Update #9

Bhubing Palace, Doi Pui Hill Village, and Last Volunteer’s Dinner!

To wrap up our last Monday in Chiang Mai, we trekked up Doi Sutep with the other English Volunteers to the King’s Chiang Mai Palace, Bhubing Palace. At the palace we walked around the many beautiful gardens and viewed the beautiful mountain side. Afterwards we headed across the mountain range to a hill tribe village, Doi Pui Hill Village. There we enjoyed the gorgeous mountain range and seeing the Doi Pui Hill Village. Before all the volunteers headed home we enjoyed one last delicious meal together, pasta! Esther took us to a wonderful family owned Italian restaurant where we were able to dine and chat before going our separate ways.

Evaluation Meeting and Renovation Part #2

On Tuesday, we started our morning with a meeting to discuss the future of our partnership. It was a time to evaluate our two months spent in Thailand and to explore the opportunity of new experiences for both churches. After our meeting we enjoyed a yummy meal at Chef Steak and started our second renovation project downstairs in the youth room. In this room we decided to do a music theme since the youth at Payap Church love music and many of them play instruments. We incorporated Thai cultural music and dance along with modern music and dance. Thanks to our wonderful in-house artists, Dianne and Kira, the murals turned out great and we know the youth will enjoy them!

Headed to Kansas City

On our last day, it was hard to wrap up an AMAZING two months in Thailand but we did our best by eating at one of Marisa’s favorite restaurants (Yui’s Noodles), enjoying coffee at Zion Cafe, riding one last time in a tuk tuk, and eating dinner with Esther Wakeman and her husband Rob Collins. It was a rainy trip to the airport but after a heartfelt and bittersweet goodbye from our Payap Church family, we entered security and headed home to Kansas City.

Leaving Home (aka Thailand)

With sad hearts we said goodbye to our wonderful Payap Church family! Thank you for everything you’ve done the last two months to make our stay absolutely amazing. We cannot thank you enough! We’ve made a home in Chiang Mai and cannot wait to return. A final update will be posted in the next couple days. Please pray for a safe, smooth, and non-complicated journey home. For those in KC, we will see you soon!

God bless you all!

Love,

Kelsey and Marisa

Update #8

Monday: Day #1 of AFB (Accountancy, Finance, and Banking), Art in Paradise, and Dinner with Bill Yoder

After an exciting first week teaching the MFN English Fun Camp, we were back at it on Monday morning teaching the first day of AFB English Fun Camp. AFB is the Accountancy, Finance, and Banking College at Payap University. This college is smaller in comparison to MFN but we are lucky enough to personally know the dean, Dean Wallapa, aka. Pook from Payap Church! We enjoyed teaching different content this week, starting off with Accountancy, Finance, and Banking vocabulary and content knowledge. When the camp had concluded for the morning we were taken out by the AFB staff; which was such a blast! Since it was raining, the AFB staff took us to a 3D museum called Art in Paradise. The museum was full of paintings that have a 3D effect when you take a picture; very Thai style. We enjoyed spending time with the AFB staff and taking lots of funny photos with the other volunteers. After a wonderful afternoon, we hopped in the red truck (our main form of transportation) and headed out to Bill Yoder’s house. Bill Yoder is a missionary from Ohio who has lived in Thailand for over 50 years. Bill is a very influential missionary in Chiang Mai and has helped many fellow missionaries assimilate to the Thai way of life. He is specifically known for his adoption of several Thai boys who have now given back to him a beautiful home to retire in. Bill opened his house to us and we enjoyed an evening full of yummy Thai food and conversation.

Tuesday: Day #2 of AFB (Goals), Sankampaeng Craft Road, Dinner at Patty and John’s

As we began writing the curriculum for AFB, we were instructed by the English instructors that the idea of setting goals was difficult for Thai students to grasp. We worked very hard to create a lesson that would help students understand the importance of setting goals and applying them to their future professional careers…and we think we were a success! Students learned about the importance of setting goals and the steps through vocabulary and different activities. It was a challenging lesson but all the volunteers agreed that many of the students took to heart the importance of setting goals. After we wrapped up an awesome day of camp, shout out to Kira and Missy for teaching us an awesome group game, Bang Pow Pow, we once again were treated by the AFB staff to a day of tourism. The AFB staff took us to a Thai arts factory and a Thai silk factory. At both places we were able to watch the items we have seen in the markets be created. It was interesting to see the process and watch the handiwork of the employees; so much detail! In the evening, we headed to Patty and John’s new house for a yummy meal and wonderful company. This evening was very special for our volunteer group because it was an evening that we bonded over hardships and struggles. We were able to share with each other and spend time in prayer. We have been blessed by this community of volunteers and the time we have spent together in nightly devotions.

Wednesday: Day #3 of AFB (Job Interviews), Baan Tawai Road, and Dinner with Dean Wallapa (Pook) and Elder Wallop (Tik)

On Wednesday we had our last day of teaching at the AFB English Fun Camp! We taught vocabulary words and useful English sentences with the content of Job Interviews. We discussed what their dreams and hopes for their future and career would look like – this is a difficult concept in Thailand as it is not integrated deeply in the Thai culture as it is in American culture! After the camp ended we toured the Baan Tawai road with our faculty and student friends. Baan Tawai is a wood-handicraft village that has a plethora of decorations, temple and spirit house handiwork, and a few coffee shops. It is always really nice to spend time forming a relationship with the students outside of class and to practice English and Thai amongst them! We were treated to a very special dinner with Dean Wallapa (our friend, Pook) and her sister Elder Wallop (Tik). Both of them are very involved with Payap Church! We went to a beautiful international buffet and indulged in waaaaaaay too much food. It was a real treat to spend this time with Pastor Pong, his family, Pook, Tik and their family, and all of the English camp volunteers!

Thursday: Morning at the Ton Lam Yai Market and Waroros Market with AFB students, Visiting the First Church of Thailand and McGilvary College of Divinity at Payap University, Spaghetti Dinner

To create more authentic conversations, the AFB staff decided to take us, volunteers, and the students to the Ton Lam Yai Market and Waroros Market to buy food for a lunch potluck. We had a blast! We were paired up with a small group of students and given the instructions to buy food to share at the potluck. The students took us to find their favorite foods and of course had us taste try everything they thought we would like. It was a great experience to get to know the students better and spend time with them, some of us even ate bugs! After the market, we all gathered in Payap Church’s “fellowship hall” and enjoyed a meal together. When we had finished our meal we headed out to visit the First Church, Chiang Mai and McGilvary College of Divinity. At First Church, an instructor from McGilvary and member of the church, Adj Tan, gave us a tour and background of the church. We learned about how Reverend McGilvary and his coworker Reverend Wilson started the First Church, Chiang Mai and its history throughout its existence. Afterwards we headed to McGilvary College of Divinity which is the theology school on Payap University’s original campus. McGilvary was the original university that Payap University developed out of to include now many more colleges. We had the opportunity to see the chapel and view Thai-style art based on Jesus’ life. When we had finished our time there we headed to Esther’s for our last spaghetti dinner. We enjoyed delightful conversations, sweet kittens, and watching the movie Poverty Inc. After viewing the film, we had lively conversations and discussed our thoughts and feelings about the film. It was an eventful but fulfilling day.

