BEN HERE

Hello,
Ben here.  I just wanted to post a little blurb about my time in Thailand so far.  Coming back to this country as a team leader is a whole new experience.  I took the culture in stride this time, but with so many projects and 6 people depending on me to know what to do in every situation, I felt pretty stretched.  On our first day of playground construction and teaching, there were a lot of questions.  That was my culture shock.  Now I feel that our team is becoming more autonomous and that I am becoming better at having tasks for all of them.  I have found that since we are not a construction team, I have to be pretty specific about the tasks that I assign, or the instructions won't be understood and the task won't get done.  I am super happy with all the progress so far and especially with the work that is getting done on the playground.  When completed, it will be the best thing I have ever built or helped build.  As for teaching, I am seeing progress every day with our students.  I know that our time here is bringing some serious attention to the church in Kranuan and that we are leaving the children with more English than they had before. Kun Prakong has a vision of the next few years that includes building a school and I hope that Aggies can supply the workforce to build it and some of the money needed to help with it for years to come.  Sometimes he tells me "save it for next year" and I think about all the future teams that will come through here and it makes me so happy.  Talk to you again soon.
BEN WILDE

Hello from Thailand! I can't believe it has already been almost two weeks since we left Texas! The people here in Kranuan have been so good to us, and I already love them so much. This past week we were teaching English at one of the schools here from eight to noon every morning, and then going to the church to build a playground for them in the afternoon! Jenica and I are teaching first, second, and third grade, and they are the most adorable things in the whole world! We can't hardly understand anything they say, but this first week we have been blessed to have three people from the church come and translate for us, so we have been very thankful for them. The kids just think we are the greatest people ever and they get so excited when we get there and chase after our car when we leave. It's precious. We have also been spending a lot of time getting to know the kids in the youth group at the church! We taught them how to play Skipbo and had a movie night at our house last night. They are so great. It's funny because they really are just like we were in high school, they just speak a different language. For some reason I wasn't expecting that. I am looking forward to another week with them, and I want to make the most of it because I know we are going to be sad to leave the people of Kranuan! My time here has been so rewarding, and I have learned so much from the people here. I can't wait to see what else God has in store for us! Please continue to keep us in your prayers!


In Him,
Jamie Green

Well HOWDY! It has now been a week since we arrived to Thailand. These last few days we have been working hard in the town of Kranuan. The town is small, laid back and friendly; we almost feel like celebrities by getting many “HELLO!”s and stares as we walk down the street (along with the occasional request to be subjects for photography).

Ben and Morrell teach a class of 30 10-year-olds

In the mornings we teach English at the Kranuan Community School. We are split up into teams of two, and each team teaches three different one hour classes. This has been quite the adventure for me as I do not consider myself particularly graced with the gift of teaching, but fortunately I do have the gift of “winging it” when need be (mostly I just try to remember how I learned Spanish and that seems to work well).  My students range from 13 to 15 years old, and I have really enjoyed getting to know and interacting with them.

Breaking ground! The girls dig holes to set the
playground posts.

After teaching and eating lunch we have been going straight to work on the playground we are constructing at the Kranuan Church of Christ. The church plans to use the playground to help start a ministry for preschool age children in the community with a long-term goal of starting the first Christian school here. The last two days we have made a lot of progress by working until dark and in good fortune we will be finished within about a week. Some of the Thai people playfully call me “boy” because, well, I work like a boy, haha! (They also like to say “you tha man!” every time I drive a nail into the hard wood). I get a pretty big kick out that, and I sure that those of you who know me do also. ;) It has been awesome working together as a team and with members of the church.

I have also become good friends with Jao, who is about my age and the daughter of Kranuan CoC’s minister. She knows good English, and so far I have also taught her words like “Gloves,” “Shorts,” “Shop” and “Sandpaper.” She is very funny, and I have enjoyed talking to her about many things such as culture, music, people and our faith. She has helped me teach in the classroom and buy various fruits at the town market. Another extremely helpful person to our team is Tdon, who came with us to Kranuan from the church in Bangkok. Having him as an interpreter, worker and buddy has been a great blessing to all of us.

Needless to say, it has been a wonderful and abundant time in Thailand so far. God has blessed us and those around us in so many ways, and I am glad we still have five weeks left!


--Darcy Rae Jacoby

OKAY so I’ve been lax on the blogging aspect of the trip. There’s just so many people to meet and things to do that I keep forgetting I need to sit down and flesh out the best parts of the trip. I imagine the rest of the group has done sufficient overviews of the trip thus far; ironically, I haven’t gotten to read the blog due to our limited internet access. So I wanted to do a list of ways that I personally think Tie Land is better than ‘Murica.

