Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! What a fantastic Easter it has been for us. There is something about being in another country and knowing that we can worship and praise the same Jesus anywhere in the world!

Our weekend has been wonderful--as usual. Yesterday we had the privilege to go to Pattaya, in a different province of Thailand, and go to the beach. Our main reason for going is because Dou, one of my students, was going to get baptized. It is so exciting to me to see the way God is working in his life and the other people we have been able to spend time with. I think maybe the coolest part about it was that 5 of Caitlin's students who are not Christians came to the beach with us and they were able to see the baptism and how exited Dou is.

The beach was fantastic. I love the beach. The only mini problem is that if you don't know me...I'm pretty much the whitest person ever...and even though I put sunscreen on two times, I look like a lobster. But it's okay--it was completely worth it. Caitlin and I both love the water, but hardly any of the people that came like to swim: either because they don't want to get tan (Thai people want to be white like us..and we want to be tan like them. weird?) or because they can't swim. But we got two of the guys to come out in the water with us, and one of them especially was scared of the water. We eventually persuaded him to jump into the waves, and it was SO funny to watch him attempt to swim. A wave would come and knock him over and then he would flail his arms around trying to get out of the water. The funniest part is that the water was only a little above my waist, and he is over 6 feet tall. It was great.

We also were able to go on this thing called the "banana boat". Basically it was a giant oblong flotation device that was pulled behind a boat and held 6 people. It was a trap. The driver would hit the gas really hard and we would go flying into the ocean abyss...it was intense. The hardest part was getting back onto it. All of us who did it were completely exhausted by the time it was over. It was so fun...but let me tell you, I can definitely feel that workout in my arms today. It was hard work!

Today was so good! We went to the main Santisuk church today for our service this morning. The whole place was packed! It was cute because they put on a short Easter program with singing in Thai and English,  and dancing. Pastor Steve Cable gave the message about the facts that Jesus did raise from the dead. It was so exciting for me because the girl I was sitting next to came with us from Lad Krabang and I know that she is not a Christian. The whole time I was praying that God would touch her heart with the truths of the sermon. Things are put in a different perspective when you go to church with someone who isn't saved. I think that usually we go to church on a Sunday morning surrounded by people who already know most of the things being taught. But here, many of the people who come to church don't even know who Jesus is! It's so different!

After the service there was a big meal for everyone who was at church. That's another thing I love about Thailand. People are constantly hanging out. Sunday isn't only church day, but it's hang out all day with friends too. I love it! After lunch a big group of my friends from Lad Krabang took us shopping--again. But it was super fun because they know everywhere to go that is cheap. So we went to this inside market and shopped for a long time. There were two boys with us and they wanted to wait outside for us because they didn't want to go shopping...but we made them come. We were at one shop and a few of us tried some sweaters on, and the boys held our purses and things for us while they waited. SO SWEET!

We ended up having a hangout in our apartment with three girls this evening. It was super fun. One of the girls that came we had just met today, so we didn't really know anything about her. Her English is super good, so it's really easy to talk to her and understand her. I asked her if she was a Christian and she said yes. So I proceeded by asking her how she became a Christian and she said, "Ohh, very long story!" But she ended up telling us that her family is Buddhist and that she had never heard about Jesus. One night though, she woke up with this extreme anxiety that she didn't even know how to explain. She said she began praying to Buddah to take it away, but it only got worse. She said that she eventually saw this figure standing in front of her, and she was so scared, but she heard a voice in her head that told her to pray..and she thought "I already did pray"..but then she heard the voice again saying, "No, not to Buddah, pray to the real God. Jesus." So, at that point, she accepted Jesus as her Savior. She said that now, two of her siblings are Christians and she prays for the rest of her family to know Jesus.

Isn't that possibly one of the greatest stories in the world?! I was blown away. Stories like this seem to be an everyday occurrence here. Well, this is a pretty long blog, and I am very exhausted, so I think I will be done writing for today.

Happy Easter everyone! CHRIST IS RISEN!!!

