After 23 hours of Flying...

Wow, it's hard to believe that my summer in Thailand is already over...I arrived in the ATL airport at 2am yesterday morning. I was originally supposed to arrive at 9:30pm but my flight was delayed for some reason.

Anyway, the last couple of weeks have been an incredible finish to my trip. I enjoyed getting to spend time with the twins Gao and Kwan even more, and I had a great time with Amanda, the other summer missionary that will be there for a month. I stayed really busy, not only packing, but saying my goodbyes to my friends there. Sunday night, the Cobbs, Amanda and I went to the Taylors house to eat dinner and fellowship together as kind of my going-away party. Debbie made a chocolate cake with mocha icing and it was incredible!
One other really exciting thing I got to do to be like the Thai was plant rice in the rice fields! It was unlike anything I'd ever done...you could either go barefoot or wear boots (which none of us had), so we stepped into the brown murky water, not knowing what was in the muck that went almost up to our knees. To plant the rice, we grabbed a bundle of long grass-like plants and grabbed 3 or 4 pieces of it, and stuck one end it into the muck with our thumb. Since you have to bend over pretty much the whole time you plant the rows, it really is hard "backbreaking" work...
Afterwards we got to enjoy a more fun activity--going to a gorgeous waterfall, which was more like big rapids. I had so much fun playing with Moriah and Dawson getting soaked to the core...It wore me out but it was a great way to end the day.
So now, I'm back in Georgia enjoying being with my family again. It still blows me away to think that I, out of all people, got to spend my summer in Thailand--not only gaining great memories and experiences, but getting to serve the Lord in a place I truly love! I already miss Thailand so much, but I know that I won't ever forget the friends I made and Thai culture I experienced...
Thanks so much for all your support--I know I couldn't have gone and enjoyed it the way I did if it weren't for you all praying for me. God worked so much in me throughout this trip and I'm glad I got to use my love for other countries and cultures for His glory...He's blessed me so much more than I deserve.

I love these verses I was reading the other night; they're a great reminder for me as I strive to obey the Lord..."Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who practices steadfast love, justice and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord." (Jeremiah 9:23,24)

In Christ's love,
Hannah

Back in good ol' Khu Khan...

Well, I'm back safe and sound from Chiang Mai, after getting to visit there for 3 days. It was really cool town because it was so much bigger than I thought it would be, and it was also a very "touristy" area so I got to do several adventurous things during my short stay. I got to go to the night bizarre which was HUGE! and also, I got to fly through the rainforest, which not a whole lot of people can claim they did during their summer vacation ;) It was a series of ziplines through the rainforest a little ways outside of Chiang Mai...they harnessed us up and we went from tree to tree "Flying like a Gibbon" (whatever that's supposed to mean...). I enjoyed getting to see a beautiful orchid farm, butterly garden, and one of my favorites--the night safari! There were so many animals and it was a gorgeous park they had them in...me and a friend even had the chance to pose for a picture while holding a baby puma/cougar! Anyway, so thankfully I've made it back safely to Khu Khan, where I'm glad I get to see all my friends again...

Today turned out to be much more fun than we expected...David, Amanda (the new summer missionary), and I went to follow up on a school where we had passed out tracts a week or two ago. Each kid that filled out a response card and checked that they wanted a free Bible story book and DVD, got them(all 60 of them!)...Then we were just hangin around a little bit before going back, and we noticed a whole bunch of kids were running laps and about to play soccer (school was just finishing). So Amanda decided to go play "futbon" with the kids (mostly around 10 years old or so) while I just chilled and took pictures of them...then a girl I had talked to a little earlier came over with a volleyball, so we started playing and a few girls one by one came over, so towards the end we had about 6 or 7 girls in a circle hitting the ball around and it was so much fun! Then when we got back to the house, we were pleasantly surprised to see the twins Gao and Kwan, who are 15 yrs. old and we've gotten to know them pretty well. They speak fairly good English and are very talkative and sweet, so it's great getting to spend time with them. We went and played badminton for a little while, then they invited us to go have dinner with them, so we headed to the market to eat. I'm really gonna miss Gao and Kwan when I go back to the states, but I'm glad God is blessing me with even more time to spend with them before I leave.

I can't believe I only have 6 days until I come back home! I'll be really sad to leave my Thai friends and the Cobbs, but I'm really excited to see my family and friends back in the States again...thanks for all your prayers and encouragement--God has given me an incredible experience here.
Until my next post...

Chiang Mai!