Friday: Worship Service for King Rama X’s Birthday, Seed Planting Ceremony for King IX, the Great, Visiting the Payap University Archives, Lunch with Payap University’s President, Dr. Sompan Wongdee and Administration, CCI, and Khantoke Dinner

Friday morning, we went to the beautiful Luce Chapel next door to Payap Church to attend a special worship service to celebrate the current King, King Rama X Birthday. Many faculty members of Payap University participated and we listened to our friend, Guy, give a sermon! After this service we walked to a field on campus to have a seed planting ceremony for the late King Rama IX. This is still a period of mourning – a historical time to be in Thailand as King Rama IX was the longest reigning King in the world – and we threw seeds of yellow tulip flowers in his honor. Although we won’t be here in 60 days when they are fully grown we are so excited to have been a part of this ceremony!
After seed planting we visited the Payap University archives floor in the library on campus. We saw many historical documents such as letters and session minutes from missionaries and churches from the 19th century. Everything is preserved incredibly well.
We were then treated to a special lunch with the president of Payap University (for a few more days until retirement!!!) Dr. Sompan Wongdee and her administration. Dr. Sompan is an incredible Christian woman who lived in Nebraska to earn her Master’s degree so we loved getting to know more about her time in America! We ate at the Vietnamese restaurant and, again, indulged in soooo much food (the Thai way of eating)!
Friday afternoon we were hosted by CCI (Christian Communication Institute) to learn more about their ministry and even have a special show featuring the parable the Prodigal Son performed for us! CCI has a close place in our hearts as they have come to Knox a few times and we have hosted members of the dance troop at our houses. Their ministry is incredible – they have made Christianity accessible to Thai culture by integrating the teachings of Jesus into local music and traditional Thai dance, a style called Likay, and tour Thailand and the world spreading their message about the Gospel!
Finally, we had a final farewell dinner with our AFB student and staff friends. The AFB students and staff hosted a special Khantoke style dinner. As we ate local Northern Thai food the students gave speeches and performed local Thai-style dance routines! We finished in one big circle dancing all together – a definite highlight of our time with them. Thank you, students, for being so warm, loving, and open to us!

Saturday: Payap Church’s Room Renovation and Thai Cooking Class

Saturday was a busy day at Payap Church! We spent the whole day cleaning two rooms and renovating with our Payap church friends. One of the rooms was turned into a nursery for younger kids and we decorated the walls with a Noah’s Ark and a flower theme. Downstairs, the youth room was cleaned out and will be remodeled as well with new furniture and decorated with a music theme! It was fun doing hands-on work to contribute to Payap Church. After we finished most of the renovation the Women’s Group hosted a Thai cooking class and we learned how to make Tom Yum Goong, Pad Thai, and Sticky Rice Balls in Coconut Milk dessert. After making so much food we were able to host dinner alongside all of the friends who had spent the day renovating the church, practicing music, and cooking food with us. Our hearts (and stomach) were so full. We love our family here in Thailand.

Sunday: Last Sunday at Payap Church, Love Party

Sunday was our last Payap Church service for this summer. During this service Kira, Marisa, and Kelsey sang with the youth, Dianne read a letter to the congregation from Pastor Tim, and Jeff gave his testimony on being a living miracle as a heart transplant recipient! It was bittersweet coming to an end but difficult to be sad when we were too busy PARTYING. Yes!!!! Thank you so much Jane, Tang, Pastor Pong, Riew, and everyone who helped host the huge “Love Party”. We took many pictures, ate so much food (anyone else sensing a theme for the week..???), talked about our summer and experiences, danced a lot, and spent the afternoon feeling so full of love. We sure will miss every single person here. And we LOVE you all so much!

Update #7

Monday: AFB Curriculum Training, Thai Village, and Dinner at Big C

Last Monday, we started our teacher training by introducing the curriculum we made for English Camp and playing the games we designated for the week. We spent time getting to know the Accountancy, Finance, and Banking teachers through playing the Appreciation Game and other icebreakers. While also practicing teaching content that the students would learn over the week. The Payap instructors gave us a presentation of Thai etiquette and general culture knowledge for the new-to-Thailand volunteers. Basic Thai etiquette includes knowing how to properly wai, removing your shoes when entering a home/church/temple, not touching heads or pointing with feet, and using proper phrases to acknowledge the age of the person you are speaking with.

After we finished this curriculum introduction Esther took us to an incredible charity called Thai Village. A Lutheran church non-profit, Thai Village is a fair trade and handmade craft shop that employs people who are having a difficult time finding or holding a job. People suffering from mental illnesses are their target population for employing by teaching them a handicraft or encouraging them to use skills they already know. This allows these individuals to be able to work from home and generate an income. Other people that are employed include recently released prisoners, new mothers, and homeless people. This kind of ministry was incredibly heartwarming and one of the top favorite places we have visited. Shopping at fair trade companies are a definite hobby for Kelsey and this was a great opportunity to support a ministry. Later on we made a stop for shopping and dinner at Big C. Big C is like the Thai version of Walmart with a mini mall and food court. We were able to stock up on supplies for the week and show our new-to-Thailand friends some authentic Thai dishes.

Tuesday: MFN Curriculum Training, Thai Massage, and Dinner at Black Canyon

Tuesday morning was focused on introducing curriculum for the McCormick Faculty of Nursing English Camp that was to take place the following day. The faculty professors that were volunteering prepared an hour long presentation on Buddhism to teach us basic practices of this dominant culture and religion. It was enlightening (haha). Tuesday afternoon, Esther took us to the best massage place ever and our Thai massage experience was redeemed. Spending an afternoon relaxing was much needed after so many busy days! For dinner we ate at Black Canyon Cafe – a place known for their coffee but had decent food as well. We were so excited to start teaching English and meet our students the next day!

Wednesday: Day #1 of MFN (Getting Around), Bud’s Ice Cream, McKean Rehabilitation Center, and Dinner at VT

During our time here in Chiang Mai, we have been working on developing the English Fun Camp curriculum. We have met with three English instructors from Payap University to understand the content they wanted the students to learn and then develop it into a working curriculum. This Wednesday, we finally saw our hard work in action on the first day of English Fun Camp for the nursing students. During the first session, students learned about different transportation vocabulary and shared about how to get around Chiang Mai. We enjoyed joining in with the games and songs and watching Jane and Pastor Pong deliver the penalty, of a dose of baby powder, when participants lost the games.

For those of you that don’t know what happens at English Camp, here is a short outline: The first thirty minutes consist of Jane and Pastor Pong getting students excited and warmed up. Usually they will sing songs with actions, play games, and send everyone off to their first session with smiles on their faces! Then there are two forty-five minute sessions with a break in-between. During the sessions there are two different stations going, one station that teaches the content and another station that reviews and plays activities using the content. After the sessions we come back together for some more songs and games with Jane and Pastor Pong.

To celebrate our awesome morning, we indulged ourselves on some Bud’s Ice Cream and enjoyed an afternoon at McKean Rehabilitation Center. We have visited McKean earlier in our time here in Thailand and this time were able to learn more about the center’s history. The tour was led by a friend of Esther’s, Heather, who has dedicated her life to the center and its development. We ended our day with a lovely dinner at VT, a Vietnamese restaurant, dining on poorly made spring rolls and enjoying the company of the other volunteers.

Thursday: Coffee with John and Patti, Day #2 of MFN (Personality), and Spaghetti Dinner

On Thursday morning, the MFN faculty had a ceremony so we did not teach until the after lunch, meaning free time! Patty and John asked if they could take us to their favorite coffee shop, Chiang Mai Rice Life, which is a small coffee shop located right next to rice fields with an amazing view of the mountains. It is absolutely breathtaking. It was a wonderful start to our morning; filled with great conversations and laughter.

Side note: We have had the joy of getting to know Patty, a fellow volunteer, and her husband John. John is originally from Bangkok, Thailand and went to college in America. There Patty and John met, raised a family, and now have decided to retire in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Patty heard about volunteering at the English camp through her church in California and knew that it would be a perfect opportunity. We have enjoyed getting to know this couple and appreciate their willingness to share with us.

After our coffee date we headed off to our second day of teaching at MFN. On this day, we taught students about different personality traits and encouraged them to describe themselves, their friends, and their families. We had a blast and felt that the students were coming out of their shells and talking in more English during this second day. It was also enjoyable to see the connections and relationships that were being made during the camp, God was and is working on these student’s hearts! When we had finished teaching we enjoyed a nice walk over to Esther’s house for spaghetti dinner. Tonight was the biggest crowd of people that I have ever witnessed at a spaghetti dinner. There was a group that joined the dinner from Pepperdine University, the normal attendees, and the English camp volunteers (us). It was an enjoyable of fellowship and talking to new faces about their experiences in Thailand. Oh, and the ice cream was fabulous!

