...I don't know when I'll be back again.

It's hard for me to believe, but I leave Chiang Mai this Thursday, July 31. I am looking forward to sharing my experiences with many of you in person!

We are rushing around very crazily this last week, trying to fit everything in before we go. Last week, we were able to spend a whole morning at a retreat center to practice the spiritual discipline of solitude. This was a garden that is set up specifically for people to be able to come and pray and spend time with the Lord. Even though it was a little challenging to be quiet and alone for several hours, it was such a great experience! I am really learning how much God can teach us when we allow ourselves to be still before Him.

Each of the interns got to teach the Sunday morning ladies' Bible class for a week, and this past Sunday (our last one here) was my week to teach. I was a little nervous as I was preparing my lesson - I spent the last year teaching Bible class for one year olds, and I knew teaching these girls would be quite different! I taught from the book of Philippians, talking about how Paul shows us several examples of unselfishness and humility. I hope the lesson went well and that God used me to touch somebody's heart. At the end of class, we had a time for all of us girls to say thank you to the Thai girls here. It was such a sweet time of fellowship and sharing what we mean to each other, and it was such an encouragement to me! We fought back the tears (those are reserved for airports and airplanes!) and laughed and hugged, enjoying God's great blessing of sisters in Christ.

I taught my last English lessons last week. There was one group of students that I came to really enjoy, and I am going to miss them. I am praying that they will start to become more involved with the Christians here outside of English class, but I am thankful for that connection that they have to the Zone. Teaching English classes really taught ME a lot - I had to learn to think in new ways to try to explain a language. I had to really examine this language that I use without thinking. Although learning and living in the Thai language has been difficult, I think it has been such a great growth experience!

I hope to get another chance to post before I leave CM. I've learned so many things, felt so many emotions, and experienced God in so many ways. I only wish I had the words (and time!) to share them all on this blog.

God has given me another great blessing - an opportunity to visit Australia, where I interned two years ago! I am so excited to visit my friends there again. I can hardly believe that this time next week, I will be back there! I am so thankful that God opened this door for me. I have missed Brisbane very much and I am looking so forward to visiting my friends there. It is a weird feeling to be so sad about leaving Chiang Mai and yet so excited about returning to Brisbane...all at the same time!

May the Lord bless you as you have blessed me. I'll be seeing you soon!

"A picture is worth a thousand words"

Time left in Chiang Mai is ticking away, and we are busy as usual learning from the Lord and making some incredible memories. Here are some favorites from the past several weeks:

P'Pui and I visited this lady, Jalearn, at the leprosy village about a month ago with the Aggies. We went back to McKean's this past Saturday to visit the residents again, and it was really neat to see and talk to her. She even remembered us!
This is Tan, a girl from the Chueng Doi who was baptized this past Sunday. All of the Christians gathered around this waterfall (which I now realize I didn't get in the picture) and rejoiced over our new sister! I've been so inspired with how joyful the baptisms are here in Thailand.
My favorite Thai food...garlic pork over rice. I seriously eat this just about every day. I'm not sure what that green stuff in the background is; I just wanted to show a little variety of Thai food. :)

At the Umbrella Factory, where these amazing painters can hand-paint just about anything you want! This guy painted several things for me.
Me in my all-Thai outfit...Thai coke shirt, traditional Thai pants, sandals from Walking Street, and purse from Night Bazaar.
At elephant camp! These elephants were amazing! They played soccer, painted pictures, ran relay races, and posed for pictures!
Me and a baby elephant...how cute! :)
My team at the Payap lock-in last week. Yes...that is me that they are wrapping up as a mummy.

The other girls were "Miss Thailand" and a beautiful bride...and I am covered in head to toe in toilet paper. 555!Being goofy!
A view of Chiang Mai from a look-out point up in the mountains.
What an amazing yet incredibly challenging summer this has been. Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts!

The Beginning of the End

It hardly seems possible that I leave Chiang Mai in two weeks. This summer has been an amazing blessing and stretched me in so many ways. I get too sad when I think about leaving all of my new, dear friends so soon, so I am just soaking up every minute and making the most of it.

Our schedule has continued as normal, with our equipping times, lunch on campus, English lessons in the afternoon, and various activities at night. This past weekend, we hosted a lock-in at the Zone for the students. I got wrapped from head to toe in toilet paper (like a mummy) for one game, which made for some pretty hilarious pictures!

My English students have become more consistent in showing up for lessons. Leah and I teach five students for one lesson: Kik, Gift, Aom, Boom, and Tum. We really enjoy our time with them, and we've tried to make contact with them outside of English classes but haven't had a whole lot of luck. We do seem them around campus fairly often, so I am praying that they'll keep coming to the Zone and hanging around more often. Xin, a girl I met early in the summer, and I have been building a friendship and ate lunch together earlier this week. I ran into her one night when we were at the Night Bazaar, and she came up and said hello and introduced me to her friend. She always tells me that she wants to spend more time together but then repeats that she has a very busy schedule. I hope and pray that she and I continue to build a relationship as well and that she can meet other Christians here. Sai and James, English students who are actually high-schoolers, are really sweet and I enjoy my lessons with them. Sai is really cute, and she giggles so much when I try to pronounce my Thai words! She tells me that she will teach me Thai if I teach her English. All of these students are ones for whom I am praying to meet more friends at the Zone, become involved in the community here, and study and learn more about Jesus.

