Thankful and Blessed for my experience!

A big welcome at the Vancouver Airport - from DRIME and Family <3

It’s been two weeks since I returned home from Thailand. I can’t believe that it’s going by so fast and 7 more days until Christmas! I just wanted to say a HUGE THANK YOU for all of your support along the way. I appreciate it so much! This experience, this Base Plant has been a life-changing experience. I have grown so much over the past 6 months and though it was hard to grow and be refined by the fire and purified (and I’m by no means “there” yet)… overall it was an incredible and fulfilling experience that I wouldn’t change for the world. I learned more about myself, I was challenged and stretched, I experienced a flood (which I feel so blessed to have gotten to experience and just really have a heart for what my friends are going through and still serving with their whole hearts), I learned more about God and how He provides and how no matter what your circumstances you need to give thanks because God knows what He is doing... He has you there for a reason! Khorb Khun Pra Jaow! (Praise the Lord/Thank you God) I learned a lot of things and I am still processing more of them... One thing I know is that I miss my Thai family and treasure them with all my heart! I'm so thankful and blessed to have gotten to know this culture and this family of brothers and sisters that live across the world from me now. They are wonderfully amazing and inspiring and oh so special to me! 

This is a picture of a mirror to represent that YOU are important to me... Who do you see in this mirror? THAT is who I am thankful for! Khorb Khun Pra Jaow Sumrop Khun!

Thank you for being part of my journey… supporting me, encouraging me along the way, following my blog, my updates, my pictures… ANYTHING you have done along the way has meant the world to me and I just want YOU to know what a vital part of this ministry and this experience YOU are. Thank you for letting God use you! When you listen to what He’s calling you to do…He WILL use you in BIG ways! Khorb khun mak ka!

Just an update on the flood situation: The waters have gone down and the electricity is back. Praise be to the Lord! They can drive with big trucks through the Mueng Ake area. Now the staff are focusing on cleaning, restoration, and planning the Christmas Evangelism Service on Dec 25^th. Please keep them in your prayers as this will be a big job for them. It amazes me that we were JUST there and saw SO MUCH water with our OWN eyes and now it’s gone! God is so good!

Please also continue to pray for our leaders as they have the job of recruiting and starting up the team still once the cleaning/restoration is done and they can go back to regular ministry.

Khorb Khun Mak ka for your prayers!

My Fabulous Leaders (who I miss dearly) in the shirts we made for them! 

They say "iMake.... Jesus Inescapable. DRIME Thailand"

From left to right: Kong, Janna, Por, Samantha, Kung

Leaving on a jet plane...

Super super quick update!

We are packing today! We are leaving for the airport tomorrow night! I can't believe that it has been six months already. I have grown so attached to this country and the people here. I will definitely miss them and I will update you more when I am home because right now I have lots of packing to do!

See you soon!

God’s love and hope shines through the murky waters

TCCC staff still serving their country - iServe!!!

I can see the hurt and pain in my friends' lives due to the loss of their homes, cars and other possessions. Living at the guesthouse, they are surrounded by the same people, yet something is different: they are not in their home. I had that feeling when we were on vacation; it is nice to be somewhere else but you always want to come home at some point. No one knows how long the water may remain – possibly longer than a month. So the staff worry about the damages to their homes and vehicles and how they will restore these things once the water is gone. Despite the loss that the TCCC staff have endured and how they have been affected, the staff are giving thanks and continuing to serve! It’s amazing how they are letting God use them despite how they have been affected. They are looking at the situation with God’s eyes and thinking of this time as a rare opportunity to serve others and show people who God is. TCCC has been able to order some boats from the US. The boats in Thailand are hard to find during this situation so it’s great that they are able to get some from the States. Whenever they get on a boat and go to the affected area (Mueng Ake) they have shirts that say “iServe” (like an ipod or iphone) that they wear! The police have blocked off some areas to the public but when they see the iServe shirts the police are happy to let them through. All the help they are providing costs money but they are serving and helping knowing that God will provide! Such faith! Money for boats, food, supplies. As well as once the water leaves, money to restore lost applicances, furniture, personal belongings amoung other things. I am amazed by this community and how God works the most through hard devastating times. I’m sure we will all look back at this time and see how God’s glory shone brightly through the murky waters of the flood.

Check out this video that shows you a glimpse into what is happening in Thailand:

http://help.ministrynetconference.com/

I encourage you to not only watch the video but also read below where there are some statistics about the floods and how you can respond through prayer or donations. I’m praying God opens up your heart to Thailand. Is God speaking to you today?

Please continue to be praying for the nation of Thailand!!!

Flood Update - November 8th, 2011

I just have to say that God is so amazing and kinda funny & ironic. Janna and I kept hearing that our area where our home is (in Hoganka – Dindang area) wouldn’t be at risk of flooding. The government was working hard trying to protect Bangkok. Also we live on the 4^th floor of our home. Most people that were in the areas at risk of flooding were moving their belongings to the 2^nd floor so it was a blessing that we live on the 4^th floor of our building. If Rangsit flooded, then maybe we would have something to worry about. And the wall in Rangsit WAS holding so we weren’t worried. Funny thing is, as soon as we left, we found out apparently it may flood in our area too and that we would be safer in the South (which is where we were headed). Amazing how God works isn’t it? Always protecting us J

Outside the church - flood coming

Front of our church - flooded

On Wednesday, October 26^th, the flood came to Mueng Ake/Rangsit area. It came to our church and it came to our friends houses. Since the flood has come to the Rangsit area in Pathum Thani, there is a possibility that it will reach Bangkok. The government declared a holiday in Bangkok for the first week of November until November 6^th. The TCCC office also closed until yesterday, Nov. 7^th. Our friends and family who lived in Mueng Ake are all safe. They moved to the guesthouse for 2 days and then some of them even headed to their hometowns. P’Kung went to the South, P’Por went to the North and Kong stayed in this area at the guesthouse. Other staff dispersed to various locations such as E San, Chiangmai, Chumpon etc. This has made it harder to figure out how to train our leaders with them being in three places. However, they all needed to come back to help with flood relief work so we are thankful to see them again. Soon we will talk about how we can still work on DRIME and help serve with the flood situation.