Friday: Day #3 of MFN (Cooking), Wiang Kum Kam, Dinner at Duke’s, and Night Bazaar

On Friday, we wrapped up our last day of English Fun Camp with MFN, it was bittersweet! For the last day we taught the students about cooking. It was enjoyable to see how much English students already knew about food and the conversations we were able to have because of this. In all, our time teaching the MFN English Fun Camp was rewarding and one that will stick with us. After finishing our ceremonial last day, the MFN faculty hosted a small lunch for the volunteers, featuring Kelsey’s favorite: Pad Thai, and thanked us for our dedication and hard work. Afterwards we headed off to Wiang Kum Kam with the students and faculty. The story behind Wiang Kum Kam is that the original city of Chiang Mai used to be located in this area but around 700 years ago it was moved to its current location due to flooding from the Ping river (the major river that flows through Chiang Mai). After many years, the people of Chiang Mai did not know that the old city ruins existed in this spot and began building houses and shops in this area. Around the 1980s the ruins of the old city were discovered and today you can travel by open air bus with a tour guide to visit each of the locations that have been excavated. Many of the areas that were excavated contain Buddhist temples and the ruins from the old city. Experiencing this historical site with the MFN students was enjoyable and eye opening to see many of the students worshipping at the many temples during the tour. It was a reminder of the continuing fight for Christ here in Thailand.

After this historical tour, we enjoyed a lovely American meal at one of our favorite restaurants, Duke’s! We dined on pizza, burgers, onion rings, and salad. When we had finished our delicious meal we headed out to the Night Bazaar. The Night Bazaar is a HUGE market that is set up every night on one of the main roads in downtown Chiang Mai. It is full of different vendors and lots of people. We enjoyed exploring this new market and spending time with friends.

Saturday: Elephant Camp, Wua Lai Walking Street with MFN Ambassadors

Saturday was probably one of the best days in Thailand. Kelsey was adamant on having an ethical tourist experience with elephants and found a non-riding camp called “Elephant Rescue Park”. An hour outside of Chiang Mai, this rescue center focuses on helping rehab elephants that have been abused by the tourist riding industry, logging industry, and circus shows. Their mission is bittersweet because it’s incredible that they’ve helped these beautiful and emotional creatures but sad when a few have had tragic premature deaths as a result of the abuse they’ve received. The three baby elephants we spent the day with were from circus shows so they have some cute tricks they like to show off and the mother elephant is very protective of the smaller ones! We began our day with feeding the elephants bananas and going on a hike with them. It was so much fun getting to know their personalities over the few hours we spent together. The mother, Maa Kham Noi, is nursing the oldest baby, Shabu, who is the smallest due to being separated from his mother at way too young of an age. The other two babies (I say babies, they were three years old though) named Nam Choke and Palin are “boyfriend/girlfriend” which was pretty cute. After walking a long ways we came to the pond that they bathe in – and we got in too!! We scrubbed them down and they splashed so much water at us with their trunks. This was the best experience ever and we were so sad to leave. But after visiting the elephants (and taking a much needed shower after bathing with elephants) we went to the Wua Lai Walking Street with some older nursing students to give them an opportunity to practice English with native speakers. These students are MFN Ambassadors and promote their college. The students are the top of their class and we learned that most of their free time is spent studying or writing papers for nursing school. The students were able to show us around the market and share their favorite things about Chiang Mai with us. Spending time exploring a new market with our new friends made for a fun end to our Saturday!

Sunday: Music Sunday at Payap Church, Walking Prayer with Payap Church, and Sunday Walking Street

Sunday was a special service at Payap Church filled with music, drama, dancing, and praise including all members of Payap. Many groups and individuals performed throughout the service. One of our favorites was the skit of Jesus walking on water from Matthew 14:22-33. Our Knox group sang “Power of your Love” and “Sanctuary” to the congregation acapella! Marisa, Kelsey, and Kira sang with the youth and we enjoyed many different Thai songs and dance. Following service a large group went on a prayer walk around campus and spent an hour in group and individual prayer focused on Payap Church, Payap University, and various ministries. We ended our day at the Sunday Walking Street with our wonderful hosts, Jane and Tu, and enjoyed time exploring the massive market!

Reflections so far…

Kelsey:

As I look back to the very beginning stages of making this summer partnership a dream come true, I realize that God spoke to me for the second time this year. This time he was pulling my heart strings to Thailand. I have been so blessed to find a family in Payap Church and a home in Chiang Mai. I certainly have not grown weary eating the delicious Thai food every day and am loving being surrounded by bright green mountains. Thai hospitality is the real deal and my biggest cultural take-away is Thai time. There is a noticeable lack of presence of clocks and time is not of the essence here. For the most part, there is no set and stone time for the start and end of events but people come and stay in the moment for as long as it lasts. This is most noticeable, and appreciated, during church service. The youth start by singing while people trickle in to the sanctuary and eventually Pastor Pong begins the service – which proceeds on its own accord and can end anywhere from 12 to 1 or later. Even better, everyone stays after for community time over lunch. Holding on to the present moment and making the most of the time you have with the people you’re with is a beautiful concept that isn’t as cherished in the fast-paced society of America. I have had the opportunity to really deepen relationships with my friends here and I could not be more grateful.

This summer we have gotten to know many different ministries and departments throughout Chiang Mai and we have witnessed the powerful fight here in Thailand. 1% of Thais are Christian, 96% are Buddhist. There are temples everywhere and Buddhist culture is deeply engrained into society. The numbers are intimidating but it has been the greatest inspiration to be surrounded by so many Christians doing God’s work in Thailand and hearing testimony after testimony of what God has done in their life. I had a few spiritual weaknesses coming into this summer – praying out loud and evangelism. But God knew what He was doing bringing me here because I couldn’t run away from it anymore. My faith is deeper, my heart for God stronger than ever, my comfort in sharing in the Lord’s Word has exponentially increased, and I have a newfound love for prayer both alone and with friends (many times a day!).

We are blessed beyond measure. God is doing incredible work here in Thailand but we aren’t done yet. He’s prepping us for the battle at home – in our hearts, with society, and against the atheist culture that predominates our lives. Sometimes it feels like I am in the 1% at home. So the work is never done. My dad’s life verse has been drilled into my sister and I’s heads over the years but has never been more clearly needed until this summer and right now:

1 Chronicles 28:20 “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, the Lord God, my God, is with you”.

Although our time in Thailand is close to the end (for now…), our work isn’t close to being over. The relationships we have made and the incredible wonders we have witnessed are all for His purpose and I hope that God will continue to use us as a tool for His Kingdom; that we may continue to build the Payap-Knox Partnership, and that we are His hands and feet at all times – doing His work.

 

Marisa:

As many of you know this is my second time visiting Chiang Mai, Thailand. Last year, I had the opportunity to volunteer with the English Fun Camp at Payap University and interact with Payap Church. It was then I fell in love with Thailand; who couldn’t resist the beautiful scenery, the hospitality of the people here, the loving nature of my sisters and brothers in Christ,  and most of all the way that God is constantly working in a country that is full of primarily Buddhist followers.

One thing I noticed last year and have witnessed even more this year is the strong faith of the believers I meet here. Everyday, Christian Thais wake up and decide love Christ, becoming that 1% that choose to proclaim their faith to others. This is not a right that Thais take for granted and I am in awe of their never ending faith in the Lord to spread Christianity across Thailand. This year being able to live this fight with my brothers and sisters in Christ has impacted the way I view sharing my faith with others, both abroad and when I return home to Kansas City.

Being given the opportunity to spend two months in my home away from home has been beyond amazing. I have experienced numerous of wonderful Thai traditions and seen beautiful scenery that God has made with His own hands. Chiang Mai sits in a valley surrounded by a beautiful mountain range; every morning there is a beautiful sunrise and a gorgeous sunset in the evening. But the part of this mission that will stick with me forever is the way the followers of Christ worship here in Thailand, without ceasing.