Pantip!!! This is essentially a 5-story mall/bazaar of sorts, but it’s entirely electronics. My inner geek had a nerd explosion when Ben showed me the main floor. It’s just tons and tons of shops selling everything you could possibly imagine: phones, computers, ipads, software, music, movies, Beats by Dre, YOU NAME IT! I’m terribly disappointed I didn’t save enough money before I came, because it’s essentially Newegg if it was a physical store, with stores selling video cards, MOBO’s, cooling units, towers, and everything you need to build a up-to-date computer on the cheap. It’s amazing, shiny things everywhere, definitely recommend.

FOOD! Holy smokes, if I don’t come back 50 pounds heavier it’ll be a miracle. Kao pad kai/moo, literally rice fried with chicken/pork, a staple of any Tie diet. It’s made by the order at every street cart and shop, and makes panda express look like a joke. The spring rolls are amazing, the tea is amazing, the coffee is amazing, the soups are amazing, the noodles are amazing, the curry is amazing. I literally haven’t tried something that I didn’t enjoy (albeit my moderate tolerance of bugs and some of the local Kranuan greens/roots which is basically like eating grass). I’m still having trouble with chopsticks though, which is depressing. I’m praying about it though, and I will persevere!

PEOPLE! I feel like everyone’s somewhat aware that the Tie people are some of the nicest people on the planet, but you really have to be here to experience just how consistent that sensation is. It’s like every person I meet is my new best friend, and even the strangers we pass in the streets who are inquisitive about these pharongs (foreigners) still smile and laugh when we butcher our attempt at local greeting customs (OH HELLO, SWEATY COP *YYYYYYYY*). The lady that gave me a massage even gave me a Tie name, “Som Chai”, which means “perfect man” or “gentleman”, since Morrell is too hard to say (which is as funny as it sounds). Not sure how comfortable I am being hit on by a 53 year old lady, but I’ll just roll with it. Also, it has been a total joy to communicate with everyone, even in spite of the language barrier. When I had to perform on stage as a comedian or actor back home, it was important to make extreme gesticulations and portray clear facial expressions. I feel like that has trained me for talking to the people here, as everyone uses their hands much more when they talk, and using transparent expressions helps communicate what I’m trying to say with my limited Tie vocabulary. It’s just been so fun to talk to everyone, even though we’ve only met 2 people who speak sufficient English.

So this blog entry feels pretty long now. I haven’t talked about much Jesus stuffs, but know that he is clearly at work in my life on this trip, and in the life of our team and the people we’re working with. My following entries will have a better mix of serious-face material and fun stuff; I just wanted to get the exciting stories from the beginning of the trip out there. The Lord has helped my attitude towards some of the more difficult road blocks so far, and I can’t wait to see His hand at work as we start helping with projects and the church.

Talk to you soon! Sawadee Kap! YYYYYYYYYYY

-Morrell

I know that Lindsey already wrote some about this but I wanted to talk about it a little too. To try and keep up with the time difference, we tried to stay up until 10 at night so we could be on the same sleep schedule as our Thai friends.  Bangkok is extremely big, and we walked so much that by the end of the day we were very tired.  The church planned a devotional for us at a lady’s house, who was a member of the church, but it was on the outside of the city.  I fell asleep standing up on the bus on the way to her house. When we got there, we pulled up chairs and began singing.  Their songbooks had the English translation next to the Thai.  It was really cool because we could sing along since we already knew the tune.  After Ben gave a devotional, they brought out huge plates of food.  We had food that resembled chicken wings, sticky rice, and chicken with basil.  Everything was so good, and we felt so blessed that they would cook so much food for us. I had no idea that we were going to be fed and they gave us such generous portions.  The lady’s house it was at was named Nasaw, she spoke about three words of English, and most of us only knew three words in Thai.  Even though we had this communication barrier, I could tell that she was so excited for use to be there.  She had the biggest smile on her face and as we were leaving she kept saying “See you soon.” I was so glad that we went because I felt so refreshed.  It is really cool that we could worship the same God with people on the other side of the world and we could have this strong bond because we know that Jesus Christ died for our sins.

The next day we were able to do some sightseeing around Bangkok.  We went to The King’s Palace.  It was really cool.  There were so many intricate buildings. Almost all the buildings were painted in gold and we had to shield our eyes because the buildings were blinding us.  We took a picture imitating some statues squatting and holding up a building. Some Chinese tourists thought it was really funny and started taking pictures of us.  They especially liked Morrell and the faces he was making. We also went to the King’s art gallery.  It had all the pieces that artists worked on especially for the King.  Many of the items were made out of gold leafed beetle wings.  Later we went to a 6 floor shopping mall and looked around.

That night we got on an overnight bus headed to Kon Kan.  When we arrived  in Kon Kan two people from the church picked us up and took us to Kranuan.  When we got to Kranuan we found a place to eat lunch and now we are at an internet café so we can let all of you out there in Blog land that we are safe and happy.

The next day we were able to do some sightseeing around Bangkok.  We went to The King’s Palace.  It was really cool.  There were so many intricate buildings. Almost all the buildings were painted in gold and we had to shield our eyes because the buildings were blinding us.  We took a picture imitating some statues squatting and holding up a building. Some Chinese tourists thought it was really funny and started taking pictures of us.  

