AFC Bangkok 2006

Things went great for me today.  I had a new student show up at 2:30 that I have never taught before.  The cool thing is is that she's a Christian.  We got to cover our lesson and then we both gave our testimonies on how we came to Christ.  It was interesting to hear how she used to be Buddhist and she faced the same challenges I faced in deciding to come to Christ and she could relate with a lot of things that I talked about.  I think we're going to go visit her church sometime and see how it is.  This evening was another great lesson with P'Nong, P'Sa, and P'Laila.  After our lesson, I learned that P'Sa just bought a new house.  Well, new for her but she said it needs a little work, so I offered for our expertly trained aggies to help her out.  Since we normally do painting and yardwork during our weeklongs and wekend trips I thought we could help her out so I think that may be a project for our second half team.  That's all for now.

In His service,

Tong

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile, but it seems as if we're around just long enough to catch our breath and then we're off again.  We left this past Saturday night to go to Chiang Mai to visit our interns there.  It's crazy to think that Jeremy Hegi has been in Chiang Mai for over a year now and that Jennifer has been there for over a semester.  Everything is going great for them and Jeremy heads back to the states on Friday.  We left Bangkok by train on Saturday night and spent the night on board the train.  We arrived in Chiang Mai on Sunday morning around 7 AM and headed straight to Payap University where the Christian Zone is.  The Christian Zone is the college ministry that is set up near Payap.  That's where Jeremy has been interning.  When we got to the Zone, we had enough time to shower and get ready for church that morning.  Church was special because it was a combined 5 congregation service.  5 of the congregations in Chiang Mai got together in order to worship God together that Sunday and it was special for us to be a part of it as well.  After church, the AFCO group sang for the congregation and it was received with thunderous applause.  We ate lunch with them after service and then we went to our hotel to get checked in.  We had enough time to get checked in and then Amos and I went out to explore Chiang Mai, and then we found the most glorious thing...Dr. Pepper.  In case you didn't know, they don't really have Dr. Pepper at many places outside the US and we heard a rumor that a certain grocery store had some and we went and looked and when we discovered it, we went crazy.  It was good to buy a few cans to hold us over.  Then we went down to Walking Street with AFCO and walked around for awhile. 

Monday morning, we joined AFCO for their equipping time at P'Sean's house.  P'Sean is a missionary that is working in Chiang Mai. After equipping time we went to Doi Suthep which is a historical temple.  I'll be uploading some pictures but it's interesting to see people worshiping buddha images.  After Doi Suthep, we went to the umbrella factory, which is where everyone gets their Bibles painted, and spent some time there.  That night we went to the night bazaar.

Tuesday, we got up early and checked out of our hotel and went to the zone.  From there we went and watched the Elephant Show and then had to get on our train to come back to Bangkok.  We arrived back this morning and we're all completely exhausted.  I, however, had a 10 AM session this morning, so I really didn't get to sleep that much more.  This is Lacey's and Morgan's last week here, so please be praying that they get to make a last minute impression on their students.

That's all for now.  In Him,

Tong

Sorry to not have posted in so long! There seems like so many things to share. The island of Phuket is amazingly beautiful, and it was so refreshing to have that time. We came back to classes after that feeling more energized and ready to go. We were able to celebrate Morgan's birthday and the 16th and mine yesterday! It was fun to be able to share in each other's special days. Playing volleyball after church on Sunday was a highlight for me as well as being able to meet Parker and Donna Henderson who came to Thailand in 1958. They have so much wisdom to share and so many interesting stories. They are true servants, and I am thankful for the opportunity to have met them. One of my students P'Golf is interested in coming to church and asks questions about worship, so please keep him in your prayers! Today, two interns from Tennessee, Neale and Dalissa, will be returning home. They have been teaching English since January, so please keep their travel and adjustment back to the States in your prayers as they will miss their work here and the people they have grown close to.

After a visit to the zoo on one of days off on Tuesday, we visited the weekly Devo that takes place in Na sao's home. Each week it is a blessing to see her and her family and encourage each other. They open up their homes to our group each week, and provide a homecooked meal. It is one of my favorite days of the week!

Thank you reading and keeping up with the AFCB team here in Thailand. Your prayers for the Christians all over Thailand are appreciated and the work that is being done here!

 Katie

Today was Katie's birthday.  We got up this morning and we had our equipping time and we got to give her flowers from Jeff.  It was nice.  Today I took my computer to go get fixed.  The display on my computer has died so I'm actually using P'Rung's computer to write this update.  I'll have to go tomorrow to see how much it's going to be to get fixed and I'll make my decision from there.  This evening after lessons we went to Pizza Company for Katie's Birthday dinner and P'Lynne and P'Thuy, two of our students.  It was great to get to fellowship with them as well.  I'll write more when I can after my computer hopefully gets fixed.