I will never be able to fully comprehend everything that God has done during my time in Thailand but I can express His overwhelming presence no matter how small the situation. One bible verse that has come to me over this mission is Ephesians 6:12: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark worlds and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Christians in Thailand do not stop fighting the fight of faith every day, so why should we? I  pray that as Kelsey and I wrap up our time in Chiang Mai, that we are able to keep on fighting the fight of faith that is surrounding us.

Update #6

Lunch with P’ Eed and Ba Yuriam

We were treated to our favorite healthy restaurant, Salad Concept, again with our friends Yuriam and P’ Eed! It was fun because it was their first time there and we went to a different location, so it was new to us as well! We enjoyed taking time to show our professional CCI dance troupe friends our attempt of Thai Dance and see her photos from performances around the world. A wholesome meal with good company made for the best day!

Tourist Day: Tiger Kingdom and Queen Sirikit Botanical Garden

We had a free day and were feeling tourist-y and convinced our friends to go with us to the Tiger Kingdom! This is a sanctuary and research clinic that protects tigers, an endangered species highly coveted in the southeast Asian black market, and domesticates them. We say domesticate because we went inside the cage of two “small” tigers (They were 9 months old) and pet them. We gave one of the tigers a belly rub. They were like giant, rough-furred dogs. There were also a few lions, including a playful young one, and two baby white tigers! We crossed something off our bucket list we never knew was even on there!!
After Tiger Kingdom we visited the Queen Sirikit Botanical Gardens up the mountain to enjoy the beautiful view, weather, and learn more about plants and ecosystems native to Thailand. There was a natural science museum we were learned that Thailand has ten different types of forests! We really enjoyed the beautiful succulents, orchids, carnivorous plants and the many lotus flowers.
This day wouldn’t have been as much fun if we weren’t with our good friends Jane, Pathai and Ruthai, so thank you guys for spending so much time with us!!

5613634

4066440

5037558

3548369

4636796

4894170

 

Happy Fourth of July!

We may be 8,342 miles away from home but we had to celebrate our American holiday! After our busy tourist day we spent a long time at the grocery store preparing for the party we were throwing with our youth friends for the Fourth of July. We even found some fireworks at a market!! The boys were really adamant on helping us cook… which meant teaching Ruthai how to cut a watermelon and laughing at Pathai for crying while cutting onions. Blasting some good music and making Kraft Mac n Cheese, homemade pizzas, and salad was so much fun. After everyone devoured all the American food we ran outside to play with sparklers (it’s really entertaining trying to teach them how to say “sparkler”) and set off three fireworks. We played cards and spent most of the night laughing and enjoying each other’s company. Hands down, one of the best Fourth of July celebrations we have experienced!

Church Ministry with Pastor Pong

Visiting the newest member of the Khamkongchan family!

First stop: On June 19th sweet Hannah Grace was brought into this world to our dear friends Dew and Riew…oh and Daniel too! We are so thankful for the opportunity to meet, cuddle, and hold Hannah. What a sweet little blessing to this amazing family! Thank you for your friendship and allowing us to love on your new addition, we love you all! P.S. Daniel is going to be the best big brother ever!

Lunch with P Art

Second stop: We enjoyed an elaborate buffet style lunch with P Art and Pastor Pong at the Empress Hotel. It was a delicious meal and we enjoyed visiting this beautiful hotel in Chiang Mai!

Visiting the Office of the First Church District in Thailand

Third stop: Pastor Pong took us to the office of the First Church district in Thailand. This is the district that Payap Church belongs to under the CCT (Church of Christ in Thailand) umbrella. Pastor Pong is the secretary and introduced us to Reverend Somchit who is the current president of the first district of CCT. Reverend Somchit talked to us about the first district of CCT and about our ministry in Chiang Mai. Thank you for your time and wealth of information!

Thai Wedding

We had the honor of being invited to a Thai wedding of our friend’s, Ba Jane, daughter from Payap Church. We were able to attend the reception and the bridegroom and groom were very gracious to let us take pictures with them and see where their ceremony took place. They shared with us that during the ceremony white string were wrapped around their wrists and heads to signify an eternal bond. It was a wonderful cultural experience and celebration of love!

Kira and Dianne have ARRIVED!

Thursday night we drove to the airport to pick up our friends from Knox – Dianne and Kira!! Thankfully their flights all went very smooth and they actually arrived 30 minutes early to Chiang Mai! Of course, they were greeted with a big welcome sign and many hugs. We are so excited that they could join us for English Camp and are also grateful that Jeff Suknot finally arrived after a not-so-smooth travel experience. Welcome to Thailand, friends!

Grand Canyon of Chiang Mai

Friday was a free day with Dianne, Kira, Jane and P’ Tang and her daughter Way. We have been wanting to visit the Grand Canyon of Chiang Mai – an old quarry used to build the super highways around the city that has been turned into a water park for cliff jumping, swimming and playing. The water park was a humbling experience to say the least. We may have underestimated the show ‘Wipeout’ and had quite the workout climbing and jumping around all day. We are burnt, bruised and super super sore so it was a success.

Dinner with Dr. Boonratna Boayen

We were invited for a dinner at the home of Reverend Boonratna with all the pastors, directors, and staff of various religious institutions we have taken a part of such as CCT, Religious staff at Prince Royal College, and people from Payap Church! There was a sermon before the dinner based on the 7th verse of the 7th chapter of the 7th book of the Bible (Judges 7:7). The day was also 7/7/17 and Reverend Boonratna is 77 years old! All of this has importance, culturally the number 7 represents great abundance. The Reverend Boonratna has grown and harvested figs at his home and this dinner and sermon was to bless the figs, so that they may be abundant this season. It was a wonderful time to spend with friends we have met the past few weeks and to enjoy some delicious figs!

Staying with Jane and Tu

MAJOR SHOUT OUT TO OUR FRIENDS AND HOST, JANE AND TU!!!

But seriously, thank you to Jane and Tu for opening your home and letting us stretch out and relax in our home away from home. Thank you for letting us drag you around Chiang Mai and coordinating our schedule. We are so blessed by your friendship and cannot wait to continue making memories these next couple of weeks.

Side note — Tu had to deal with FIVE women in their house for two days, he deserves a lot of praise!! Oh, and Jane really likes naps… 🙂

Thai Language Course #6

We have officially completed our Thai Language courses with Kru Pong…sad sad day. For our last class Dianne and Kira were able to join us and we “helped” Kru Pong teach. Thank you Kru Pong for your time spent on our curriculum, your endless energy, your understanding of our American/Thai accents, and your willingness to teach two Kansas girls some Thai! We will remember your efforts and gratitude every time we speak Thai!!

Dinner with English Camp Volunteers

We have officially moved on to our last mission of this trip, English Fun Camp at Payap University! Saturday was a busy day of moving into the PIH house and settling in. In the evening we enjoyed a dinner with some of the other English camp volunteers and started making plans for the next two weeks. We are so excited to start this new adventure and share this beautiful city with some new friends!

Sunday at Payap Church

What a wonderful Sunday at Payap Church! Kira joined us in singing with the youth; we sang ‘Blessed Be Your Name’, ‘Our God’, ‘How Great is Our God’, and ‘You are My All in All’. Dianne presented the funds for the renovation project we will be completing at the end of the month, renovating a small room at Payap Church. This room will be used as a multi purpose room for young children during church, storage of church materials, and a meeting room. Pastor Pong began a sermon series about the Holy Spirit using scripture from Acts. We said good-bye to some of our youth friends who are heading back to their university and we matched, so of course we took a picture.

Tourist Day: Doi Suthep and Walking Street

Joining other English Camp volunteers, we finally made our way up to Doi Suthep to see the beautiful view of the Chiang Mai city. It was a curvy ride up to the top but we enjoyed getting to know the other volunteers better and seeing the mountain. At the top, we stopped by the Orchid Jade Factory, to stay out of the rain, and learned about the jade business in Thailand. Afterwards we walked the 300 stairs up to the top! We toured the temple,  took pictures from the top, and marveled at God’s beautiful creation. After that we topped off our eventful afternoon with the Chiang Mai Sunday Walking Street. It was enjoyable to be “tour guides” to the English Camp volunteers that have just joined us. What a wonderful day full of community and God’s beauty!

