Thailand Missions (2016) "Half-Day, Full Heart"
Our first stop was an "elephant village" near Chiang Rai, which is about an hour and a half from where we're staying in Maesai. Caleb, Thomas, Kristy, Rochelle, Alisa, and I all formed pairs, respectively, and rode elephants for half an hour. To get on, we had to climb up to the second floor of a wooden structure and carefully step onto the elephant from there. I've always thought riding elephants would be smooth sailing, but our elephant's heavy steps and long gait made for one bumpy ride! Within our first minute, Alisa, who was already feeling unsteady from the long car ride, remarked that she was relieved we had opted for the half hour ride instead of the hour-long one. Despite the rough ride, we were able to snap some selfies and group photos. When we got down, we got to pet the elephants and feed them green sugarcane and bananas that Doris had bought while we were gone. Though elephant skin looks soft and papery, it's actually hard and rough, and covered in tough, prickly, black hairs. Elephants are among my favorite animals, so getting to interact with them was a big highlight for me!
After saying bye to the elephants, we made a quick stop to look at a nearby church shaped like a large, rainbow Noah's ark. Even the tiles on the ground surrounding the building were covered in a blue and wavy pattern to look like water. From there, Paul took us to some natural hot springs. The water has been channeled into tiled pools, which have benches for sitting and dipping feet into the water. The water there was HOT - afterward, our skin was so flushed, we looked as though we were wearing pink socks.
We then stopped at a Korean restaurant for lunch, which was run by the wife of a Korean missionary Paul knew.
Our post-lunch drive back to BBI took us to Narrow Gate Farm (probably named after Matthew 7:13-14), which was a goat farm run by one of Paul's Christian friends. Alisa bought a bottle of fresh goat's milk there, and those on the team who wanted to try it each had a taste (spoiler alert: tastes like cow's milk, smells like goat cheese). Once we got back into the car, most of the team knocked out - even though this was our first morning off, we were still exhausted!
After resting/napping at BBI for a little, we headed to Phami for our early dinner and night classes. We've been teaching the same students every night this week, which is a change from our classes at Jianhua/MVC last week, where we had different students every time. While this means new lesson plans every day and more work for us, it also means that we get to know the kids in our class better and see their English improve. Tonight, our class (Caleb, Kristy, Rochelle, and me) covered basic animals and body parts. The kids were so engrossed in drawing the animals, they even stayed in class during their break to finish! We also sang "Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes" with them and had them all come to the front of class to perform, much to their chagrin and our personal enjoyment.
Once class was over, we went back to BBI for a quick shower and time of worship together. Though I've never led worship prior to this trip, I've been truly blessed by being able to lead the team in worship and prayer during these times. Music and worship are crucial to my personal spiritual walk, so being able to hear my team praise God together through song and prayer has been incredibly sweet. One of the songs we sang was Hillsong's "Till I See You." This is the chorus:
"I will live to love You
I will live to bring You praise
I will live a child in awe of You"
As Christians, this is the anthem of our lives: we have pledged to live lives that love and glorify God, and He has called our team to do so by coming to Thailand, where we've been able to share His gospel and encourage those who are already working here. He is so good and so faithful, and even though our time here is winding down, He was here before us and He will still be here even after we leave. Please continue to pray for all the people we've met here: for the students, that they will have a curiosity and hunger for truth that only His gospel can satisfy, and for the pastors, missionaries, families, and BBI students and teachers that are already here, that they will remember God's love, both for them and the people they are witnessing to, and that their ministries will be blessed and multiply. Pray also that our team will continue to remember the people of Thailand even once we're back in the states, and that our heart to share the gospel will continue to grow.
Thank you for your prayers, and kup kum Phra Jow (thank you God)!
-Ashley
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