Just thought I'd write a quick post lettin everyone know I'm in Chiang Mai right now...about 15 hours from my town of Khukhan. I know, kind of random, but the opportunity arose to visit some friends of my parents who are with the IMB, so i took it! I got to ride a train for the first time, which was so cool! I'm just staying for a few days to look around the town and do some fun activities, including shopping, riding a long zipline over a rainforest, and possibly a night safari...Anyway, I just arrived early this morning (Sunday)and will be heading back to Bangkok Wednesday to meet up with Amanda, the next short-term missionary coming to work with the Cobbs...Kendall, the one that has been here 3 months, just left this morning to fly back to Arkansas. So I'm excited to have these few extra fun days in Chiang Mai and will get back to you all later!

~Hannah

Crazy Plans!

Wow, God is so good. We got to return back after missing a week to the Saturday kids ministry in Daiut that we have going on...there were almost twice as many kids as usual! I think there were about 20 or so...I just pray that they'll come again next week because numbers really vary each week, and sadly, Kendall and I won't be there this upcoming Saturday...She's leaving for the States on Sunday, so we both get to ride the overnight train to Bangkok Friday night! I'm so excited about this short trip because I'm actually just going to Bangkok for the day Saturday and then I'll be swinging up to Chiang Mai, where I'll get to stay with a missionary couple for a few days...I've heard so much about Chiang Mai, but didn't actually expect to have the opportunity to go (because it's a 15 hour drive from Khukhan...). So anyway, our plans really start to get crazy this weekend; another summer missionary (Amanda) will be arriving in Bangkok on Sunday the 6th--the same day Kendall flies out, and the day I arrive in Chiang Mai! Needless to say, we'd all really appreciate your prayers as we head every which-a-way :)

It's been really neat the relationships Kendall and I have been able to have with a few different Thai girls...in fact, I might have already mentioned Patty, a teacher at Khukhan school who speaks fluent English as a result of living in the US for 10 years. We've started getting to hang out with her pretty consistently every weekend, and once a week we get to help out with her high school English classes. Over the past week, we've gotten to eat dinner with her several nights, go places together, and just get to hang out. She's definitely becoming one of my favorite Thai friends :) I love how God brings along special people like Patty--especially when I may be questioning how effective I can be in a country where I can speak only nitnoy (a little) Thai. And plus, since she's close to our age, we can do things together that we all enjoy. She's very polite whenever we bless the food before dinner and in fact, she even asked one time if we have to pray before every meal, etc. and just kinda curious. The conversation didn't go far past that, but I'm excited to see what opportunities God will give us to share about Jesus and what a difference He makes.
Anyway, tomorrow we'll get to go to help out with her classes like we do every Thursday, so I'm really excited about getting to see her again and many of her students we've had before ;)

I've been learning so much during my time here...the other day on our drive out to a school where we passed out tracts, I really got to thinking about our responsibility--as Christians. It completely blew me away as to how much God has given us to do--and yet it's not really up to us to do it. This probably doesn't make much sense coming from my head being written out, but I realized that there is so much work out there to do; so many people who could be worshipers of God Almighty, and yet they're not because they don't know Him. We have so many people to reach, and so it may become discouraging at times. But then you take the focus off yourself and it becomes such a more hopeful picture--God is sovereign, accomplishing His plan through us. I've had to remind myself to not take my eyes of Him, because once I do, the Thai people I see are only people who don't know Christ...instead, I should see them as people who don't know Christ but CAN if we continue to persevere and share the gospel, believing God can help them understand.

The Thai people as a general rule (from what I've seen) tend to be very apathetic when it comes to religion--not sure if it's just with the gospel or with any religion. It gets frustrating when we try and try to share about Christ and the life He lived, and they politely listen, but then we get no response either way to what they think about what we've shared. Sometimes, like today, we encounter someone who says they believe in Jesus (they've said the prayer), but then they won't come to church, or they don't really think there's anything else they should do. As David was telling me about the lady today, it's kind of as if she just wanted a change from Buddhism or something. Or if we encounter a Buddhist, they may just nod their head and go along with it, or just add God in there with all their other gods. I just pray, and ask you too as well, that the people we encounter would see the urgency of a Savior in everyone's lives, and that they would truly care about how and Who they live their life for.

Talk to you again soon!
Hannah

Back from the Beach :)

Alot has happened since I last wrote...the Wednesday after my last post me and Kendall went to the Cambodian border to get our visas renewed...come to find out she was only allowed to stay 19 more days until she would have to leave the country--leaving her 10 days short of her plane flight. No need to worry though, she's just moved her flight to an earlier date, so she'll be leaving this Sunday instead of the same day as me as was originally planned.