"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through of Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." (1 Corinthians 15:55-58)

-Bethany

Busy Week!!

There is so much to write! I am so sorry that it has been this long. BUT I am having an amazing time. I'll try and give a recap of my adventures since the last time I wrote. Okay, I'll begin with Sunday. Caitlin and I were asked to sing a song for the offering at church on Sunday. It was such a great opportunity. The church at Lad Krabang where we are is amazing. There are normally 20 people, but there were over 30 people last week. It's exciting to see the church grow.

On Monday night after teaching, we had a "girls night" with some of the girls at the school. It was so much fun. I think there were six of us and one of the ladies did our nails! They looked so good!! We also got pizza and one of the girls, Fai, walked with me to get the pizza. While we were waiting, I was talking to her about how cheap things are here. I asked her if there is a minimum wage in Thailand and she said that it is around 40 baht and hour (that's about $1.25). I was amazed by that! No wonder everything is cheaper here. I told her that minimum wage in America is over $7 an hour and she was completely blown away. Those things are so interesting to me.

This week, I began to help with another class. This is a pre 1 class where there is a family--a mom and three kids--and they don't know very much English at all. My job is to help them write their assigned sentences, work on conversation with them, and help them pronounce words. When we got to the pronunciation section, the sound of the day was "TH". I began saying words like "this", "that", "these", and they would repeat me. One of the boys could not make the "th" sound at all, and it was hilarious because he would stick his tongue out and open his mouth and then realize that he was doing it completely wrong. I think everyone in the room was cracking up! It was very funny.

We were nervous to take the "song tow" by ourselves!

The other day, Caitlin and I went on an adventure. We got up in the morning and took one of the public transportation methods (a song tow) BY OURSELVES, and went to this little place called Paseo. It's about 10 minutes away from our apartment, but it is so cute. There are little shops, coffee shops, clothes shops, and restaurants. We sat down at a coffee shop with our Bibles and books and read for a while. It almost felt like being home...especially since we paid almost $4 for our coffee!

Movie theater! 

We also had the opportunity to go to the movies! I was expecting it to be just like the theaters at home, but to my delight, each seat was like a recliner! It was wonderful. I could lean back and relax. I will never go to an American movie theater again! But I think the best part of the movie was the beginning--the previews for other movies. The movie we saw was an American movie in English, but the previews were Thai movies in Thai. One of the movie trailers was a horror/comedy movie, and Caitlin and I had no idea what they were saying, but the combination of the language, cheesy music, and acting...was hilarious. We were cracking up! All I know is that I want to go see that movie now, even if it is in another language!

Me teaching one
of my students
guitar! 

The last few days I have been REALLY craving French Toast...or really any breakfast food for that matter. The main breakfast they eat here is. . . rice. I mean, it's great and all, but I just really wanted some French Toast. This morning, the directors of the school, Dondon and Carol, invited us over for breakfast. Well, guess what they had for us?! FRENCH TOAST! I was so happy that I could hardly contain myself! They are so kind and thoughtful. I am completely satisfied now. :)

Well, we have another really long day ahead of us, so I should probably get some things done! Hopefully I'll write again soon. We appreciate your prayers for us and our students!

-Bethany

Pictures.

So much has happened since I wrote last. My internet hasn't been working very well, so that's why I haven't been able to write an update. And tonight I am extremely tired, so I think I will just upload some pictures tonight...

We rode on a water taxi, and this is
our view from the boat. It was such
a cool experience! 

In Thailand, they have a free train system...so cool, right?!

Water taxi! 

There are lots of skyscrapers in Thailand!

We went to this place called Asiatique, and it was
this cute place with quaint buildings and shops
and there was this little boy who was having his picture taken
 and i asked if icould get a picture of him, but he was SO shy.
His mom wanted a "foreigner"to take his picture, so
she was trying to coax him into
smiling.

Asiatique!

There are parrots in the middle of the mall...
no big deal.

Beautiful Sunset!

Fai and I! We have fun.

