The Weekend Update

Saturday we were able to sleep in past 5 am but its amazing how your body gets used to a routine :)  Carol, one of the filipino missionaries at the school brought us to the JJ Market in the morning.  It was amazing and a good thing we had a guide because it was immense.  There was stall after stall of created and copied art, goods, textiles, books, etc. etc.  You name it and it was there in some form. We really enjoyed seeing the creativity and ingenuity of the thai people. We arrived when it opened at 9:00 am and there were quite a few people already there and by the time we left at 11:30 it was crowded and very hot (the drip started at the top of your head and ended at your toes- felt like I just took shower :).

Carol shared with us that she and her husband Don Don will begin a new charter of Santisuk English School by the airport in July. Very exciting!  They just found a two story building to rent that will be classrooms on the first floor, probably two, and the second floor will be their living space.  They have a little boy who is 4 months old.  Please pray for God to provide for this huge endeavor.  The building is a shell.  No closets, bathrooms, walls, kitchen, etc.  They are moving into the building in May!

We spent the rest of Saturday doing our laundry, reading essays and catching up on personal stuff after the busy week.

This morning we went to our small group at 10.  It was much smaller than last week because the american visitors returned home but we really enjoyed the intimacy with the girls, I call them girls because they are all significantly younger then us :)  

We talked about the sermon from Friday night.  It was about bearing one another's burdens.  This small group has gone through some tough things together and truly have born one another's burdens.  One shared today about when she was suicidal and how the others were there for her and how God protected her life during that time.  This group is an example of what fellowship truly is.  We also planned cell group and a party to invite our students to next Sunday.  This will be an opportunity for our students to connect with the other thai people at the school. We will host these at our hotel/apt. next Sunday morning and afternoon.  Please pray for this time together.  We will play games, eat pizza and thai food, show a short dvd (8 min.) and share testimonies.  

We learned some interesting facts about the thai language today.  We found out there is a "royal language" in thai that was only used when you talked about the King. When the bible was translated into thai the "royal language" was used in the translation for God.  I think its really cool that there is a royal language that is used for God.  He is the King of Kings and the thai christians can grasp this description of God in a deeper way because of their language history.  Singing together in phonetic thai really brings this home.  

This afternoon was spent correcting and grading our students first compositions.  They tried so hard and it was really difficult for us to grade these papers with a number.  Their essays gave us further insight into who they are since the topics to choose from were; What do I do in my free time? What makes me happy? and What I do before I go to bed? 

Tomorrow begins week 2 of classes!  Thank you for praying for us and our students!!