Today we just got back from a week trip to the beach for a conference the Cobbs had to go to. Me and Kendall got to help take care of the kids each day; I worked with 2-year olds, which definitely kept me busy! During the week though, many of the kids and workers started getting the stomach bug, so of course, it had to come around and catch me...I didn't get to work one of the days, but that allowed me to rest a whole day, so now I'm up and running again! The week was enjoyable, but also reminded us how good it is to be back in Khukhan--especially away with no more hotel food! I definitely loved getting to see the beautiful Thailand beaches and work with lots and lots of kids :)

So now we're back in the swing of things... for another week at least, since Kendall will sadly be leaving Khukhan on Friday. Please pray for her as she packs and gets ready to go--and that she'll have a safe flight.

Oddly enough, God has refreshed and renewed me so much during this past week even through all the tiring days, and I can't wait to share with you again soon!

~Hannah

Forgot to mention...I've been posting my pictures on the web; you can check them out at http://picasaweb.google.com/freckle89... there's a whole bunch of them so I hope you enjoy them!

Yay for Rainy Season!

Wow, what a great last several days it's been! The rainy season has begun, which has helped cool things down tremendously...I feel like I have so much to say, so this post may run a little long :) Last Thursday, Kendall and I went to the big school here in Khukhan to interact with Patty's English classes (she's the one who speaks fluent English), which were all 9th grade except one extracurricular class that was 11th grade. We got to stay the whole day there and really enjoyed the change of not necessarily having to teach the class, but instead being there to give examples of conversations and giving help to the students when they paired off the practice. I love to see such a strong desire in the high school students to learn English...the 11th grade class was really fun because since it wasn't a real English class, they just got to sit and talk with us, asking us questions in English. The girls absolutely loved learning all about me and Kendall, finding out our hobbies, where we live, how old we are, etc. I'm so glad that God has led us to Patty, not only so we can be completely comfortable in a Thai classroom, but also so we can develop a great relationship with a Thai person. Kendall and I have had the chance to hang out with Patty so much; she loves to take us to different places to eat, and we've had her over for dinner at our apartment as well. I'm praying so much that she would be someone we can possibly see saved...I would appreciate your prayers in that as well.

Friday, David invited the pastor from Sisaket (about 30 minutes away) to join us in following up on 2 people who had sent response cards back to the Cobbs (we put a card in each gospel tract that's handed out). First, we visited an older man in a village not too far from Khukhan...We sat there for a pretty long time while the pastor explained to him about Jesus, etc. and the man seemed pretty interested, but we're not sure if he'll come to Christ or not; he was just the time of man that loves to read and study material. I pray that as he studies the Bible we gave him that he'll see that it's the Truth and believe in the Lord. After that visit, we went to see and older lady nearby who had sent a response card as well. I couldn't quite tell if she was completely interested, but from what I could see she was very talkative, and I think she was kind of trying to compare Buddha to Jesus as the pastor was explaining some things. I'm not sure how that follow-up will turn out either, but the fact that the Cobbs received a response card says alot because that doesn't happen very often.

I enjoyed my first Barbecue here...Patty took me, Kendall, Yee, and Boo to a restaurant that has tables where you get to cook your own food! They put a round pot in the middle of the table (sitting over hot coals), and you put the vegetables around the outside of the pot, where there's water boiling. Then in the middle of the dish, it's raised up like an upside down bowl and you put pieces of pork on there to grill them (the Barbecue part... ;)...It tasted so good! And plus, we got to perfect our chopsticks skills, which are still a little rough. It was funny because Patty asked for forks and spoons especially for me and Kendall in case we got too impatient (or too hungry) using the chopsticks.

Today turned out to be an incredible day as well! We got to go to a school this morning, where Kendall and I each taught separate lessons for about an hour (I did 5th grade and she did 6th). It was pretty funny because I was teaching different activities like sit, stand, play, run, etc. They weren't catching on as quickly as usual, but I think they were just kinda shy because they thought they might say it wrong when I acted out the activity. So finally, they were started getting them right, so I decided that they knew it enough to try charades...At this point, David had left to run a few errands; usually, he sticks around to just see if the kids understand what we're actually talking about. I went ahead and started trying to get one of them to volunteer to act it out...of course, they just kinda sat there with a really confused look on their face, kinda half-giggling because neither of us could understand each other. So maybe 5 or 10 minutes later, after a lot of broken English/acting out/pointing/blank stares, they figured out what in the world I was talking about, so by the time David came back almost all the kids had acted out and activity...Everyone, including myself, just laughed through the whole thing, and they seemed to actually have learned some English by the end of the class.