P'Por & P'Bum's car under water

The TCCC has teams that have headed to the church in boats to help people in the Mueng Ake area, and to check on the church and people’s homes. They have moved tables, chairs and motorbikes up to the second level in the church. The most recent update on the water is that it is now a little over 2 meters high. P’Bum and P’Por’s cars are also under flood water. Today we have been told that the plan is to have 3 different teams for flood relief. One team will be taking food and supplies to the people of Mueng Ake. The second team will be somehow getting the rotten water out of the church (and cleaning up I think) And the third team will be staying here at the office/guesthouse and cooking food to take to the other locations.

The most recent information that I have heard is that:

-          24 provinces are currently flooded.

-          64 out of 77 provinces in Thailand have been affected.

-          529 people have died (in all of Thailand)

-          Approx 2.9 million people have been affected by the flooding in Thailand including our friends and family.

The other day I was telling our friend Hack when I was leaving the guesthouse that I was going home and he responded to me, “I don’t have a home”. I was like well here (the guesthouse) is kind of your home. He said, “My home is in Mueng Ake” Aww. My heart breaks for all of them! I love that everyone is together and serving, worshipping, and giving thanks together despite all that is happening in their lives and their country.

With the flood situation, it’s basically been a waiting game. Noone knows for sure when it will come. Lots of people make guesses but they usually aren’t correct. We will have to wait and see what happens. The water is around 2 km away from our area but it has been that same distance away for a couple days now. The water travels very slowly, but it is coming. The speed the water travels depends on the area and if there is buildings etc or if the level of the land is higher or lower. In the Hoganka/Dindaeng area it is higher than the main road and surrounding areas. So we are hoping and praying that the water will go around our area because it is at a little bit higher level. Maybe we will be like an island. Haha! That way we can still be the flood relief centre and cook from the office and send people in boats from the office to help and serve the community of Mueng Ake. As of now our area is still dry. Praise the Lord! 

Hoganka area getting prepared for the flood - Top left our home with sandbags, top right & bottom left - stores with not much supplies on the shelves, bottom right - raising up parked cars on sandbags.

Please continue to pray for Thailand!!!

A little break - the Adventures of Janna and Samantha

Janna and Samantha's Adventures

Well well well, it’s seems like so long ago Janna and I started our adventure of visiting a friend’s farm, getting our visas renewed and having a little break from our 4 ½ months of DRIME work, on the beach.

Milking a cow!

We started off our vacation visiting a friend’s home for a day and a couple nights… Our friend Kong’s (who is different than our leader named Kong as well haha) family lives on a farm in the country in Prachuab. It was nice to break up our travels by stopping at Kongs house because it would have been a long bus ride straight to the South otherwise. It was also great to have a familiar face pick us up at the bus station. We had fun at Kong’s house! His parents are so sweet! We couldn’t really communicate much with them because they only spoke Thai but they were very sweet and generous and loved having us around (for some reason haha).We got to experience a couple cool things on Kong’s farm. I got to milk a cow!!! How many people can say they milked a cow in Thailand? I can! And it was my first time! Granted, I wasn’t very good at it… but still it was a fun experience. Also along with 40 cows, Kong’s family owns a pineapple field. We didn’t get to go out and pick pineapples because it was raining in the morning but we were able to join Kong and his dad, aunt and uncle in picking up the tops of the pineapples from the fields. When people harvest the pineapples they cut off the tops of them and leave them in their fields. The cows really like eating them apparently and they are free so that’s why we were collecting them, for the COWS!!! J It was pretty fun, tho, if I ever were to do it again I would wear different clothes (pants and running shoes). We also got to play a game of dutch blitz with our friend Kong which was fun (even tho Kong won haha). We haven’t done that in a while because Janna’s cards got moldy from her drawers and she had to throw them out. So sad! But we had fun at Kong’s house!

Our friend Kong

Saturday morning Kong took us to a bus station where we were headed to Ranong to do a visa run and then to Chumpon to stay overnight because we had to wait for the boat in the morning. That was our original plan. When we got off the bus in Ranong it was around 3:15pm. We were like, “now what?” We looked around for someone to ask. In the restaurant right beside where the bus dropped us off there was a Thai man named Pom who spoke English! He told us that the Thai immigration closed at 3:30pm. But he could help us book a place to stay for the night in Ranong and do our visa run with us in the morning! So, we made an unexpected stop for the night in Ranong! But praise the Lord for sending someone to help us! We stayed at a cute little hotel and we were able to take a walk and explore a little and see the hotsprings area.

view from M.T. Resort's restaurant

The next morning we woke up early to do our visa run. Pom took us to Thai immigration and helped us with our paperwork. There we met Pascal, a man from France who had been living in Thailand for 12 years (so he had done the visa run thing a few times before :P – more like many many times before lol). He was also going across to Myanmar to do his visa run and he knew that you had to tell them you want to get right back on the same boat you came on or you would have to wait an hour for another boat. So we kinda just stuck with him, since he knew what he was doing. It was nice to chat with him as well! God kept providing people to help us! I was amazed by how He was providing. Like I know He does but somehow when it actually happens I become amazed all over again! Our visa trip to Myanmar (Burma) was super quick and then we were on our way to Chumpon. We took a van from Ranong to a train station in Chumpon and then a song tow (truck) to M.T. Resort (which we thought was called N.T. Resort but apparently it’s not. haha) What form of transportation have we NOT taken on this trip??? :P When we got to the resort, it was amazing! We had a view of the ocean in our little bungalow and the staff we so friendly and helpful with everything! They even had a little restaurant by the water! It was very pretty! We walked along the beach and the pier and were even able to get internet for the first time since leaving home in Bangkok! It hadn’t been that long but our days were packed so it felt like it had been more days than it had been.

