Christmas in July: Day 1: Please Pray

Seven Days of Christmas in July

Day 1 Please Pray

Before I start, I want to give a little introduction to what has brought about these posts that you’ll see over the next seven days or so.

As those of you who know me know, I’ve been in Thailand a majority of the past four years. The first two years with the Peace Corps, and the last year and three quarters with the Church of Christ in Thailand teaching at a rural Christian school that is made up of about eighty percent Karen Children with the rest being Thai, Mon, Hmong, and Burmese. The students at the school are very poor, about a quarter live in children’s homes or the dorm because their houses are too far away from a good school, or their parents can’t afford to send them to school. At least seventy percent of the students either live at a Children’s home, or are sponsored by VisionTrust, Compassion, CCF, or one of several other organizations in order to be able to attend this school. If I had to guess the average household income, I would guess it to be less than $2,000 per year. I would also guess about half of the students don’t have Thai citizenship, and 40-50 have no citizenship in any country at all.

Yes, I’ve written it this way to tug at your heart, to give you an idea of where my students are coming from. I could write more, but I’ll stop at that for now and move on to the positives. Of the 27 schools under the Church of Christ in Thailand (CCT), our school has one of the highest rates of students who are Christians at about 50%. So, we are teaching the students who in the future will lead the local church, run the hospital, teach at the school, open shops, etc… They have an opportunity to learn in a Christian environment where the Lord’s Prayer is recited daily in Thai and English, as well as learning one bible verse per month as a school. We have a chapel service every Monday morning, as well as all holidays and special events. Even the opening of the school bank last week had a local preacher come and give the sermon to dedicate the endeavor. Teachers have devotions every morning at 7 before school to pray, hear from God’s word, and encourage each other. There is often homeroom after the morning assembly, before classes start in which they are lead by their homeroom teacher(Buddhist teachers are partnered with a Christian teacher who doesn’t have a homeroom) in singing, praying, and hearing a story from the Bible. Personally, I pray at the beginning and end of every class out loud. What a blessing that is!!!

The community has also been so warm and welcoming. I’m a part of the Karen cell group that meets in the area next to my house on Saturday nights. They often include me by having me recite a bible verse, singing the offering song, praying for the food, and this last week they asked me to give the message(in Thai as I still can’t speak Karen). I’m often invited to birthday services (really, it’s a church service for someone’s birthday), personal thanksgiving services, and other events. I often feel like this community lives much closer to the early church I’ve read about in the Bible than my church and community back home. (Sorry guys…) Within an hour of someone’s death, you can often find a group of people in their home helping to get ready for the services that will take place over the next few days. It’s amazing to me how even with so little they have so much to give to others in their times of need.

So, over the next 7 days I am hoping to post one area in which you can help in this community. I’m calling it the Seven Days of Christmas in July. I figure December is the 12^th month and there are 12 days of Christmas, so to celebrate Christmas in July which is the seventh month, we should have 7 days (maybe more if I think of something else…) These are all things I’ve either been asked to find money for, or have thought of on my own that I would like to help out with. Today’s request is free, others could be a donation as small as $10, and others are a little more than that, maybe something you can get a group together to donate to, talk about with your church, small group, help me get in contact with an organization or business that would be willing to help, etc…

Finally, I’ve gotten to the request for today, Please Pray!!! The Karen people will often say they don’t have much, but they do have prayer. Never in my life have I been told so often that people are praying for me. I’m even often told by my students that they are praying for me, or requesting me to pray for them.  Here’s a list of things to pray for:

-      Thailand: In a country that is around 95% Buddhist, and 1% Christian you can surely imagine the challenges. However, having previously lived in a Buddhist village where the children were taught to go through the motions of being Buddhist without learning the why, I can see where the harvest is coming. It may still be many years, but Thailand will soon be ripe for picking.

-      Huey Malai: Please pray for my village, and the outreach it has to other communities. If the school is an indication the community is at least half Buddhist if not more. Many of the people are alumni of the school, and grew up with a Christian Education, but never made the conversion. Please pray for those who are still seeking, and that the Christians can continue to reach out to them even after they leave the school. You can also pray for the Christian Hospital next door as it works to provide healing to the sick,

-      The School: There are over 600 precious children at the school this year. Please pray for the impact we are making on their lives. That it will be a good foundation for them for their futures. While many things may not sink in now, please pray that seeds will be planted in each of their lives on a daily basis. Please pray for the teachers, that we would have wisdom and guidance as we nurture these young lives, that our words would be used to build them up and encourage them. Please pray for the teachers who aren’t yet believers, that they would be impacted by the teaching as the students are and would come to know their Father one day.

