SAWATDEE PHIAN PHIAN!!

 [pronounced, sa-wa-dee-peuh-on-peuh-on and means "hello friends!"]

Wow – what a busy week this has become! There is so much to say...but I will start with...HAPPY CANADA DAY!!! Samantha & I celebrated it this morning by having breakfast at Natti's house - she made us pancakes and we had Canadian syrup on it :D

SUNDAY SHARING

Sharing about DRIME at  Bangna Christian Fellowship

This past Sunday June 26^th Samantha & I went to two different churches again to share about the DRIME Ministry. In the morning we went to Bangna Christian Fellowship, which is an English church! Most of the congregation are foreigners – missionaries, English teachers, etc – so we fit right in! The worship, the preaching, the whole service is in English with translation into Thai for those who need it. Even though we have only been here just under a month, it already felt strange to be in a building full of farang [foreigners]!

In the afternoon we went to share about DRIME at Shalom Church. Again, we were not the only North Americans there as there was a group of Korean Americans visiting the church! [They are here on a mission trip with Korean Campus Crusade for Christ.] So, we definitely got our dose of fellow farang for the day!

The sharing went well at both churches and we were encouraged by the interest people showed! We have talked with a few people who have told us how thankful they are for a drama ministry starting in Bangkok! They say that the country needs it!

MEETINGS GALORE!!

DRIME Meeting at the TCCC Office!

This week we have been meeting with people who have showed an interest in the ministry. From these meetings we currently have two people who are interested in leadership; they have both started to pray about it and fill out the application! Praise the Lord! We have another meeting Sunday afternoon with someone who wants to find out more about leadership. We’ve also had a lot of people voice interest in joining the DRIME team, which is awesome as well!

UPCOMING EVENTS

The promo poster for Mingle Mania!

Tonight [July 1^st] Samantha & I will be the guest speakers at an event called Mingle Mania. Once a month, a group of young professionals meet for food, fellowship, worship & prayer. Samantha & I have been asked to share about the DRIME Ministry as well as share our testimonies with the group. 

On Sunday July 3^rd we will be performing a DRIME drama [with the help of two other people] at Rangsit Church. Once a month the church focuses on evangelism; they encourage the members to bring their friends & neighbours to church with them. So, they have asked us to do a drama for this occasion. I have also been asked to share my testimony after the drama!

During the evenings of July 6^th & 7^th we are hosting DRIME information meetings at the TCCC Office. We are inviting everyone who has voiced interest in the DRIME Ministry to come and hear more about it! 

PRAYER REQUESTS & PRAISE REPORT!

Mingle Mania, Rangsit Church & Information Meetings

Please be praying for all the details to come together for these events. Pray that Samantha & I would be given the words to say as we share our testimonies & share about the ministry. [I’m nervous to share my testimony…please pray for peace!]

Leaders

Please be praying for the two people who are currently praying about leadership and filling out the application. Pray that God would bring all the right leaders to us. We are hoping to have the leadership team chosen by the end of July – please pray for that! Continue to pray for wisdom & discernment for us. 

Election Day

The Flag of Thailand

On July 3rd Thailand is having an election for a new Prime Minister. Please pray for things to remain peaceful when the new Prime Minister is announced.

Praise the Lord!

Samantha is feeling better, I am doing much better in terms of transitioning to being in Bangkok and our partnership with TCCC is feeling more and more natural!

Pad Thai, mai si tua [no nuts] - one of my fav foods!

I appreciate your prayers & support!

Love you all,

เจนน่า  = "Janna" in Thai!!! Cool, eh? 

[The thing I find amusing is that it literally translates to “ajnna” because certain vowels are written before the consonants in Thai.]

SHARING ABOUT THE DRIME MINISTRY

Samantha & I sharing with Ning's Church

Sunday the 19^th was a very busy one for Samantha & I! In the morning, Ning [TCCC staff & our friend] took us to her church, Prakanong Baptist Church to share about the DRIME Ministry.  At the end of the service, with the help of a translator Samantha & I shared the heart of the DRIME Ministry & how people can get involved. People were so welcoming at the church! Besides the service, we took part in a prayer meeting, Sunday school & lunch at the church! Ning’s husband Nuu was with us for most of this to translate for us! 