Travelling in a "Song Tow"

In the morning we got up early again (to check out) and then took a boat to the island: Koh Tao. Apparently the accommodations that Janna had booked had not been completed online because we didn’t choose which dive we were doing with Big Blue. So Janna called the resort and they said someone was waiting at the pier in a blue shirt (that’s helpful :P) to pick us and other people who arrived at the pier up and bring them to Big Blue Diving Resort. We headed towards people with signs but we didn’t see any for Big Blue. However even people from other resorts are helpful, they always ask “Where you go?” and then they helped us find the truck to Big Blue. On our ride to the resort we met Michael, a Korean (I’m guessing) from Australia with only a slight Aussie accent and is going to be living in Thailand for 2 months doing his dive masters at Big Blue. Then he’s travelling around Asia for 4 more months. We got to Big Blue and someone asked us what we needed help with. We told them we’d booked online but we didn’t know for sure if it worked. Apparently you can’t stay at the resort unless you are in a diving course because it is a diving school. We wanted to do the Discovery Dive (one day dive) and he said they could work something out with that for a few nights but they don’t normally do that. Janna kinda wanted to become fully certified to dive on her own anyways so she decided to take the course. And I only was doing the one day dive; mainly because of my ears and my back.

Discovery Dive

After my ear infection in June, the doctor had told me to come back and see him if I ever decided to go scuba diving (or if I was going to be flying) so I did. The doctor in Bangkok said I could scuba dive as long as I told the instructor that my middle ear could not equip the pressure well. So when I got to the dive resort, I had to go to the doctor on the island to make sure I was okay-ed for scuba diving. (liability reasons mostly) Oh doctors stuff! I’ve had too much of that this trip! But it was quick and easy – almost too quick and easy. Looked in my ears, asked me to blow on this tube (b/c of my asthma) checked my heart with a stethoscope and sorta karate chopped my back and said “good” and that was that. I was in and out in about 5 mins.

Snorkeling Tour: met Fiona & Shane from Ireland 

My time on the island was a lot harder than I expected or thought. With Janna taking the scuba course I was alone a lot. I kept myself busy by snorkeling and doing the Discovery Dive and I would see Janna in the evenings. But she was tired and had homework so we couldn’t really relax together. And I couldn’t just go to the beach by myself that would be weird. Which those first days were okay and fun… I think I had enjoyed the snorkel tour the most… Scuba and my ears and being underwater just made me nervous. But I kinda got the hang of it and my ears never exploded – praise the lord! Panicked a little my second dive because I was looking at a fish and then all of a sudden I looked up to see where my instructor was and a big school of fish swam by and I couldn’t find her. I did a complete 360 degrees turn and then tried to calm myself… The thoughts going on in my head were, “Oh my gosh, you are lost underwater, no one knows where you are and you are far down under so much water!” But I tried to calm myself because I figured panicking under water was not a good idea.

God was stretching me even on vacation and equipping me for who knows what but for something that’s gunna be hard to come. This part (at Big Blue) of my vacation was one of the hardest vacations I’ve had. I haven’t fully processed the why of it all… But I definitely didn’t feel relaxed or rejuvenated. I felt emotionally and physically exhausted.

On Nangyuan beach

Therefore the fact that the office was closed for another week due to flooding was kinda a blessing in disguise… We were able to extend our vacation a few extra days due to the fact we didn’t know if it was safe to go home or not. We had the opportunity to go to a beautiful island called Nangyuan Island and I was able to feel a little bit more refreshed from the hard part of my vacation at Big Blue.

Before we came home we checked with our friends about the situation at home in Bangkok. We had called P’Natti a few days before but she told us to call her before we planned to come home to make sure it was safe. We did just that and she confirmed that it was okay to come home (and a good thing too because I missed our home! We had been away from it too long). That along with the fact that the bus didn’t cancel our tickets, we knew that we could get home safely. (The bus would have cancelled our tickets if the station was flooded – so we knew it wasn’t!) At around 9pmTuesday night, we arrived at home and were so thankful to come back to a dry home! Praise the Lord! Home at last! And praise him for having the opportunity to have adventures in Thailand!

Miss you!

Flood Update - October 18th, 2011

If you haven’t heard… Thailand has been hit with a lot of flooding this year. Normally, every year parts of Thailand will flood. Only parts of provinces will flood but not the WHOLE province. This year the floods are the worst that they have been in over 70 years. At this point 61 out of the 77 provinces are flooded. This flooding is because a dam in the north has broken and the water that normally stays in the canal is getting filled to its’ maximum capacity! I’m not that informed on other provinces, but the province next to the province we live in is called Phatum Thani. A dam, very close to the Rangsit (where our church is) area in Phatum Thani has broken. Right now they have a wall of sandbags that is four rows wide and maybe approx two meters high that is keeping the water from coming into the Rangsit area. Right now the community in Rangsit is working 24/7 bagging sandbags to help make the wall higher and keep the rising water out of the city. MRC (Mahapawn Rangsit Church – our church) has become the centre for cooking food and sending to the volunteers at the site who are bagging sand. This is where any donations of food come to the center and water etc. Janna and I were able to help out a few days with the food prep and with the bagging sand. There is so much to do from cooking, to packing, to shoveling to moving sand bags to folding bags to make them easier to open to tying sandbags etc etc etc. It is so great to see the community come together in this time. It seems like regular life has stopped in the Rangsit area as everyone prepares for the flood. Hopefully the need for God will become clear in this situation and the fact the only He is the hope for them and us will be made known through this situation. Our church is in Muang Ake/Rangsit and some of our friends live at the church or very close in the boys staff house. If the water floods the area, it will hit the church first and the boys’ house in Mueng Ake next. So this area is at risk right now. It is good that everyone has had time to prepare for the flood. The church is surrounded with walls of sandbags as is the boys’ home. But keep praying! Our home where Janna and I live is an hour away from Rangsit and is called Hoganka. For now we are safe… We will wait and see if the flooding comes to Rangsit and then we will know whether or not it will come to Bangkok. But we are on the fourth floor of our building so we will be safe even if it comes. We are prepared with food and water just in case; but I’m not worried. Also Janna and I are heading to the South to a beach for a week starting tomorrow. So we will be out of the heart of the flooding for now. Please, please continue to be praying for Thailand. Flooding causes so much devastation and there will be homes to rebuild etc once the flooding has stopped. Pray that the flood waters would recede and that God would protect His children. He has proven that He is faithful already! We so appreciate your prayers for Thailand! Please continue to pray!

