Food, Lanterns, and Reflections

Sunday was a fun filled day. We were able to sleep in for the first time in a while. We went to a Thai church service. They had a choir and orchestra from a local school that sang and played music for the service. We then went out for lunch. After lunch we hung out at the guest house getting things sorted. We then went out to Sharon's house for a very delicious dinner. After dinner we all gathered around and watched Ratatouille and ate popcorn. Once the movie was done we were given a surprise. Sharon and her sister Carol gave us lanterns to let go into the sky. After a short walk to a near by bridge we started lighting them. After some....... interesting trial and error we got them floating away. It was a really cool experience and we have many pictures and video of them. Today we went to breakfast at a place with american breakfast. They had the best bacon we have had all trip. We then had a debriefing retreat with Sharon. It was a good chance to think about questions she gave us and write in our journals. We then went to lunch with one of the people in charge of the Office of Education Ministry. The rest of the day we have spent relaxing, going to the market to do some last minute shopping and just getting ready for our last evening here in Thailand. Please pray for us and our journey home. We will be leaving here at 5 A.M. to fly to Bangkok, then from Bangkok to Hong Kong, and finally from Hong Kong to New York City.

Summer Service 2012

Eric Juengel

City of Love, Horses, and Children

On Thursday, we had an early morning. We had to be ready to leave Chiang Mai at 7. We loaded up the van with our backpacks and pillows and embarked on the 5 hour drive to Nan. We arrived in Nan and had lunch with the director of the Christian school there. We then went to the school where they attempted to feed us again. We were treated like VIPs. The tour tram came to the school to pick us up. We went on a tour of the city of Nan. Two things that the tour guide told us in broken English that stuck out to us were: If you jump in the river in Nan, you will find a boyfriend or girlfriend there. The other thing she told us about was a temple that if you lit two candles at, you would also find a boyfriend or girlfriend. We quickly named Nan, "The Paris of Thailand/The City of Love." We went back to the school, where they fed us yet again. About 30 minutes after we arrived back at the school, they took us to dinner. They feed us a lot here! After dinner, we hopped back in the van and drove three hours back to Lampang. 

On Friday morning, we woke up and got a tour of Lampang on horse drawn carriages, then we went to a ceramic outlet which had very interesting ceramic items. We were then taken to the school where our sixth and final English Camp would take place. We had lunch and then set up for the camp. We went to see a temple that was built during World War Two. We went back to the hotel and had a couple hours of downtime. We all spent the time differently. Some of us napped, while others watched movies or walked around Lampang. We had dinner at the hotel that night. One thing we cannot complain about here is the food. 

Saturday, we had our last English Camp! It was awesome. The kids, as always, were shy at the beginning of the day, but by speech time at the end of the day, we were all amazed. This was probably the closest scoring we have had for speeches all summer. Each of our ambassadors really stepped up and did a wonderful job. We were all a little bit sad at the end of the day, as Sharon, our host and scheduler, called us up front for a picture with our last English Camp kids. We broke everything down and hopped into the van for the hour-and-a-half drive back to Chiang Mai. When we got to Chiang Mai, we were told that we were going to go out for a really good American meal. We were not lied to. We had some of the best burgers that we have had all trip. We were all soo full when we got back to the guest house.

Jennifer Subic,

Summer Service 2012

Smiles, Elephants, and Dances

After setting up our English camp on Friday, we actually DID the camp on Saturday. The students were, as always, beyond eager to learn all that we had to teach them...which still confuses me a bit, seeing as we barely know what we're doing up there half the time :P We could tell by their smiling faces that they enjoyed singing songs and doing the hokey pokey with us. Or they were just laughing at us, one of the two :) Sunday morning we packed up and traveled back to Chiang Mai. We then spent the rest of Sunday and Monday relaxing and exploring Chiang Mai. We visited a couple of ministries, including a youth ministry and a drama ministry. The evenings were spent exploring markets, both large and small, where I'm sure each and every one of us bought more than we expected to buy. Be on the lookout for gifts back home ;)

And then it was Tuesday. Do you know what happened Tuesday? WE GOT TO RIDE ELEPHANTS!!! It was pretty awesome. We visited the Chiang Dao Elephant Conservation Camp where we were able to ride elephants, touch elephants, feed elephants, watch elephants bathe, work, and paint. This was all followed up by a relaxing bamboo raft ride down the river. We were once again amazed and astounded by God's creativity and imagination.