They especially liked Morrell and the faces he was making. We also went to the King’s art gallery.  It had all the pieces that artists worked on especially for the King.  Many of the items were made out of gold leafed beetle wings.  Later we went to a 6 floor shopping mall and looked around.

That night we got on an overnight bus headed to Kon Kan.  When we arrived  in Kon Kan two people from the church picked us up and took us to Kranuan.  When we got to Kranuan we found a place to eat lunch and now we are at an internet café so we can let all of you out there in Blog land that we are safe and happy.

-Kara

Bangkok Day 2

Bangkok is a massive city filled with huge tall buildings with millions of people, but in this huge city we were fortunate to meet a family that has nothing, but gave us everything. This family lives in a parking lot where a bunch of people have built small homes out of extra pieces of scrap metal. We spent time in their home last night having a devotional, and fellowship. Even though we were exhausted with jet lag I was able to see Jesus in these people, and experience the love of Christ in a new way. Nassau the owner of this small home is a sweet Christian lady that welcomed us with open arms into her home, and made us an awesome Thai dinner. This devotional and fellowship was different for me not because we were singing songs in Thai, but because I was able to see a family that loves and trusts God with their whole hearts when they have nothing. Seeing how welcoming this family is was eye opening, and it has taught me that you don’t have to have the perfect house or a huge church to have fellowship with your Christian family. I thank Nassau and her family for showing all of us that you can have nothing in this world, and give people the most important thing Christ’s love. In a city filled with millions of people and tons of opportunities we as a team were able to experience Christ’s love in a small home built with extra pieces of scrap metal. Tonight we leave Bangkok and head to Kranuan to build a playground and teach English we are so thankful for your prayers, and continue to ask for prayers as we continue this journey in Thailand.

Signing off from Bangkok, Gig em and God Bless,

Lindsey Hawkins

We Made It!

We have arrived!!! After over 20 hours of flying (I had a fun experience on the plane sitting between two Vietnamese brothers, Chow and Phil) with stops in Moscow and Singapore, we met up with Ben in Bangkok and are now at the Somprasong Church of Christ. We will be exploring the city and adjusting to the time change, then take a bus to Kranuan to teach English and build the playground (whoop!). It’s been really cool experiencing the sights, sounds, smells and people that we’ve encountered so far and I am enjoying jumping right into Thailand. I have this list of foods to try: Durian, Balut (duck egg), grasshoppers and squid jerky. I am looking forward to these next six weeks and am excited to serve!

Colossians 3:17, Romans 15:5-6

-Darcy Rae Jacoby

It is crazy to think that just 24 hours ago we were in the United States, and now we are the farthest we could go from our comfortable homes, and family. The trip to Thailand was amazing and eye opening. I had the privilege of sitting next to a 5 year old boy from Singapore, and let’s just say the trip was never dull with him sitting next to me for a total of 20 hours.  Not only on the trip to Thailand did I have the experience of sitting next to this very active and funny boy, I was able to meet some awesome people who were on our plane heading towards mission trips to Indonesia. In just the few hours we have been in Bangkok, Thailand I have realized how much we take for granted with just the simple use of being able to walk into a building or our homes and turn on the air conditioning. It is such a blessing to have the opportunity to travel to Thailand and see how God is working in the hearts of the people here. I am incredibly thankful for this amazing experience God has blessed me with, and I am so excited to see what God has in store for the next 6 weeks.

Signing off from Bangkok. Gig em and God Bless,

-Lindsey Hawkins

It feels so great to be back in Thailand. It was also a neat experience stopping at the Moscow airport for a few hours and also in at the Singapore airport (which is the top 1-2 airports in the world!) This group we have in Thailand now (Ben, Morrell, Darcy, Lindsey, Jamie, and Kara) are an amazing group of people who are ready to serve the Lord anyway they can with their willing, servant hearts. Our team dynamics so far has been great. Ben is leading us and Morrell has been making sure we all stay together and safe. Thank you so much for all of your prayers and I ask that you continue to keep us in your prayers as we are now here and ready to start teaching English and building a playground in Kranuan, Thailand. My prayer for us so far is that in everything we do, it is not for our glory, but all of the honor and glory goes to the Lord. Thank you again and we will continue to keep you all updated!

-Jenica Tolleson

I am so excited to finally be here in Thailand! It still doesn’t even feel real yet. We have been planning and preparing our hearts and minds for this trip for so long and I can’t believe it is finally here! The plane ride was a new experience for most of us! I had never been on a plane that long! It was so neat to be able to stop in Moscow and Singapore and see the airports there and the cities from above! We are just enjoying a relaxing day today in Bangkok spending time with some of the church members and getting to know them! Tomorrow we are headed to Kranuan where we will be teaching English for three weeks and building a playground for the church there! I am so excited for what God has in store for all of us as a group and individually! Thank you for your prayers and support, and please keep us in your prayers for the next six weeks!

In Him,

Jamie Green