The Changing of Seasons...

Yes it is time once again for change in my life.

The past month has been a busy one. Our time has been filled with classes and homework as well as lots of time with people. Several teachers have invited our team to their homes for delicious deserts, words of wisdom, and encouraging times of prayer. As we finish our time as college students we feel filled up and ready to take on the world :)

This last week was our last as students at Bethany College of Missions! It has been an incredible three years of seeking God, building relationships and growing into the calling God has on each of our lives. We have gone deep in our relationship with God. He has blessed us with life long friendships and supporters. And we have been equipped to reach the nations with His life changing message. I am so blessed and thankful that the Lord lead me to this place for this time of training. Bethany will always be a second home and place close to my heart.

I will be leaving tomorrow morning bright and early to return to my hometown in Michigan. So good-bye Bethany...

...and now October

My goodness time is flying so quickly. I suppose that comes with being busy. I have been immensely enjoying the beauty of autumn in Minnesota and trying to learn to enjoy the cold!

September kept my team and I busy with classes. We just finished a two week independent study on creative methods of going to the field. I am extremely interested in Teaching English as a second language and I learned a lot of practical things about it during our study. I fell in love with teaching English during my internship and I am very excited to pursue getting a certificate in TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages) in the near future!

Besides studying I have been spending lots of time with the Lord reflecting on my time in Thailand and seeking His will for my future. My dear team mates have remained a big part of my life and new friendships have formed as well. It continues to be a blessed season of resting and learning.

September has come...

...and I want to write about it. I so missed the changing of seasons during my time in Thailand. I loved perpetual summer, it is my favorite season after all. But summer is not the same without the changes of autumn, winter and spring to prelude it. It is a rainy September evening. The leaves are beginning to change into their beautiful colors. The sun comes up later and goes down earlier. I feel like I should be buying new clothes. I am going to class everyday, doing homework and making new friends. Tonight I am eating a crispy, green apple (by no means fresh...probably grown in Washington or something but it's the thought that counts). I am sipping tea, wearing slippers and doing homework. I am so thankful for changing seasons!

The lovely place I live now...

Here are some pictures of life lately...

The neighborhood

Sasha taking her photo of the day

Sasha's Dandelion

Graduation!

On August 14th I graduated from college! Which felt a little funny since I’m not actually done with all of my classes until November 5. But since there were only four of us needing to finish off our final credits they allowed us to walk in graduation along with the rest of the graduating seniors. Enough details - Pictures!

Thanks to my Momma here are some pictures from the day…

This event made me realize that I am very soon entering a new season of life. I feel as if I’m standing on the edge of a cliff, the edge of which I will be required to jump off of in less then three months time. As of right now, after November 5 I have no solid plans. But I am reminded of a similar cross-roads when I graduated from High School. And as I look back at that season and all that has happened since then, I am filled with a quite confidence in my shepherd and leader. You see, when I gave my life to Jesus, really surrendered myself to Him at the age of 17, I had no idea how that would direct my life so radically. Or how wonderful following Him would be. Yes it has been hard but like Paul says in Philippians 3 “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead…” God has used those hard times to mature me and complete me (James 1:4). I rejoice in looking back at the faithfulness of God and so I rejoice in looking forward to the faithfulness to come!

Being Back in America

Since my return from Thailand a popular question has been:

“how is it being back in America?”

I have been trying to figure out my thoughts and feelings to answer that question. In many ways it almost feels like I never left. Many things are the same, exactly as I remember them. My family, for example, doesn't seem that different. We kept in contact well while I was gone, so I know what has been going on in their lives and it has been so good to see them again.

