Urgency

 Baan Jai Diaow Girls

Days come and go.  English classes, meetings, dinners, market runs.  Semesters begin, exams end.  New students join the dorm community. Days come and go.

Then one day, by the front door books were stacked next to bags of clothes, a lamp, and a basket of shampoo and soap.  I pitched in to help load all the stuff into a truck, then I waved as Bia climbed in the back to balance the pile of old textbooks as the truck drove off down the road. 

Later that same night, Aon shared something with me. 

"Julia?" She called quietly over the three-quarters high wall separating our rooms.  "Are you sleeping yet?"
"No, not yet."
"Do you want to know something?"
"What?"
"If I pass all my exams, at the end of the month I won't live here any more."
"Where will you go?"
"To work downtown and live with my younger sister."
"Wow." I didn't have much more to say.  In the back of my mind, I knew some of our girls would be graduating soon, but the reality of it coming hadn't crossed my mind recently.

"Are you excited?" I continued.
"Yes, I want to work, but I'll miss all our brothers and sisters here at BJD."
"We will miss you too....you'll come visit us, won't you?"
"Often."  Aon was quiet for a moment as we both considered the sentences that had just been exchanged.  "You're the first person at BJD I've told."  She added.
"I'll let you tell everyone else when you're ready." I assured her.


Both of our rooms went silent for a while.  My heart was sad as I pondered the repercussions of time passed.  Moving on is good, but it's never easy to see someone go, especially when that someone has become a sister.


"Julia?"  The voice came quietly over my wall again. "Don't for get me, ok?"
"I won't forget you, for sure."

It was almost more than I could take.  I'm not ready to see these young girls confidently stride off into their next season of life.  Both Aon and Bia I first met three and a half years ago as awkward freshmen, unsure of what their first semester at university would hold.  Coming from villages in the far regions of Thailand, the Big City left them wide-eyed and overwhelmed.  Now these women are making plans and stepping forward into a new life.

Have we taught them enough?  Did discipleship from the past years reach deep enough into their hearts?  Will the Bible studies come back to mind as they make more life-changing decisions?

Ultimately this leaves me with the opportunity to pray, trust, stand alongside and encourage.  But it also leaves me with a renewed since of urgency.

Flight of the Gibbon

Four like-hearted friends and I enjoyed a day of zip-lining,

repelling, and hiking through the mountain jungles of northern Thailand.  

An hour van ride outside of Chiang Mai and into the mountains brought us to Flight of the Gibbon terrain.

 Geared up and ready to go!

 We were ensured the zip line was strong and safe.  Sometimes we couldn't see the end of the route, but that just added to the adventure. 

 Our awesome guides took great care of us and made the trip fun with plenty of joking. 

 "Always stay attached"

Maybe Sean is confused by the picture. 

She flew through the air with the greatest of ease...

 Repelling from one layer of the tree to another.

 Three at a time!

 We all made it to the ground safely. 

And there were actually really gibbons in one of the trees!

Someone Special to Me

Pang and me during the summer we met in 2008.

"Can you correct these for me?"  Pang asked as she handed me a paper.
"Sure. I'd be happy to."

Correcting students' practice English writing is nothing new, especially in exam season.  What I didn't expect in correcting this paper, was to be reading about myself.

Someone Special to Me
Julia, who is from U.S.A is my special friend.  She is around 25 years old.  She is pretty with her oval face pointed nose and her eyes are brown.  In addition,  her personality is friendly humble, casual and fun to be with.  She is study Thai Language, and right now she can speaking read write and understand Thai Language and Thai culture very well.  Fulthermore, she is pay attention with anybody who is around her.  Usually she and I we are spend time together by go to noodles restaurant place.  And sometime we go to night market.  While she always help me with my English homework.  She is very kind woman and she is very special of me.

There's plenty to correct, but Pang clearly communicated her point this week, and it made me feel special. :)

Broken Home

All 20 girls on a fun day to Dream World last year.

(Dream World is like Thailand's Disneyland.)

The dripping faucet nagging of a roommate, gossip that makes the concrete structure shutter, seemingly overbearing demands of dorm parents stack up like dirty laundry constantly calling out, “Take care of me!” At times, the brokenness of our home hollers like a toddler throwing a fit in the middle of the grocery store.

For our dorm, this past week has been one of “hot hearts,” as it is phrased in Thai. Students have been pushed to the limits, annoyances heaped, frustrations mounded.  To top it all off, end-term testing starts this week.  Patience is short and tempers quick to flare. From the time of Adam, every home, every city, every country, has had its measure of brokenness.  In this season, ours is blaringly evident.

