What?! Already?!

Can 8 weeks really have gone by already? We are finishing up our debriefing and re-entry sessions and will soon begin the 48-hour journey back to Minnesota - 2 ferries, 2 buses and 2 planes ahead of us. From the tropics to Minnesota in 2 days - what a contrast! Reflecting on the internship we have been encouraged as we recount the ways God has worked in and through us. We all return different people than we were before and we look forward to sharing our stories with you and hearing about what has been going on in your lives as well.

Reunions to come!

Sheng and I are leaving Bangkok tomorrow to catch up with the group by Thursday. There is a very good chance that we will not have Internet access until we arrive back in Minnesota, so this could be the last blog update until we return to Minne-snow?-ta. We look forward to seeing all of you on December 14! For those of you who are picking students up, we are scheduled to land at 10:30 am. We will have to go through immigration before getting our luggage. Please bring winter jackets. I assure you - they are not necessary here! :)

Happy Birthday to the King!

(From Thailand) Today, December 5, is the King of Thailand's birthday. Last night at Santisuk's Friday evening service, we held a special candlelight service in honor of the King. We sang special songs and lit candles at the end while singing a patriotic Thai song. The atmosphere was very much like Christmas - when, of course, we celebrate the birth of another King. It was a blessing to see how much the Thai people love and respect their king!

Good news: Sheng is out of the hospital!! Better news: I tried to book us on a flight out of Bangkok on Wednesday (she has a follow-up appointment at the hospital on Tuesday) but was told the earliest flight was late Saturday evening. Last night I got a text message saying that there is room on the flight we originally wanted on Wednesday. It looks like we'll be able to join the rest of the team by mid-afternoon Thursday!!

Island Update

Most of the team is back at the base after our first village stay. The people welcomed us and we had many interesting experiences. We learned that noodles are for breakfast while rice is for lunch and dinner. Squid is actually pretty tasty if it's cooked the right way. We learned how to bathe at the well, row a boat while facing forward and standing up (not as easy as it looks - one student did end up in the water), and weave palm leaves into rice steamers. On the last evening all the women on the team were dressed in local attire and taught traditional dances. The men apparently just stand around and watch! The days seemed to fly by and it was hard to leave. One and a half days of R&R and further training back at the base and we are off to another village tomorrow.

A Light in the Darkness

Two text messages I received from the team's hosts on Monday both indicated that they were "having fun." Although that was not the purpose of a trip like this, I'm sure it was certainly appreciated to have a down day after a month full of 7-days-a-week outreach in Bangkok. They are stationed, so to speak, at a resort off the coast of Singapore, and were scheduled to go to a nearby island on Tuesday after some cultural orientation. Dr. Morgan called Tuesday night to say the group was doing well in their new location and that the hosts were impressed by our team's willingness to "put up with less than ideal situations." He then looked at the time and realized he needed to hightail back to his quarters before the generator turned off for the night - presumeably throwing the village into darkness. I hope his phone had a flashlight on it in case he didn't make it. :)

As for Sheng, her doctors have been hinting for a couple of days now that she could be released on Friday. Nothing for sure yet, but as we learned from our wonderful hostess in Beijing, Joann, "Plans can't keep up with changes." In other words, flexibility is the key. Different scenarios regarding our Bangkok departure play out in our minds daily as we receive each update. In the mean time, Sheng has been pondering how she can be a light even in her hospital room. I'll be heading over there shortly to see if she's come up with anything yet.

Two groups: one focus

From Dr. Morgan: 20 of us arrived in Singapore yesterday (Friday), minus Sheng and Melea. Several on the team learned early on that different countries have different laws about what's acceptable and what isn't. Six of the students spent three hours being questioned by the Singapore security police at the airport due to what was apparently considered questionable items in their luggage. They were eventually let go and expressed appreciation for how polite everyone was.

Our time in Singapore is brief, but we are enjoying interaction with other believers in this very multi-cultural city. Tomorrow (Sunday) we are involved in a two-hour service before we take the ferry to our next destination. We don't know what Internet access will be like there, so don't worry if you don't see new updates in the next week or so.