I went to see what the wall of sandbags looked like and here is a video that gives you a glimpse into the Rangsit area and the level of the water as well as you get to see the many many sandbags.

Also it’s not much but here is a glimpse into the scene where many volunteers from the church as well as the community are coming together to dig and bag sandbags, serve food and all that goes along with both of those things. Just a quick glimpse!

Also see Janna's blog for more details about the flood! www.jannaruth.blogspot.com 

Weekend in ChiangMai!!!

Okay, I KINDA don’t know where to begin! But maybe I’ll start at the beginning. On Thursday evening, I hopped on a bus and went to Chiangmai for the weekend. Last year when I was in Thailand with the DRIME team, we went to Chiangmai and I fell in love with the city and the people and the friends we made! So, because I am living in Thailand, I felt like I could not live so close to Chiangmai and not come up to visit at least once. And with not many weeks left here in Thailand, I was getting nervous that I might not be able to visit them. But with some encouragement from my teammate and some help from my friends Poy, Nid and A (telling me what bus to take, booking me a place to stay) I hopped on a bus and was on my way to a wonderful weekend. Eleven hours later, I was in Chiangmai, Thailand! Did I have a plan of what I was going to do when I got there? Nope. But I’m sure glad God did – because he filled my weekend so it was just packed enough but also refreshing and a bit relaxing too ;) haha. Such a great balance!

My bus was a little late arriving to the station – okay a lot late – two hours late. I found out from the lady sitting next to me, in her broken English, that it was because we had to go around 4 cities with flooding. I was so grateful for how flexible and patient P’Rew was at picking me up! He brought me to the TCCC guesthouse where I was staying, made sure I had everything I needed and was on his way. I was on my way to a great weekend! Before he left, P’Rew asked me what my plans were for the weekend… I said “I don’t really have a plan, just hope I can visit with my friends”.  Very weird for me not to have a plan! After I showered, I headed over to the pool to sit in the sun and read for a bit… I figured since it was Friday all the staff would be busy preparing for L.T.I camp the next week in Pai (the city) so I would just wait to see them until lunch or some other time. But I got near the office and Poy calls my name, “Samantha!” she greeted me, and brought me into the office to show me around. There, I found some more of my friends busily working away. I asked what they were working on and from that I found myself helping prepare for LTI camp… lol. Not exactly what I expected but it was certainly fun to be able to hang out with them even if I was just drawing lines on a piece of paper… I was contributing AND I was spending time with them J! Poy asked if I was hungry and I was, so we went just across from the office to a little place for lunch. It was A’Roi! After lunch I decided I was actually going to read by the pool. But I think I had gotten a couple pages in my book when I got a phone call from Yokie. (no joke) She was going to the market and wondered if I wanted to join her. “I would love to come!” I said, “Okay, my friend will pick you up on her motorbike at the office and bring you to my home so we can go together…” Uh… Motorbike? Oh. Okay. I was a little nervous but it was actually good. And by the time we came back I was riding on a motorbike WITH buckets and stuff we bought at the market in hand. (Only one hand to hang on with!) By the end of the weekend it was actually really fun riding on the motorbikes with my friends: feels Thailand-y. haha. On our way home from the market, I was asking Yokie if she knew P’Ae and Joy… Some friends working with AIA (Athletes in Action) who Janna and I had met in Bangkok. Joy is also “farung” and working in Chiangmai on a 7 month missions trip with AIA. Just as soon as I asked about them, I saw Joy washing her shoes in the front entrance of her home. I was like HEY!!! We chatted a bit. “I didn’t know you were coming up here this weekend” she said, “Neither did I; I just hopped on a bus and here I am!” “Cool, I was going to go for a swim… wanna join me?” she asked. A swim sounded good because unlike in Bangkok where it rains everyday – I actually saw the sun in Chiangmai!!! I also have to mention that there was absolutely NO flooding in the village in Chiangmai that I was staying in… It was completely dry – the river was low and the sun was out! So great! Anyways so I changed into my bathing suit and met up with Joy and we talked and swam a bit too. I met her friend Anne (who is also her Thai teacher) and Joy told me how they had been learning about Thai time… and how neung toom is 7pm and song toom is 8pm etc. It still kinda baffles me. Anyways, Ae suggested going out for dinner after swimming. So Ae, Anne, Joy, a couple more of their friends and I went out for dinner. I got to eat Italian! I haven’t found any Italian shops since being here. I had fetticini alfredo! Mmm so good! I mean A’Roi Mak! So, after dinner, Ae says, “So, we could go home OR we could go to a concert?” Jing la?! (Seriously?) Obviously we want to go to a CONCERT!!! Haha. Even with my lack of sleep and my 6:30am wake up call on the bus (not a wake up call I just couldn’t fall back asleep) I was totally up for it! It ended up being some sort of concert that was raising money for the floods in Thailand. So they were auctioning off things and they had different bands playing music. It was fun! J It’s funny because at the concert, we met this girl from YWAM named Suzanna. She was telling us how she was a missionary here in Thailand and then we were like, well, so are we! (She’s with YWAM, Joy’s with AIA and I’m with DRIME – oh the acronyms! haha) So anyways we had a good long conversation with her; she raves about the DTS program with YWAM. All in all it was a very packed, random and spontaneous Friday, filled to the max!

