From our Summer Missionaries

Thailand Update 4 - LATEST!

Sawatdee Kaa!!

I really cannot believe that I have been here for four weeks already. It seems like I have only been here for four days!

On Sunday, we went to church as always, but the coolest thing was that they baptized maybe around seven of the new Thai Christians. Two of my friends that we hang out with a lot, Pam and Gift, were baptized. It was so encouraging to see that God is moving. Several of the people baptized had been ministered to over a period of several years, before they accepted Christ as their Savior. The Thai people face many difficulties when they come to Christ. My friend, Gift, basically lost all of her friends because they didn't want to hang out with her anymore. One of the other girls, Milk, has been basically disowned by her family. It is far more difficult than anything I have seen thus far. It is very encouraging though to see Thai people committing their lives to Christ through all the hardship.

Sunday night, we went to this Japanese restaurant down the road. It was so good! Then we kind of split into groups. My group of four went to Peace Time, this precious little coffee/ ice cream/ food place. We had ice cream and some great conversation.

Monday was a super cool day, because Kelly and I wore our school uniforms be bought. All of the students wear them, so it was fun. If not for the whole blonde hair, blue eyes and white skin, we might have fit in really well... Oh and we can't speak Thai. We also got to tour the international college, and go on the roof of the library which has an incredible view of the city!!

Wednesday for lunch, we went home with one of the girls who we are really getting close to. Meow lives about 40 minutes away from Khon Kaen. We picked her and her friends up and headed out! She took us to her house, which was really nice! We met her parents and went out to eat with them at her mom's friend's restaurant. After eating, we went to the school that her mom teaches at and got to see the precious kids. Most of the kids at her school don't have parents because of drugs. Also most of them had never seen Americans before, so they were really enthralled with us. After the school... we went to the King Cobra Club of Thailand... Talk about something different. It was really interesting. There was this show, where little boys and older men would basically fight cobra snakes. They would take them out of a box, antagonize them, and then jump out of the way. Smart, Huh? At the end of the show, we got to take pictures holding a boa constrictor. That was really fun! After this exhausting trip, we went to the night market, ate dinner and went home and collapsed.

Thursday, we ate lunch and got interviewed for English class. This has now happened about a total of 8 times. The students have a list of questions that they have to ask us and record on a video camera or phone. It is kind of cool. Whoever the teachers is, they are going to be seeing a lot of the same people though. That night, we went and played a game of Te Kow (I don't know if that is how it is spelled but oh well). Te Kow is kind of like volleyball, only the ball is smaller, hollow and harder and you can't use your hands. You use your feet, knees, head and any other appendage. Some of the guys we watched were AMAZING! I am just lucky I don't have bruises all over myself. But, I wasn't horrible. 

Yesterday was our free day, so we hung out and studied... Last night we went to this really cool restaurant and watched The Dark Knight at the church. We also had ice cream! It was really great to just hang out with the team, because we are all going too much, that it seems like we don't always see everybody. 

Today, the guys are going to play in a big soccer tournament. Please pray for their safety. Josh and Elliott have both hurt their feet and Pi mo, one of the ministry leaders here, had his nose broken and had to have plastic surgery!!
I on the other hand, am physically fit. My team is going bowling tonight. Hopefully, I won't drop a ball on my foot or something crazy like that.

Update from Leanne Sleigh - Ghana

ok I am so sorry that I have not updated yall before now!!! The internet here is aweful that I could not even get on facebook!! But when we get back into the states I am going to put a load of picks up and give you some stories!! But for now we have less than a week to go and so we are just trying to keep busy while preparing to leave. We have been going out into villages everyday usually. We share the gospel with any one who will listen and they are very receptive and open to listening. We also encourage the churches that are already there by doing revivals and crusades. There are so many amazing things that I would love to tell you right now... but they will have to wait!!
We are flying to the south of Ghana on Saturday, staying in the capital, and then flying home on sunday. Hannah and I will fly out sunday morning, shane and megan will leave sunday night, and Joshua is staying another 2 weeks. So please be in prayer for all of us!!
in Christ,
leanne kay Sleigh

Hannah Meherg, Thailand - 1

Sawatdee Kaa (Hello) from Thailand,

Today is our second full day of ministry! Already our time here has been amazing! I now know what jet lag feels like. As I am e-mailing you, it is 2 a.m. in Alabama and 2 p.m. in Khon Kaen. Yet, we have adjusted very well. There is so much, I can barely process it all. But for your sakes, I will try.

