A Gorgeous Day in Chiang Mai

Isn't this an amazing little view? This is a small lake on Chiang Mai University's campus. can you imagine taking a break between class and seeing this?
It's coming up on the end of rainy season here and today was probably the nicest weather we've had in weeks!!! It was sunny with big clouds for shade. The sun was warm, but the air was cool. I sat at a picnic table next to this little lake forever praying and journaling and just taking it all in.


This is the lovely little walkway that led to the picnic tables. They aren't in this picture, but there were so many people sitting along the sides of the path painting pictures of the scene with the mountains reflecting off the water.

Yep. Today was a gorgeous day in Chiang Mai

You are Precious!

"To someone I'll never meet,
and everyone that I hope to meet,

I love you! Can you believe it? I love you.
I don't even know you and I want to show you
that you are precious to my Lord!
You are worth more than rubies."

-RW

Driving on the Left Side of the Road!!!

I rented a scooter to drive around for the rest of the time I'm here. It is so terrifying to drive it around Chiang Mai! They drive on the left side here! ahh!! Before I left the shop where I rented it, the lady looked at me (obviously seeing the fear in my eyes) and says, "Take good care of my bike, please." I giggled on the inside, but on the outside I said, "yes ma'am!''
I made it home with no problems, but then came time to go get dinner...........:-/
I had to talk myself into NOT walking to the restaurant.
but now I think I'm getting more and more confident on this little thing. it's pretty easy to drive, and the Lord has been blessing me with Green lights and not a lot of bad traffic. I think I drive careful enough not to get into any serious trouble. Lord Willing!
I guess if anything really note worthy happens, you'll know about it soon enough. haha

More Than a statistic, and More than just a story.

Right now it is 2:50 in the morning.
I was up late watching tv and this movie came on about these people who all experience this horrible traumatic event together. The movie just showed how horrible things can effect every part of who you are. Your Faith, your personality, how you simply interact with people. and of course the PTSD. After the movie was over I started thinking about my life. What it was like to experience a traumatic event (2/5/08 Tornado).
But my event was a force of nature.


What about those who's life is turned to a hell on earth
by other humans seeking to make a profit from them? What about the countless who are trapped in slavery, either sex related or not? How many little boys and girls are unknowingly sold into prostitution? Their caretakers thought they were promising these kids a better life in a new place, but they were deceived by wolves!
I decided I wanted to know a little more about it all. I stumbled across this blog that told about How these girls are not just statistics. They aren't even just a good story. They are real live people. Real young women who have finally gotten out. Who have finally broke their addiction. Or the real young women who were found then lost, or never found at all.
The writer of the blog listed off some examples of stories she knew. I never thought that reading about it would break my heart so bad. I read about how one girl's service provider let her go back into the brothel to get her cloths and the girl was never heard from again. Then the one about a girl who refuses to accept the fate of forced prostitution and ends up jumping out a window to her death.
When I read that last sentence I burst into tears.
all I can think about is what I could do to help.
Lord is this where you're leading me? All week I've been wrestling with the fact that I felt like I had no direction. I stared out a window for hours today waiting for my heart to break for the lostness of these people, but it didn't. I'm not saying that I'm going into a trafficking mission, but it was great to feel that feeling of "I care about this person so much it breaks my Heart!"
I can't imagine spending any part of my life as a missionary, unless I'm doing something that I am passionate about. Something that God will break my heart for.

Reminiscing

THIS IS OUR TEAM.
Left - right: Me (ruby), Carla, Roman, Heidi, and Kristi Roman and Kristi are leaving in a few days. I've really enjoyed hanging out with them this summer. One of my students innocently pointed out how lonely I'm going to be with out them here. My days that have been so full of planning and executing, are now filled with unknown.... Ideally I will be able to spend more time with students, but they are all very busy also. So I'm praying that God will fill my days with His productiveness.

