Wonderful Whirlwind ABCs (Part 2)

Here we are, continuing the whirlwind of memories from my time in the States.  Although I had a great time, I am glad to be back!

N - Not Forgetting Thai.  One of my strategies for not forgetting Thai was to review with my Thai kid's Bible story book.  It's great because the stories are familiar and the vocabulary is easy (but there are always new words to be found.)  Quiet coffee shops made for great places to do this.  On one occasion, a woman walking by noticed the letters in my book weren't the same as the letters in hers, and I got to share my story. 

O - Outdoors.  In my free time, I got in as many hikes, bike rides, and outdoor adventures as I could.  Lake Tahoe was beautiful on a sunny afternoon, and it started snowing at Frenchman's lake on my way home after a good hike.
                                              Picturesque!  (Oh wait, that would be letter P.)

Lake Tahoe, beautiful even in the winter.

P - Prayer with the ladies at Community Bible Church.  Each week I looked forward to joining the group that faithfully prays for me and many others.  It was a precious time for all of us.

Q - Quiet time.  Even in the busyness, I really enjoyed having my own room/home to sit in the quietness before the Father. Compared to the 14 sisters I lived with (and loved) in Bangkok, it was quite a change.

Zoro Snowman in China

R - Rock Climbing.  While climbing as much in as I could in Reno, I met some new and old friends.  So fun!

S - Snow.  What's that strange white stuff falling from the sky?  (Especially cold coming from 90 degree Thailand weather.)

T - Thai Students.  It was great to practice a bit of my Thai language while some new Thai friends and I made Thai food dinner for 50 people, quite a bonding experience.

Thai noodles, yumm!

U - Unexpected. While living and working overseas has been an idea in my head for many years, I never thought I would be able to say I've lived in Thailand for 2 1/2 years.  In taking some time to reflect on all God has done in and through my life and the life of my team in Thailand I am humbled and in awe of our amazing Father.

V - Vending.  Praise God that about $500 dollars was raised through the selling of the Thai goods that I brought back.  Thank you to everyone who bought items!  This money will be used to support native Thais in continuing to minister and spread God's Word to others in Thailand.

On a drive somewhere between CA and NV.

W - Worthwhile Wonderful Whirlwind - A super busy two months, made worth it by all the fun memories, great conversations, long drives through beautiful western America, and very special time with special people.

X - eXtraordinary.  While I was away, everything in Bangkok continued (of course.)  My amazing team put on an extraordinary Christmas program, sharing the real meaning of Christmas with 80+ people, many of whom had never heard the life-changing message. Also two weeks in December we had Thais preaching on Sunday!  That's definitely moving in the right direction.  Praise God!

LifePoint Bangkok Christmas Program

Y - You.  Yes, you.  Thank you to each person who made time for coffee, invited me over for dinner, or just said "Hi" at church. Thank you also to those I didn't get to visit in person, hopefully there will be another opportunity!

Z - Zipping on as God leads.  One of the questions I got the most was, "How much longer?"  My only answer is, "It's up to God."  I really enjoy the life he's given me in Thailand, and I currently don't have plans to leave.  However, there's nothing etched in stone that says I will be here for the rest of my life.  For now I'll be taking it a year at a time and continue seeking him for direction everyday.

Wonderful Whirlwind ABCs (Part 1)

whirlwind (hwûrlwnd) noun : 2. a confused rush

That's the best word to describe the past couple of months for me.  It has been a wonderful confused rush.  Really wonderful.

A Biasi family tradition is to remember a time by making a summary by choosing a word for each letter of the alphabet.  So here's my alphabet summary:

A - Ahan (Thai for "Food").  Lots of delicious, home-cooked American and Thai food. 

Grandma and me making bagels.

B - Boiling Bagels and Baking pies, cinnamon rolls, cookies, and holiday desserts.

C - China.  A quick stop in China to visit my friend Adrienne was an encouragement to us both.

Downtown Shanghai, China.

D - Decorating for Christmas.  It's been a few years since I have gotten to help put up the Christmas decorations and decorate the tree.  This year reminded me of my kid years of decorating, at almost everything I pulled out of the box, I exclaimed, "Oh, wow, it's so beautiful!  I forgot
about this one!  Look at this!"

E - Elephant, White Elephant.  Christmas at Community Bible Church wouldn't be complete without our White Elephant gift exchange.  Many laughs and another fun experience to share with a few international friends. 

Brother, me and Auntie at Christmas.

 F - Family.  The holidays were made extra special by the fact I got to spend them with my family.

G - Gathering.  Part of Thai culture is to bring small gifts back for your friends when you return from traveling.  This trip I had some special requests: beef jerky, taco seasoning, Almond Joy candies bars, sparkly lip gloss, and snow.  (Yes, I brought some snow back too...in plastic form.)

H - Hosting and Hospitality.  Each was visit special whether I was the host or I was being blessed by the wonderful hospitality of good friends.

First time gingerbread house engineers!

