Jamie and I bonding with a local at the crocodile farm.

 Last week when I found out I was teaching a level 1 class from 7-9 p.m., I was discouraged. From what many people told me, many students in the 7-9 classes work all day, so they can't hang out very much (which is a big part of the ministry). Also, their English is generally ok or very poor. I was excited for my 2nd grade class though since I love kids, and I kind of miss my six-year-old baby sister.

Well, I was right and wrong. Yes, my students are very busy, but they're all very smart and can communicate well. And the kid's class was ting-tong (which means crazy in Thai). As it turns out, elementary students can't wrap their minds around the fact that someone can't speak their language, so it is very hard to teach and control this class of 12 energetic Thai children! I am so thankful for Pear, my translator, but we still had a hard time controlling them as a team!

By the end of last week, I was feeling pretty discouraged about building relationships with students in both of my classes. How was I supposed to get to know my ever-busy adult students and love on my adorably naughty Thai kids? I didn't know, but I just kept praying that God would open their hearts to the Bible stories they learn in class and that the language barrier wouldn't stop me from showing all of my students God's love — something I've been praying for since I began preparing for this trip.

Me with my hipster bike in the park after cell group on Sunday.

This weekend was great though. As you read in Angela's post from the other day, we went to the Ancient City and the world's largest Crocodile Farm on Friday with a group of students. On Saturday, we went to JJ Market with one of Natalie's students, Bow, and her boyfriend. Both of these trips were great because I got to bond with students, even though they weren't my own. While we normally have cell group (similar to Bible study) on Sunday mornings, my and Angela's groups went to a beautiful city park together for our group meetings. It was so nice to get some fresh air and spend time with other people from the church!

Yesterday was Natalie's birthday, and we wanted to do everything we could to make her feel special! We woke up "early" breakfast — a meal I think we've all been missing after a week and a half of having instant oatmeal every morning. Then Angela and I went to the school to prepare our lessons for the day. Jennie and Rung sneakily went to a bakery to buy Natalie a surprise birthday cake, and Jamie and I taught our first dance class with the little girls from the kids' classes. Since we've both seen how these cute kids can behave, we were kind of dreading having to entertain them for an hour.

But God works in mysterious ways. The girls all caught on to the dance pretty quickly, so we gave them free time to dance. Jamie turned on worship music and we danced with the girls. It was such a cool experience for us to be able to worship God with our bodies and pray over the girls' lives. Plus, we were all having fun, so we bonded with them. Hopefully it'll make our Thursday and Friday classes go a little smoother this week :)

After dance, I only had a few minutes before my level 1 class. It was monsoon-ing outside, so they warned us that we might have low attendance because of bad traffic. Sure enough, I only had one student show up (at first). Her name is Gee, and she is such a sweetheart! She is very intelligent, but she struggles with pronunciation. We were able to practice by conversing about our weekends. All of the sudden, she said (in broken English), "Teacher? Do you like go to movies?" I told her I did, and she responded by saying she wanted to take me to the movies. It was music to my ears!

The story gets better. She is a lawyer who is taking weekend classes to become a judge, so she literally has no free time other than Friday evenings (we only have class Monday through Thursday). But I have to go to church on Friday night. I told her I had to go to worship service but that there was dinner beforehand and she should come. AND SHE AGREED! I was jumping for joy inside. It's so sad to me that so many people here don't know Christ, and just knowing that one person is willing to come hear about Him gives me so much hope for her life, this ministry, and this country! Praise God for the work he is doing in Thai people's lives!

After class, we had a mini birthday party with some of the Santisuk teachers and staff. We had pad Thai, spring rolls, donuts, mango with sticky rice (Oh my goodness... this is my favorite thing about Thailand), and cake. It was so fun because everyone's ting-tong side is starting to come out! (That means "crazy" in Thai, and it's our favorite thing to call our friends haha.) I can't wait to post pictures of that night! But until then, here's a picture from our Sunday trip to Asiatique, or as I like to call it, little America.

Back: Jamie, Natalie, Anna, Jess, Angela, Erica. Front: Joy(ful), Awe, and Pear.

3 comments

1. Anonymous on June 26, 2012 at 11:03 AM

   You taught people how to dance?

    
2. Erica Redmond on June 26, 2012 at 11:20 AM

   Hush! Yes, and it was great! I may not be the most graceful, but it's a musical theater type dance so gracefulness isn't as necessary haha. I wouldn't be there if it was ballet, for example. #scarredfromcardbar

    
3. Unknown on June 30, 2012 at 1:13 PM

   My daughter got groove lol like her little sister :))