 

 P.S. I'm pretty sure that the picture thing took me double the time of just writing a blog. UGH! Oh well...Goodnight everyone.

-Bethany

The Park 

You know those nights when you get home after a long days work and can only think about going to bed?? Well, that was yesterday. Therefore, I didn't update the blog. So, today will have to be extra special. I loved today. I think it may have been the best day so far (every day seems to get even better). Like the past few days, Caitlin and I got up early and walked to the park (with iced coffee of course), and did our devotions. There is absolutely nothing better than reading about how amazing and awesome and wonderful God is and seeing the beauty of his creation at the same time. I'm reading the book, "Good to Great" by Chip Ingram, and today I read a part of the book referring to the beauty of God's creation. It says, "'The heavens declare the glory of God' (Ps. 19:1). It's impossible to dwell on the beauty of creation and continue to be self-absorbed. My times of soaking in the grandeur reminded me how small my focus had gotten and how big my God is. It restored great thoughts to a mind that had become overwhelmed with a lot of trivial ones."

A book in Thai!!

We walked around the park for a while and we found the library! It was so cool! We had to take our shoes off before going in, and when we got in there, they took our bags from us. Apparently we couldn't have anything with us to go into the actual book part. It was a really cool experience to look through the books and to try and find some in English (I only found 2).

Eggs and rice

For breakfast, we went to a little restaurant and had eggs with rice...and it was absolutely wonderful. One thing that I do notice about Thai food is that it all seems to be the same. At home, I usually have a main dish with a few side dishes...like chicken with potatoes and green beans....but here it's just like rice and chicken...or pork and rice. So it gets a little boring to me, but I am learning what I do like and what I don't like.

My amazing class!! 

Our afternoon at the school is always enjoyable, but I think today was better than ever. When we got there, Caitlin had to teach right away, so I played ping pong with the people hanging out there. By the way, my practicing is paying off because first of all, I woke up sore yesterday..so that's an obvious sign of hard work, and secondly because I won a few games today! Isn't that GREAT news?! A little while before my class was supposed to start, one of my students' moms came in and asked me to take a picture with them...and Caitlin told me that later she invited us to her hometown to go swimming whenever we want! Thai people are so sweet and thoughtful.

 My class went so well today. One of my students was out of town, so there were only three, but it was fine because we had so much fun anyway. I can tell that they are starting to feel more comfortable with me because they have started asking questions, and during the singing time today, they were really into it. I tried to make them do a rap version of the song, but they just laughed and said "NO!!!" haha and when they messed up the song they would laugh so hard that we had to stop because everyone was cracking up.

Dinner!!!

After class we all went out to eat to this Thai restaurant that specialized in seafood. I had no idea what to order because I couldn't read the Thai menu, and because I didn't even know what I would like. So everyone ordered for me. I ended up with seafood fried rice. Very delicious (in Thai "aroy mak mak")! We also had fried Calamari (squid). At first I was a little nervous, but it was actually really good! And to top it all off, we had coconut ice-cream! It was wonderful. It has been so fun to get to know my students the people from SES better. They are so fun and lighthearted and just enjoyable to be around.

Coconut Ice cream

I am so thankful for this opportunity I have to be here! Please continue to pray for Caitlin and I and the people we come in contact with. Love you all!

-Bethany

Ping-Pong champ...not

The beautiful garden! 

Our new spot! 

I am convinced that every day I am here, the more I love it and the more comfortable I feel. This morning Caitlin and I walked to the park that is pretty close to our apartment. On the way we stopped at a little coffee shop and had most delicious iced coffee (even though I regretted it later because I haven't had caffeine in a while so it made me really jittery). The park is sooo cool. It's literally like a rain forest in the middle of Bangkok. There are benches to sit on and a path that goes all the way around it--and it's HUGE. There is a big pond that is in the middle with cool trees around it and not to mention the Komodo Dragons. Today we saw one that was the size of an alligator. They are so scary!!! In one area of the park there is a garden of bushes that are trimmed into animals. I think the only place I've ever seen anything like that is on TV. There were elephants and birds, and horses and cows. It was so cool!! We found a place in the middle of that area that will probably be our spot from now on, and we did some reading and relaxing. Even though it's so hot, since we were in the shade, the temperature was actually pretty enjoyable.

