Baking Lessons

 

This apple pie was the first for some students. 

No one wanted to learn English at our informal dorm class, so we baked snacks instead.  It began with lemon bars, actually, lime bars because lemons are hard to find here.  While we were preparing them, B came up and wanted to help.  As we were mixing together the egg, sugar, and lemon juice, B pondered, "I've always wanted to make a pie"

"Sure, we can do that sometime." I responded.  "I love making pie, and my grandma even sent me here with a pie pan."
"What kind of pie can we make?"  B asked.
"Well, pumpkin or apple would probably be easiest but whatever you want." I suggested.
B continued, "Well, I think I'd like to make an apple pie." 
"OK, that will be fun."
We kept working on the lemon bars, then B asked, "Can I borrow some of your flour?" 
"Sure."
"Great.  What else do we need?" He asked.
"To make an apple pie?  You want to make it now?" 
"Yes, I'll go to the market and get apples, those bright green ones, right?  Anything else?"



As B left for the market, I laughed to myself.  In the States we probably would have asked each other about our schedules and found an afternoon when we were free to make pie, but here the concept of 'schedule' is a lot more fluid.  If we want to do something now, we'll do it.  If we have a meeting scheduled, we'll try to be there, but if something comes up, it's no big deal.  If we have English class scheduled, we'll go, unless we need to do laundry, study another subject, or go to the post office.  Lesson #1:  Use your schedule as an outline for the day but be flexible and don't get frustrated when plans are changed.

When B got back from the market, he was carrying a bag of red apples.  So we made pie with red apples instead of green, sour ones.  When it came time for rolling out the crust we all looked around for something that would work for a rolling pin.  After turning down a bottle with ridges and a flimsy cup, we settled on a small, smooth bottle of vanilla.  It worked fine.  Lesson #2:  Be creative and resourceful.   If limes are abundant and lemons expensive, replace limes for the lemons in your recipe. 

Lesson #3:  Relax and slow down.  If the recipe says to bake it for 30 minutes, but it takes a hour in your oven, it will still taste good.  If the cup of flour isn't completely leveled off because your helper doesn't know it matters, the bread will still turn out.  If you have to make lime zest by cutting off the rind with a knife then dicing the rind for 10 minutes to make it small enough, use the time to learn words like knife and lime. 


Lesson #4: Don't worry!  It most likely will turn out okay, and if it doesn't, you can try again another day.  When I started to worry about something turning out right, like my lime bars, I had to stop and remind myself that none of these students have ever had a lime bar before.  They won't know the difference if the filling has green specks from the rind, or if I have no powdered sugar to sprinkle on top.  They will enjoy tasting something new, and if anyone doesn't like it, that just leaves more for the rest of us! 

 

Enjoying the last crumbs!

Challenging

 

One of the ways I try to encourage the girls in my dorm is through challenging them to step out of their comfort zones.  Weekly, we go to the campus to invite students to English classes as well as to our night of dinner and worship.  Some girls look forward to our Tuesday outings, and others try to avoid them as much as possible. 

This week N agreed to join us.  She was hesitant but willing.  As she and I walked through the campus we agreed that I would get the conversation started and then she would build on it.  From my point of view, these conversations were quite hilarious because I can never tell how much people understand of what I say in Thai.  The great thing is, N has been listening to me speak long enough to understand me and clarify what I said. 


I began in Thai with something like, "Hi.  How are you?  Do you speak English?"  (They always said no.)  "We have an English class every Wednesday, and today we eat dinner and worship Jesus Christ.  Would you like to come?"  We would all laugh as I forgot important words or said things with the incorrect tone, but it was a good way to get a conversation going.  N took over from there.

 

New friends, ready to hang out.

As much as I prayed for the students we were talking to, I also prayed for N.  My prayer for all the students in the dorm is that they are not only enjoying knowing Christ themselves, but that Jesus grows in them a desire to tell others about Him.  The community within the dorm is amazing because it is built around loving God and loving others.  However, God doesn't want us to get nice and cozy in our comfortable, loving, Christian cocoons and stay there.  I pray God turns the girls' eyes outward, growing their hearts for all the others here in Thailand and around the world.

While I would love for some of the students we spoke with to come to English class and worship night, I pray N and the others become more comfortable, willing, and even excited about telling others about the God who changed their lives so radically.

 

Enjoying dinner before Tuesday worship. 

Dorm Life

I am incredibly blessed by the opportunity to live life with Thai students in the dorms.   What does life look like living in the dorms here in Thailand?  Some days it looks like helping a student correct a paragraph of English homework.  Some days it looks like praying with a student for a sick family member.   Everyday includes practicing speaking Thai with students and being ready for whatever other opportunities God provides. 

Here are some more pictures from an average week...

 

 We sing together.

 

 We play games together.

We read and study God's Word together in both Thai and English.

  

 We celebrate special days together. 

We struggle through long weeks of studying for exams together.

 We are silly together.

 We cook together, both Thai and American food.

 

Me practicing cooking a Thai omelet, and N baking chocolate chip cookies.

  

We are Baan Jai Diaow...House of One Heart.  While not all students are followers of Christ, all are willing and interested in learning more about Him.  

 

Sprinkling the Word

What does it look like to sprinkle God's truth throughout all conversations?  I'm still trying to figure this out myself, but here are some examples of how it happened recently.
 

 

Setting:  Saturday afternoon,  street coffee stand
Cast:  B, a Thai Buddhist friend who works at the coffee stand

Fleur, a Christ-follower from France

Fleur: Are you working tomorrow?
B: Yes, I work everyday.
Fleur: Did you know that God created the world and everything in it in six days then he rested on the seventh day?
B: Really?
Fleur: Yes.  And if God took a day for rest, then it is okay for us to rest for a day each week too. 
B:  I must work to make money. (smiles and finishes making our coffee)

 

Setting: Thursday evening, teaching business English class

Cast: P, a Thai student learning English, culturally Buddhist

Julia, me, the teacher

P: You are very brave for coming to live here all by yourself.
Julia: I believe that God will protect me and take care of me.
P: Do your parents worry about you?
Julia: They also believe that God will take care of me.

The following week P had some more questions...

P: Do you get paid to teach English?

Julia: No.
P: Then why do you teach?
Julia: I just like to get to know people.
P: You are very kind.
Julia: Well, I used to be a very selfish person, but my life was changed by Jesus Christ.  Can I tell you about it?

After sharing my testimony and the good news of salvation through Christ, P responded with "Thank you, Jesus!"  These words are a result of God working in her life, and I pray her desire to know Christ increases every week.

  

English students playing a game of matching present perfect verbs with their simple past tense.