Loving Thailand

Sawatdee ka (Hello in Thai)! Well, I arrived in Bangkok on Thursday and finally made it to Mae Sot yesterday...The first few days in Bangkok were just for fun and relaxation…Andrea was just coming back from a trip to a rural village, so it was good for her to have a little break before getting back to Agape…I also really enjoyed being able to tour around Bangkok. Andrea and I got to see a few tourist attractions in Bangkok and spent a lot of time just catching up. Then, we took a bus to a town called Pattaya on Saturday and went to the beach. It is very tropical here so the weather was perfect for swimming. It’s funny because there were so many tourists there, but very few of them spoke English. Most of the tourists come from other parts of Asia or from Europe. Sex trafficking is very common in the big cities and we saw a lot of that in Pattaya and a little in Bangkok as well. It was so sad to see some of these girls. You can tell they’re not happy and their eyes are so full of desperation and sadness. The people here really need Christ.

I haven’t had any culture shock yet….although there have been some experiences that have taken me out of my comfort zone…When we were in Bangkok, Andrea and I had to take motorcycle taxis…you just jump on the back of a motorcycle with a guy you don’t know and tell him where you want to go. So, Andrea and I had to take separate taxis and I knew about 2 or 3 words in Thai at the time…So, I get on with this guy and he is driving really fast and weaving in and out of traffic, in between and around all the cars…I kind of just wanted to close my eyes and not watch…they drive pretty crazy here…besides the fact that I didn’t even have a helmet on. Finally, about halfway through the ride, some guy on another motorcycle said something to him in Thai, apparently telling him to give me a helmet…So, he reached into this basket and got a helmet out…all that time, he had been holding out on me…I felt a little better after I had a helmet on though…I have to admit that I always get mad when I see people ride motorcycles in America without helmets on…then, I do it in Thailand…well, I guess sometimes you just know things are gonna be different in a foreign country and you just have to go with the flow…I have to say though, I was definitely praying during the ride…it was pretty scary…It was fun too though….a little bit of a rush I guess…kind of like riding a rollercoaster….Afterward, I almost wanted to do it all over again J

Well, yesterday (Sunday), we took an 8 hour bus ride from Bangkok to Mae Sot. We got to Agape Children’s Home in the evening and all the kids were so excited to see Andrea. I can tell she’s really been able to build some great relationships here and I’m praying that I can get to know a lot of the kids on the same level. My Thai definitely isn’t as good as Andrea’s, but I am learning more and more every day.

After we arrived in Mae Sot, Andrea introduced me to a bunch of the kids and I got to take a tour of Agape. Later, Pong, one of the girls asked if we would come with her to the hospital because she wanted to visit her brother there. We also had to take one of the children from Agape because he was sick. It turned out he had malaria, but thankfully we were able to get medicine for him at the hospital. We had a good time visiting Pong’s little brother. He had been injured in a pretty intense game of soccer. I thought it was interesting to tour around the hospital and compare it to the hospitals in the states. The nursing care seemed to actually be pretty good. It’s definitely not as clean as American hospitals though. One thing that I thought was funny is that everywhere you go in Thailand, you have to take your shoes off when you go into a building. So, everyone takes their shoes off when they walk into the hospital. I’ve never walked around a hospital barefoot before, but thankfully it was pretty clean and there weren’t any needles on the floor or anything…We got to talk to some of the other patients and their families…Well, Andrea talked and I said a few words and just smiled the rest of the time…It’s even harder up north because the people speak both Thai and Karen. So, now I have to learn words in two different languages. I really like learning new languages though and the people are so helpful. The kids love to speak English to me and I try to talk to them in Thai a little bit.

Well, today we got up early for worship. It’s so cool to watch the children all huddled together early in the morning singing worship songs in Karen and praying in their native language. Today was our day to get settled in and make plans for our English lessons at the school this week. I am planning on teaching with Andrea in the school this week and also possibly doing some English lessons for the staff.

Well, that’s all for now. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. It has already been such an adventure and I’m excited for all that God still has in store!