-      Me: Sometimes life in the fishbowl is tough. Sure, most of the time its great, sometimes manageable, but to be honest, at times it can be tough. They are constantly watching to see what you will do, your actions and words are criticized more than others, you are expected to follow cultural norms (which you don’t know) and life can sometimes be draining. However, you can also pray for the impact I’m having in the community. More than the fact that their conversational English is improving, pray for the Christian example I can be for the students and people in the community.

-      You: Please pray for yourself as I’m hoping you will come back and read this over the next 7 days. Pray for God to speak to you and ask what it is you can do to help this community and the work being done here. Who can you send this along to? Who do you know that has the means to take on a bigger project? What smaller project can you get a group of friends together to help support? What project have I not mentioned that you are wondering if the community/school could use? My request is that you not read the first days request and jump on that one, sure, it’s important, but I would like if you would prayerfully read each days request and see what God is calling you to do. Maybe you can help in several areas, that would be awesome. Maybe you can post this so others can read it. Sharing this with you has been on my heart for a while now, and I’m praying God will put a special place in each of your hearts for this school and community.

Short Testimony

My director asked me to write some articles for her to use to recruit new volunteers. Here is the first one I wrote for her. I'll try to get some more articles and blogs of my own up to catch you up on the last year or so over the next few weeks.

It was the summer of 2009. I had just finished my Junior year of college and was at a conference with the youth group of my home church. It was a Thursday night at the main worship session with over 1,000 high school students. The conference had a theme of Kingdom Workers. As we were worshiping I felt a tug on my heart, a whisper so to speak saying "Lindsey, go overseas for two years." I said "No God, that's not for me." We finished that song and I felt it again "Lindsey, go overseas for two years." In which I responded "I'm not worthy and am unprepared." Later in the song it came a third time "Lindsey, go overseas for two years. There are millions of students abroad who don't have a teacher that loves them, and thousands of teachers here who don't have a job. I've provided for you, you are on track to graduate debt free. Give me two years." I thought for a few minutes and said "Ok God, I'll go, but you have to use someone to show me where and how to go and what to do."
Over the next year I looked into several organizations as people suggested them, some in Africa, some in Asia, some at orphanages and some teaching. I prayed, I sought, I got excited about one thing after another, then after looking into them would find that I didn't have peace about it. One day almost a year into the search a co-worker asked me how the search was going. I told her my frustrations and how I only had about 7 months before I would graduate and still had no idea where God wanted me to go. She then suggested the Peace Corps. My response was "I'm not a hippie." Then, I remembered that I had told God he had to use someone to show me where to go. So, as I had done so many times I looked into what she had suggested. I found the best piece of news on their website. It was this "Only about 25% of people who apply get accepted." I thought surely I'm not in the top 25%. I'll show you God, I'll apply, not get accepted, and then I can graduate and go on living the life I had planned since I was in first grade, to become a teacher with a classroom of my own. It was a perfect plan until I was on a plane leaving for Peace Corps Thailand exactly three weeks after I graduated from college, less than seven months after initially sending in the application.
My second year in the Peace Corps I got sick. I had diarrhea twice a day for six months. I had gone to the clinic when it first started and they had given me medicine which helped for a few days. After two months I went to a hospital in my province and they diagnosed me with Irritable Bowel and said I would have it the rest of my life. The Peace Corps doctor told me that the next time I was in Bangkok he wanted me to go to the international hospital to get a second opinion. Six months after I first got sick I found myself in Bangkok. They did a three hour test and didn't see anything wrong, so they scheduled a colonoscopy. Here I was 24 years old, far away from home getting a colonoscopy. When I woke up from the procedure and met with the doctor he told me that everything was normal, but my three day sample had come back and I had salmonella. I was given the medicine to treat salmonella and my friend came and picked me up and took me back to the Bangkok Christian Guesthouse. She had to return to her site the next day, but because of my procedure the Peace Corps doctor had me stay an extra day to make sure I was ok. It was that one extra day that changed my life forever.
You see, that morning I went downstairs to eat breakfast and found myself eating with an older lady who probably could have been my grandma. We got talking and she told me she had a friend Sharon Bryant who was looking for Christian Volunteers to teach in Thailand. I said thanks but no thanks, I have about 7 months left on my promise to God, then I'm going home to start my life. She gave me her contact information anyways, and I tucked it in my bag.
Over the next few weeks I couldn't get that encounter out of my mind. I prayed about it daily saying "God, you can't possibly be serious. My two years are almost up." He replied "I called you to come for two years. You have been living in a Buddhist village and teaching at Buddhist schools. What have you done for me?" I was stuck. I knew I had to contact that lady and look into another two years at a Christian school.
Fast forward to today, I've just completed my third semester teaching at Saha Christian Suksa School on the border of Myanmar and Thailand. Technically I have seven months left of my second two year commitment. However, the school, the teachers, the students, and the area have captured my heart. I can't imagine living my life anywhere else. The first day that I arrived at the school the director jokingly introduced me to everyone as the new teacher who would be here for twenty years. I kept correcting him saying it was just to be two years. However, maybe he was right and I was wrong. At this point I'm so far from where I ever imagined this life would take me that the only thing left to do is to trust God to continue leading the way. If I lose focus of Him and look down I like Peter would see the wind and the waves of life around me and feel afraid.