Update #5

WE HAVE BEEN HERE FOR A MONTH!!!

Whaaaaaaaat we have been living in Thailand for over a month now?!?! This is crazy. We have grown accustomed to a lot of the Thai culture, food, language and even the humidity without air conditioning. We are at the point where we finally are comfortable and know where we are at all times around Chiang Mai! This journey has been such a blessing and none of this would be possible without all of the hard work and constant love from our friends of Payap Church. We are so thankful for all of you!

Lamp of Thailand

Monday morning we spent time with the Church of Christ in Thailand (CCT) in the Lamp of Thailand department. This is a non-profit program that develops curriculum to distribute around Thailand to educate people about Christian life and the teachings of Jesus. There are multiple levels ranging from basic understandings of Christian religion and God to evangelizing other people. Many churches use these programs for Sunday School curriculum and when students “graduate” from their programs they receive certificates – an important symbol of status in this hierarchical society. Lamp of Thailand ministers to many different types of people: church members, non-believers, prisoners, and many different languages. We really enjoyed the time spent with the staff, helping staple papers, and eating out at a delicious Thai buffet!

Thai Dance

The talented and beautiful P’ Jan spent Monday and Tuesday afternoon with us in her new dance studio patiently teaching us Thai dance! We learned the “simple” Fingernail Dance, the crazy difficult stretches, and dressed up in her beautiful traditional Thai outfits. We loved the music but dancing slowly and gracefully was so difficult! This has been one of our favorite experiences so far but no… we won’t perform at Knox…

CCT Evangelism Department

Only 1% of the people in Thailand are Christians. CCT Evangelism Department works very hard traveling around Thailand for most of the year to all of the provinces and many villages. They tour schools as well as host programs and camps for kids to become interested in becoming a Christian. They also partner with CCT Youth to help evangelize to more children amongst the schools around Thailand. The work they do every day for the Lord is so inspiring and they have converted countless people. What a blessing to witness the work God is doing through them in Thailand.

Dinner with Kaewsawad Family

Not only did we get to have P’ Cheep as our professional uber driver for the week but we also had the joy of dining with his family. We listened to the Kaewsawad family’s testimony, dined on some yummy food, and enjoyed the cool breeze and rainfall. After dinner, we stopped for the always needed ice cream treat. Thank you for a delightful evening!

CCT Youth Department

Wednesday morning, we had the opportunity to visit and spend time with the staff of CCT Youth. CCT Youth is a department in the Church of Christ in Thailand. This department hosts events, supports church youth, and provides Christian educational material to churches all over Thailand. We had an enjoyable time learning about what CCT Youth does and helping them put together name tags for their youth retreat this weekend. After visiting we joined them for lunch at Salad Concept. This restaurant was delicious and full of yummy vegetarian food and we enjoyed the hipster atmosphere. Thank you CCT Youth Department for a wonderful morning and lunch!

Afternoon with Anet

Last Wednesday we had the most relaxing afternoon spent at the pool in the Eco Resort and Spa down the street from Anet’s home. We enjoyed the time in the sun, the cool water after a walk in this heat, and a homemade meal with Anet and P’ Jew! Anet is an American missionary from Indiana who has been living in Thailand for over thirty years working at Payap University as part of the faculty for the music department teaching flute and music therapy. We truly enjoyed getting to know her more, thank you Anet!

Happy Birthday Jane!

Friday was Jane’s birthday!!!!! We are so happy to have spent another birthday with her! In Thailand, people apparently don’t acknowledge their birthday much more than a small dinner get together. We had to Americanize it this year. We spent the whole week bringing up the fact that it was going to be her birthday and then spent the night before baking pizzas, making salad, and celebrated with a nice dinner, special cake and presents!! Then on Friday night we spent time with the youth celebrating Jane at the Korean dessert restaurant. I think this was a successful celebration!! Happy Birthday dearest Janeny Jane.

McCormick Hospital

Friday day was spent with our neurosurgeon friend, Dr. Manode, at McCormick hospital. Fun fact: The King, who recently passed, and his father were both doctors who practiced medicine before inheriting the throne of Thailand! We started our day at McCormick folding napkins with some elderly volunteers who loved practicing their English. We then observed a Neurologist in her examination clinic seeing various cases of post-stroke patients, epilepsy, and dementia. Dr. Manode also showed us a few of his clinic patients and was a wonderful teacher in explaining cases, treatments, and surgery! We had lunch in the medical office and met an American-Thai doctor who is retired and volunteers to bring medicine and healthcare to the hill tribe villagers in the mountains! The most amazing part of our day was the opportunity to scrub in to the operating room to observe a general surgeon removing a bowel obstruction!! Kelsey was geeking out like no other and Marisa did a really great job observing from the back corner. When the intestine was removed they let Kelsey snip it open in a bowl – to her absolute pleasure. We would not have had such amazing opportunities at McCormick if it weren’t for our friend Dr. Manode!! We are so thankful for the experience and the time he took to teach us so much about healthcare in Thailand and his surgical experiences.

Group Prayer at Payap Church

Every Friday, members of Payap Church meet for group prayer and on the last Friday of the month there is a group prayer party with a pot luck dinner and worship. We enjoyed our evening with a normal routine of spending time with the members of Payap Church; eating and worshipping!

Ban Yindee Children’s Home

Saturday morning we went with the Women’s Group of Payap Church to the Children’s home ministry that they support on the edge of Chiang Mai. A pastor, his wife, and staff members care for about 25 children. The youngest is age four and the oldest is thirteen. Many are orphans from either parents splitting and being unable to afford the children, parents’ death, or from a family that cannot support the amount of children they have. It’s a very sad situation but they are given so much love and care by their new family. Also, it was incredible to watch the older children taking care of each other, especially the younger ones, and lovingly helping them with everything. They attend school at a nearby village and participate in different activities during the weekend. We sang songs, talked about the bible story, Daniel and the Lion’s Den, made a few crafts, played some games and ate lunch together. Our hearts are so full from the time spent with these beautiful children and witnessing God’s love in many aspects. We are so grateful for the opportunity to spend time with the Women’s Group and this ministry that Payap Church is supporting.

Dinner with Wasanchai and Yuriam

We wrapped up our busy Saturday by having our last dinner with Wasanchai and Yuriam. It has been a joy to spend time with both of them and get to know them better. This week Jane and Tu joined us as a special treat for Jane’s birthday! We dined on some delicious fried chicken and FRENCH FRIES!!! Thank you Wasanchai and Yuriam for being wonderful hosts, we are very blessed to have the opportunity to get to know you both.

Sunday at Payap Church

This Sunday we sang with the youth worship team again, this has been a highlight of our weekends! This week we sang “You Are My All in All”, “Give Thanks”, “This is the Day That the Lord Has Made”, “Open the Eyes of My Heart Lord”. Also, we got to meet some German missionaries and talk with them about their mission here in Thailand. We have enjoyed the opportunity to meet many other foreigners and learning about their missions here in Chiang Mai.

Thai Lesson #5

Because of our busy Saturday, we had a shorten Thai lesson on Sunday. Kru Pong taught us about directions and we have been practicing on our wonderful drivers!

Walking Street with Payap Youth

On Sunday afternoon, we spent time with our friends playing Skip-Bo! and various games. We also convinced them to let Kelsey ride around the village on the back of their motorcycle – which turned into a lesson on how to drive a manual as well! (Yes, grandpa, I wore a helmet!!!!) I drove about fifteen feet and didn’t die thanks to my good friends. Thanks boys!

Sunday night we spent time wandering the Chiang Mai Sunday Walking Street in Old City Chiang Mai. Even though we’ve visited before, and will go again, there are always so many new things to experience! Most importantly – Nutella waffles. So. Good. We tried various foods, stayed away from the fried insects, and enjoyed time exploring with our friends!