In Him,

Tong

Sorry for not posting yesterday, but it's hard to write about anyting productive during our days off.  Yesterday (Monday) the girls went around town while Amos and I hung out at the church building.  It's great to have time after a teaching week to just sit and relax.  That night we all got together and had team dinner.  It was great to gather back together to see how things are going for everyone.  Things are going amazingly well and I'm excited about the progress our students are making.  We're already getting invited to go to several cities, but I don't know if we're actually going to have enough time to make all the trips, but we'll see.  Today we went to the zoo.  When I say we I guess I mean Amos, Katie and Morgan.  Lacey wanted to stay at the church building and I had to prepare the lesson for tonight's cell group so I stayed back at the church as well.  It was a productive afternoon for me to get to work on a lesson for cell group and then to get a lot of planning and what not done for the next crew.  As of right now, the first half team has about 2 weeks left and it's really starting to get to us.  I can't believe we've already been here for that long and we're going to have to see them off soon.  Both Lacey and Morgan have done an exceptional job here and I know that God's kingdom has been furthered because of them.  Lacey really wants to stay the rest of the summer and I wish she could.  It's great to see the interaction she has with her students.  They have fun with her and she has a great time with them.  She has made an impact on several of her students' lives as well as many of the Thai Christians.  Her fun-loving personality and easy-goingness is perfect for the ministry here and like I said I wish she could stay longer, but I don't know what God has planned.  Maybe she could work it out or maybe not, but hopefully whatever happens, God will bless her for what she has already done.

Tonight's cell group went great.  Of all the things we get to do in Thailand I love cell group the most.  If anyone has ever heard me talk about Thailand, they've heard the name Na Sao and about cell group at her house.  Her family lives in an abandoned construction site and her home is nothing more than some wood and tin sheets, but she opens her home to us every single week and always has a meal ready for us.  I gave a short lesson and afterwards we shared in a meal together.  Normally after the meal, we give her a little bit of money to help in the expense for the food and we pass it to her inconspicuously, and this week it was Amos' turn to do so.  When we got back to the church, Amos reached in his pocket and said, "Uh oh..." I looked over at him and it seems as if Amos accidentally gave Na Sao his zoo ticket instead of the money.  We all had a good laugh about it and we gave the money to P'Sam to give to her Sunday at church.  Tomorrow we start back in on lessons again.  It's going to be a great week.

Advancing the Vision in Thailand,

Tong

We finished out the teaching week strong.  It was great to get to see our Saturday students again because we didn't get the chance to last week because of Phuket.  Sadly, we're going up to Chiang Mai this coming Saturday to be with our long-term Aggies that are serving up there in the college ministry.  The good news is, though, that we rescheduled all of our students so that we can see them earlier in the week, so we'll still get to do their lessons with them and I'm excited that it all worked out.  Today's service was amazing.  Last week with the Phuket church was fun, but it always feels good to be back at our homebase.  Today is Neil and Dalissa's last Sunday in Bangkok.  Neil, Dalissa and Julie are 3 people that have been working here at the church since January.  They've been doing the same thing we have been (teaching English) and it's sad to see them go.  I'll update more as time goes on.  For our days off coming up tomorrow and Tuesday, we're going to go to the American Embassy to see if they have any activities planned for the 4th of July and then on Tuesday I have the lesson at Na Sao's house.  I'll let you know what else happens as it happens.

In Him,

Tong

The mid trip break was great.  It served the purpose of getting us relaxed and ready for teaching English again.  Lessons went well yesterday and a lot of our students that were scheduled for Wednesday are coming today and I'm super-excited about that.  Amos and I have a really fun class on Wednesday and they're coming today at 5:30 so we'll get to see them and go over the lesson with them.  I'm super excited.  That's all for now.

In Him,

Tong

Sorry for not updating in awhile, but for the past few days, we've been in Phuket for our mid-trip break.  Sunday morning we went to church with the Phuket congregation and it was awesome.  Their long-term missionary, Loren Hollingsworth, just left and so they sold the church building and are now meeting in homes.  It was really neat to get to meet with them.  There were only about 10 present because the other members of the congregation had gone to Chiang Mai for P'Lek's father's funeral.  However it was really neat to meet with a small group of people.  They had their own little service, and I was asked on the spot if I could translate for the English speakers.  Well, I did my best and I hope it turned out alright.  Afterwards we went back to our hotel and relaxed.  It's good to have a break from teaching, but now that I'm back, I'm really excited about seeing my students again.  I got to catch up on my sleep a little while and now I'm ready to teach.  That's all for now, but I hope to write more later.

In Him,

Tong

Another day of lessons goes over great.  Our students are starting to open up and starting to laugh and joke with us.  It's amazing.  Yesterday as we were hanging out with one of our students, Ploy, she asked if we could pray with her before she left because she wanted God to keep her safe as she went home.  It made me excited to get to pray with her with the team.  Well we've almost sold all of our lesson books as well which means we have at least 85 students at this point with expectations to get more by the next half of the summer.  All in all it's going amazing here in Thailand.  After lessons we went to the night bazaar and hung out with another one of our students, Numm, and her 2 friends.  It's great to get to do that as well.  That's all for now.

In Him,

Tong