Drama Training at Rangsit Church

From Prakanong Baptist Church we took a taxi to Rangsit Church. For two hours Samantha & I shared with a group of students about the DRIME Ministry! We taught them a drama, with the help of a translator [Matt, a missionary who works alongside TCCC]. The group was so excited to learn the drama! It was fun watching them get it & love it! 

This is the group we trained at Rangsit

From both places on Sunday we have 15 people who have voiced interest in getting involved with the ministry. There are also two people who are interested in leadership!

We will be meeting with the people who have voiced interest in leadership in the next two weeks, getting to know them & seeing if DRIME is where God wants them to serve.

PRAISE & PRAYER REQUESTS

Transition

Our little DRIME info table!

Each day the transition gets a little bit easier. Each day I find myself a little more mentally present. Thank you for praying for my transition. Please keep praying that I would FULLY engage with & embrace the culture & the people here.

Leaders

Praise the Lord for already bringing 5 people who are interested in finding out more about DRIME Leadership! Please continue to pray for the people God has for the DRIME Leadership team. Pray for wisdom & insight for Samantha & I. 

Health

Samantha’s ear infection is on the mend. It’s not 100% better, but it’s getting there! Praise the Lord for good medical care in Bangkok! Also, many staff at TCCC have the flu right now – pray for them to get better!

Sunday the 26^th

Pray for Samantha & I as we share about DRIME at two more churches this Sunday. Pray that we connect with the right people, the people God has for us. 

Partnership

Please pray for DRIME’s partnership with TCCC. Pray that God would show us where we fit within the organization.

Sawadii-ka my friends!  

Thank you so much for your prayers & support. This isn’t possible without you!

RANDOM FACTS & EXPERIENCES

Farang: 

This is the Thai word for ‘white person.’ 

Popcorn Water:  

While waiting for Samantha at the hospital [she had an ear infection] I drank some water [they have trays of water in the waiting rooms] that tasted like popcorn – it was even a little bit oily. I’m serious…it tasted like an unsweetened popcorn flavoured jelly belly! Oh, and the water was a yellow colour too. Natti told me the water has a herb in it which is good for your kidneys!

Flower Sweets: 

You know how sometimes we put food colouring in our baking? And most times we put flavoring in it as well? Like Vanilla, Nutmeg, etc. Well, I’m discovering that here they flavor some of their baking like flowers! The other day I ate a little pastry which tasted like a flower! I’m not kidding – it tasted like I was eating Jasmine! It kind of threw off my taste buds – I definitely was not expecting that!

Sa-paghetti & Sa-teak: 

Sunday night Samantha & I had our first “farang” food since we arrived! Matt, another farang who has been a missionary in Bangkok for 2 years, took us to one of his favourite farang food places. We had chicken steak, spaghetti, garlic bread & fries – it was delicious [see picture below]! For the first time in 2.5 weeks we could read a menu because it was in English. This was an exciting night for us J Matt taught us how to say spaghetti & steak like Thai people say it: sa-paghetti [saa-pa-get-tee, emphasis on the tee] & sa-teak [saa-take, emphasis on the teak]! 

“Click Like”: 

This is a phrase that gets thrown around the TCCC [Thailand Campus Crusade for Christ] Office quite a bit! We learned it within the first few days we were here!  If someone agrees with something you said or likes what you said, they say “click like” while giving the thumbs up! [You know, like the ‘like’ button on Facebook.] Sometimes you even get a “double like” with two thumbs up! It’s adorable! Our friend Ning does this a lot & it always makes me smile!

 

IF YOU WANT MORE INFORMATION….

If you are interested, Samantha also has a blog www.samanthainthailand.blogspot.com and she is better at updating more frequently and with more details! So if you want to hear more about what’s been going on, check out her blog as well!

DRIME THAILAND BEGINNINGS

Samantha & I have spent most of our days working from the TCCC office [which is a 5 minute walk from our home!]. TCCC and more specifically Natti, Kung & Ning [TCCC staff] have graciously taken us in! They have helped us get settled in our rooms & are showing us how to live in Bangkok [where to eat, how to get around, etc]. They are also helping us get connected with different churches in the area so we can start sharing about DRIME. In the next two Sundays we are going to share about DRIME at 4 different churches! Since our first step in this base plant is to find leaders, we will be sharing with the churches what DRIME is about & how they can get involved – [become a leader, member, host a workshop, etc]. From there we will meet with anyone interested in leadership, get to know them and go through the application process with them. We already have a few people in mind for leadership, just from our interactions with them at TCCC! Praise the Lord for bringing quality people across our paths already! We have also been invited to share at a TCCC young professional’s event called Mingle Mania! Samantha & I are amazed at how doors are opening up already.