Staying with Jane and Tu

Jane and Tu are the most wonderful friends who have opened their home to us for the past two weeks and we are so blessed to continue to stay with them for one more week! We have loved the ample quality time spent with our dear friend Jane and are so excited to continue living here until moving into the PIH dorm on Saturday! Thank you Jane for giving us our own rooms and being the best queen of snacks ever!!!!!!

Update #4

Staying with Ying and Gam

This week started out with a short stay with Ying. Her friend, Gam, hung out with us too! Ying lives a little ways out of the city and it was enjoyable to take in the mountains each morning. Thank you Ying for opening your house to us!

Rest Day

It’s always such a blessing to have a day off to rest, recuperate and have some time to catch up with our families and friends at home. Last Monday we had the day to ourselves at Ying’s and spent time in the Bible study we share called “Looking for Lovely” based on Romans 5:3-5:

“Not only that but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

We spent time reflecting together how this verse has impacted us and our perspective through this journey in Thailand serving God. It’s been true encouragement through the not-so-easy moments and uplifting in other aspects in our lives! This is an incredible bible study that we have really enjoyed (Good pick, Shelby! Thank you!!!!!)

Both of us finished our Netflix shows, Kelsey actually sat down to write her Physician Assistant Statement essay for graduate school applications and did yoga, and we both had quality FaceTime with people at home. Once dinner time rolled around we wandered around the village and found a little clubhouse and diner nearby. We had the sweetest waitress who was excited to practice some English and teach us more Thai! The view was beautiful and we indulged ourselves with French fries so it was awesome to say the least! We are so grateful for the lazy and productive days that are fulfilling nonetheless.

Prince Royal’s College

This week we had the opportunity to spend time at The Prince Royal’s College (PRC). PRC was the first boy’s school in Thailand founded by a PCUSA missionary, Harris, in 1887. PRC was founded on Christian doctrine and remains a Christian led school today, however, most students are not Christians. Today, PRC has 6,400 students ranging from kindergarten to 12^th grade and 500 teachers and staff. We spent our time at PRC seeing different educational programs in action and observing different classrooms.

Marisa was totally geeking out over some of the programs she saw so here is her take: As many of you know I teach 2^nd grade and will be moving up to 5^th grade this school year. You might also know that I LOVE science and technology. At PRC we visited many different classrooms but my top three favorite classrooms were a STEM class, mathematics robotics class, and a mathematics class. In each of these classrooms STEM was being used – HOW EXCITING! To see a classroom half way across the world incorporating STEM made my teacher heart so happy. I specifically geeked out over the mathematics robotics class. In this classroom students were using LEGO Mindstorms robots to complete multiple digit subtraction. Say the problem was 360-180, students would program the robot to go forwards 360 cm and then go back 180 cm. Then students would place their robots on the number line. Some students would even have their robots do a U-turn when they reached their first destination. Needless to say I loved every moment of visiting 1^st-8^th grade classrooms at PRC!

Dinner with Pastor Pong, Ram, and Proud

On Monday the Chaisri family (minus Patty) took us to a lovely dinner at Samsen Villa. This restaurant sits on the Ping River – the major river that runs through Chiang Mai – and is just down right gorgeous. We enjoyed some different seafood dishes and great conversations with the Chaisri family, thank you for hosting us!

Last Dinner with P’ Oh

P’ Oh has been a wonderful host to us for three dinners and we have loved our Tuesday evenings with her! P’ Pom joined us as well and this time we changed things up and went out for Vietnamese food at a new restaurant. The fresh spring rolls and the build-your-own spring rolls was a fun (and sticky) experience in the company of our good friends! Thank you ladies for a wonderful meal!

Staying with Jane and Tu

We are so excited to be at our good friend Jane’s home for a week and half!!! Jane was kind enough to have her 20 cats stay in her home in Chiang Rai so that we can spend time with her (without Kelsey dying)! We have had a blast biking around the village, sitting on the big pink couch, going through Jane’s closet, and really enjoying the eggs Tu has a talent for cooking. It’s been fun spending time with friends we have known for years from when Jane came to visit Knox for a few months. The fun part of this experience is that we are here as interns to experience Payap just like Jane came to Knox to intern and experience Kansas for a few months! We love you both dearly.

Sending Proud off to South Korea

We have had the joy of being met at the airport on our arrival. This is a continuous event for members of Payap Church, sending off and greeting members! This week we had the opportunity to send of Proud as she heads to South Korea for two months of study abroad. Proud has been a great friend to us and we are sad to only spend a month with her. However, we are excited for her journey in South Korea and know that she will do great things during this time. Good luck Proud, we love you!

Visiting Central Festival and Coffee

During Friday afternoon free time Jane took us out to Central Festival – the biggest shopping mall we’ve been in by far. Wow. The five story monster of a shopping center consists of many high-end-retail stores and a range of options at the food court. We goofed around and enjoyed a small snack with a view from a window overlooking the city below. In regards to the stores… I think we’ll stick to the cheap market streets of Thailand!

We also had the chance to visit our host sister (Tang’s daughter – Way) at her work in the coffee shop HeadSpace. This cute & modern shop was so fun to take pictures and relax in while enjoying the sweet barista skills of Way! Love little moments like these.

Dinner with Batzinger Family

Friday night was a special time getting to know the Batzinger family. Kelsey really enjoyed picking the brains of Rob – an Ivy League graduate with degrees in Organic Chemistry, Analytical Computer Science and Mathematics, and a PhD in Pharmacology (Special shoutout for showing Kelsey that ridiculously awesome biochemistry molecular reaction map… ordering it online right now!!!). All of that aside, Rob and Kajorn’s life story was so inspiring to listen to as they both have done incredible work serving God through their ministry in BSF (Bible Study Fellowship). Marisa is a part of this ministry as well at home and was able to share her experiences and love for BSF! Kajorn’s mother, 85 years old, joined us for dinner as well while we enjoyed delicious homemade noodles and fruit. We especially loved listening to their testimony of when they came to know Christ as young adults. Spending time with this extraordinary couple made for a really marvelous evening. Thank you both for hosting us and sharing your stories!

Thai Language Class

All hail queen Kru Pong! The queen of Thai language courses! But seriously, this lady ROCKS! We are so thankful for Kru Pong’s perserverance and determination to help us understand the Thai language. This week we learned about telling time in Thai and spent the majority of the class speaking in Thai. Currently we like to tell people, “Pa sa Thai nee-noi” (I speak a little Thai) and “Mai ped” (No spice).

Buatong Waterfall with Payap Youth

Saturday was a day of quality time spent with our youth friends. We spent the first few hours rehearsing music for service that Sunday and eating lunch together. After, we piled into the back of Tu’s pickup truck and rode for an hour into the mountains while playing guitar and singing worship songs. Our destination was a beautiful waterfall made of limestone – perfect texture to be able to climb barefoot! We sat picnic style eating snacks and spending an hour really getting to know one another. Then the adventure started… hiking down the mountain to where the waterfall starts, taking our shoes off, and climbing! Kelsey only fell twice, which is basically a miracle. The most incredible part of this experience was stopping midway on the waterfall to turn around and see God’s beautiful creation. It’s humbling and thrilling all at the same time. This experience is a trip highlight for sure!

4535281

4787554

3845607

Khantoke Dinner with Wasanchai and Yuriam

Right after the waterfall we spent the evening with our friends, Yuriam and Jazzy, at a Khantoke dinner show! We quickly changed into nicer clothes and sat down on the ground cushions to enjoy traditional northern Thai food. The rain clouds missed us – barely! – and the show started. Khantoke is a traditional Northern Thai dance show that feature dances from the Hilltribes and other Northern provinces, Muey Thai fighting, other famous traditional dances such as the Monkey and Fish, and is rich with Northern Thai culture including language, music and costume. The show was absolutely beautiful, fun and educational as well! It really got us excited for the coming week when we learn Thai Dance with a CCI member from Payap Church.