²⁸ “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
²⁹ “Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
³¹ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
Matthew 14:28-31

We never know what God will call us to do, but if we listen to his call he will be faithful to look after us and take care of us. He will never stretch us beyond what we can handle. If we truly trust Him, the things we will see and do will be greater than we can ever imagine on our own. If you would have told me six years ago when I heard that small whisper on a Thursday night that I would still be teaching in Thailand today and loving it I never would have believed you. However, through listening to God's call I have come to the point where I can't imagine being anywhere else.
What is He whispering in your ear? Are you willing to take that first step? There are 27 schools in Thailand anxiously awaiting you to accept the call.

P'Niew

The two caskets at the churches meeting hall for the service

I just got back from the funeral of two strong Christian women who in the minds of the community here God has called home too soon. These women truly were God’s hands and feet in this world. They passed away last Thursday after taking a group to check the site of a remote village to prepare for a group of doctors and nurses that were supposed to come in the next few weeks to provide check-ups and care. From what I understand the truck that they were in broke a gear or a break or something and flipped several times. The one lady was riding in the back and was flown out the first time it flipped. I’ve heard that after the accident they were both still alive, and were talking and praying with each other. However, help was too far away and they died about 15 minutes apart from each other while waiting for help.

From here I could go on and explain how I heard the news, by being shown a picture of the lady that I know laying there, I could explain about the Christmas party at the school that had the evening segment cancelled because of the deaths, I could write about spending Saturday at the house of one of the ladies who died with the other teachers from my school preparing to feed everyone who came to the evening worship service, I could also write about the double funeral and burial they held at the church just this morning. However, I’m not going to write about those things. What I want to write about is P’Niew and the things that I have learned from her.



P'Niew is in the sweatshirt at the back, serving food at last years
Christmas for people with disabilities.

P’Niew is one of the ladies that died. I remember arriving last year with the second month I was here being December, and all of the Christmas celebrations. P’Niew seemed to have her hand in all of them, helping with the children with disabilities, the school, different churches, and the school dormitory amongst many other things. She was always doing things for others and always had a smile on her face. I think she must have been friends with just about everyone in Thailand, for she was constantly telling me about something one of her friends had donated for the dorm, for the children with disabilities, or any number of things in the community. She wasn’t afraid to ask people she knew in the city to help those out in our rural area, and those areas even more remote than where I am. Her friends were constantly donating things to her different projects, and I have to imagine that it is because she asked them to.



P'Niew's casket

Over the last few days I have been thinking a lot about P’Niew and the other lady who passed that I didn’t know, but that had a very similar heart for the people in this area and was doing the same type of things as P’Niew. As time goes on, there will be holes in all the different things these women were involved in. Even though they didn’t have much themselves they used their very lives and contacts to help those who were less fortunate than themselves, asking for donations and finding ways to help the least of these. In the end, they ultimately gave up their lives in the process of helping others. Over the last few days I’ve found myself wanting to be sad for them, but I can’t do it. Why you might ask? It’s because I know without a doubt where they are, and I don’t think they would want us to be sad. What I think they would want is someone to take up the work they were doing and continue on with it. By no means will a single person be able to take the place of these two women. I doubt that even twenty people working together could do all that these women have done.

Earlier this fall P’Niew spent about a month in the states I believe helping out a Karen or Thai church in North Carolina. She ended up returning early after her father’s death here in Thailand to be with her mother and look after her. I remember asking her earlier this month if she was going to return to the church in the states. She said that she was going to go to a church in New Zealand next because she had already spent time in the states and wanted to see another part of the world, and had an invitation to go there.

That is one thing she had, contacts in different places in Thailand and around the world, and she wasn’t afraid to present an idea to a group and have them help support it. I realize that in a way I have that too. Growing up in one of the richest countries in the world and going through university I now have friends who are teachers, doctors, nurses, social workers, etc… So, don’t be surprised if from time to time I send messages asking for donations for different groups. Right now I have a mental list of things I would like to do and projects I want to find donations for to help with. However, it is just that, a mental list not yet written down on paper. Many things I need to pray about first and then ask people if they are willing to help. Maybe just reading this you are thinking something like I would like to help donate money each month to help the poorest children’s home have food each month, or maybe you would like to give me a few extra dollars to give snacks to kids who usually go without, or maybe you would like to donate to the school to help build a new building so we can extend through 9^th grade, maybe you would like to give a special gift to one of the outreach churches, or sponsor a trip to reach people out in the jungle, maybe you would like to pay for a child’s yearly tuition in a sort of informal child sponsorship program. I don’t know what you are interested in helping with, or what your budget would be. The things that I just mentioned could range from fifteen cents to give a child a snack, to over $200,000 for the new school building. One thing that I have learned here is that with God anything is possible, and what I learned from P’Niew is that you can’t be afraid to ask, because if you don’t ask then how will people know of the opportunity to help and donate? So, here is my first request without requesting anything specific, in time, I’m sure there will be many requests because when we give to others we are doing His work and will be blessed for it. So, as I continue to live here and work with these people I will try my best to give you opportunities to bless others and be blessed.