Pizza!! 

When we left the park, we went straight to the school where there was pizza waiting for us! It was so nice because just last night I was saying to Caitlin that pizza sounded good, and we were talking about the American food we are already craving. The pizza definitely hit the spot. The rest of the afternoon before our classes was spent in the lobby of the school either playing ping-pong with the guys, or putting together a puzzle with the director's son, CJ. I think I played ping-pong for like 3 hours straight. The problem is, the only sport people play in Thailand is ping-pong..so as you can imagine, everyone is pretty good...and I am not good at all..but I am competitive..so it's just a lose-lose situation for me. Oh well..but I didn't even win one game out of the 3 hours I spent playing today. Hopefully all this losing will either make me more humble, or a better pin-pong player...........I'm hoping for the latter. lol

My class tonight went soooo well--even better than yesterday! I feel more comfortable with my students and I think they feel more comfortable with me too. Some of you may know that I really like to sing, and there is a part in the lesson that there is a singing time, so we all had so much fun with that today. I taught them the song "Hallelu, hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah, Praise ye the Lord". I separated them into two groups and made them stand up and sit down for their parts. It was super cute, and the best part is they don't get embarrassed to sing even if they can't. That was probably my favorite part of tonight and I think it was the student's favorite part too.

 After dinner Dou, one of my students and one of the guys in the church, invited Caitlin and I to walk to the market to have dinner. The market is absolutely HUGE. We finally found some food to eat and we sat down and hung out for a while. While we were sitting there, Dou began teaching us Thai words and phrases. It was so sweet because he would say a word and ask us to repeat and then he would say "That's so good!!" (even though we knew we were pronouncing it completely wrong). It was just a really good time. It was a great day!

 Alright, well I am off to bed! Thanks for keeping up! :)

-Bethany

Fruit, fish, and...snakes?

Thai Market

Dragonfruit

SOOO I'm pretty sure that today was one of the best days so far. Since we didn't have to be at SES until 2 again today, we had the morning free, so we decided to do some exploring. We knew that there was a morning market a little ways away, but we weren't exactly sure where it was. So we started walking in the direction and eventually found it. We started walking through and the first part of the market was the food area. There was fresh fish--as in still alive and flopping around everywhere AND these snakes in a bucket. I walked by and it scared me so bad because they were huge and trying to get out of the bucket...yeah, it was definitely a cultural experience. Then we found the fruit and I bought some mini bananas. They're so cute!

Lots of fish

Tiny Bananas!!

Today was my first official day of teaching. I was surprisingly not as nervous as I thought I would be. I only have 4 people in my class. They are from ages 12-23. The class went really smooth and I enjoyed it so much. My students are so sweet. Right before I finished teaching for the day, one of the girls said, "Teacher, will you go to dinner with me?" And I said, "YESSSSS!!!!!!" It was so great because we were encouraged to ask our students if they want to hang out with us, but she beat me to it! :) It totally made my day.

Snakes in a bucket..

For dinner, we went to a nearby food stand and Caitlin and I had noodles. We were eating away with out little chop sticks and realized after a few minutes that they were laughing at us SO much because of our lack of chop stick skill...so they got us a fork..But neither of us wanted to give up, so they tried to teach us, but let me tell you..it's harder than you think. And I even thought I was doing pretty well! Oh well...

So I'm not sure why, but I'm extra tired tonight, so I think I'm gonna head off to bed. I'd love to hear from you! Message me on Facebook, leave a comment on here, or email me! Thanks for praying!

-Bethany

Our makeshift dryer

Hello All!!