I - International Students.  Trips to the grocery store, mingling with 50+ people for Sunday Dinners, sharing holiday traditions like cutting down a Christmas tree and building gingerbread houses all made for great memories.

J - not Justify Just enJoy.  A relief and praise this visit was the freedom God gave me to enjoy the fact that I have two worlds.  I can enjoy my American world without feeling guilty or like I
have to justify my American home.

K - Kids' Sunday School.  When I got to share about Thailand for the kids' Sunday School class, we learned a few Thai words, about the 10-40 Window, and how the kids can be missionaries in their own city.

L - Life Care.  I got meet many people and share my testimony with the elderly people during the weekly church gathering. 

Taking turns cutting down the tree.

M - Mountains where Christmas trees live!  This was a first for the Chinese and Japanese student we brought along. 

N...

Next week part 2 


Thank you so much for your hospitality while I was in the States.  It was so good to visit with so many friends!

Trilingual

DD reading Proverbs 16:9 in Chinese, 

"The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps."

"Do you understand it?"

"Yes, I can't write it, but I can read it."

"So this is the old language?"

"Yes. But I still like it.  I love to read the Bible, it has such good advice, and it is so beautiful."  DD has only been reading the Bible for a little over a month, and most of that time she has been reading in her second language, Thai. 

This week however, that changed.  For the first time, our Saturday student Bible study used Bibles in three languages.   Thai, English, and Chinese. 

Excited that we had finally found a Bible in the right Chinese dialect, I asked DD to read the passage we were studying out loud.  What I didn't realize was that finding the passage was going to be almost as big of a task as finding the Bible itself.

"James."

I might as well have said a random word in Russian or Afrikaans.  The name didn't get us very far, and me flipping through the pages that held absolutely no familiar letter or number clues wasn't helping either.  I thought I had our solution when I looked up the characters for "James" in Chinese on the internet, but for some reason, they didn't match.  Another dead end, but we weren't giving up.  

"Okay.  We need a new plan."

First, the table of contents.  I flipped more pages. DD flipped to the back cover.  I wanted to say something like, "We want the table of contents, not the concordance." But I didn't know those words in Thai (or Chinese).  Then I realized what DD already knew, Chinese is written from right to left, top to bottom in columns.   I counted in my English table of contents.  James is the eighth book from the end (in case you ever have to find it in a language you can't read.) 

"Yesh-ceb?" DD asked.  Knowing that "James" is pronounced, "Yhe-cob" in Thai gave me confidence that we had found the right book.  We turned to the first page.  Not being able to read Chinese numbers, I had to trust DD was following.  "There should be a big number 'one.' Okay, now 'two,' 'three,' and 'four.'  Yes!  We want four, that is the chapter.  Now verses 13-17.  Those are the little numbers.  Yeah!!!  We found it.  Can you read it to us?" 

While DD read, my heart leapt.  It was beautiful, as was her expression, which came alive as she read.

By the end of the night, DD was tuning pages, finding chapters and reading verses all on her own.  "You can take this Bible home to read if you want."  I encouraged her.

"But what if someone else wants to read it here."

"We will get another. It is so special that you have one in your own language to read."

Air Conditioning, Chopsticks, and Marshmallows

The air conditioning blew through our apartment keeping the humidity and hot air outside.  Five Thai international students sat in a circle laughing as wild cards were thrown down, smirking as a reverse card was played, and glaring (playfully) when a draw four card was placed on top of the pile.

Conversation moved on to us going to Thailand soon.  “You should go camping in Thailand.”  Boy suggested.  As we threw around camping stories, I learned that roasting marshmallows is an American tradition.  None of our Thai friends had ever had a roasted marshmallow…this had to be rectified!

Eileen ran to our neighbor’s house to borrow some marshmallows.  I grabbed the left over logs from an earlier camping trip and the matches from the hearth.  Soon we had a fire going in the fireplace and each Thai friend was leaning toward the heat, holding a chopstick with a small marshmallow stuck on the end. 

“Mmmm…this is good.”

“Ooohh…too sweet.”

“Yumm…Can I have another one?”

This was the last time of hanging out with our international friends in Atlanta, but we are hopeful that we will get to met again when the Lord brings all of us to Thailand.

Ana, God, and the Pink Bible

International friends and me in Atlanta

Ana, with dark hair flowing gently around her face, smiles at Eileen and begins reaching for something in her backpack.  In practiced English, Ana exclaims, "I bought a pink Bible.  Would you help me read it?"

Ana moved from Korea to Atlanta six months ago to study English at Georgia Tech.  She and Eileen (my roommate) have been meeting almost once a week for the past couple of months.  The relationship began with Ana's desire to practice English and Eileen's willingness to help.  Soon the Lord opened up the friendship, prompting Ana to share struggles and hurts, and allowing Eileen to share similar experiences and give testimony to God working in her life.  They have had the opportunity to read different passages from the Bible and talk about how it applies to their lives today.