From Melea: Sheng and I have been spending lots of time together in the hospital. The updates vary depending on which doctor is giving updates (there's a team of 3-4 doctors working with her). An update on Sunday indicated possibly three more weeks; the update yesterday was that she could be released as early as the end of this week. She's currently receiving drops in her eye at least once every hour, sometimes 2-3 per hour (3 different drops on 3 different application schedules). Her eye is steadily improving; it's just a matter of time. The damage done to her eye happened very very quickly; even the doctors were surprised at how quickly the infection spread between Thursday evening and Saturday when she was admitted to this hospital. We don't know why this had to happen at this time, but Sheng said she's had a lot of time to reflect and spend time with the Father - time she often didn't have when surrounded by her teammates.

Despite being in two locations, we can still fulfill His purposes wherever we are planted for the moment (a la Acts 8:4). We hope!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our team here is just finishing up a fine Thanksgiving potluck feast featuring some stir-fry varieties, chicken, duck, corn, mashed potatoes, rice, candied pumpkin, bread, pizza, mangoes, pineapple, mangosteens, numerous dishes I can't name (because they probably don't have an equivalent in English), and of course pumpkin pie. We are so full we didn't even realize that no one remembered the Cool Whip! :)

Yesterday was our final day of classes and many on our team discovered that it is a Thai tradition for students to take their teachers out to eat after the final class. Some went to the mall for ice cream, some to Vietnamese restaurants, others to a variety of other great spots. The ICS students are saying their good-byes to their students and are finding it hard to leave after having invested a considerable amount of time in teaching and friendship-building in Bangkok.

Health and travel update (to keep in your prayers): Tomorrow the team leaves for Singapore bright and early - 6:45 am departure from Santisuk. Sheng will not be traveling with the group (and I will be staying behind with her). The doctors are putting drops in her eyes every hour - and the medicine is doing its job and clearing up the infection beautifully, so now it's just a matter of time until the infection is gone. We are still not sure how long that will be (days or weeks), so we ask for quick healing so we can join the rest of the group.

Some very thankful news is that Dr. Morgan found out that the hospital that Sheng is at is one of the top two hospitals for eye care in Bangkok. He found this out from a Thai person who'd suffered a condition which nearly blinded him and this hospital had treated him. Also, when I called today to cancel Sheng's and my tickets to Singapore, the agent said we can simply "cancel and postpone" - which means that when we do have a set date, we can call and they will rebook us - at no charge!!!

Truly some things to be thankful for!!

Requesting "Knee-mail"

Last Thursday evening in class, Sheng kept leaving the room to fix her contact lenses which were bothering her. On Friday, it was obvious that a trip to the doctor was necessary. The doctors at Vejthani Hospital (next door to us) gave her some medication and recommended that if it didn't get better to visit the doctors at Rama Hospital, where she could see an eye specialist. We took her to Rama on Saturday, and after some testing, the eye specialists determined that she had a bacterial infection in her eye. She has been in the hospital since then, where the very-qualified medical team is monitoring her progress.

The good news is that they are sure of what kind of infection it is and so are able to treat her. The difficult part is that she will not be able to travel with the group to Singapore on Friday as the doctors want to keep her in the hospital until her eye is sufficiently better. We are hopeful that she will heal completely and will be able to join the group soon. As of this time, we are not sure how long she will have to remain in Thailand. We ask for your prayers for quick healing so that she (and I, who will stay behind with her) will be able to join the team as soon as possible!

Of course it's no fun having to deal with hospital stays in foreign countries. We are simply thankful that Thailand has excellent health care and that Sheng is in good hands. The rest of the team has been visting her in shifts and keeping her spirits up.

Thank you for your prayers!

Land of a Million Elephants... and Crocodiles...

Four of the cell groups took off on Saturday to visit the Ancient City and a crocodile farm. At the Ancient City, we rode bikes around and saw a lot of historical buildings. The city itself isn't exactly ancient but rather a replica of what life in Thailand was like before it became modern. Amy M said that even though her bicycle didn't work very well, she still had fun spending time with her cell group.