The travel process was very long... we basically traveled for well over 48 hours with very little sleep. But, it was great to get to know the team and bond over shared travel experiences. When we got to Khon Kaen, about 30 Campus Outreach people met us at the gate with a big sign welcoming us. We rode to MP Park (where we live) in these trucks with two benches and a cover in the bed of the truck. They are SO cool! We immediately fell into the bed and didn't move for the next 10 hours. Our rooms are so neat! We have two people to a room. Kelly Costello from Southeastern Louisiana is my roomie. We have a queen size bed that we share. The bed is really hard, but that has not detracted from my sleep yet. We also have a small fridge so we can keep stuff in the room. We have our own bathroom, which is really nice. We didn't have hot water until today, but after Honduras I can live with that. Most importantly, we have AIR CONDITIONING. It is very hot and humid here, but not that much worse than Florida in the summer. 

Yesterday, we had some orientation time where we learned some Thai (It is super hard by the way), and had a little time to find out our schedule and some other logistics. Then we went to lunch on campus with our ministry team. I am under Pi Fone ( pronounced pee phone) and I am with Kelly and a girl named Porscha. We are in the Science section. We eat lunch at the complex, which is this HUGE food court. Right now, school is starting and it is Freshman week, so there are vendors all over the place. I am absolutely in love with Thai food, at least the non spicy kind. It is amazing!!!! 

Yesterday after lunch we went to the Thai equivalent of Wal-Mart. It was so different, because we didn't know where anything is and we obviously can't read the signs. It was really cool. Then we went and ate dinner at the corner place called J Prongs. Once again,  AMAZING food. And everything is really cheap here. The money is baht, and there are 39 baht to a dollar. A normal meal costs about 25 baht with 8 for water. So... you get a great meal for about one dollar. 

On a side note, last night some of the guys bought roasted BUGS and ate them... ok so I tried one and it tasted like a cross between a peanut and something really starchy... They were kinda gross, not gonna lie.

Today, we has some more culture training and went and ate lunch again. As Americans, we are a great drawing tool for the Campus outreach staff. Our chief purpose is to create friendships with Thai students, preferably freshmen. And how do we know they are freshman, you may ask? Well all freshmen are required to wear white shoes... so we look at their feet. Anyway, Pi Fone and I just sat down with some students and initiated conversation. Most of them are very eager to practice their English with me. It is very challenging, especially when they don't speak a lot. 

So, now we have walked down to a internet cafe. At 6, we will be going to eat dinner with a bunch of students we met today. Tomorrow is our free day/rest day. We are going to go SHOPPING!! There is so much cool stuff here.

Hannah Meherg, Thailand

Thailand Update 2
Friday, June 12, 2009 at 12:39am
Sawatdee Kaa from Thailand!!

Wow! So much has happened since I last wrote you that I have to use my journal to remember everything! Just a few facts about Thailand in case you are interested!

- EVERYONE rides mopeds or motorcycles. It is pretty cool. I got my first ride the other night. 
- The food is really spicy, but you can ask for no spice. You say "Mai Pet" which sounds like My pet...
- I LOVE Thai food!
- The beds: Think of rocks - that's about how hard they are. But it has not detracted from my sleep. The sleep of the Laborer is sweet!"
- Shoes: we basically don't wear them except for on the street.
- Language = Thai is tonal, so I sound really nasally when I try to speak, but hey I can say the basic phrases! And I can count to 10!!! 
- My Thai name is Angkana. It is pronounced pretty much like I spelled it.
- The heat is not that bad, but the humidity is.
- We have air conditioning, but we only run it at night!
- The Thai students are so much fun!
- Moo Ping and Que Chop are my favorite Thai dishes so far. There is another, but I'm not really sure how to pronounce it.
- I go running almost every morning with some other girls, but on Monday, Wednesday and Friday we swim laps at the pool. We get up at 5:45, yes that early because the pool is 10 minutes away and it is only open until 8.
- Thai milk tea is the best ever.
- People drive on the opposite side of the road here, but most people drive down the middle of the road and play chicken with each other. Sometimes it can be scary. Yet I have not seen a wreck here.
- Pineapple is sold on every street corner for like 20 baht. It makes me happy.
- I SAW a BABY ELEPHANT - Yes you may be jealous!

Church on Sunday was amazing! We meet at 12 for lunch and then at 1 we have worship time. Worship is crazy Amazing! They sing common worship songs in Thai and then in English for us. After that we have the sermon time. The CCP team separates from the rest of the church because we don't speak Thai and they don't understand English all that well. The sermon for us was on getting all our joy from God, not from the things of the world. It was very convicting.

On Wednesday, we had a big girls night, where we invited all the Thai girls to go to J Pong ( Restaurant) with us and then to the church to watch a movie! We watched Bedtime Stories, which they loved! We had a great time eating Thai desserts, taking random and crazy pictures, and just having fun. (Hums "Girls just wanna have fun") 

Last night as part of our ministry, my team went to Thai Aerobics with some girls... Just to put this in perspective, it is about 90 degrees and 100 percent humidity. We go to this huge pavilion where some crazy hyper lady is up on stage saying things in Thai that we can't understand, and doing strange aerobic things that I have no chance of copying. However, they had some happy Thai pop music playing so I imitated the others around me as best as I could and just made up stuff when I wasn't sure what they were doing. I think I sweated more in that hour and a half than I sweated the whole last semester. It was intense, but amazing fun. 