Sunday at Payap Church

This Sunday we had the privilege of singing with the youth worship team. We sang “Blessed be Your Name”, “Our God”, “How Great is Our God”, and “Here I am to Worship”. Also, during service we watched the induction of a deacon and the confirmation of two of our host sisters, Tang Mo and Tang Sai, being confirmed as members of Payap Church. What a joyous service at Payap Church!

Thai Massage

Sunday afternoon we had some free time and decided to bike to a nearby massage place in Jane’s village. This was definitely an interesting experience and we hope to get a feel (ha!) for how other places work as well. It’s hard to pass up a massage opportunity when the price is equivalent to $7!!! We’re never leaving!!!!

Dinner with Jane and Tu

On Sunday evening, we ventured out to the teen market near Chiang Mai University. According to Jane this is one of the spots to get the hottest trends in Chiang Mai. We dined in the market’s food court as we experienced one of the biggest and loudest thunderstorms; the market was even flooded for a bit! After the rainstorm we roamed through the different stalls and enjoyed a relaxing and cool, yes it can be cool-ish in Thailand, evening. We especially appreciate our personal weekend Uber driver – Tu! (Side story: Tu’s coworkers have been calling him an Uber driver because he is always driving people around. So as in any situation in Thailand, this calls for car selfies!)

Thank you to our schedulers — Tang, Pong, Riew, and Jane

We want to give a small but very heartfelt shoutout to our dear friends Tang, Pastor Pong, new father of 2 Riew, and our sister Jane! They have put in HOURS of work preparing for our arrival to Thailand, making our schedule each week, transporting us around, and attending every event with us. You four are the reason we are here and are having such an amazing experience almost one month in. We appreciate everything you have done for us and with us. We love you with all of our hearts.

ขอขอบคุณ !!!

Week #3 Bloopers

The look Marisa gives when she is done taking pictures but Jane is not…

Update #3

WE HAVE OFFICIALLY FINISHED OUR SECOND WEEK IN CHIANG MAI… AND WE ARE LOVING IT!

Staying with Ebel Family

Christian Ebel and his wife, Ya, opened up their beautiful home to us for the last week. Christian is a missionary from Germany who has lived the last few years in Thailand. We enjoyed the company of his wife and daughter as well as the background noise of the Tokay gecko. They were everywhere and are known for the sound they make five to six times after eating something. We are also super grateful that we didn’t actually see one until we pulled up a picture for your viewing pleasure below. You’re welcome.

Campus Crusade for Christ on Chiang Mai University Campus and Maejo University Campus

Monday and Tuesday this week we had the joy of spending time with Riew on two different campuses that he mentors the leaders of Campus Crusade for Christ (CRU). CRU is an international organization that is on many college campuses to help spread the good news of Jesus Christ and mentor Christians across the world. Here in Thailand, CRU works to spread the good news and be the change since only 1% of Thailand is Christian. We visited Chiang Mai University and Maejo University, both of these campuses have strong CRU organizations and are constantly reaching out to new students. Riew took us around to all of the places where students and CRU leaders meet. There were many instances were Riew ran into students or faculty that he has made connections with, it was great to see the work that Christ is doing through Riew and through CRU.

Trying New Fruit — Durian

Marisa has had the experience of durian already from her trip last summer so this is Kelsey’s experience:

One of the first things anyone will ask us when they meet us is “Ohhh have you tried durian yet?!”. This fruit is a speciality and delicacy in Thailand as it is very expensive. It’s known as the “king” of Thailand fruits and the Mangosteen is the “queen”. Durian is considered hot and from everything I’ve heard it actually doesn’t sound very good for your body – you can actually get poisoned or die from eating a large quantity of this fruit or eating the fruit and drinking alcohol. To counter the “hot” effects of Durian it’s paired with the queen, Mangosteen, a “cool” fruit. Anyone who knows me knows how picky I am about fruit – I don’t eat very many. And I’m not willing to try it in America. But I’m here in Thailand and it’s fruit season and is offered at every single meal and snack. Durian has a texture that I can only describe as… stringy pudding. And it made my stomach hurt. And Marisa does not like durian either. I’m sorry Thailand.  However, mangosteen was pleasing and I did not mind it! Also I tried mango for the first time this week, yes I know huge deal, and did not mind the green mango! So yay for exploring my palate! (Mom, dad, are you proud!??!?)

McKean Rehabilitation Center and Hospital

A really incredible experience from this past week was the opportunity to serve at McKean Rehabilition Center at the edge of Chiang Mai. This center was founded by Dr. McKean, a missionary who saw a need for homes for people suffering from leprosy. People infected with leprosy were cast out of their homes and lived under bridges – when the water wasn’t too high. He built a whole community for these people consisting of villages, churches, a hospital, and gathering center where they learned craft trades and vocational skills to make an income. Leprosy has a history of intense stigma and many patients wouldn’t go home when they were better and have lived at McKean almost their entire lives. Today, McKean has an international nursing home that is for expats and foreigners who retired in Thailand and need a safe place to live and eventually pass on. They also have a hospital and outpatient clinic that we toured and many people with leprosy or other illnesses continue to live in the villages. We toured the first day and learned about McKean’s history. Later on, we took on the project of cleaning their museum boards. They have picture collages across a few boards showcasing the history of McKean that we cleaned and reframed. We also really enjoyed playing bingo with a group of the elderly residents which helped us perfect our Thai number knowledge! One of the coolest parts of McKean was spending time with the Pastor visiting church members in the hospital and at the village next door. Of course, all communication was in Thai but to witness the love and compassion between the church members and all people at McKean was inspiring to see God’s work in this place.

Package from Parents

THANK YOU TO OUR FAMILY AT HOME. What a wonderful, unexpected surprise that just brightened our entire week. We miss you all so so so so so so so much and can’t wait to be reunited in 6 weeks!!! Homesickness is a real thing but we’re feeling so blessed that we have such amazing family at home that makes saying goodbye so difficult to do. Love you guys.

Family Time with Riew and Dew

Our special friends, basically family, spent so much time with us this week and we loved every second of it. After spending Monday and Tuesday with Riew on campus we went to his house to play with Daniel, learn about their mission with Campus Crusade, and have genuine family time. They took us to the best restaurant ever called Gusto Site for some modern Thai food and a few days after we ate a wonderful American meal at Duke’s – our first time eating cheese since we left the States. This time spent with our dear friends was super special as they prepare for Baby Hannah’s arrival TOMORROW Monday, June 18th!!!!! We can’t wait to meet the little princess and for sweet Daniel to become a big brother! Riew and Dew are incredible parents, friends, and family in Christ. We are so blessed to be with them in Thailand and to spend time with familiar faces.

Dinner with Oh and friends

This Tuesday, we had the joy of spending another evening with Pi Oh and friends. We enjoyed some delicious Thai food – a special fish dish, dumplings, and mangosteen for desert. Since Pi Oh and friends work at the McCormick Faculty of Nursing at Payap University we were able to talk about our plans for the fun English camp in July. Also, we got a lot of tips and ideas for curriculum planning!

Thai Class

Third Thai class is in the books! We worked this week on asking questions, time, and calendar knowledge. Our Thai is slowly getting better with the help of many teachers! However, we appreciate all our Thai friends working on speaking English with us.

Youth Group Photo Challenge Activity

Saturday was a fun day spending time with the youth of Payap Church. The group ages range from about 16 years old to Kelsey’s age so it was fun hanging out with them! We started with band practice to sing on worship team and played for a few hours. Jane and Tu then drove us all to Chiang Mai Train Station and the Tonlamyai Market for a photo competition. Thai people love to take tons of pictures so this day was a big photo shoot. After lunch we split into two teams and were given challenges to take a pictures of loneliness at the train station and food at the market. We each took a picture and at the end lined up all of our phones and chose the best picture to award our team points. It was a fun way to interact and get to know our new friends. And before everyone freaks out – the train tracks we were standing on were not active that day so we were very safe, don’t worry.

