I realize it’s been nearly two weeks since you have heard from us. We’ve been keeping more than busy these past few weeks. Here’s what’s been going on!
First off, we finished up our first “semester” in language study. We’ve been hitting the books hard for 5 months now and it shows. We are learning as much as our brains will allow us to cram in there!
Children's Christmas song in a Bangkok Church
Secondly, Christmas-time in Thailand and Thai churches is used mostly as a time for outreach. Where we often use the Christmas season to solemnly reflect on the gift that is Christ, in Thailand we found ourselves handing out tracts and invitations to learn more about Christmas in a neighborhood where a new church plant is getting started, dressing up in all sorts of ridiculous costumes to act out the Christmas story to kids and youth in local schools, watching Thai kids put on a Christmas program, and Sara baking Christmasy things for our neighbors.
Local Thai students line up to learn about Christmas around the world and a bit of English along the way. See the dog lying there? Yeah, that's common here!
Thirdly, we spent nearly a week in Bangkok looking at possible ministry locations for us once we finish up out Thai language studies here in Lopburi. We met a lot of cool people, Thai pastors with aching hearts for the Thai people, Bangkok universities and university students, just recently started church plants, and got to know several missionaries working in Bangkok quite well. It was a great time and rejuvenating for us as it is easy to lose track of “what’s next” for us when all we have been doing is cramming new Thai vocab down our brains’ throats!
Christmas decorations at MBK, one of Bangkok's most well known shopping centers
Finally (but not really… so much more has been happening!), we also took some time during this two-week break from language school to relax and have some time for each other…. AND IT HAS BEEN AWESOME! While in Bangkok we took the time to watch a movie or two (in English) at a movie theater there. We walked around and saw the Christmas lights and decorations (yes, despite not believing in Christ, the Thai people really do jump right into the decorations, Santa, light-up snow flakes, etc.). It was so nice just to spend some time together and have some “us” time. Despite not yet having kids and ALWAYS being around each other, enough “us” time has still been difficult to find lately…
Here’s a short clip of the commercial side to Thai “Christmas” taken by one of our friends also working in Bangkok.
We’re now back in our home in Lopburi and have a few more days before school starts back up. We have plenty coming up to keep up just as busy. The next few months we’ll start back up at the language school, travel to Malaysia to pick up our year-long Religious Affairs visa from the Thai embassy there (Praise God!), spend a week on on a Thai beach as after six-months on the field OMF suggests/strongly urges their workers take a vacation, more Thai studies and finally we will travel to Singapore for a month long Orientation course at OMF’s international headquarters.
So, there you have it. We hope you all have had a great holiday time with family and friends so far. So, tell us, what have you been up to?
Brook,
What’s up man! What’s your normal e-mail address? I can’t twit, tweet, or twang so shoot me an e-mail
Uncle Scott