sawadeeka!

I am sitting here in a little internet cafe and I'm not sure how long I will have, but I just wanted to write a quick entry to let you know that I am here in Chonburi, Thailand-safe, happy, tired, and well :)

We arrived on Tuesday after several looong plane rides and a four hour "nap" in a sketchy hotel in Bangkok. We are currently staying at the Life Center, which serves as a church, school, and all-purpose building for all of the church ministries here. Ricky and Karen Sanchez (the missionaries who are hosting us) have been amazing and put together a really rigorous itinerary for us for the next few weeks. We have only been here for a few short FULL days, but we have experienced so many things. I wish I had time to write about them (and especially reflect on them...you all know how much I loved to process everything :) but time is limited. Here's a snapshot:

We taught English one evening at TLC and had lots of students (children and adults). Most of them are so eager to learn English, but they aren't very confident in their abilities. I worked with Bolm and his sister Bow and they were trying to teach me a few Thai words...unfortunately, my American accent makes it difficult to get the tones down...so I'm saying all these ridiculous things instead of the correct words. One thing I'm learning, though, is that Thai people are so gracious and forgiving. They love to laugh and they love to help others...especially the eight of us who definitely stick out in this area! I don't think I've ever met people who are so accepting and loving of complete strangers.

We also had the blessing of visiting two Thai schools (one yesterday where we taught English and one today where we laid out sand to make a playground). Both times, the children were so excited to see us! You know that I love kids, but these kids were so overwhelming and loving...everyone wanted to give me a highfive or shake my hand or receive a hug. Haha...and if you know me, I only wanted to love them back and take them home! Both schools are in very poor areas and it was so humbling to see such joy in their faces as they greeted us. They'd say "halo" and giggle relentlessly, as I would do a clumsy "wai" (polite bow) back followed by a slurred "sawadeeka". They are so precious and lovable and it breaks my heart that I will never know their names or their futures or what will become of them. And in these particular schools, their futures do not look very promising, which breaks my heart. Sometimes I just wish that I could be a "mother to the masses" and work in a school or orphanage like these. We worked (cleaned mostly) in an orphanage that Karen created a yesterday and it was very encouraging to hear of the situations these kids were rescued from, but very disturbing to learn about the common orphanages (approximately 40 children per 3 caregivers). But, as our dear Mother Teresa says, you can't feed all of them, but you can feed one..or something like that.

Another thing that I am enjoying so much is all of our food experiences so far! We ate breakfast and lunch at a little restaurant down the street from TLC for a little over $6 for 8 people! It's ridiculous how cheap things are here! What's also neat is that there is a market that sets up on the street right in front of TLC almost every night and they sell every kind of food and delicious food and fun pieces of jewelry and things like that. We got awesome smoothies with every kind of fruit for like only 70 cents! Really, Thailand is CHEAP!

Faa is our translator who took us all around Bangkok to all the sightseeing things and she is one of the sweetest people I have ever met. She is so kind and loving and understanding and she has such a great sense of humor! A lot of the Thais here who speak English are so funny! Pi Dam (our driver and one of my favorite people here) is always cracking jokes and making fun of someone. Another women, PiGaniga, started singing the song "That's the way, uh huh uh huh, I like it, uh huh uh huh" when I said my name was Desiree-I guess because it rhymes with "That's the way"! So funny! I also explained to her, through Faa, that I will be studying in Chiang Mai in the spring and she told me that I have to go to the university near Chonburi so I can work with the little children here that love us at the schools we've been to...she said that she will gladly take care of me. I am overwhelmed and so moved by her hospitality and love for us and particularly me, a complete stranger. Really, such a sweet sweet woman of God.

There is so much spiritual darkness here. I knew that this country was primarily Buddhist but when you see temples everywhere, as beautiful as they are, it becomes increasingly clear how much oppression there is here for Christians. The Christian community is very small, but is growing at huge rates PRAISE GOD! One thing that I find really interesting is that a lot of Thais who come to Christ normally give God an ultimatum like...if you're real, then prove it and God normally appears to them in a dream. There are miracles everywhere and it's so exciting to see what God is doing in these parts. They are currently trying to start a church in the slums of Angsila where there is so much alcoholism and prostitutions. We went there today to pray for the few Christians that live there.
Today when we were laying out the sand, I was so moved by the little children who wanted to come around and see what we were doing and help and pulled out rocks and filled in spots and they were just so helpful. A few sweet little boys ran away and returned with hoes and rakes a few minutes later because they wanted to help us. One little boy had an especially sweet smile and he asked me my name...his was Owen and I found out that he was 9 years old. As I was sitting there filling in spots with Faa and PiGaniga, he asked them why I couldn't stay for five more days. I'm starting to ask the same question...

I thought we were staying in ChonBuri, but it turns out that we will be moving all over Thailand! On Friday, I believe, we will be going up North to the mountains where we will be visiting Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai and staying in a Khmu village. Things are going to get very primitive in the next few days and I don't know when I will find another internet cafe (or bathroom :).

Life is so rich and full here and I'm quickly growing to love Thai culture and people and their food. I had an inkling this would happen, but I might as well say it: I'm falling in love with Thailand.

Continued prayers are much needed! I miss you all so much, while I'm here, but there is no doubt in my mind that God is doing something amazing here and He wants me right here to witness it!

I love you. Blessings, blessings.
Desiree(that'stheway:)


OH YEAH, I FED AN ELEPHANT LAST NIGHT: my life is complete :)