The crocodile farm lives up to its name, boasting upwards of 300 crocodiles in one spot (or, as Dana estimates, "A trillion, at least"). Dan challenged Dave to jump in and fight one of the larger crocs, but Dave, very wisely, claimed that that would probably be a very stupid thing to do. The group watched a crocodile show in which the participants (trained professionals) stuck their hands and heads inside the crocodiles' mouths. Needless to say, we will not be trying this at home.


We also watched an elephant show at the crocodile farm. The elephants walked on a tightrope, rode skateboards, painted paintings, and danced to music. We also had the opportunity to ride the elephants. The elephant drivers were quite amused by us since this was the first elephant ride for most of the Americans.


Amy M was a little disappointed that no students came along on the Saturday excursions, although she spent a lot of time with them throughout the rest of the weekend - bowling, going to movies, a trip to the beach, and some shopping time at the markets. One of her students, who looks remarkably like Johnny Depp, commented that Dr. Morgan reminds him a lot of Sean Connery. The autograph line starts here.

"Mai Pen Rai"

It's fun to see this culture through new eyes. I was in Thailand for the first time as a college student in 1990 and it's exciting to watch a new generation of students experience and learn things about Thailand which I learned so many years ago. I hope that they will fall in love with the people (and the food!) like I did, and will come back again and again!

There's a frustrating beauty to life in Thailand, summed up in the phrase "Mai pen rai." The literal translation is "not is thing" ("it's nothing"). The Thai use it frequently in situations where we would say "you're welcome," "nevermind," "don't worry about it," "it's not the end of the world," "oops," and those times when we may resort to thoughts we don't wish to make public. In general, Thai thought revolves around the mentality that life happens and you just go with the flow. When there are bumps in the road, the correct response is a smile, a shrug, and "mai pen rai."

The ICS students are beginning to see how relevant "mai pen rai" is to life here. Some have expressed frustration at not understanding expectations. Correct response? Smile, shrug, "Mai pen rai." Others were confused about scheduling of classes and how the timetable may have said one thing but Thai students and staff seemed to understand something else. Smile, shrug, "Mai pen rai." More recently, a few were surprised to find out that their Thai co-teachers were going on a retreat - for a week - and thus wouldn't be able to teach their classes - and, of course, we weren't informed until a couple days before. Can't speak enough Thai to teach those entry level courses? Smile, shrug, "Mai pen rai."

Perhaps the biggest thing ICS students can learn on a trip like this is flexibility. The greatest asset to anyone who desires to work cross-culturally, besides a solid biblical worldview, is a smile, a shrug, and a great big "Mai pen rai."

Halfway there.. already?

At our team meeting on Friday, Dr. Morgan pointed out that as of this coming Monday, we will be half way through our teaching time here at Santisuk ... as well as halfway through the internship. Already? We're still getting to know each other!

Overall, the students have had some wonderful experiences in both China and Thailand thus far. We would ask, however, for your prayers regarding overall health and team unity. A couple individuals have come down with colds (which it sounds like our friends back in Minnesota are also dealing with!) and discovered that it's not so fun to teach in a tropical climate with a runny nose and sore throat. Thankfully, the hospital (which is where one would find a regular doctor's office in Thailand) is only a block away and knows just the medicine to prescribe. Those of us who were feeling a bit under the weather are currently enjoying the weather with big smiles and renewed energy.

Due to our varied teaching schedules, it's also been hard to find regular times to meet as a large group. Please ask that we can find times to meet, just to check in, see how everyone's doing, and share experiences. With a group our size, there have been quite a few wonderful experiences to share!