After the crazy morning with the kids, we went to visit a couple about 20 kilometers away; the man is from Hawaii and the Thai woman is really sweet. We just kinda chatted for awhile, and a man from the village stopped by for a little while as well. David then read a few verses from the Bible, partly talking English, partly talking Thai. I'm not sure if the Hawaiian man is a Christian, but he seemed to understand all that David was saying about us being reconciled with God when we become saved, and he knows many Bible stories, as does his wife. Then the woman took us to a Buddhist temple near their house because her husband had mentioned that the monks have the option of studying about Christianity for a year, and he was quite curious to see what they were actually learning about it. We got to take pictures and go in the temple; we stopped for a little while to talk to a monk (or rather, David talked to him) and later we found out that they were kind of comparing/contrasting Jesus and Buddha. David tried to explain to him about Jesus, but it's hard because many times, Buddhists will say He's just like Buddha in that He taught people to do good, etc. so they just kind of agree but don't understand the aspect of Christ's dying for us since we can't be good enough on our own. So anyway, please continue to be in prayer for David to know how to explain Christianity to Buddhist so they'll see the difference and want to know more about Christ.

One last fun thing I'd like to write about before I'm done...this evening I went to the park to see if a couple of friends from the high school were going to still meet me to play volleyball...they ended up not being able to come because they were busy with homework, but I did get to watch some girls I met about a week ago play in the volleyball tournament that's been going on! There's been a ton of people at the park every evening to watch the soccer and volleyball games the past week or so...I'm so glad I saw those girls cause after a close match (in which they lost in the 3rd game), they invited me to go to Lotus (the Thai equivalent of Walmart) with them! The three that I went with are 24, 24, and 28 years old, and they all work at the hospital in Khukhan. So we hopped onto 2 different motorcycles and enjoyed getting to hang out in Lotus and eating dinner there together as well. The oldest one knows a good bit of English...at least enough communicate with me, and the others are alot of fun to be around as well even when I don't know what they're saying :) They taught me several Thai words, which I can't guarantee I'll remember, but I do my best...We were about to leave when we noticed it was pouring down rain, so we just decided to wait it out for about 40 minutes or so...it didn't stop. It was about 8:00pm by this point, and they decided that as long as I didn't mind, we'd go ahead and drive back cause the rain didn't look like it was slowing down, so we commenced to driving back in the rain :) It's not that far of a ride, and I actually enjoyed it alot... I can't wait to be able to hang out with them again :)
Anyway, I can never thank you enough for your prayers during my trip--I know they are making such a big difference!

~Hannah
Isaiah 55:11,12

Sorry it's been several days since my last post;our internet's been broken for the past couple of days...anyway, I've finished my first full week of ministry and have absolutely loved it! Wednesday we went to a village to pass out some more tracts and Thursday we got to go to the school here in Khukhan (3,000 students from all around the province!) to teach some English and answer any questions the kids had for us "faranges". It's kinda funny getting to go to the schools because whenever we wave or smile to the kids, they'll get all shy and the girls start giggling and hide behind each other. I'm excited to have met a few girls and teachers who can speak some English...in fact, one of the teachers knows fluent English because she lived in the States for 1o years! So me and Kendall have gotten to go out to eat with her and a friend of hers--they're both about 27, so it's great to have some Thai women we'll be able to personally reach out to during the rest of our time here. Please pray for us as we develop or relationships with Patty and Ni--and that they would see the difference of Christ in us.

Friday we didn't have any ministry to do, and the prince's wife was coming, so there were flags lining the streets and huge posters decorated of her...it was quite a site to see! On Saturdays, we have a weekly children's ministry we do at a couples' house about 15 or 20 minutes from Khukhan. The children sing several Thai songs, then the pastor teaches a Bible story to the kids. Then me and Kendall taught the kids a short English lesson about emotions then taught them the song "If you're happy and you know it...", which was good song for the because even if they couldn't quite pick up the words of the song, they could at least do the motions of clapping their hands, etc. There were about 12-15 kids there this week which I think is about average for the Saturday ministry. I enjoyed going to church in Khukhan on Sunday, although I went by myself because the Cobbs went to the other church in Sisaket and Kendall wasn't feeling too well. Afterwards, one of the ladies and a couple of the girls lured me into the kitchen to help them make lunch, which made them so happy to be able to teach me how to make papaya salad. I've found several Thai food I really enjoy, you just have to be careful because the majority of Thai food has lots and lots of peppers in it, so it'll catch your mouth on fire, including papaya salad!

