (Ronald) but she didn't want to because it was about her being nominated by the entire board to be their chairperson for this year. Well, since I spoke English, they asked me to translate instead. But while one of the board members was telling me about this, I thought to myself, "Okay...I can understand every word (except for the Thai word they used for "chairperson") but I can't seem to remember what all else he said." lol. SO...in trying to translate, I summed up his three minute speech to ten seconds. After this happened, I thought to myself, "Wow! I have such a looong way to go!"
Also two weeks ago, I was blessed to be learning in an environment with other passionate missionaries and evangelists. Biola University decided to meet at Payap University this semester so it wasn't too far from my apartment. I saw a few old faces from last semester as well as made new friends--other Christian workers from around the world as well as right here in the city of Chiang Mai! I had the privilege of getting to know these amazing people along with their ministries in countries such as China, Taiwan, Cambodia, Singapore, Korea, the Phillippines, Nigeria, Canada, etc. Although it was for only a brief period of time, I can now say that I am more knowledgeable about doing qualitative research as well as using storytelling as an evangelistic tool. How cool is that? :) And it's so relevant, too, when many villages don't read and write often, even if they can, to hear these stories, see it played out in drama, remember them, and pass them down for generations to come.
For instance, just a few days ago, I had the privilege of going out to dinner with a few friends and meeting a ministry that worked specifically with the Hmong. They're called HCC (Hmong Christian Connection), supported by Open Door Ministries in doing underground work for closed countries. Doua Her keeps introduced me to the group as a future employee (haha). They are in need of translators, and as interesting as the organization sounds, I have many doubts that I'll be able to work for them any time soon considering my young age and lack of experience (not to mention language deficiency in Hmong!). So anyway, the board/committee wanted Doua to translate something to the Open Doors missionary from the Phillippines (Ronald) but she didn't want to because it was about her being nominated by the entire board to be their chairperson for this year. Well, since I spoke English, they asked me to translate instead. But while one of the board members was telling me about this, I thought to myself, "Okay...I can understand every word (except for the Thai word they used for "chairperson") but I can't seem to remember what all else he said." lol. SO...in trying to translate, I summed up his three minute speech to ten seconds. After this happened, I thought to myself, "Wow! I have such a looong way to go!"
Also two weeks ago, I was blessed to be learning in an environment with other passionate missionaries and evangelists. Biola University decided to meet at Payap University this semester so it wasn't too far from my apartment. I saw a few old faces from last semester as well as made new friends--other Christian workers from around the world as well as right here in the city of Chiang Mai! I had the privilege of getting to know these amazing people along with their ministries in countries such as China, Taiwan, Cambodia, Singapore, Korea, the Phillippines, Nigeria, Canada, etc. Although it was for only a brief period of time, I can now say that I am more knowledgeable about doing qualitative research as well as using storytelling as an evangelistic tool. How cool is that? :) And it's so relevant, too, when many villages don't read and write often, even if they can, to hear these stories, see it played out in drama, remember them, and pass them down for generations to come.
Elisa and I stop for a picture outside of our classroom
"Ethnographic Research Methods" classTop row: Joshua (Wonhyeok) Song, James Hung, Mark Syn, Dr. Rich Starcher, Paul (Ka Ming) Au, Jake Romaniello
Front row: Anne Alexander, Sunny Hong, Esther You, me, Haedy Liu, Lisa Hoff
This week has been quite busy for me. I've been trying to nail my assignments as soon as possible so that I can focus on ministry for the rest of this semester (last semester, I procrastinated for one class and it completely stressed me out--that's not going to happen again!). I also made a friend while going out to dinner one night. His name is Gladstone Robert and he's a priest from CSI (Church of Southern India), apparently the largest Protestant church in all of India! He hasn't seen much of Thailand so I took on the liberty to show him around a bit. We went to visit my tutor's Thai church, Krisjak Mae Nam Haeng Chiwit (the River of Life Church), on Sunday as well as the Sunday Night Market. It's been nice getting to know him, his family, and his career and ministry. Sometimes, I tend to forget that priests are normal, everyday people--the outfits they were on Sundays can be quite intimidating, don't you think? :) After all, two of my favorite undergrad professors are Anglican priests and they're as cool and laid back as anyone else.
Gladstone at the Sunday Market; my Thai tutor, Than, me, and Rev. Gladstone
Stopping for a picture with little Thai dancers at the Sunday Night Market!
I also went out with a team (or a class, I should say) from Minnesota with Dr. Jim Lewis of Bethel University. This group was learning about Religious traditions of Buddhism at Payap University. After hearing Dr. Lewis give a lecture about ethnic minorities from Vietnam, specifically the Hmong, we spoke about our dear friend, Doua. I was then invited with his class on exploring the the Hmong village of Nong Huay Mai. There, we watched Doua evangelize, heard her testimony, was welcomed by her friends into their home and heard their faith story, was served authentic Hmong food consisting of soup and stir-fry with rice, and returned home. It was very encouraging to see Dr. Lewis's passion for the Hmong.
Dr. Lewis, Doua Her, Meryl Lewis, me, and the class from Bethel University
Caitlyn and me in front of the mountains of the Hong Pong villages (there's three!)
Hmong meal of kale with pork soup, stir-fried cabbage with pork, and riceAside from doing homework, learning Thai, and meeting with friends for coffee, I finally had the opportunity to visit Yai See (one of the church members at Songsawang Church). She is a very sweet elderly lady who always keeps me company at church. When I arrived at her home yesterday, she was very happy to see me, despite the fact that she wasn't doing very well. There had been problems with her ankle, her eyes, her stomach, and with arthritus in her fingers and joints. She always tells me how painful it is. Plus, she recently told me how she had recently been involved in a motorbike accident and almost lost her life--but praise be to God, she's still alive! :) We had dinner together. I gave her a watermelon from the market, she gave me a few oranges and some clothes for winter that she had promised me earlier (even though the cold weather has for the most part already passed).
Visiting Yai See at her home
Yai See's daughter, Pah Raa Thanah
Mother and daughter