But in other ways it feels like I’ve been gone for years and some things are almost shocking. Like Wal-Mart for example. Now Wal-Mart is a very normal thing for Americans and I grew up going there almost weekly for all the little things necessary for living life. But coming back from Thailand I was overwhelmed by the size, the shininess and just the general Wal-Mart-ness of it. There are large Wal-Mart type places in Thailand but they are not as big, they have Thai people, the Thai language and Thai food in them. Wal-Mart is very different. Why do we need a whole aisle just for Shampoo and Conditioner? It took me a long time to figure out which shampoo I needed for my hair and which one was the cheapest. It was a rather overwhelming experience that nearly brought me to tears.

So how is being back in America? It is good, refreshing and exciting. But it is also hard and overwhelming at moments.

San Fransisco

I have now been back in America for a little more than three weeks. These weeks have been full ones filled with family, traveling, a wedding, traveling, graduations, and more traveling. I miss Thailand but I'm so happy to be back too. Currently I'm living in Minneapolis Mn finishing my last semester of college.

My first day in the States was a 12 hour layover in San Fransisco California which I spent with Jarred's parents. I love San Fransico! Here are some pictures I took while I was there...

Make the Most of Every Opportunity

One of the biggest lessons I have been learning during this internship is faithfulness. I have learned to be faithful in the things God has asked me to do even when I don't see results. But this week the Lord taught me a new lesson and I am in awe of Him.
Four days a week I spend two hours teaching an English class as an outreach to women. One girl, we'll call her Mary, has been coming for about a month now. On Wednesday after class was over, my Thai co-teacher, Keh, suggested we take Mary out for coffee and share the gospel with her. So at a little coffee shop around the corner, I shared the simple message of Jesus Christ and His work on the cross while Keh translated. After asking a couple questions Mary said she wanted to follow Jesus! Keh lead her in a prayer right there in the coffee shop!
In Colossians 4, Paul talks about being wise in the way we act and making the most of every opportunity. We never know what God is doing in the hearts of those around us but we can always be ready to share Him with everyone. Keh and I decided to make the most of a chance to talk to Mary about Jesus and she was ready to follow Him! Much of missionary life may be just faithful obedience but if we are always ready, we never know what God is going to do! God showed me that faithful obedience doesn't just mean plugging away at the same thing day after day, it is an actively seeking to be part of what He is doing in the hearts of those around us. I am in awe of what God did in Mary's heart and the fact that He used me in the process. God is so faithful, so gracious, and so amazing!

A Ride Through India

I took this video as we took an Auto (public transportation in India) to visit the women at the sewing center.

My Time in India

I was privilaged to spend a week in India recently. It was an amazing week of connecting with a local church: blessing them and being blessed by them. I went with my teammate Michelle and her mom who has been supporting a pastor and his ministry in a small village in the south of India. We got to bring financial blessings to them as well as encouragment and prayer. Here are some pictures of the different things we got to be involved in...
Orphans...


This is Pastor Matthew and Michelle's mom, sister Lea. Pastor Matthew and his wife Hannah feed and care for 40 orphans and semi-orphans. We were able to bring new clothes with us and bless them with money to help pay for the food and schooling that they need.
We also had some time to just play with the kids, dance with them and singing with them. By the end of the week they were all calling me older sister, telling me that they loved me.





Lepers...

The church also cares for a small leper colony, giving them rice and financial support. We got to have a worship service with the lepers and help with rice distribution.



Local Pastors...
Pastor Matthew also heads up a gathering of local pastors that meets consistently to encourage each other, share struggles, and pray for each other. They asked all of us to share something with them during this meeting. It was overwhelming to be speaking to a group of 25 amazing men of God but the Lord gave me the words. After the meeting they all gathered around us and prayed for us.




Widows...
The church also cares for a small group of widows. We got to help them distribute rice and finances. A couple of them also asked us for prayer. These widows were some of the most beautiful women that i've ever met. They were all smiles and glowing with the joy of the Lord.

Sewing Center...

All three of us got to be part of supporting the sewing center the church runs to help widows and poor women have an income. Our first day there they took us shopping for cloth and the ladies at the sewing center made us beautiful Indian clothes.