Suzanna, me and Joy

Oh and it ended by me finding a LIVE cockroach IN my toilet!!! AH!!! Good thing I know how to flush or else I would have been nervous to sleep with a cockroach in my room! Still kinda was, even though I had flushed him down the toilet!

baking snickerdoodles

Saturday morning I got to sleep in, but first I got a phone call from Yokie at 9:30am. She said “Tom a’rie yuu?” And in my very tired state I was STILL able to “kaow-jai” (understand) what she was saying!!! She was phoning because we were maybe going to go ride elephants on Saturday but she thought it would be better to do on Sunday afternoon. She called to tell me times and prices and stuff. Before she hung up she asked me if I was hungry (for breakfast) and I said – I think I am going to go back to sleep. With the lack of sleep on the bus, the 6:30am wakeup call and the packed day on Friday I was SO EXHAUSTED!!! So she said I could meet her for lunch (I love that they are taking care of me in terms of meals and things to do!) So I did sleep some more! I think I could have slept forever but I decided to wake up at 11:30am. I headed over to Yokie’s place for lunch. I didn’t QUITE remember where it was but I kept walking and all of a sudden I heard my name! haha. So I found her house! Poy asked me if I eat “som tom” ummmm I can TRY. (I normally don’t eat it – mai chop ped) So we had Thai style lunch… chicken, rice, som tom, bamboo and some other things that I tried. One of the foods I tried was bitter and one was sour… but I liked the sour one so I got some more and the girls were happy that I liked it haha. After lunch it started to rain so I played guitar for a bit and watched part of a movie that was on tv with Yokie. Then Joy and Ae walked past the girls’ house. They were going to get some eggs so I asked if I could join them for the walk. After we got eggs Joy came over to the guesthouse I was staying in, because they had an oven, and we made snickerdoodles. Yummy. After we made cookies, I went for a quick swim and then I went to the office to check bus times on the internet for the next night. Turned out Yokie was phoning and booking my ticket for me before I even had a chance to see bus times! So great that she was working it all out for me! My friends were taking such good care of me! Suggesting places to go and things to do and making sure my weekend in Chiangmai was wonderful!

Joy and I at Chiangmai's Walking Street

Joy and Ae had suggested earlier that we go to the walking market… I didn’t know what that was but it’s basically like a JJ Market in Chiangmai. So we went there! We took a red song tow to the market. We were waiting for one to come and it was taking awhile but then we saw one pull into 7/11 on the other side of the street. SO… Joy, Ae and I (looked for traffic) crossed 4 lanes of the highway to get to the song tow at 7/11!!! I feel like I should make a joke out of this: “Why did Joy, Ae, and Samantha cross 4 lanes of the highway???” Answer: “To get to the song tow parked at the 7/11 on the other side!” lol. Anyways, everything at Chiangmai Walking Street was SO CUTE!!! I wanted to buy the whole market and take it home with me… But I didn’t. haha. But it definitely was a lot of fun! At the walking street, Ae bought some lanterns that we could take home and fly this night. It was SO FUN!!! Think Disney’s Tangled (the movie)… and all the lanterns that just float up in the air… We got to DO THAT!!! So exciting! It was a more relaxing beginning of my Saturday but it still got very packed with lots of fun!!!

On Sunday morning, I got up and went to church. It literally was next door to my house. I didn’t expect it to be a church full of farung… But it was! haha. It was called Chiangmai Christian Fellowship (CCF) It was so nice to sing English worship songs! To belt out praises to God! One song in particular stood out to me but I forget what it’s called at the moment. The message from the Pastor was really good too! It was about Genesis 40 and just talking about missionaries in Thailand and the slow process. How we aren’t where we expected to be… and about struggles we face and stuff like that. There was even a baptism after the service in the pool next door! Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay because we had to quickly grab lunch because the song tow was coming at 12:30pm to take us to the Elephant camp!!! It was so great! I loved riding in the song tow and going around the twists and turns to get to the camp and just remembering last year when we came! It was even sunny for us! When we got there Ae got us discounted tickets because they charge more if you are farung! :P Even the bananas I bought for the elephants were more expensive than I was expecting. Anyways Joy and I went to watch the show and it was SO HOT out! I definitely got some sun on Sunday! During the show the elephants painted, played soccer and basketball, played harmonicas, hula hoops on their trunks, played darts and lots of fun stuff! After the show we went to ride the elephant! The elephant we rode’s name was Jumbo! I asked if I could sit on the elephant’s neck at all, but I wasn’t allowed. Maybe one day! The elephant trainer guy was impressed that we spoke a little thai, he took some pictures for us and asked, “Sa nook mai?” (Are you having fun?) Yuppers! He told us that Jumbo was 31 years old and that elephants can live to be 100 years old!!! Just before the end of our ride, it started to rain. Apparently the elephant guy asked me if I wanted an umbrella, “Umbrella ow mai?” but I thought he asked if I had one… but I didn’t so I said no! :S My bad. We headed home in the song tow and then I went to pack my things. It was still raining when I finished packing and I was hungry so I went to Joy and Ae’s house (cuz I didn’t know where to get food – nothing was close) So I had some crackers & peanut butter and popcorn for dinner and Joy and I played Skipbo for a bit. I went back home to finish getting my stuff together and then headed to Yokie’s because she was going to drive me to the bus station ON HER MOTORCYCLE!!! So she took me to the station and I got on a bus for 12 hours! In the morning I was home in Bangkok! Oh, how I’d missed it… and in the afternoon I headed to MRC with Janna to help with the flood stuff! Long day/packed weekend – but lots of fun! We slept over at the church on Monday night because we got back from helping so late… It was so wonderful to be surrounded by my family in Bangkok after being away from them in Chiangmai. What a wonderful weekend and a perfect way to come back home to reality (and friends)! Missed my leaders, Janna and my friends in Bangkok. <3 Happy to be home!

Here are some more pictures from my trip...

Yokie and I

Lantern flying

Joy and I 

The pool outside of the TCCC office

Poy and I

Lantern lighting - like in Disney's Tangled!!!

Me at the elephant camp

More updates about the coming floods...

