don't worry, i'm still here :)

wow, it's been awhile since I've blogged...we just got back from going to lunch with some of the pharmacy faculty--they wanted to show their appreciation for our help this summer. Later tonight, a few of the professors from the English department are also taking us to dinner as a thank you...The people are so kind here!

So here's some highlights since the last post (sorry for delay, we've been crazy busy!)...

*Last Wednesday was the beginning of a 5 week Bible Study that Valerie is leading in Thai. There was only one Thai student and a professor, both of whom are Christians, so it was kinda sad not having more than that, but it being the week before midterms, slightly expected...It was still a blessing though, getting to meet together, singing praise songs, and reading Psalm 8. But some great news: yesterday we had it again, and 7 students came! At first some of them were shy to come because they had never been before and they weren't sure if they could since they weren't Christians...We told them them we would love for them to come and find out what we do during Bible study and learn about. It's basically a study of who God is, why we should know Him, how we can know Him, etc...alot of the basics that many Thais aren't familiar with.

*Last Friday was Rachel's birthday (21st!), so our weekly party became a birthday party! Many students came, and it was so much fun like usual :) We plan on having our last one tomorrow, so we hope to be able to see lots of our students before we have to leave next week :(

*This past weekend at English camp was great! It was much smaller than previous camps, but we still have 25 or so students, which was awesome considering it was the weekend before midterms started and many had said they couldn't come because of that. The theme was "Heroes", and in teaching English, we explained different stories of American superheroes (such as Spiderman and Underdog, haha), and Biblical heroes (Joseph and the father in the prodigal son parable)...And of course, we played lots of games and sang a whole bunch of songs, which they all seemed to really enjoy :)

*This week we don't teach classes since it's midterms at the university, so we've been spending lots of time here and there with all our friends :) It seems to be even busier than we were when we taught classes! I was so excited because a couple students named Noof and Peach asked if I wanted to join them in some of their elementary classes that they are student teaching for, it being their 4th year...So Monday and Tuesday morning I got to help out by reading some stories and teaching basic English to a Kindergarten class and a 4th grade class :) It absolutely made my day getting to see lots of cute Thai kids! Since this town is primarily a college town, we haven't interacted much with kids, so I just didn't even know what to do with myself cause I was so happy :) :)

*Tuesday: Went to lunch with the Paynes and a friend of our named Pat...then we went to this village about 30 kilometers away that has TONS of monkeys! They just roam around so you can take pictures and stuff...but beware, they're not as friendly and cute as they look ;) They started like hoppin on top of the van, but thankfully none of them attacked us-- although Rachel was threatened by one of them lol...I can't wait to put pictures up of this place cause I've never seen so many monkeys in my life--and in a place you could just walk around with them! The baby monkeys were my favorite :)
That evening, our group and the Paynes enjoyed going to Ot's family's house--the Christian family that got baptized a couple weeks ago. Some of them played tekraw, a difficult sport that Thais play. It's kinda like volleyball--with only your feet and head--and takes some serious skill to play...We got to sit and chat outside as we ate and took pictures. It was such a blessing to spend some time with them because they have amazing joy, and it's neat to have the deep bond of Christ with them :)

*Last night, Charlotte got to spend the night at our apartment...funny story though--we had no power all evening/night! We noticed in the afternoon that it was out, but apparently we were to dumb to think to tell Scott haha...so by the time he knew, it was too late for the electrician to come replace the fuse. But nonetheless, we had a blast! Two of our Thai friends Ploy and Pat also came over, and we sang songs as Aaron played guitar, made bracelets by candlelight, and just enjoyed time together. We also made late night run to 7/11 around the corner, which we tend to do often, even if it's just for a snack or Coke :) Thankfully, our air on the first floor was still working so even though everything was pitch dark, it was cool downstairs :) Ploy had to leave late, but Pat went ahead and stayed the night as well, so we all spread out mats downstairs on the tile (it was really hot upstairs without the fans working) and slept really good with the airconditioning, lol.

It's been great getting to have freetime to make plans with our friends this last week...Please pray that we'll continue to make the most of our time these last few days. And also, pray that goodbyes won't be too difficult, because I know none of us our looking forward to leaving all our friends next week...

Thanks again for keeping up with my summer and for all your prayers...they've made such a difference!
~Shompoo

lots of news...