In addition to meeting with other staff at TCCC and sharing the vision of DRIME with them, we have also had the privilege of meeting with the National Director of TCCC! He is excited about the partnership between DRIME & their existing ministries and how DRIME can help contribute to their vision of seeing one million believers in Thailand by 2015! Did you know there are 12 390 000 people living in Bangkok and only 300 churches? Crazy, right? I am praying that God will use the DRIME Ministry to help empower local churches and believers to get out there and share their faith with their neighbors!

Ning & Kung, our new friends & Thai teachers!

Kung, Samantha, Natti & Me at the TCCC Office!

PRAYER REQUESTS

Transition

The transition from San Diego to Bangkok has been a little rough for me. Being in a completely new place has heightened my longing for what is familiar; it has made me miss my time & my friends in San Diego A LOT. Pray that I would find my comfort in God alone. Pray that I would be reminded daily how I need God more than anything else – more than friends, more than familiarity, etc. Please pray that I would fully engage with & embrace the culture & the people here.

Leaders

Pray for Samantha & I as we begin our search for the DRIME Thailand Leadership Team. We want to seek God first and be sensitive to His leading, in all things, but specifically in who we pursue for leadership. We need discernment & a lot of wisdom!

Health

Samantha is still getting over her cold from before we came and now has an ear infection. Pray healing for her! On another note, I am praising God because so far my nut allergy has caused no problems – no reactions!!

LEARNING HOW TO LIVE

Hello Friends! Well, Samantha & I have been living in Bangkok for 9 days now – in some ways it seem so much longer and in other ways so much shorter. But life’s like that isn’t it? These nine days have been very full of different activities & getting over jet-leg! I kept waking up at 6am with no alarm – which is very unlike me – and by 7pm I was falling-over-tired. Time change does strange things to the body & mind!

Samantha & I live in what they call a dorm, but its more like a hotel with long-term residents! We live very near a university, so our building is a mix of students and non-students. We each have our own small room with the basic necessities [bed, table, wardrobe, bathroom] and a few bonus items [mini fridge, internet, TV and air conditioning]. Since there are no kitchen facilities we eat out for all our meals [except breakfast – we keep some bread & fruit in our rooms]. Interesting fact about Bangkok: EVERYBODY eats out the majority of the time or they will order their food and take it home. When we asked why, our friends told us it is cheaper & does not consume as much time. The average meal [from street venders & small street restaurants] costs 30 Baht, which is $1. Samantha & I have been enjoying the delicious Thai food; we don’t always know what we are ordering, but so far everything has been eatable and for the most part amazing!

Above: My room Below: Papaya Salad, Chicken, Greens, Mango Sticky Rice...delicious food!

Samantha & I started taking Thai lessons from one of our friends; we are enjoying it but finding it a challenge! [I’m so glad I learned how to roll my r’s when I was in San Diego, it’s coming in handy here! Thanks Carlo & Pancho!] The language is so different from anything I’ve learned before. Besides new sounds, I also have to learn and remember what tone to say it in – rising, falling, high-pitched, low-pitched or medium-pitched – sometimes I can’t even hear the difference! One word can have many different meanings, depending on the tone you use. Talk about confusing!

Since our Thai is very limited at this point we find ourselves playing charades a lot! This morning Samantha & I walked to the 7-Eleven [which are EVERYWHERE by the way! They are more common in Bangkok than a Tim Hortons in Canada!] to get a decongestant for her. [7-Elevens carry everything you could possibly need – pharmacy, bakery, stationary, meals, snacks, drinks, phone credit…you name it and they probably have it!] So, I ended up having to act out sinus congestion to try and communicate with the lady what we needed! Another example, I was doing laundry this afternoon [I don’t have to wash clothes by hand because our building has a machine!] and the machine wouldn’t start. I went to the front office and tried to act out that I needed help with the laundry machine! I guess I’m brushing up on my acting skills! Thankfully we are meeting many people who speak English at the Thailand Campus Crusade for Christ [TCCC] office, which is an answer to our prayers.