If you want to see more/hear more information about the floods in Thailand check out Janna's blog at: http://www.jannaruth.blogspot.com/ she has some links to different sites with news about the flooding.

Or check out my friend Matt's blog (who lives in the at risk area) where some of Janna's video come from: http://thematthewscott.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=57&Itemid=153

Please keep Thailand in your prayers!

Hello from the DRIME Thailand Leadership Team - Video Blog (Vlog?)

Just wanted to give you a sneak peek and an introduction to our leaders!

Hello from the DRIME Thailand Leaders!

This is a video we made to say hi to other DRIMERS :)

Check out this video of how silly our DRIME leaders can be - makes for GOOD BLOOPERS hehe. It took quite a few takes to get a good one ;) so many silly things happened in the process :P

And for those of you who speak Thai (or want to learn/hear what it sounds like) - this video is for you!

Hope this gives you a little glimpse into what our leaders are like and why I love them so much!

Leaders, floods & prayers...

Our DRIME Thailand leaders

(campus team – or – “R_DRIME” – the rangsit zone team)

I LOVE our leaders! They just bring me so much joy and I cannot help laughing when I’m around them! I feel SO BLESSED to get the opportunity to spend time with them and build friendships and teach them about DRIME. Yesterday we had the opportunity to perform at the National Plan Meeting. This is a meeting where all the church leaders of the different churches come together to talk about their plan as a nation. Right now they want to see 1 million Thai Christians by 2015 – their slogan is “With Him We Can” Vision 2015! Our DRIME Thailand leaders did an amazing job of learning a drama and performing it all in less than a week! I literally was beaming like a proud parent as I watched them perform Ragman in a room of about 60 – 75 people. Every time I sit back and watch our leaders I can just see how much they are growing (especially Kong - he's come along way already) and it makes me so excited and proud of them every time! He has definitely come out of his shell and it’s amazing to watch! And being able to have the opportunity to hang out and get to know our leaders better is so wonderful! They have this DRIME bond as a leadership team already – they have something you cannot teach - they are crazy and funny and they are “monkeys” (that’s what they say). They constantly make me laugh and they are just suud yod mak! We hung out at the boys’ house a couple weeks ago on Sunday and Por started making up songs on the guitar about DRIME and about prayer and about Kenya and Arm was right in there with the percussion and Kong was in there with the rapping version of the song. Just so funny! I love our leaders so much! Chan rak our leaders mak mak ka!

Apparently they told us we say “perfect” too much so we asked a new word we could say: suud yod (greatest)

City Team still unknown

We have decided that there is not enough time to work on two teams while we are here without going completely insane and stressing out… It’s an overwhelming task to think of on top of training our current leaders. But we are training Kung in everything she needs to know to start up a city team when we leave; especially because January to March are the slower months at the TCCC office. The only thing is we don’t know if we can give some extra training to some potential leaders while Janna and I are here to help Kung out… and that depends on if God lets us know that this person should be on the city leadership team and all three of us agree that’s God’s plan. Keep this team in your prayers and that God would guide us and give us wisdom about this situation and what is best for Thailand.

Floods in Thailand

“Do you own a boat?"

"No I don’t."

"You should get one."

"Can I borrow yours?” 

"Okay, I'll come pick you up on the way to work"

Lol. (The campus staff joking with us lol) Maybe we should build one like Noah did :P

Update about the floods in Thailand. I’m sure a lot of you have been seeing and hearing about the floods in Thailand. The river and canal levels are higher than they have ever been and with all the rain this rainy season the level of the river is rising higher than the dam walls. So everyone is taking precautions. Filling sandbags and making more barricades. People are making sure they are prepared with water boxes (jugs of drinking water) noodles and food supplies in case the floods come. In other districts and provinces they have come. Our friend, Looknut, said that 60 out of the 77 provinces in Thailand are flooding. My heart has definitely grown for Thailand and it breaks at the families and homes that the floods have affected. The area in Bangkok, called Hoganka, where we live is not near the river and isn’t in danger of flooding. Please keep praying – just because I am safe doesn’t mean that you should stop praying. I truly care about this country and the people who are at risk - God is bigger than this water and I know there is a purpose in all of this; a reason why Janna and I are here during this time. Thailand has experienced flooding before but never like this. God is and will protect his children and can use this experience for good, I know! God wants us to rely on him always, but usually we are reminded when things like this happen. Praying that we all draw closer to Him through this.

I’m not writing any of this to worry you. But rather to inform you and to ask that you keep praying for Thailand. I am not worried. I know I am safe and God is protecting me. I have confidence God hears our prayers “if we ask anything according to his will” and “if we know that he hears us – whatever we ask -  we know we have what we asked of him” (1 John 5:14b-15) Some of my friends live in districts that are closer to the river and close to where the flooding is already happening. I know God will protect them and keep them safe too but you can never pray TOO MUCH! Keep them in your prayers! I appreciate them (your prayers) so much! Khorb Khun Mak ka!

Prayer Requests

• Pray for my friends that live in areas that may be affected by flooding. Pray that God would keep them safe and keep our church safe from the floods!
• Pray that through the flooding, people in Thailand will come to know Christ.
• Pray for my back – it was re-aggravated last week and I just want to be fully healed not back at square one.
• Pray for our decisions in helping train one potential city team leader – that God would help us to determine the right plan of action and for His wisdom to discern whether or not this potential leader would be a good fit for DRIME leadership – if that is God’s plan for him.
• Pray for all 3 of our leaders but especially Por to get some rest and relaxation the last two weeks of October. He is going home to see his family and then to Chiangmai for bible camp. But right now he’s like the energizer bunny – as Campus Director (and DRIME Thailand leader) he keeps going and going with so much work to do. His body is physically telling him to stop by making him sick and tired. So pray that he gets the rest he needs and the rejuvenation to come back strong next semester. Pray that God would be his strength when he is tired and weary. Also pray for Kung and Kong to have restful and relaxing breaks. They ALL have many things that they are busy with and rest is so important!
• Pray for recruiting – people go back home after exams, during the October break from school so our leaders don’t have much time to recruit during this time. Pray for LOTS of interest and that people would be willing to decide to commit to be members by November 11^th – 13^th when Bootcamp (and kick off to the year) is scheduled for. Pray for God to show himself through this and providing lots of interested members! Praying for at least 15 to 20 team members to sign up and be involved. (if not MORE :D!)
• Pray for the desires of our heart... in terms of how our October will look - pray that the things we would like to do in October fall into place and our schedule allows!