I'm having a really hard time with what to write today.....writers block.....okay, well I'll just type and hopefully it will come to me. First of all, sorry I didn't write yesterday. I guess you could say that yesterday was a lazy day, because after church, everyone went out to lunch and then everyone but us went to SES Ladprao for Easter service and we decided to stay here so we could get prepared to teach today. Well, we did get prepared! We were super motivated the from 2 until 4...we got our teaching stuff ready, we did laundry (partial disaster--I opened the bag of laundry detergent and it exploded all over the place...it was embarrassing..), went grocery shopping, did all of our dishes and slightly organized our apartment. But after 4, we got really lazy. Since we had no one to hang out with and no where to go, we sat in our bed, ate food, and watched movies, and went to bed early.....it was fantastic.

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Pre-Highlighted

Today, we woke up pretty early--completely stoked/nervous about our first day of classes. We were asked to be at the school by 9 and ready to teach..but at 8:30 I got a Facebook message from Carol saying that nobody has signed up for classes so we didn't need to be there until 2. So, we literally had 5 hours and we had no idea what to do with the time. Finally, we decided to go to the food court and get some lunch. Outside of our comfort zones again, we ordered our own food! FINALLY 2:00 rolled around and we got to the school--but to our disappointment again, we still had no students. So false alarm on the starting class today thing..Oh well! BUT  we will officially and for sure be teaching tomorrow. I think it's been a little tough with just not knowing what is going on. Not only are we nervous and anxious to start teaching, but we've also been so back and forth as to whether we are teaching or not teaching and what we're teaching. I'm sure it will be fine when we get going and into the swing of things though.

Post-Highlighted

Post-Highlighted

So, instead of teaching today, we decided to take advantage of our free afternoon and get our hair done--since it's less than half the price here than at home! So, Caitlin and I both got highlights! It's a really good thing that we had Pheng with us to help because there was much confusion over what we wanted to have done. The biggest difficulty is that since all Thai people have black hair, they have hair dye for black hair..and it really changes things since we both have blond hair. Well we figured it out, and we both have highlights now! And they look pretty good!

Papaya Salad!

For dinner, we went with Pheng and had this Thai food called Papaya Salad. It is very interesting..and spicy (even though Pheng said that it wasn't spicy at all and that she told them to put no spice in it. She was laughing at our inability to handle Thai food). It had chunks of raw papaya in it with tomatoes, peanuts, dried shrimp (not delicious), and raw green beans. Like I said, it was interesting..but it's a Thai specialty, so we ate it.

Okay, so quick funny story. The other day when we were at the mall, there was a huge downpour and we were standing inside the entrance of the mall waiting for a taxi. There were mall workers who were walking back and forth from the front doors to the taxis with umbrellas so people would stay dry. So while we were standing there, the man escorting pointed to this woman and said something in Thai and everyone started laughing and talking back and forth. Well we had no idea what they said, but the lady we were with told us that he said to the lady "The pregnant lady goes first" and she said "OHHH! I'm not pregnant" hahaha! It's so interesting because people will tell other people they are fat or comment on weight all the time, and nobody seems to get offended...I don't understand it!

Alright, well I'm about to get ready for bed, but I'll check in soon! Thanks for reading.

-Bethany

SO MUCH FOOOOOD!!!!!!

Huge Mall! 

Food, shopping, and people...that pretty much sums up our lives in Thailand.. Today started with more training a SES...and it seemed to last forever! We were trained on how to teach our classes and were given some brief information on Thai culture and what is acceptable in society. Some of it was very interesting. For example, it is considered very impolite to point, touch other people's heads, and wad up money (because it has the face of the king on it). I realized that I have already done so many "rude" things today..oops! 

Khao Neow Ma Muang

After training, Caitlin and I spent some time at The Mall Bangkapi. Since we were by ourselves, we had to keep track of where we were in the mall, first of all because it's so huge, and secondly because all of the signs are in Thai. First we went to the food court and enjoyed some Khao Neow Ma Muang (sticky rice and mango). Can I please say...that food comes from heaven! After our little snack, we decided to venture a bit to some different floors. We looks at the different shops and it's so interesting to see Thai style. Some of it is very similar to America, but some of it is so different. For example, at home there may be 20 or 30 pair of sunglasses to choose from, but here there may be 400 to choose from and that is just in one store. Crazzzy! 