I'm gonna apologize ahead of time for this post of sporadic thoughts...I can't quite remember in order what all we did this week, so here goes :)

~Sunday night after church, we enjoyed going to a restaurant called "Boom Steak", where they served lots of American food...It was our group of six and our good friends Pat, Ploy, Fern, and a new guy we met who goes by Big M. It was so much fun hanging out with them--they are all 3rd year students who can speak really good English and we've had several other opportunities this week to spend time with them :)

~We didn't get to teach Wednesday, on account of the University being cleaned--for fear of spread of the swine flu. There's been a case reported in Thailand and one of the students in Thailand died from it because they had had a previous illness, causing their immune system to be weak. Therefore, lots and lots of people are wearing masks around town...Since none of us 6 are scared or paranoid by it, it's given us great opportunities to share with our friends why we aren't afraid--we believe God gives us courage and hope through Him :)

~Our party last night went great...some regulars came, but we also got to meet a couple new friends as well. We played several new games, including a game called Bananas (I think)--one person is chosen to be questioned, but they can only use one same word continuously to answer all the questions--without laughing or smiling. For instance, the group may choose "Bananas" as the word...Whoever wants to in the group can ask that person questions like, "What's your name?"--Bananas. "What do you dream about?"--Bananas. "What did you ride to school today?"--Bananas. We had people answering questions with words like roach, moist, monkey breath...But if you laugh when you answer, the person who asked you the last question gets to be the next one interrogated. At one point, I had to answer with sewage... "What are you drinking?"--sewage. "What's your favorite smell?"--sewage. "What do you like to swim in?"--sewage.
It's lots of fun to see how long you can keep a serious face :)

~One of the recent pastimes we've been doing: swimming! We've discovered a pool that's really nice and it's cheap to go to. Today was a great day to go, and Oliver & Charlotte got to join us as well... Pat and Nida also stopped by for a little while :)

~Coming up July 25-26: English Camp. It will be at a center in Mahasarakham...We have enough spots for 50 students to come, but there haven't been any commitments made so far. We've only gotten to spread the word the past week or two, and many people are saying they have midterms the next week to study for. Please pray that many students will want to come so we can use this opportunity to grow relationships with friends and spread the love of Christ. Also, pray that we will do our best to prepare for the camp and have faith that God will bring students to it...Many times, Thais tend to shy away from situations where they think there won't be many people besides themselves, but if they know that there will be a big group going to an event they don't want to miss out. So if we can get a few students interested, we're hoping that will bring many more to join...

~Tomorrow is an exciting day because a Christian family that consistently comes to Thai church Sunday nights is getting baptized...The father (Ot), mother and their 3 boys are being baptized in a nearby river, so I can't wait to be part of that joyous time in their lives :) God is so good!

Until next time, Adios! wait, I'm in Thailand...

Majesty & Splendor

We started back teaching Thursday...Unfortunately in hotel management there were only a couple students that showed up--possibly cause it's right after the holiday and it's not a mandatory class. Friday, we had just a couple show up too, one of them being a sweet Christian girl we met a couple weeks ago :)Even though only one other person came, it was great to be able to teach her one on one English so she learned alot.

Last night we hosted a party as we usually do every Friday. We didn't know how many to expect since we didn't have long to get the word out that we were still having it...after about an hour passed some of the 3rd year Hotel Management guys showed up and we played games. Some more of our good friends (remember Lek, Tham, Fon, etc?) so it was GREAT to see them again after coming back from a holiday. Also, 2 of the girls who speak English really well from mine & Rachel's Wednesday class came as well :) So we hung out for a long time, played games, and made more plans to get together next week...tonight I'm excited to go to the night market with Lek, Tham, Rachel and whoever else is coming :)

After the party, I headed up on the roof (it's like another room, but has a half open wall with a fence covering it) to just look over the city as I thought and prayed...It was amazing because in the distant sky I suddenly saw flashes of light every couple of seconds--a lightning storm, but so far out that it was more like a light show :)The bright yellow/orangish flashes silhouetted the clouds as they shone bright without the slightest sound. So I stood there for 5 or 10 minutes, not wanting to turn away for it...I really wanted someone else to see it, so I ran downstairs to get Rachel, the only other person up (we're both a couple night owls ;). We just watched in awe of what God was showing us...it's hard to even put into words how incredible this was to watch. It reminded us of Psalm 19:1-3...

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.

It was not only beautiful to watch, but for me it was a much needed confirmation of how powerful God is and His sovereignty. To be able to rest in Him and trust that He will do great things is such an honor to be a part of. May He alone get the glory and praise for everything we do and say...

home sweet home :)

We're back from Cambodia! I'll try to be detailed but concise at the same time about our trip...