As you can see, it was a very full week but it was also a week of blessings. I am still processing a lot of the experiences I had but I loved being part of God's heart of compassion for the world. I will put up more stories and pictures as the week goes on.

For you Momma...

I was talking with my mom last week and she pointed out that I didn't put up any pictures of myself from the retreat. So here are a couple pictures for you momma. :)



Michelle and I with Ae in our lovely volunteer shirts









Our hard working administrator...P'Daeng




And Michelle and I :)

A Retreat...

At the beginning of March Michelle, Jasmine and I joined The Garden of Hope (the ministry we work with) on their annual retreat. It was so much fun to just hang out and relax with our friends but we also had some awesome times of worshiping the Lord and planned for the next year of ministry. The week was a good opportunity to practice my Thai too :). Here are some photos and videos... This is Michelle with a couple of the Thai staff she works with in the Children's Drop in Center.

We drove south of the city to a little resort near the mountains. There was a lovely view of mountains, rice fields and elephants.

What's a retreat without a hamock? Or a lovely pond with tropical flowers?

But the scenery doesn't compare with the lovely ladies we shared the week with. Worship times with were some of my favorite parts with them...here is a video of us worshiping in Thai...

Thai people love singing...not only in worship but karaoke is very popular here too... Both nights of the retreat I fell asleep to the the sounds of my Thai friends singing their favorite songs in Thai and English :).

A true Thai party isn't complete without lots of food. The last evening we had a traditional Thai barbeque. Basically it is a ceramic pot with hot coals in it and a metal pan on top for boiling and grilling various meats and vegetables.

We sat around cooking, eating, talking, and of course singing more karaoke.

I was so blessed and refreshed by the entire retreat. I was great to hang out with my co-workers outside of work and get to know them and their culture better. Keep us in your prayers as we continue serving the Lord reaching out to the lost and broken women and children here in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

My accident...a very different Christmas

I planned on my first Christmas away from home being very different but I had know idea that it would be this different. In the season leading up to the holiday I anticipated missing home. And I expected that it wouldn't really feel like Christmas because it isn't a holiday widely celebrated in Buddhist countries. But what I didn't plan on was spending the holiday on the couch, in pain but learning so much from God.

Two days before Christmas my teammate Michelle and I were in a minor accident on our moter bike coming home from ministry. This sounds awful but God's hand of protection was completely on us. Neither of us were injured severely and the bike only had a loose mirror. Michelle had a broken toe that ended up needing surgery and she pulled a ligament in her knee. But God healed the ligament as someone prayed for it a couple days after the accident. My foot was scrapped pretty badly, enough that I had to see a Doctor and have my life shut down for a week and a half.
I know it sounds like a terrible thing and it definitely was the worst experience of my time in Thailand so far. But it changed my life.
My first reaction to the accident was

WHY???

Why did you let this happen God? Why didn't you protect us? Why did you let us get hurt? Why before Christmas? Why, why, why?? I felt like God had abandoned me. Like He had taken away His hand of protection. Maybe I was doing something wrong and He was trying to get my attention. Maybe this, maybe that... I wasn't angry with the Lord, I just didn't understand. I wasn't sure I could continue trusting Him.
But I started talking about how I felt with my teammates, being honest with the Lord about my feelings and reading His word. I read the last 3-4 chapters of the book of Job where the Lord answers Job and reminds him that He is God and is worthy of our worship no matter what our circumstances are in life. God also showed me how much His hand actually was on us. The timing was as good as can be expected for something like this. As I already mentioned, both of us and our bike were protected from serious injury. God used it as a time for me to rest, which is something I haven't done much of lately. Over and over He has shown me that He has not and will never leave or forsake me. Life is hard sometimes but He wasn't lying in Romans 8:28 when He said that He works all things together for the good of those who love Him.
This whole thing has been a journey that I will continue to share with you about. I just wanted to start by praising God for His faithfulness! God is GOOD ALWAYS!!