Several of the guys that frequently hang out at the Zone have been studying the Bible with Chris, which is exciting and encouraging. Chris and his wife Casey are six month apprentices here, training to be long-term missionaries. They have been such a blessing to us here. They have two adorable daughters, Maggie and Melanie. She, of course, is "Little Melanie," and some of my fellow interns find it funny to name me "Big Melanie." I prefer "P'Melanie," the term that Thais use to address somebody older. It just has a better ring to it. :)

I've been having some problems uploading my pictures lately, so sorry that there are no pictures for this post. I'll have to add some later. Thank you for taking the time to read this post of random ramblings. I'd love to answer any questions you may have, whether about Thai culture, Thai Christians, what food we like to eat, what Thai words we can say, or anything in between! :)

May the Lord bless your week.

Sa-nook mak!

The Chueng Doi and Payap church joined together this past Sunday for their monthly service project. We got to spend a whole afternoon at an orphanage with some adorable Thai children! We had a wonderful afternoon, singing, playing games, reading Bible stories, and laughing with these precious kids. I'll let these pictures do the talking...

These boys were so cute! They loved the "catch her eye" game.

Waving goodbye to us

On Friday and Saturday, we had another English camp up in the mountains. We invited our English students from Payap to come, so it was a great time to get to know them better. The scenery was absolutely beautiful!

Me and P'O

Me and P'Pui enjoying the view

Another really neat way that we've been able to serve this summer is with the youth group. All of the missionaries' kids are teenagers, and just a few months ago they decided to become more active with official youth group classes and activities. It has been really fun and encouraging to be a friend to these high school girls. Several of them are half-American and half-Thai and all of them speak English really well. They seem to really enjoy spending time with us, and we are certainly enjoying our time with them! In Bible class, I am often impressed with the comments they have to contribute. I'd imagine that growing up as a missionary's kid isn't always easy, but these teens are awesome!

I got three new English students last week. My students that were previously signed up with me never showed up for class, so I get to start with these new students this week. I had one lesson last week with Sai and James. Sai knows English a little better than James does, but they are both eager and enthusiastic learners and I think our lessons will be a lot of fun.

We celebrated the 4th of July...at the American Consolate in Chiang Mai! We had to show our US passports and go through airport-type security to get in. They had red, white, and blue, American music, ice cream, and hot dogs. Some of the interns even entered a watermelon eating contest! It was so fun and even refreshing to be in a big group of Americans. We had to leave early and get back for cell group so we missed the fireworks, but at least for an afternoon we were proud to be an American. :)

Here's an interesting fact about Thailand: for each day of the week, there is a certain color that people try to wear. My Thai friends have explained that it is not mandatory at all (and in fact, more people don't than do), but after I was made aware that Monday is yellow, I noticed a LOT of yellow shirts! Sunday is red, Monday is yellow, Tuesday is pink, Wednesday is green, Thursday is orange, Friday is blue, and Saturday is black. I forgot today and wore the wrong color, but I'm going to try to see how often I can wear the right one. Maybe the Thais will see me and think, "that farong (the word for foreigner) at least knows a little bit about Thailand!" :)

God is blessing me immensely and teaching me so much about Himself...and about myself too. Thank you all so much for your prayers and encouragement!

Some random things

Just wanted you all to know...

• I am so excited for my brother Alex, who will be attending Harding University in the fall! He's an amazing kid, and I'm really proud of him. I cannot wait to watch these next 4 years of his life play out.
• Congratulations to one of my very best friends, Shannon, on her new job and upcoming move to Rwanda, Africa to teach first grade! She is a wonderful person who has blessed my life over and over, and I'm so proud of her for taking this step of faith. God will provide!
• Tomorrow some of the guys who regularly hang out at the Zone have appointments to study the Bible with us. God seems to be really opening their hearts, so I'd like to ask that you'd pray for them!
• P'Wah, our fellow Thai intern, is anticipating an interview for a job that she'd really like after this internship, so it would be great if you would say a prayer for her.
• Last Sunday after worship service, all of us interns recited John 1:1-18 from memory. This was a requirement of our internship, and it has been really neat to have that memorized as we've been studying the book of John in equipping time. Memorizing and reciting Scripture took me back to home-schooling and Bandina days. :)
• I got two letters in the mail today! There is just nothing like receiving some snail mail, especially when you're across the world! A huge thank you goes out to the Jains and the Frys - y'all are awesome. :)
• If you haven't read The Five Love Languages, I recommend it.
• Happy 4th of July to everyone! We'll be at another English camp in the mountains, so we're not sure how much we will get to celebrate. We will be thinking of all of you at home while we have a mini-celebration in another country of Red, White, and Blue.

Sometimes...It's still Thai to me.

Learning a new language is a different kind of experience than anything I've encountered before. Never before this summer have I been the minority, the one who doesn't speak the language, who doesn't look like everyone else, who doesn't understand most of the words spoken around her. Don't get me wrong, I am genuinely and completely enjoying it, but at times I realize just how exhausting it is! The constant concentration and feeling of "being on your toes" drains you more than you would think it does. Even when speaking English, we have to be intentional about using simple words and sentence structure so that our Thai friends can understand.

Now before I sound like a huge complainer, I have to say that it really is a lot of fun! The feeling of accomplishment is amazing when I am able to converse a few sentences with someone who only speaks Thai. We are taking Thai classes from an incredibly patient, wonderful lady, and our vocab is growing and pronunciation is improving. It is an important goal of ours to learn and use as much as we can. Sawatdee kha, phuan dichan! Chan rak khun le chan kit-tuung khun. :)

If you've never been to Thailand, you really should come. The people here are amazing!