Tomorrow, we are going on a trip into the city of Khon Kaen where we will tour a huge temple that is there. I am really excited because it is really gorgeous. 

The culture here is so cool. Thais serve all the time. I have tried to buy several girls waffles for dessert (?) and they never let me, in fact, sometimes, without me even realizing it, they end up buying me one. They love to do things for people and to help out. If I can't figure out how to order my food, someone is always willing to help. They are very generous with us "noisy Americans". Even though we barely speak Thai, they are eager to teach us phrases and correct our pronunciation when it is wrong. They are all very sweet and very few of them don't want to talk to us. What a vast difference from America. 

One quick prayer request. A lot of people have been getting sick. One girl, Porscha, even had to spend last night in the hospital. Please pray for health. I, however, must have an iron stomach, because I love the food and it does not bother me at all! Knock on wood...

Thailand Update 3

Yet another week has passed and I must take a moment to record another enthralling update about my adventures in Thailand. 

Last Saturday, we took students to one of the temples in Khon Kaen. It is really beautiful, but heartbreaking. After climbing all nine flights of stairs to the top of the temple, we went to this amazing Thai restaurant It was amazing . It was so good! And best of all, there was meat that we could chew!! Most of the meat here is shredded into rice. I'm not complaining, mind you, but it was nice to chew some chicken. After lunch our girls went to the mall which is called Fairy Plaza... It was an experience... think of any American mall on December 24th... now imagine the halls are only 1/4 of the size and double the amount of people... I hated it. I'm not much of a mall person in America, but in Thailand, they are ridiculous.

Ministry has its good and bad days... Some days we meet tons of new girls that really want to hang out with us and some days people look at us and refuse to talk. Sometimes, they don't speak any English and we just smile and nod. Ministry looks different every night. Currently, I have been to Thai aerobics, the night market, a Korean Barbeque, played basketball, watched other people play basketball, folded banana leaves into shapes, been eaten alive by mosquitoes, eaten strange things that grossed me out, eaten really good things that I loved, and just loved on girls. 

A few cool things…
Korean BBQ is amazing! We went with some girls. Basically you get bowls and fill them up with raw meat. They then start a fire on your table in this weird pot shaped thing. It has what looks like a colander sitting in some water. You place the meat on top of the colander and let it cook right there. you put vegetables and other yummy stuff in the water surrounding it. It is so good! It was so fun going with the girls. On the way home, they would sing Thai and Korean songs, and we sang worship songs to them. It was really cool. Meow, one of the girls, is really sweet. She calls me her sister-friend and holds my hand every time she sees me. That may seem weird, but Thai girls are really affectionate and that is one of the ways they express love. I don't mind it at all.

Wai Crew is a tradition at Khon Kaen University. A day is set aside for students to honor and respect their teachers. The night before, they spend all night making these intricate flower arrangements out of banana leaves and flowers. They are intense. We tried to help, but were fairly unsuccessful. Kelly did successfully fold a fish for me though! 

Friday night was our social night. We went and did Karaoke with our team. However, you may be thinking of Karaoke being sung in a bar in front of strangers. However, that is not the way it is done in Thailand. First of all, we went to a "Texas Steakhouse". It was literally like Texas is Thailand. We walked in to Tim McGraw on the radio. However, the menu was not anything like what we expected from a steakhouse. Several girls ordered chicken burgers which ended up being some kind of processed meat in a patty. I got a hamburger... only it didn't taste ANYTHING like a normal hamburger. I guess that is what we get for trying to eat American food in Thailand. So anyways... the fried were good! Karaoke, on the other hand, was AMAZING!!! In Thailand Karaoke is a private matter. We rented two adjoining rooms with multiple microphones and two screens. Everyone sang every song. It was so much fun. There were Backstreet Boys, Grease, Footloose, Britney Spears and many other classics that we rocked out to. I don't remember the last time I laughed that hard!!

And today was the orphanage day. It was so sad and heartbreaking, but fun! We got there and there were all these small kids probably around 2 and 3. Some of them were scared of us and would run from us. However, by the end of the day, almost everyone had a child in their arms. I got to hold the most precious little girl. She had some heart disease and at once point began crying uncontrollably because of pain. I don't even really have words to describe what it felt like, knowing that nothing I could do would help. So I did the only thing I could, I prayed and sang to her. After a while, she calmed down. By them it was their lunch time, so I had to relinquish her to the staff. But then I got to put some of the babies to bed. Yet again heartbreaking! After leaving and eating lunch, I washed clothes and went and got my hair cut! So yeah... now I am uploading pics and studying Galatians! God is moving so much in my life. Through difficult circumstances and people, I am learning so much about myself, God, and the power of prayer. 

Hannah Meherg