Blog Number Sip (10)

 (told you I could and would count to ten!!!)

This one is just a short update.

We are starting to have regular meetings with our DRIME leaders who have been officially chosen. Basically this is what’s happening. Kung is DRIME Thailand’s Base Director. And she will oversee the campus DRIME team and the city DRIME team. (official names yet to be determined) Por and Kong are Chapter Leaders of our campus team and we are meeting with them and P’Kung (part of that team) on a regular basis for training in the DRIME ministry and passing on the DRIME knowledge. P’Por, P’Kong and P’Kung will work together as the campus team and two others (yet to be officially chosen) will work together with P’Kung to be the city team. We have two people in mind who we think (with our human thoughts) that they would be a PERFECT FIT for the DRIME ministry. But there are a few obstacles before they can officially be leaders and we can start training them. Pray that those obstacles disappear and those situations work themselves out so we can complete our leadership team and start training the city leaders as well! Does that make sense?

This week P’Matt and P’Nid took us around Bangkok one evening after work! It was fun hanging out with them. Getting SUBWAY! and seeing more of Bangkok. We got to ride a tuktuk for the first time since being here! Yay! I was so excited haha!

As promised - a picture of a tuktuk

There is a team from the TCCC in Chiangmai here at the office for training this week! P’Poi came to church on Sunday and I wasn’t expecting to see her! I’m so excited to see friends from Chiangmai: Poi, Arm and Yokie (aka “cool person”) again! Haha. So great! Miss them! I hope I get to see them lots at the office and in the evenings when they have free time!

Here's a couple pictures from one of our leaders meetings.

Blog Number Gao (9)

This week has been refreshing. I feel like we are finally able to experience & embrace more of Thailand. It's been a  wonderful change since my transition into base planting work was harder than I anticipated.

There were a lot of really good days this week. It started on Tuesday… (Well Monday night was pretty great too… I got to skype with some friends for a looong time and it was wonderful) I was supposed to get my headboard changed in my room and they told me they would send someone up to do it at 9am. I went down and talked to the people in the office downstairs through Kung via phone (because I can’t speak Thai :P) and they told me to wait til 10:30am/11am. But the person never ended up coming and when I went down to check they told me… not today. But while I was waiting I was able to spend some time with Jesus... which was good and really makes a difference in your day! Previously, I had not been in the right frame of mind. I had been experiencing different emotions such as frustration, bitterness, loneliness and separation and I didn’t want to choose to feel this way – I wanted to feel joyful etc. However, Tuesday I felt like it was going to be a GOOD day! And it was J We had a meeting in the afternoon with our DRIME peeps. At the meeting P’Natti had the same idea for structure of DRIME Thailand that Janna and I had. Which helped confirm it for me because all I knew what that God wanted me to Trust Him. And we got to hear Ning, Jumm and Natti’s heart and what kind of involvement they desire to have in the DRIME ministry here in Thailand. Also after we came home from work we had dinner and watched a lot of episodes of Big Bang Theory… It was good because it was some much needed Janna/Samantha time. J And it was “normal” from before (the team was here) to come home from the office, eat dinner and watch some episodes of something and so I think that definitely helped my transition back into life here in Thailand and with the Base Plant work.

On Wednesday I felt SO PRODUCTIVE! Janna and I were able to finally sit down together and look at our goals and where we wanted to be at this point of the base plant, evaluate all that was left and move some of our sticky notes around of what needed to be accomplished when. We were able to finalize the roles of the DRIME Thailand Leaders, what it will look like here. AND THEN… We started planning our first leaders meeting. And it was really fun and exciting to start thinking and planning what we were going to teach them and how we were going to build into them! Especially fun because I was able to use colourful markers and paper to visually see what we were going to do with them and it made it a more fun way to plan. On Thursday we continued planning and getting ready for our FIRST OFFICIAL LEADERS MEETING the next day!

"Trouble" - I mean... our new leaders

Friday was spent in preparation for our first meeting with the campus leadership team that night. Natti was able to take us to Robinson Mall where we got all the necessary binders, pens, snacks, prizes etc. for our meeting. We came back to the office and finished off the DRIME Trivia game, printing information & putting together the campus leaders’ binders, writing/making cards and just getting everything organized. We planned what parts of the meeting each of us were leading in the taxi on the way to KU (Kasetsart University) because we were getting down to the wire to get things finished. But it all kinda fell into place and we were able to pray for the meeting in the taxi as well. When we got there the boys told us to meet them at a coffee shop – so we had our meeting in a coffee shop at KU. J 

Opening their gifts/cards

We welcomed them, gave them welcome to the DRIME Leadership team gifts, prayed for them, went through logistics, played a couple DRIME games which helped them start learning more about the history of DRIME and PTC etc. Kong is very competitive, lol it’s so sweet how he was getting into the game! We didn’t make it through all the questions but they all really seemed to enjoy it! At one point we thought we would stop but they were like – let’s do some more questions! We even got to stay longer than we had planned because it started to pour outside so we had to wait out the rain. Yay that God gave us more time with them! It was honestly such a fun meeting! These three are such a fun group! At one point, I think it was Kung who said something about how the three of them together would be “trouble”. But I see it as the good kinda trouble. haha. They like to joke and tease each other but their hearts are all in the right place, focused on God and how they can serve Him. It’s really precious to see. I think that’s kinda a requirement in DRIME (not officially tho – lol) to be the good kinda trouble. (Like I just think of putting Fred, Emily and Andrea together or any of the DRIME Vancouver leaders – the good kinda trouble right? ;) Haha) 