*Thursday: took a 4 hour bus ride to Surin, a town close to the Thailand/Cambodia border. great town that wasn't too big or too small...

*Friday: left in the morning for the border...made it across fine with no visa problems. definitely a distinct difference between Thailand and Cambodia. we've heard it said that Cambodia is like Thailand 10 years back--i'd say that's true from the looks of the land. it's gorgeous, but dirtier and not as advanced. we took a car taxi on the 4 hour dirt road to Siem Reap.
Had to get adjusted to the right side of the road again, after being in Thailand for the last month where they drive on the opposite side of the road like England :)
Siem Reap--VERY touristy town. kind of freaked us out when we saw white people walking down the streets everywhere...went to the Angkor National Museum, which was great to learn about so much Khmer history and culture. we also visited the night market which was fun, but way too tempting to spend money on so many bargains!

*Saturday: headed to ANGKOR WAT at 5am to see the sunrise at the temple...it's hard to even describe how incredible Angkor Wat is! absolutely huge and makes for great pictures...it was cool to imagine what it was like at the peak of its day with the Khmer people living there. i can't wait to post pictures! we spent pretty much 3/4 the day going to all the temples--besides Angkor Wat there were 4 or 5 others, I can't quite remember right now how many. they all had such distinctly different architecture that was neat to see and i couldn't believe that there were that many temples within such a close range to each other.
at one of the temples called Bayon we enjoyed riding an elephant around the temple grounds. it was like you'd imagine riding one--very slow and steady ;)

Later that afternoon, our tuk-tuk driver drove us out to a lake where you could ride a boat 10km out to a floating village...once we got out there we decided we were burnt out on spending money, so we opted out on the boat ride but we're really glad we got to have the long drive out there to see rural Cambodia. Lots of Khmer people bustling about and stick houses on stilts above the beautiful rice fields...

*Sunday: we hopped on a bus to go to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia...not quite as touristy as Siem Reap, but still a big city nonetheless. after finding our guesthouse, we strolled around the city and enjoyed a watermelon smoothie in the middle of the market :) that night we enjoyed some delicious Khmer food at a street restaurant--loklak beef, fried rice, and grilled frog...like I said-- so delicious! I think this was everyone's favorite meal the whole trip.

*Monday: spent the morning going to see and learn about the Khmer Rouge--extremely eye-opening and interesting...first we went to S-21, which was a high school that PolPot, the leader of the Khmer Rouge, converted into a torture prison. within a 3 or 4 year period, about 20,000 people had passed through the prison...we saw pictures of people of all ages who had been prisoners, pictures of torture methods, and prison cells they had kept people in. it's hard to describe in words the terrible destruction this caused to the country and people of Cambodia. I would love to explain more about the event, but for the sake of time and blog space, I'll just keep writing about the trip--but I'd encourage you to read more about the Khmer Rouge for the sake of learning...
After S-21, we headed about 20km out to the killing fields, where Polpot's combatants would take prisoners to be executed...there were many mass graves there and a monument to remember those who lost there lives there.

That afternoon we caught a flight from Phnom Penh to Bangkok, where thankfully we got the exact amount of days on our visa to stay in the country until August 4th, the day we come back to the states--God is so good!
we immediately hopped a bus to Nakhon Ratchasima (also known as Khorat), which is in the biggest province in Thailand...we stayed the night there in a nice hotel and got to sleep in after all that traveling :)

*Tuesday: travel back to Mahasarakham!! we are all so happy to be back here. You should have seen us when we got to the Bangkok airport cause we were all so giddy and loved being able to even say Sawadee Ka and have them understand us! I absolutely loved getting to go to Cambodia, but after being ripped off as tourists in big cities, I am really glad to be back in a small familiar town where we know how to get around and live like Thais...

sorry this one ran long, but I hoped you enjoyed getting to learn some about Cambodia... I have so many more stories to tell, but until my next post--Sawadee Ka!

RoAd tRiP!!

Just writing a quick note to say that I'm headin to Cambodia! Me, Lydia and Aaron are leaving Thursday night, while Stu, Sarah Beth, and Rachel head the opposite direction to Chiang Mai the same day...our main purpose is to visit Angkor Wat in Siam Reap, but we'll also get to spend a day in Phnom Penh, the capital. July 6-8 is Buddhist Lent, so there are no classes then, giving us about 5 days of a holiday :) I'm SO grateful for this opportunity to travel and see Cambodia...please pray for everyone's safety as we travel and that we'll be a reflection of Christ as we encounter many different people along the way.

Can't wait to tell all about it when we get back!