Friday Night Fellowship

Santisuk's weekly Friday night service took on a new twist Friday night as we focused on the nation of Thailand and looked at how many people in this beautiful country are still walking in darkness. After the opening songs in both Thai and English, we looked at some maps of Thailand's different provinces. The room had not been set up with chairs, which made it easier for us to move around and form a human map of Thailand, so to speak. People from the Bangkok area sat on the floor and became the nucleus of the "map." The next layer was made up of people from the southern regions of Thailand (as largely represented by Filipino members of the congregation), who sat in a circle around them. The next layer was made up of people from the Isaan region of northeastern Thailand (the area bordering Laos and Cambodia), and then the northern areas (between Myanmar and Laos). The outer-most layer was made up of friends from Ireland and America (a.k.a. us).

We spent the entire time in prayer for each region, starting with a time of prayer for the king of Thailand - the longest-reigning monarch in history - who has not been in good health. We asked for strength and health for him. The Thai people love their king. In fact, it has been said that the Thai show more reverence and honor for their king than many Christians show for theirs. Certainly we know that we have much to learn from our Thai friends about what it means to live in a kingdom!

English4Fun

Never a dull moment at Santisuk English School! Yesterday two of the cell groups organized activities for English4Fun, which was a fun time for all of the students. The second hour of each of the four two-hour class sessions during the day saw all of us up on the 5th floor (where Friday night services are normally held) for some fun and games.

"Eng4Fun" opened with a skit about Mona's Body Shop, where Joel, dissatisfied with his body, decided to go to ask for a few upgrades. Mona introduced him to a few of the latest styles. He tried out Chris E's athletic body so he could play soccer and basketball better, but that wasn't enough because he wanted to impress the girls. So he tried on the second model and got to try out some of Chris V's suave dance moves. Very cool, but still not good enough because he also wanted smooth skin and straight hair and real beauty. Mona put him in a straight-haired smooth-skinned beautiful new body (Sweety) but Joel realized that that made him a girl, and that hadn't exactly been his intention either. Mona said she was out of new models but she still had his old shell left. When he stepped into it, he was amazed at how wonderful he felt! When he tried to pay Mona up to a million baht for his "new" body, she refused and said it was free because it was the body God had given him in the first place. As follow-up to the skit, we split into smaller groups and answered some questions about ourselves. Thai culture, like American culture, places a huge emphasis on exterior beauty. People on both sides of the ocean fret over their appearances and often aren't satisfied with what they've got!

Following the discussion, Joel led us in a new and funny song. Then Sweety came up and gave her testimony about how her life changed after she met her savior (with translation into Thai). I'm not sure she realized how much her story mirrored that of many Thai people? She ended with Romans 8:37-39.

The hour ended with the game "Two Truths and a Lie," which we played in our small groups again. Those who have been students at Santisuk for awhile must really enjoy "Eng4Fun" days. My two classes had the best attendance they've had in awhile!

Weekend Events

Life flows at a bit of a slower pace in Thailand, yet we are still plenty busy! On Friday, one team led games from 10-12 and 1-3 for students. Others went out around town with friends. I did the more mundane shopping trip to Tesco Lotus (the Thai Target) to pick up a few things and ran into a sweet girl named Aey working in the cereal aisle who wanted to help me choose which frosted flakes to buy. She actually wanted to practice her English, and, long story short, I was able to tell her about English classes at Santisuk School and invited her to our Friday evening activities. She had to work, but we exchanged phone numbers and hopefully we can meet up again. I know that I'm only here for a few weeks, yet there are opportunities to hook her up with local people who care about her eternal destination. I hope all of the ICS students can discover how even "mundane" activities can be used to fit into a Bigger Plan!

The school offers dinner on Friday evenings for 90 cents, followed by a church service. The service is conducted in both Thai and English. Last night, Chris V and Noelle assisted the very dynamic Thai music team, Chris E, Amy M, and Amy S shared a short drama, and Dr. Morgan gave the message with Pastor Steve (from the school) translating into Thai. We welcomed two new Thai people to our fellowship (along with 22 Americans!) and afterwards celebrated 5 birthdays for church members ranging in age from 1-59.

Today, Saturday, was also full of activities.