First official leaders mtg

Their relationship with one another is a quality that you can’t produce or teach; it’s naturally there or it’s not. So I’m excited to see how DRIME Thailand grows and God’s kingdom grows through these 3 individuals’ willing hearts and creative vision. After the meeting, when the rain lessened, P’Por offered to drive us to a taxi. When we got to the car my umbrella got stuck and wouldn’t close. A few cars were coming and it was raining so I got in and closed the door but I had to leave the umbrella half out and half in. When there was a break in traffic (we were parked, don’t worry!) Kung saved the day by closing it! And we were off! P’Por was so sweet and actually drove us all the way home! Maybe because we were willing to come out and meet him at his campus, he was more willing to go out of his way to take us home. We told him he didn’t have to, that we would take a taxi, but he wanted to. Sweetheart. Yup.

P’Kung slept over at our place because on Saturday we went to THE BEACH!!! 6 of us girls all piled into P’Natti’s truck at around 7:30am and we were off, headed to Pattaya! On the way it was raining but we were hoping and praying that that would change. We got to the place where we would be taking a boat to get to the island with the beach we were going to. It was kind of windy so we were going to go to the mall to kill time but the mall wasn’t open yet as it was only 9:30am! 

So we used the hong nam at the Hilton (it was GORGEOUS inside) and then went to 7/11 to get snacks for the beach. Everything is more expensive on the island. When we went to check about our boat, they told us it was leaving in 8 mins and the next one didn’t come for another hour! So we speed walked to the end of the pier where our boat was and got on! They had these two guys who would stand by the side of the boat and the steps and hold your hands to help you hop onto the boat when it was safe. The boat was rocking in the waves so sometimes they wouldn’t let you on right away. It made me a little bit nervous but everyone got on safe! At first we sat on the sides of the boat but someone told us we would get wet if we sat there so we moved to the middle. And we were glad we did! We still got a little wet, more like just a spray tho. If we were sitting on the sides we would have gotten soaked! I really enjoyed the boat ride, just contemplating life and enjoying the experience! Jumm started feeling seasick tho and just before we got off Natti felt the same. We all made it to the island and when we got off the boat it was even SUNNY!!! The beach that we were headed to was about 10 mins away by song tow (type of truck) or motor taxi. I was a little nervous to ride a motor taxi as I’ve never done it before but that is the mode of transportation that we ended up taking. We went 2 people on a motor bike tho which was good. I was thankful to have Ning come with me! There were a couple moments I felt we were going to fall off and a couple moments that I really enjoyed it but mostly both going up and down the steep hills made me nervous! I liked when we drove on flat land… haha. 

When we got there we put our stuff down and Janna and I walked along the beach and just enjoyed being there! The first time in 3 months that we got to go to a beach in Thailand! Praise the Lord! I’m so thankful it was so sunny and beautiful! We came back from our stroll and ate lunch and then went in the water for a bit. We talked and just enjoyed being at a beach! Twas glorious! When we got out it was just about time to leave because we wanted to catch the boat before it started to rain. 

me and my coconut drink

But first I got a coconut smoothie in a coconut shell… Because – common it has to be done! Haha. After that we packed up and took a song tow back to where we would catch the boat. We sat on the top of the boat this time. I think it was better up there lol. Ning and I had a wonderful conversation… She is so funny! Da Lohk! She made up this really catchy song about the word “okay” in thai! Hehe. “Ja Ja. Ja Ja Ja. Ja Ja. Ja Ja Ja Ja” We drove for a bit and then had dinner and cow neau ma moung for dessert. It was so tastey! I think one of the best cow neau ma moung’s I’ve had since being here! A’Roi Mak Mak ka!

So all in all we got to go the beach on an island in Thailand, we were surrounded with our friends (Ning, Kung, Natti, Jumm& Janna) we got to eat cow neau ma moung, I got to have a coconut shake in a coconut shell and I rode a motor taxi for the first time! I feel so blessed to be able to experience Thailand this way! A wonderfully glorious day!

the kids with their snakes

Sunday was Janna’s birthday! So we went to church in the morning and I helped Kung with Sunday School for the group of kids that have been coming to church since DRIME performed in their community. I taught them the English song, “My God is so big!” with the actions and stuff… It was fun! Then Kung taught them Bible while I went and ate my breakfast (from 7/11 lol – pretty much every Sunday cuz we are always in a rush lol) and I came back and listened to Kung tell the story of Adam and Eve and the serpent in the garden in Thai. Then we made a craft! We made a snake that was like a paper chain style. All the kids did a great job! And the boys made really long ones… haha! And I was still able to get to the service after helping, so great! Just missed worship unfortunately. 

karaokee

us at the bowling alley

After church and lunch Janna went looking for Looknut but unfortunately she was sick so their meeting with a lady couldn’t happen. That meant that we could go bowling earlier! So we asked around if people were free to come bowling with us and if P’Por was willing to drive. He was! So Por, Kong, Nadia, Matt, Kung, Janna and I headed off to Major to go bowling! Quite the experience! They gave us a token to put in a locker of your shoe size and the shoes come out the bottom; kinda like a vending machine! It was 10 pin bowling and really fun to hang out with friends! Janna had pulled a muscle in her back earlier in the week and one of the times that she bowled she re-injured it; which meant she couldn’t play anymore. :( Since she wasn’t able to play I gave her the present I had for her. She opened it and loved it! (It was a journal with a bunch of notes and pictures from friends) After bowling we went out for food at KFC and then Por and Kung wanted to sing Karaoke so we all went and joined them. I totally would have sung if there were English songs… But there weren’t. It was still so fun!

looking through the journal she got for her birthday - full of words from friends :)

All in all the weekend was so fun and I just feel like I’ve had more of an opportunity to experience more of Thailand! And I’m so grateful for that! Thank you for the blessings, Lord!