This is what happens to my hair
 in the humidity.

While we were shopping, we stopped in this little dress shop and the woman working there began talking to us in English. We learned yesterday that Thailand is one of the lowest English speaking countries in the world, so the fact that she knew English was pretty amazing and surprising! Caitlin and I were both really excited to talk to her and I asked her how long she has studied English, where she was from, and things like that. She asked us what we were doing in Thailand and we told her that we are here to teach at SES. As soon as we said that she got this very enthusiastic look on her face and exclaimed "I will study there next month!!!". So, if all goes well, I will see this girl next month and possibly be her teacher! In the middle of that conversation, another girl came up to us and began talking to us in this nearly perfect English. She asked us where we are from and we said Ohio and she also got this very excited/surprised look on her face and she told us that she was just in Ohio working at Cedar Point...oh how small the world seemed at that point. Isn't that so great?? 

Before trying "Banana
Fried Bliss"

After trying "Banana
 Fried Bliss."

Also, while we were at the food court waiting to get dinner, two girls that we know from SES walked right up to us. Now let me remind you that this mall is like 500 miles long...and they happened to see us in the huge amount of people there. So weird, but so awesome! I feel like there were so many stories like that today. On top of it all, the two girls brought Caitlin and I this amazing dessert, and we're not sure what it's called but we named it "Banana Fried Bliss". So, as you can see...today was a very good day! So excited for the many more days to come!! :)

-Bethany

First Thai taxi!!

Well, today was another amazing day. But I am one very tired girl, so this blog will be pretty short. It began with going to SES (Santisuk English School) Ladprao--the main center. I was so excited about going here because this is where my mom and sister were when they were here. When we got there I was completely overwhelmed with excitement and anticipation to see the friends I have met and the people I have not yet met, but have heard so much about. It's so exciting to me that I am here...finally...I have heard so much about this amazing, wonderful, beautiful place, but to be able to actually experience it is like none other.

Taxi

After being there a little while, all of the Americans that are in Thailand to teach for this month went upstairs and we had orientation/training. It was great to meet the other 9 people that are serving at SES this month. The meeting went really well and we learned a lot about the history of SES and the amount of people that have been apart of the program. There have been over 8,000 people who have taken classes since it began, and there are many people who have taken classes more than once. That's so many!!!

Peace Fellowship Church worship practice

After our training, Nan and Joy took all of us on a tour of the area surrounding SES. We walked to a different, equally huge mall as yesterday and looked around for a while. It was so fun to talk to the other volunteers and get to know them a little bit. I went to a music store in the mall and I enjoyed looking at all of the guitars and musical equipment.

When we got back to SES after our little tour, I went upstairs to the sanctuary to listen to worship practice. I love how they sing a lot of the same songs we sing in America, except in Thai. I went back downstairs to the lobby after a while and was invited to play a card game. It was really fun to get to know some of the people in the school. While I was talking to a lady, she told me that one of the guys who was playing cards with us just accepted Christ last Sunday!!! And now he comes to SES everyday to study the Bible with one of the guys working here. He keeps saying that he wants to study the Bible 5 hours a day. Isn't that so awesome?! It's so exciting for me to hear about people accepting the Lord and being on fire for Him, because often in America we don't hear stories like that. Later I talked to him and he told us that his mom was coming to the worship service tonight!! And she is not a Christian. There is nothing that makes me more pumped than hearing stories like that. The same lady also pointed out a girl named Cherry (I have no idea how to spell her name...but this is the way they say it. haha). She is from China and is studying in Thailand for two years. She comes to SES for church and cell group, but she is not a Christian. She asked me to pray for Cherry and it would be awesome if you would pray for her too!

The service tonight was amazing! Everyone at the church is so on fire for God. I was thoroughly encouraged by the evening. I am so excited that I'm going to be here for so many more Friday nights!!! Please keep us and SES in your prayers! Love you all!

-Bethany