As for my students. This is my 7:30 Advanced class. The power went out at Wisdom Tree (the school) so we moved class to Heidi's apt. it was so much fun. We just sat around a coffee table and learned English. When class was over, one student smiled, closed his book and said, "English class is over. Thai class begins!" I suddenly felt very nervous for some reason. I have found that learning Thai is very fun. (at least the little tiny bit I've learned) I'm now taking OFFICIAL thai language classes while I'm here. it's a lot of fun. I should probably be studying a little more. haha



Roman and Kristi are getting used to the states again.
We went to Hua Hin beach for a debrief time. It was so beautiful. I wish I had same pictures of it, but my camera is broken at the moment. I wonder which is better. being able to take a picture that speaks volumes about the subject, or being able to write in such a way that it paints a vivid picture and creates the desired emotions. Sadly, I'm not really proficient at either. But there was one evening when I was standing on the roof of our hotel (it's only 4 floors, then the roof) and the view caused me to want to write down everything I was seeing and feeling and thinking. It was like I finally found the moment where I could paint a picture. I wish I could feel like that all the time!

Pray They Understand

Do you ever just feel unqualified to do even the simplest things. I want so much to report some amazing story and encouragement about our time here. The truth is that I don't have an amazing story. I can offer you something to take joy in, though. By the measurements of what we would call amazing, it's just a passing mention of something. But in the measurements of what God says is Glorious, this is a step closer to Him by a lost girl. and that truly is amazing.
Fai.
Fai is a girl that we've met here. she isn't a Christians, but God is really working in her! She is so interested in the Bible and who God is and what He promises. I went to one of their Bible classes the other week and they were learning about Noah's Ark. At the end they were talking about God's promise not to destroy the world by water again. Fai said that since God has kept that promise, maybe He'll keep the promise to fix the relationship with us.
I can't even think of the right exclamation to express the joy I felt when I heard her say that.
Progress as we measure it is so much slower than in other parts of the world. But God is working in these people. Pray that they will see what it TRULY means to follow Christ. Pray that they don't make these empty commitments. It is so tragic to see someone finally believe in Christ and who He is, but they fall away from the faith because no one told them what they'd have to give up to follow Him. Pray that they will understand and genuinely want to lay down everything for Him!
What is our family, worldview, traditions, friends, or even our very understanding of life and death compared to the promise of eternal life with Christ. I don't mean to say that it's easy to give these things up. But it is, in fact, what Christ calls us to do. To die to ourselves and follow Him. "ourselves" is so much more than our body or our beliefs. It's everything we know and want and understand.

Oh Lord make them see! Lord teach us all how to follow you and love you. We are yours! bring me close to you!

Times you say "what in the world do I do now"

My roommate and I were walking home last night after a LONG day of preparing for our party tonight when we were met with a seemingly friendly dog. He was all smiles and playful jumps. Here in Thailand people don't really have pets. (some people do, but the strays greatly out number the pets) So there are a lot of dogs just walking along the streets hoping people will feed them. Being a Buddhist nation, the people are usually very peaceful and not aggressive. Then to add to all of this, they believe in reincarnation. so these dogs could be a "next life" of one of their loved ones. They feed them sometimes to try and earn merit by showing kindness for their next life.
Now, why did I tell you all of that mini background on a piece of Buddhism? The dog that was so friendly and playful became a little too playful. it started to playfully bite at our cloths and our bags. Then he decided to play tug of war with our cloths and bags. If I was back home I probably would have punted that dog across the parking lot. (a mild exaggeration, of course) But this is Thailand and I'm here to represent Christ, and to show the Thai people what Christians really look like. Kicking a dog that could, in their beliefs, be one of their ancestors is not the impression I want to leave in their minds.
This is where we asked the question, "What in the world to we do now?" I tried to gently push it away, pull it by it's collar, gently nudge it with my foot. All of these resulted in me getting bit and at one point the dog really latched onto my hand. No worries though. Just a bruise across the top. I was so thrilled to see a Thai guy coming to our rescue! he did some motion with his hand and the dog started to run away, but he's a persistent puppy. Once we all thought he was gone. He snuck up the stairs of my building (the stairs are outside) and latched onto my bag again. Luckily the Thai guy was still standing near. He came to our rescue once again, and my roommate and I ran to our room.
This all just goes to show that culture really does effect you over seas. It's hard to find the balance of what should I do and what can I do? It's so hard! Tune in next time for more stories from the front lines.