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