But in the midst of it all, moments of peace and promises of a time when hearts are less hot can be found.  Drifting from the gap around the doorframe in one room comes the laughter of those huddled around a computer watching a comedy.  Seeping from the cracks in the wall of another room, notes of a picked guitar and aged worship tune escape.  Dripping down from the stained portion of the ceiling are the squeals of delight as makeup is shared and everyone gets dolled up for a girl’s night in.

Stateside Refreshment

 My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest. (Exodus 33:14)

Even though my time stateside was busy, it was incredibly refreshing.  I enjoyed visiting with many families and friends.  Each visit was an encouragement as I saw more of God's big picture for reaching out to people in every continent and his detailed plan of reaching people in every community.  It began with a skype meeting with missionary friends in Spain and flowed through a dinner with friends who are serving with international students, families who are being intentional in their neighborhoods, and others who are reaching out in their workplaces.

Time with family was most special.

God's perfect timing allowed me to be home to celebrate with over 100 people from church as 13 (if I remember correctly) people publicly declared Christ as their Lord and Savior--aka got baptized.

A family day trip took us to some of Nevada's peaks where we bumped in the jeep up to mines and beautiful viewpoints.

 

I picked up climbing for the month.  A little bit outside, but mostly in the gym.  It was fun to return to a missed hobby.

 I enjoyed cooking and baking in a "normal" kitchen with all the "regular" utensils.   It's amazing how many things (such as a whisk, potato masher, pastry blender, rolling pin, spatula, mixer, etc.) you can learn to live without when they aren't in the drawers.  But when those utensils are available, they sure do help.

The real test though was cooking Thai food.  Had I learned enough from my friends to reproduce it in the States? Above-- sticky rice cooking in a basket I brought back from Thailand.  Left-- I found the type of pumpkin we use in Thailand at an Asian market!

Most everyone who tried my Thai concoctions liked them, so I guess my dorm cooking lessons were a success. My friends will be proud.  :)

Hiking and exploring God's creation with friends was another highlight.  Getting out of the concrete city of Bangkok and into the mountains, walking by (or through) lakes, and visiting Vinice Beach were all memorable moments.

 On the morning of my flight, Kendell and I jumped on friend's a trampoline before heading to the airport.  It was the perfect end to a wonderful trip.

A Year of Learning

A main goal for my team and me this first year was to be learners.  Here are a few of the most important things we have learned (or been reminded of) this year. 

Abiding in God finding strength in Him.  "'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

Prayer and seeking God first, in all seasons, for all decisions.  While this is not a new idea, it was reinforced over the past year time and time again.  Anytime we started making decisions too quickly or getting our priorities mixed up, God would bring us back with a gentle reminder.

Relationships before task, even if that means the project takes longer.  Whether it is cleaning the house or going to the market.  Relationships are built by time together and strengthened by working things out together.

Idea ownership.  If I want an idea to succeed, Thais need to be on board and have ownership.  If it's their idea to begin with, even better.  Learning this has taught us to be creative with making suggestions and how important it is to have Thai partners with the same heart for the ministry God has called us to.

The benefit of language learning.  All the time put into learning language has been well worth it.  Being able to speak Thai is rewarding and opens up the possibility to communicate with so many more people.  Words mean more to people in their mother tongue than in a Western language, even if they can understand English.  I look forward to continuing to improve my language in the coming year.

The value of being on a team.   To begin with, it's biblical.  On top of that, it's encouraging, helps us stay focused on why God has us here, and gives us an opportunity to model a loving community and healthy church body.

The impact and influence living a Christ-centered life.  In the first year, everyone on my team has had days where they have wondered what good we are doing here.  However, one Thai believer shared, "Just you being here is encouraging and reminds us of the importance of the task God has given us."  Another new believer shared in her testimony, "I believed in Jesus because I saw the life of the Christians at BJD."

Praise God for a great first year!

New in Christ

 

Held in Bondage
Free in Christ

Broken, Tired, Old
New

Weak 

Strong

 Life without Joy 

Joy Unspeakable

Slave to the World
Free to Serve

 

Full of Pain and Suffering
Healed and Restored

Focused on Self
Loving Others

 Insecure Heart              Strong Heart     

Me First
God First

Used
Valued

My Own Effort

Through God's Power

 

Timid

 Confident

About 30 Thais and a few members of my team walked one by one to the center of the stage at the end of the service at New Vision Church on Sunday.  We each paused holding a card describing our lives before Christ.  After a moment, the card was flipped to reveal how Christ has transformed our life. 

It was awesome to see how God has worked in the lives of these Thai believers and see them proclaim it to all those watching.  I pray this begins new conversations with those who do not yet know Jesus and ignites a desire for them to draw closer to God.