Classes!

A week has flown by and I'm still so thankful and excited to be here. One one of the responsibilities I was looking forward to was helping new American teachers adjust to Thailand. On Friday, a new group of teachers came and I was able to help give them the tour of the area. I showed them the school, where to eat, the mall, and other important places along the way. It is so exciting for me to tell people about the culture and country that I love so much (p.s. if any of you come, I would LOVVEEEE to show you around as well--and there's always a need for American teachers!). I also helped with their cultural orientation meeting. This meeting consists of some major cultural differences. It's exciting for me to see how quickly I was able to jump right back in to this ministry and country.

On top of teaching, I've been trying to think about different ways I can be plugged in with this church and ministry. Music ministry is definitely an area I have been apart of in the past, and I'm excited about that being a way I can help here as well. On Sunday night I helped lead worship for the Sunday night English service and I've already been asked to lead worship on Christmas Eve. This year will be Peace Fellowship Church's first Christmas Eve service. In Thailand, Christmas is just another work day, not even a holiday. I am also planning to start a "choir" and teach people to sing parts. A lot of people are really looking forward to that and they keep asking me when practices are going to start. Lastly, I've been seriously considering teaching a music class. This would more than likely be open only for the people who attend the church. There are many people who can play basic chords, but there are only a few who can read music. I'm not sure how that class will look, but I'm excited to see how the Lord uses my previous experience with music and worship ministry to help out the people here. 

Yesterday was the start of my first classes. When I was in Thailand before, every session I had a 7 am class, and I'm not really a  morning person, but I had to be. But this time, I was really looking forward to seeing what my schedule was going to be. For this month, I was given a 4-6pm and 7-9pm class. This schedule is so different than before, but I'm really excited about the change. I was really excited to begin and it feels like I never stopped teaching. I was given a Pre 1 and Level 1 class. Usually the Thai teachers are the only ones to teach pre 1 because in that level, the students' English is still extremely poor. I had taught pre 1 before, but at the beginning of my first class, I immediately saw that my students were really struggling to understand me. I was speaking very slowly and doing everything I could, but they just didn't seen to understand. It got a little better as the class went on, but I know it will be more of a struggle to teach that class. Please pray that my students would understand what I'm teaching them and that we would be able to enjoy the class together. My level 1 class was fantastic. Their English is so good. We had so much fun and I can already tell that I'm going to love them! 

Lastly, I'm seriously considering taking a Thai class next month. It will begin on October 25 and finish on November 21. The class is from 8 am-12pm and it's at an international school nearby. Because I would be required to study and practice my Thai a lot, I would not be teaching next month. Everyone seems to think that is the best option. I'm so excited about that, because I feel more of an urgency now to learn Thai than I did last time. 

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support! Please continue to remember me in your prayers.

-Bethany

P.S. October 3 is my Mom's birthday, so if you see her, don't forget to wish her a Happy Birthday! :)

Also, I've been working on learning this Thai worship Song. My roommate, Gaan has been translating the meeting and helping me learn it in Thai. If you want to hear it, here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFyK6WU10Co The meaning is basically that we don't know what will happen tomorrow and we may experience bad things or good things. But the one thing we can be sure of is that God is in control and He will direct us and He has the best in mind for us and don't have to be afraid to face the future because we have God helping us.