Hello dear friends and family! As the days get shorter and the temperatures get cooler, it’s finally time to say goodbye to summer. It’s a little bittersweet, isn’t it? I spent two months of this summer in Thailand. Sometimes I’m glad it was only two months, and sometimes I wish I could go back and make the days go by more slowly. It was definitely a summer I will never forget and always give thanks for.
Making English fun at the local school
My good friend, Dana, and I joined OMF missionaries in Chiang Mai, Thailand’s second largest city. We had a few days to explore, get over jet lag and visit friends before hopping on a bus to Mae Hong Son. Our mission was to teach English for four weeks in a tiny Shan village in this northern province near the border of Myanmar. The bus ride was an adventure in itself; the road is infamous for it’s 1,864 curves. Village living was eye-opening and challenging in so many ways. From water and electricity shortages to giant spiders to cultural differences to preparing to teach adults and finding out I would be teaching children too. But God’s grace and provision were constantly evident. By teaching at the local school, Dana and I were able to build friendships with the teachers and create fun lessons for the kids, which we were later able to adapt for the adults after we realized most of them knew practically no English! One of our adult students, Pratoom, was a teacher at the school and a devout Buddhist. It was encouraging to see her eagerness to learn English and her openness to hear more about a God very different from the ones she serves. I pray the songs and the verses we taught our students will have a lasting impact on their hearts!
More rice fields than people
After four weeks in the village we returned to Chiang Mai to work in the mission guest house. Chiang Mai is a major tourist destination, but also a big missionary hub because of it’s proximity to so many closed-to-the-gospel Asian countries. I loved getting to spend time with many foreign and local missionaries who are making a big difference all over Asia.
Enjoying great friends, iced coffee & big trees
Since returning to Orlando I’ve moved into the Training Department at Wycliffe Associates. I’m enjoying writing translation notes and helping to make the Bible easier to understand for translators and more accessible to people who’ve never seen or heard it in their language.
I wouldn’t be able to do any of this without you, your prayers, encouragement and financial generosity. Thank you for everything; I’m so grateful.
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