God has overcome the boundaries of difficult English vocabulary and different cultural backgrounds to make Himself known.  He has pricked Ana's curiosity with the truths of His Word, given Eileen wisdom to accurately point to Him, and given us the privilege to pray.

Taco Night...In Pictures!

We began by learning how to make tortillas from Eileen.

It took a lot of practice.

Then we learned how to make a Thai dessert.

Soy boiled some frog eggs...I mean tapioca...

Then we learned how to make a sweet egg. 
(You poach it in sugar water.)

The boys were responsible for figuring out how to get the coconut milk out of the coconut.

Time to eat!

Eileen demonstrated how to build a taco.

Then everyone made their own.

Boy, Knock, and Soy's first bite.


Yumm!!!

Dessert time. 

Frog eggs (I mean tapioca) and sweet egg in warm coconut milk.  It was very tasty!

Knock made a birthday cake for Jill.

Our friends sang Happy Birthday to Jill in Thai then in Korean.

Mina noticed this poster in my room.  We had a good discussion about what it means.

Game time!

Jinga was a familiar favorite in both Korea and Thailand.

(But it might not be Eileen's favorite anymore.)

Before the evening was over we had to dress Jill up like a Thai warrior.

 Many good memories!

Friends Beyond Borders

Friends Beyond Borders conversation group at Georgia Tech.

Every Wednesday at Georgia Tech Language Institute I meet new people at Friends Beyond Borders.  I get to know students from around the world as we talk about culture, food, hobbies, and much more.  The goal is to broaden our perspective of the world be getting to know people from other countries while the students practice speaking English with native English speakers.  These new friendships remind me of a video I'd like to share with you. 

The video shows what American Muslims would like to tell the rest of the world.  They would like to break stereotypes and correct misunderstandings.  I share this because Christ commands us to love God and love others.  I love others better when I understand a little better where they are coming from...this video helped me with that.  I hope it helps you too.

Click on the link to see the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbcmPe0z3Sc
or copy and paste it in a new window
(It's only 4 minutes long!)

Why Thailand?

 Our conversation group, Tommy is on the far right.

"Why do you want to go to Thailand?" Tommy inquired.
"Because I want to learn the Thai language."  I responded. 
"Why do you want to learn the Thai language?  It is not useful in very many countries."
"Well, because I want to be able to talk to people in Thailand and learn about their culture."
"But why Thailand?"
"I think Thailand is very interesting."
"Why not Japan or China or Taiwan?"
"Because I can get a visa there easily."
"You can get a visa in Taiwan.  What is the real reason?"
We were conversing in the Language Institute at Georgia Tech, so we were not supposed to be openly sharing the gospel.  After looking around to make sure no instructors were listening, I responded.  "I believe in Jesus.  So I prayed to Jesus about where I should go, and he has given me direction to go to Thailand."
"Oh...okay."

"It smells like my house in Thailand!"

Soy (left) and Knock cooking Khai Yud Sao (pork egg wrap).

"It smells like my house in Thailand!"  Kung exclaimed, causing a smile to form on Soy’s face as she stirred ground pork, carrots, tomatoes, and onions in a pan on the stove.  

"It smells so good you could open a kitchen." Knock suggested.

"Yes, and then you would have to pay me!"  Soy laughed.

Our adventure began earlier in the afternoon at the Asian supermarket, picking out fresh lemon grass, lime leafs, galanga (a soft root like ginger), oyster sauce (which, surprisingly is not fishy at all), and a variety of other ingredients.  Our friends Kung, Boy, Knock, and Soy humored us by repeating the Thai names for many familiar as well as unusual foods.  Their faces lit up any time I remembered a Thai word and threw it into a sentence.  

Within minutes of getting back to our apartment, Soy had each of us cutting up something different.  Three heads of garlic later, Gai Ka Team/Garlic Pepper Chicken was simmering on the stove.  Kung was using a whisk for the first time (he’d never seen one before) to beat eggs for the Khai Yud Sao (pork egg wrap--a thin layer of egg like a tortilla wrapped around spiced veggies and ground pork.)  Boy was reading the directions in Thai to help Jill make Thai Tea, and Knock opened a can of coconut milk to start on the Coconut Soup (Tom Kha Kai.)  Scrumptious aromas floated through the air, undoubtedly making the neighbors jealous.  

Soy, Kung, Boy, and Knock are Thai friends from the Language Institute at Georgia Tech.  During an orientation for international student ministry we learned that 85% of international students never make an American friend, so we have been intentional about getting to know the students.  

We had a wonderful evening full of laughter, good conversation, and delicious food.  Boy noticed some notes about the Kingdom of God from class earlier in the day, opening up an opportunity for us to explain that we study the Bible.  I pray this leads to further conversations about having a relationship with our Lord and Savior.

 

Garlic Pepper Chicken (upper left), Pork Egg Wrap (upper right),

Thai Chile Pepper Sauce (lower left), Coconut Soup (lower right)