• Some played basketball in the school parking lot at 8:30 am - enough people came to form 5 teams, so they took turns playing. They finished well before noon to avoid the heat.
• Some opted to go with some Santisuk staff and students to the Floating Market on the outskirts of Bangkok, famous for its long boats floating on the canal selling various things. (Sarah said they didn't actually get to buy things on the water, but they did get to ride in a boat).
• About 10 went with a Santisuk group to Bangsue, an area of Bangkok we would call "the projects." There they played with children, led songs, played games, taught English, and provided the kids with a safe haven where they could forget about the worries of life for a few hours.

Tomorrow morning our cell groups meet. We hope that many of the students we've gotten to know in class this past week will be able to join us!

Charming Thailand

In a group meeting yesterday we shared first impressions of Thailand as we transition from one Asian culture to another. Ruth raved about the food, Katrina appreciated the relaxed way of life here (very different from China), and Dana was intrigued to discover how endearing the Thai people are. Some of us went to the annual Loy Khrathong Festival on Monday night, a Thai festival where people put small lighted banana leaf boats on the rivers and canals in the hopes of receiving forgiveness from the water goddess for making the water dirty. Charles shared that he learned that if your boat tips over, your prayers were not answered and you won't receive forgiveness, which means you have to go to the wat (temple), lie in a coffin-like structure for 30 minutes, and have a monk chant over you to make things right again. His heart broke as he began to see firsthand the spiritual bondage that some of our new friends are in.

After 2 1/2 days in the classroom - on the other side of the podium - our group is learning a whole lot more about what goes on in a classroom! For the most part the students enjoy their new role as teachers. Our school, Santisuk (sahn - tee - sook), which is Thai for "peace," is serious about teaching English in the classroom and equally as serious about developing friendships with students outside of the classroom. We teach four days a week, leaving 3-day weekends to go shopping or sight-seeing with our new Thai friends. We are also encouraged to invite the students to dinner and church services on Friday nights and cell group meetings on Sunday morning. The cell group that I and 3 NWC students are in is planning to meet at "the Mall" on Sunday morning. We've found that the mall has a waterpark on the roof - not exactly what we'd had in mind when the words "cell group" first entered our minds! But we're willing to sacrifice and meet wherever our cell group leader tells us to... :)

Changing Countries, Changing Seasons

Wow, what a difference a flight can make! We left China on Saturday for Bangkok, Thailand. On Sunday, the temperature in Beijing was 28 degrees with snow; in Bangkok, it was over 28 Celcius with bright sun. (That translates to the high 80s). We'll take it!

I apologize for the infrequent updates in China. We were not able to access blogs there, and the last two days we couldn't even access the Internet to email updates home. A quick summary - the ELIC teachers felt blessed that we could come alongside them; many of our students had some great conversation with the Chinese students, and some of those students discovered that the ELIC teachers were more approachable than they'd thought. We hope that some longer term relationships will be formed between Chinese students and their teachers who will stay for the long haul while we have to move on.

Our group had to split up for a couple days. One of the students came down with the flu (no, not THAT one) and the doctor recommended she quarantine herself for a few days. She and I stayed in the home of our wonderful hostess Joann (who did some amazing coordination for our stay in China); the rest of the group took an overnight train to X'ian, a city famous for its terracotta warriors. One of the students was impacted by the statue warriors, which are in a tomb of an ancient Chinese leader to accompany him in the afterlife, and the verse about building up treasures in heaven and not on earth. It was evident how time had worn down the earthly "treasures" on display. She realizes now even more than before that that which we are doing in building relationships with people today can have a positive, eternal impact which moth and rust cannot destroy.

We are now reunited in Bangkok and the NWC students are learning their new roles as English teachers at Santisuk English School. I look forward to hearing their thoughts on teaching English in Asia!

This is China...

