I am finally here in Maha Sarakham!
This is a crazy but beautiful place. On the plane ride here I had the sudden feeling of "what have I gotten myself into" but that quickly passed when stepping off of the plane. God has been so faithful to us already. Our apartment is huge and though it has no air conditioning, Scott and Valerie (our missionary suprevisors) really helped it feel like home. This is definitely the most primitive environment I have ever lived in but it is really wonderful at the same time.
We have been learning the language from some Thai students from the university and I have already been given my nickname which is Kai-mook. Kai-mook means Pearl which I think is really special ;). I can now say things like excuse me and I am sorry and thank you which I will need all the time and we are slowly learning to make conversation. We have eaten the food here for every meal so far and it has actually been wonderful which is really an answered prayer for me because I am such a picky eater as many of you know.
Some prayer requests that I have so far are:
~That our bodies would adjust to the heat here - it is amazing to see the thai people in this heat because they are almost unaffected. Their hair still looks pretty and they don't sweat and some even wear jackets. While we on the other hand have a nice sheen at all times and our hair is incredibly frizzy.
~That our hearts would really be increasingly burdened for these people and that we would be reminded that though we are weak the Lord is incredibly strong and that he has already prepared works for us to do in advance. Also that we would just take on our new roles with enthusiasm and joy and be willing to mess up at times in order to do things right.
~That we would easily adapt to this new culture and to a new sleeping routine. The customs are very different here and it is very easy to forget them when we are out in the town. Also that we would pick up this language quickly so that we will be able to communicate and make new friends. I hope that we will get to the point of even being able to share the gospel in Thai though that is a very far away goal. I hope that even if we are not able to share in Thai that we will be able to communicate through broken english and broken Thai. Please pray that the students would be willing to come and interact with us and to practice their english and that that would really give us an opportunity to live out the gospel before them through the way that we live.
~Please pray that I would be able to have time alone with the Lord and that my relationship would be nourished so that I can pour love into these people. It is so easy to get caught up in these surroundings and to see shrines and temples and only see there beauty and history. I need to be reminded that they are actually detestable to God. And to be able to pray for these people with that in mind.
~I have a lot more that needs to be prayed for but I can't think of everything right now so I will ask one last thing :)...I know that this is a lot and I am so thankful that you all are even willing to read this long message but this is a very important request. In the old testament, kings such as Asa and Josiah were faithful to the Lord in a time when their fathers had not been. They decided to cut down the asherah poles and the alters set up for other gods because they knew that it was evil and not of the Lord. The king of Thailand is highly respected in this country and I just ask that you would all pray that he would come into salvation. He has a lot of say and many people listen to him and when the kings in the Bible turned to the Lord all of the people followed. This seems impossible but for the Lord nothing is impossible so I pray whole-heartedly that the King would become a Christian and lead these people to the Lord...How amazing that would be.
I will post more later and will hopefully be able to upload some pictures but as of now I can not. I am so thankful for all of you and your willingness to pray for me. God Bless!
This is a crazy but beautiful place. On the plane ride here I had the sudden feeling of "what have I gotten myself into" but that quickly passed when stepping off of the plane. God has been so faithful to us already. Our apartment is huge and though it has no air conditioning, Scott and Valerie (our missionary suprevisors) really helped it feel like home. This is definitely the most primitive environment I have ever lived in but it is really wonderful at the same time.
We have been learning the language from some Thai students from the university and I have already been given my nickname which is Kai-mook. Kai-mook means Pearl which I think is really special ;). I can now say things like excuse me and I am sorry and thank you which I will need all the time and we are slowly learning to make conversation. We have eaten the food here for every meal so far and it has actually been wonderful which is really an answered prayer for me because I am such a picky eater as many of you know.
Some prayer requests that I have so far are:
~That our bodies would adjust to the heat here - it is amazing to see the thai people in this heat because they are almost unaffected. Their hair still looks pretty and they don't sweat and some even wear jackets. While we on the other hand have a nice sheen at all times and our hair is incredibly frizzy.
~That our hearts would really be increasingly burdened for these people and that we would be reminded that though we are weak the Lord is incredibly strong and that he has already prepared works for us to do in advance. Also that we would just take on our new roles with enthusiasm and joy and be willing to mess up at times in order to do things right.
~That we would easily adapt to this new culture and to a new sleeping routine. The customs are very different here and it is very easy to forget them when we are out in the town. Also that we would pick up this language quickly so that we will be able to communicate and make new friends. I hope that we will get to the point of even being able to share the gospel in Thai though that is a very far away goal. I hope that even if we are not able to share in Thai that we will be able to communicate through broken english and broken Thai. Please pray that the students would be willing to come and interact with us and to practice their english and that that would really give us an opportunity to live out the gospel before them through the way that we live.
~Please pray that I would be able to have time alone with the Lord and that my relationship would be nourished so that I can pour love into these people. It is so easy to get caught up in these surroundings and to see shrines and temples and only see there beauty and history. I need to be reminded that they are actually detestable to God. And to be able to pray for these people with that in mind.
~I have a lot more that needs to be prayed for but I can't think of everything right now so I will ask one last thing :)...I know that this is a lot and I am so thankful that you all are even willing to read this long message but this is a very important request. In the old testament, kings such as Asa and Josiah were faithful to the Lord in a time when their fathers had not been. They decided to cut down the asherah poles and the alters set up for other gods because they knew that it was evil and not of the Lord. The king of Thailand is highly respected in this country and I just ask that you would all pray that he would come into salvation. He has a lot of say and many people listen to him and when the kings in the Bible turned to the Lord all of the people followed. This seems impossible but for the Lord nothing is impossible so I pray whole-heartedly that the King would become a Christian and lead these people to the Lord...How amazing that would be.
I will post more later and will hopefully be able to upload some pictures but as of now I can not. I am so thankful for all of you and your willingness to pray for me. God Bless!