I'm continuing to try to learn some of the Thai language, but it's kinda difficult since they have 5 different tones, so you have to be careful how you say things... It's great though that body language and smiling can go a long way!

I continue to look forward to all the new opportunities God gives me everyday; thanks for praying for the missionaries and the Khmer people!

~Hannah

~

Fun-filled last few days...

Sawadee Ka!

Everything's going really great here halfway across the world...I went to church here in Khu Khan for the first time on Sunday; there were only about 5 other adults besides the missionary family and us 5 college students. Although the whole service was in Thai, it was still exciting to get to see some kids and know what the local church is like. From what the missionaries have told me, there are very few believers in Thailand--in fact, during the 6 or 7 years that the Cobbs have been here they've probably just seen a handful of people get saved. It's kind of a struggle for us college summer missionaries to minister as well because we don't know Thai, so all we can do is just smile and nod at the people around us (which the Thai people love :). This morning we went to a school nearby to see if we could teach some English to the kids, but for some reason the school was closed for the day--there were only some really young kids, but they were about to be let out. David said you never know when a school will just randomly close...not for any particular reason, just kind of random, so we just learn to be flexible.

Instead, the 3 member team that gets to stay one more week, me & Kendall, and David went to another town and handed out Thai tracts to alot of the people there. Many of the people weren't home though because they were working; the ones we did see though were polite and took the tract even if they may not have wanted it, while others actually started reading it. Right when we were loading up to leave, the school in the village let out, so we gave tracts to the kids coming out and they were pretty excited to get them. Sometimes it's hard for us and the missionaries to know exactly how to minister to the people because we're limited with the language barrier and all, and the missionaries have seemed to get little interest in people going to church or learning about the gospel. The Thai-Khmer people are very friendly, it's just hard to get them to understand that pleasing spirits and worshiping dead ancestors is not what they need. Please pray that we would be able to search for and find ways to show the love of God to these wonderful people, and for us not to get too discouraged when we may not see people getting saved, etc.

Amidst the mission work, I've gotten to do some fun things to enjoy the Thai culture--including riding an elephant! Mondays are our days off, so the other missionaries were glad to take me and the other 3 college students to ride elephants and see a show in a town called Surin about 1 & 1/2 hours away. It was so much fun, and afterwards we went to a small mall where we got to bowl a little and eat pizza or KFC for dinner. We were all whooped at the end of the day, but now we can say we've ridden elephants before!

Thanks again for all your prayers...Luke 8:2~Hannah

The journey begins...

Well, after flying about 23 hours, stopping in LA and Hong Kong (officially the coolest airport ever :), I'm here in Bangkok, where I'm staying with one of the other summer missionaries in the Baptist guesthouse (she's flying out tomorrow). I'll get to stay one more day here tomorrow to just hang out, shop, etc. before leaving for the missionaries' hometown 8 hours away in eastern Thailand. All my flights went smoothly with no interruptions; my biological clock is just a little off from the time change though...Wednesday never even existed for me! I enjoyed riding a motorcycle taxi for the first time (just hop on behind the driver and zip through all the crazy traffic!) and a tuk-tuk, which just has a cab hooked on the back of a motorcyle. It was great to have some good ol' McDonalds after that airplane food... Anyway, tonight I'll be meeting a young missionary couple (who live close to the Cobbs) and my summer missionary partner for the summer (Kendall), who will be the ones I'll ride with on Saturday to the Cobbs house. That's about all for now...thanks for reading and keep checkin up on it!

~Hannah Banana

Ready or not, here it comes!

It's unbelievable that I only have a week left until I get on a plane to leave for Thailand! I'm so excited to see what the Thai people are like and what God had planned for the summer. For those who don't know, I'll be staying until July 17th, and I'll be working with a missionary family in eastern Thailand. From what I understand, we'll be doing mostly ESL, along with some gospel distribution and Bible studies. I can't believe God is allowing me to serve Him, especially overseas because I love getting to experience other cultures. It's gonna be incredible to see what great things I know God will do this summer! I'd really appreciate your prayers as I'm over there... Some requests you could pray for are:

~receptivity and understanding of the gospel among the Thai people
~safety of the missionary family, me, and other various volunteers that'll be coming throughout the summer
~clarity when teaching English to Thai people, especially with the language barrier
~spiritual well-being of everyone ministering

I'll try my best to keep the blog updated fairly often because I understand that we'll have Internet access where I'm staying-- but I know I'll be really busy with the mission work, so I won't know until I get there...

Until next time,
Hannah

Isaiah 12:4,5