P’Niew, thank you for your life of service and love in this community. It is going to take a lot of people working together to carry on the work you were doing. However, your life has been an inspiration to many and you will not quickly be forgotten.


My students are tougher than yours(and me)

One of my girls getting a drink before her fight.

The last few weeks of school brought lots of activities in and out of school. One I wasn't prepared for was temple festivals and my students fighting Thai Boxing. The first time I was taken to one, I thought we were just going for an hour or two. We left around 8 and got home well past midnight. Oops. Over the last few weeks I've gone to several others, and each one usually last 2-3 nights. You go, buy snacks and things, and then around 9 or later they will start the Thai Boxing, and that will go on until after midnight most nights. I have spent many nights standing with a group of girls as we cheer on their peers. They usually take my camera and so here are some of the results of their work.
I hate to admit it, but my students are tougher than me. That is not something I ever expected to encounter when I studied to teach elementary grades. However, having students who are 15 and 16 in sixth grade changes that.
I remember one night that probably wasn't my smartest move. I had just finished grading students finals and totaled their yearly grades. I had one student who was one point away from getting a 4.0. He had two assignments that he hadn't turned in, and if they had been turned in he would have gotten the 4.0. He also happened to be 16 years old, in sixth grade, and his friends said he was the best fighter. Here I am the little foreign teacher who has been here just one semester. My neighbor invited me to go to the temple festival that night, so we went to the temple like normal, and went to where our students were getting ready to see who was scheduled to fight that night. I see the student who has to turn in his assignments, call him over, and explain that he is one point away from getting a 4.0. He is taller than me, tougher than me, and also happens to be in the process of getting into the zone for his fight in a few hours, and here I am telling him to turn in his last assignments or he doesn't get a 4.0. What was I thinking. However, he graciously thanked me for telling him, waied me, and went to ask his friend to help him with the assignment. Two days later he and two other boys showed up at my house. They sat at my table and helped the boy finish the assignment and turn it in. I changed his grade to a 4.0 and he was so grateful.

The boy who earned a 4.0

So, I have to tell you, yes, my students are tougher than you, yes, they are stronger than me, but they are respectful and grateful when you give them a second chance. I don't think that boy will be continuing his education next year. I don't know what his life will bring, I can only hope that I have made a small difference by taking the extra effort and giving him a chance to earn a 4.0 

The jedi at one of the temples

other students take care of the fighter during the break

traditional Thai Boxing dance before fighting

Mobile Museum

In Thailand, you never know what is going to interrupt your teaching schedule. Today was one of those days where you just have to smile and go with the flow and enjoy what the mobile museum bus has brought to you. They had many artifacts and things that they shared with the students as they were sitting. Then, once the presentation was over, there were stands with information, several exhibits outside the bus, and you could walk through the bus and see different displays and artifacts. Definitely a cool experience. I enjoyed watching even though I didn't understand everything, it was still very cool.

Did I mention the dentists from the hospital in town have been here checking
the first and sixth graders teeth? You really never know what to expect on
any given day, which is part of what I love and hate at the same time.

Pancakes

What do you do when you've been fighting head lice for almost a month and want someone to check if you got it all, but don't want the teachers and students to know you have lice?

Invite another foreigner over who lives nearby and is about your age for pancakes on a Sunday afternoon with the catch that she has to check your hair for lice before going home.

Thanks Ann for the help, and enjoying pancakes together!!!!!!

Cleaning the Fish Pond

This was definitely one of my most frustrating moments as a teacher. Imagine my surprise when we are a few weeks from taking exams and I show up to teach my sixth grade class to find around six or seven students in the class. I asked where everyone was, and they said the director of the school had them out cleaning the fish pond. So, I went out to have a  look. Notice the boys on the right in their boxers, or school shorts rolled up wading in muck, while the girls in their white Karen dresses have scoop buckets emptying the other side one bucketful at a time.
I have to be honest, its been a long week, with scouts, and then the choir competition, and I had just got an e-mail that my great aunt had died. So, I went home, laid on the mat on the floor and cried for half an hour before returning to school for lunch and to teach my afternoon classes.