3343993

Dinner with Wasanchai and Yuriam

This Saturday, we joined Yuriam and Wasanchai at the Baanrai Yarmyen for a wonderful Northern Thai dinner. We listened to great music, including a fantastic cover of What a Wonderful World, and had great conversation. The meal was fabulous with one of our favorite dishes, tom yum, steamed vegetables, many different Northern Thai appetizers, and fruit for dessert. It was a great end to our amazing Saturday!

Update #2

Dara Academy

We spent our first full week in Thailand at Dara Academy which is a preschool through grade 12 institution of 6,000 students. Dara was started by two Presbyterian missionaries in 1878 and remains a Christian led school today, however, only about 500 students are Christian. We spent Monday touring the entire school, learning about the history, and meeting the board of Directors who graciously accepted us into their fold and hosted us all week. We toured the school museum’s and *attempted* to learn how to make a flower for the King’s cremation ceremony (Marisa rocked this craft, Kelsey… not so much to the amusement of our craft teachers).

The rest of the week was spent observing classrooms of different ages. We taught the Lord’s Prayer in English to multiple religion classes and Kelsey visited a Buddhist funeral with the religion department teachers one morning.

God Moment (Kelsey):                                                                                                                      The best experience for me was having the opportunity to share my testimony to a grade 11 class on the last day. During one of the few question and answer sessions held with upperclassmen, a student asked what do I do when I get very sad.  It was a moment when I realized it’s time to share how deep my faith is and how I turn to God in a time of need. I’m not sure if any of it clicked with the students but if it touched even one then I am grateful for the opportunity. I’m not comfortable with evangelism, it is not a spiritual gift that God has blessed me with to be able to openly talk about my faith in effort to convert others. I am beginning to see that maybe my experience in Thailand is intended to learn this trait and be able to practice walking and speaking my faith to others and bring this home to America. How cool is it that God works in these mysterious ways?

Staying with the Promwangkwa Family

This week our hosts were the Promwangkwa family! They opened their home to us with welcome arms and we had an enjoyable time. We shared dinner with their whole family and enjoyed traveling to Dara Academy with them each morning, where they work and attend school. Also, we got our first experience of Thai laundry – in the rain! We ended our time with the Promwangkwa family by enjoying a competitive game of Skip-Bo with Tang Sai and Tang Mo; where Tang Sai beat us all!

Dinner with the Ritchie Family

Last Tuesday we left the city of Chiang Mai and traveled to a village next door where the Ritchie family lives! Graham and his son, Ken, have already left for Scotland for the summer so it was wonderful to spend time getting to know them for the evening. We decided some exercise sounded nice and walked to the local Northern Thai restaurant. This 45 minute walk was through the winding roads of multiple villages and we learned so much about Thai culture, village life, and soaked up the beautiful scenery. And yes, we were dripping in sweat after this walk. We are still adjusting to the intense humidity here but it’s hard to complain at all when you’re surrounded with beautiful landscape! The local food was probably our favorite meal to date and we left with our bellies and hearts so full of conversation with Graham, Pom, and Ken.

Dinner with Pi Oh and friends

Our sweet friend Pi Oh, and her nursing friends, hosted us for dinner (again, best food yet, yes we say this about every meal!) for some homemade Thai food. We love that every single meal with Thai friends is community style. All the food dishes are in the middle and shared with everyone; whether we dine at home or at a restaurant. We think this is the best way to eat because you get to taste everything and oh do we love Thai food!

Spaghetti Dinner at the Wakeman’s

Thursday evenings in Chiang Mai are always exciting — it’s spaghetti night! During the day on Thursday it poured in Chiang Mai which caused some flooding; especially on the Payap Univerity Campus: Kaew Nawarat. After exploring and taking some pictures of the flood, we dined on a wonderful American style meal of spaghetti, bread, salad, and ice cream at the Wakeman’s. We enjoyed relaxing conversations with other native English speakers and learned more about Chiang Mai.

Friday Night Group Prayer

Every Friday evening at 5pm we go to Payap Church for group prayer time. We begin with a hymn – which Pastor Pong loves to make us sing alone in English – and follow with reading a devotion from the Upper Room and correlating bible verse. Pastor Pong speaks about the verse for a little bit (Thank you Dr. Wakeman for the interpreting!) and then he assigns each of us a specific prayer request. We always pray for revival of the church, Thailand, our missions, Knox Church, and then for various other requests depending on the week or personal needs. The fun part is next – we stand in a circle and pray out loud for our assigned request at the same time. We really enjoy this, it’s an intense couple minutes of us all speaking to God and we’re never distracted with what others are saying because we’re not that fluent in Thai. After the prayer, in a very Thai way, we always take a selfie! It’s a fun community event that is a constant in our busy weekly schedule that we look forward to.

Thai Language Course #2

We are getting better at our Thai because of our amazing teacher Kru Pong! We learned about nouns, verbs, clothing, and places but it is obviously a little tiring…

Nong Pla Mun Church

This Saturday we had the opportunity to visit the Nong Pla Mun Church. We had heard many amazing stories about this church, how Knox and Payap Church volunteers had helped rebuild it, and we were excited to finally visit the community! Pastor Pong, Prow, Sunisa, and us traveled up to the mountain village which is about an hour outside of Chiang Mai. When we arrived we were welcomed with open arms and ushered into the church. There we were told about the history of Nong Pla Mun Church and the help that Payap Church has provided to the community. Afterwards we were able to visit with the church members and talk with them about their experiences. During this time, we met a brand new addition to the church, a family that had converted through the church’s piano outreach. Back story of piano outreach: Nong Pla Mun Church had invited the children of the village to come and receive piano lessons at the church. This family’s daughter fell in love with playing the piano and convinced her family to come to the church with her. Now her family has converted to Christianity and is enjoying being in the church community. Best of all, Nong Pla Mun Church has a new piano player! She sounds great!

After visiting with the church community we visited the houses of the current pastor, Chaiporn Panya, and a friend of Pastor Pong’s, Bird Ke Re Jung. At both houses we were greeted warmly with food and newborn puppies. When we left the village our hearts were full of love from the community and the cuteness of puppies!

 

Dinner at Sushi by Yoshi

Yo is a good friend of Pastor Pong’s and a very successful sushi chef! We ordered a ridiculously awesome amount of sushi and went out of our comfort zones trying many different fish. We weren’t quite sure what we ordered but it was delicious regardless; even better was the company for the evening. We enjoyed time spent in a lot of laughter with our dear friends – Pastor Pong’s wife, daughters, niece and Sunisa! We are so grateful for this community and family we have been surrounded by over the last two weeks.

Presentation of Mission at Payap Church

During church, we had the privilege of sharing about our mission and our excitement of being here in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Thankfully, Guy was our interpreter, we shared with the congregation about the history of Knox Church, the history of Payap and Knox’s Partnership, and the goal of our two month mission. This Sunday Dr. Boonratna Boayen, founder of Payap Church, gave the sermon. He discussed scripture from Malachi 1:6-11 about how to honor the Lord each day. He talked about how only serving Christ 99.9% of the time doesn’t work, we need to do everything 100% for the Lord.

Chiang Mai Walking Street

We had the wonderful opportunity on Sunday evening to spend three relaxing hours at the main walking street in downtown Chiang Mai. For the first hour we sat with some iced coffee outside and were able to enjoy some alone time. Once the market was set up and bustling, we walked for two hours resisting the urge to buy everything and taking in the culture. Also we enjoyed people watching and being surrounded with many other foreigners. In the middle of buying a t-shirt, the Thai national anthem came on the overhead speakers. During the national anthem everyone must stand completely still and pay your respect and end the song with quickly bowing your head. It was entertaining to see a few farang’s (foreigners) who clearly weren’t getting the message when everyone came to a complete stand still. They continued to walk quickly until they slowly realized what’s going on — don’t worry, we weren’t those foreigners. We enjoyed using this experience to practice our Thai on locals and shop around!!