This morning we visited the Old City (where Chiang Mai used to be located before a giant flood wiped it out) and saw temple ruins. We then traveled to a rehabilitation center and learned about its history as a leper colony. God is working in this place in ways we can't even wrap our minds around. Our dinner this evening was followed by a display of the traditional Northern Thai dance, which a few of our group members enthusiastically participated in. The culture continues to surprise and delight us. We're heading to Nan tomorrow, where our final English camp will take place this Saturday. Keep us in your prayers as we head into our final week here in the Land of Smiles :)

Emily Wyble

Summer Service 2012

Families, Mountains, and Villages

Hello everyone. Sorry that it's been so long since our last post. We have been busy and have had little reliable Internet access. On the 26th we went to Payap university. We had lunch there and were given a tour of the university. We met some of the Christian volunteers that work in the dorms there. After lunch we went to McGilvary Theological Seminary. We watched a presentation about the history of the seminary and got a tour. We learned about a Thai artist that uses Thai art style to paint different bible scenes. We bought posters of his paintings. Later that night we went to Bill Yoder's house. We were so happy to have cheese, real cheese on crackers. We also had chicken and mashed potatoes with cake and ice cream. It was so amazing and we greatly enjoyed the American food. We spent the evening talking with Bill and listening to his stories of his many years as a missionary in Thailand. The next day we went to Bo Sang to visit an umbrella village. Afterwards we went to San Kampaeng ceramics. We watched the workers making and painting ceramics. Between the two places we did a lot of shopping. That evening we went back to Payap University to have dinner and then met with a professor from McGilvary who gave us a presentation on mission in Asia. On the 28th we went to a market then met at Esther's house to watch a presentation about the Free Burma Rangers group. They are a group that helps villages in Burma that have been attacked by the Burmese army. They help provide them with early warning and evacuation as well as supply food and medicine to the Burmese people. Afterwards many people from Payap came over for spaghetti night at Esther and Rob's house. It was an amazing dinner. We got to meet and talk with many new people and learn about what they do in Chiang Mai. We spent the next day at Prince Royal's College setting up for the English camp the next day. Afterwards we stopped and got some ice cream. Saturday was the English camp between 4 local schools. The camp went well and we had fun teaching the students about ASEAN. July 1st we headed out early in the morning to travel through the mountain to Fang. We really experienced Thai time at the church there. The service started an hour later than it was supposed to. After church we had lunch with the church members. Then we met in the church and in sports draft fashion were picked by our Thai families. Over the past four days we spent a lot of time with our hosts and truly became part of their families. We got the chance to harvest and plant rice in a paddy. It was a good experience. We took lots of pictures to help capture our experience. We were also taken up the mountain to see different villages and visit a school for Burma students. The mountains were so amazing. We were above the clouds at some points. The road was an interesting ride with its hairpin turns and super steep inclines. We were also taken to the the Thailand-Burma border. We got to look into the Burma side base camp. I got a picture of a Burmese solider looking at me through a spotter scope. Throughout our time in Fang we were treated so well and we can never repay our families for the love and hospitality they showed us. We truly became sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters to our families. The experiences we had there will be with us for the rest of our lives. Today we left Fang and drove to the river to travel by boat to Chiang Rai. We took two boats, one of which wouldn't start so they had to switch boats in the middle of the river. Along the way we stopped at a Lahun and Karen village. I got my picture taken with a good size python. I was pretty excited about it. The rest of the river ride went well. It was so beautiful. We enjoyed some bananas and corn on the boat ride. We all stayed dry except for Marshall who got hit by a rapid wave. This afternoon we arrived in Chiang Rai. We walked around the city and got dinner after a nice long afternoon of napping. Tomorrow we go to set up for our next English camp. Eric Juengel Summer Service 2012