Saturday found us hanging out with new Chinese university friends, most of whom took groups of us to the Temple of Heaven or other sites around Beijing. We met some of these Chinese friends in classrooms on Thursday and some more at "English Corner" - a spot on the People's University campus reserved every Friday night for Beijingers to come and practice speaking English. Most come expecting to talk to other Chinese people and were vere excited to find about 20 Americans there to practice their English on! Our students really enjoyed English Corner, and they've been excited to see some connections they've been able to make with their new friends.
Today (Sunday) we visited a local fellowship and experienced something which is so familiar to us in a totally different language. We couldn't understand the words, but we enjoyed being with our brothers and sisters and were encouraged by what we saw.
Parents, have no fear, your children are NOT going hungry!! For Sunday lunch we feasted on snowpeas and fried peanuts and Chinese hashbrowns and kung pao chicken and sweet and sour pork and eggplant and spicy fish soup and ... and ... and ...
Many brave souls also opted to try the quintessential Chinese cuisine you won't find at Leean Chin's: dog. I have to admit that I wasn't quite so adventurous when I was here as a college student! We ordered enough so everyone could get just a taste. (For the record, it does not taste like chicken.)
We will be back in the classrooms on Monday, meeting hundreds of new Chinese students and hoping to make whatever connections we can in the short time we'll have with them.

The Race Begins!

The Beijing Race, that is. Yesterday we grouped up with students from a local university who took us around Beijing a la The Amazing Race. Each group was to go to 2 of 4 different suggested locations and do certain things throughout the journey (like find an unusual potato chip flavor or find in which dynasty the Bell and Drum Towers were built). The points for the winning team have yet to be tallied, though I would surmise that the group I was in found the "most different" drink - asparagus juice. The event kept us awake, helped us navigate the Beijing subway system, and most importantly, introduced us to some Chinese students who were very eager to make friendships.



Today found the group in English classrooms at People's University - the #3 university in all of China. These students are among the brightest in all of China (and, as sophomores, had amazing English skills). Each of the 4 groups of 5 ICS students sat in classrooms of 4 different ELIC (English Language Institute/China) teachers and became an interactive part of the lessons. Our students were able, to an extent, to connect with some of these students in ways which the ELIC teachers have not been able to do (possibly because of the prestige of the university).

Everybody is doing well, adjusting to the 13-hour time difference, and hoping to get a good night's sleep tonight in preparation for our trip to the Great Wall tomorrow day and an English Corner at People's University (where anyone in Beijing can come to "practice English") in the evening.

And They're Off!

After about 16 hours of flight time and 2 hours in the Narita Airport in Japan, we are safely in Beijing! The flights were uneventful (as they should be) and everyone arrived healthy and ready for a good night's sleep. We are staying in a guesthouse near the university where our hosts work and will spend the day today (Wednesday) meeting some Chinese students who will help up learn our way around town. The only site we've seen thus far was the Bird's Nest (Olympics), which we drove past last night on our way from the airport to the guesthouse. It was too late at night to be lit up, but at least we can say we saw it (at least those of us who were still awake!).

Almost to the starting gate...

Let me introduce myself, as I'm the Primary Blog Updater. My name is Melea (rhymes with "Maria"), I just got back from teaching English in SE Asia for four years, and I'm excited to see this fall's group of students getting excited about going overseas themselves, especially as we'll be spending a significant amount of time in one of my favorite countries in the world, Thailand.

I've had the students over for dinner in their travel groups (they're divided into 4 groups of 5) and it's been a blessing to get to know them a bit better before the actual trip starts. Each travel group has its own personality, so to speak, and it will be fun seeing all of the students interacting with each other. They have amazing hearts to reach people with a life-changing message.

I know it's tough for parents to give up their children (even in their 20s) for two months, especially when "over there" is 12 time zones away and there's a mentality that "anything can happen." The sobering reality is that "anything" can happen even while still in Minnesota, which is why we ask for your prayers for safety and protection even before leaving. Two of the students were involved in a fender bender yesterday on the wet roads while on their way to an eggroll making fundraiser. They're doing fine; probably shaken up more than anything. It's just that subtle reminder that life IS precious, nothing can be taken for granted, and the lesson which may prepare them most for overseas travel - the day's agenda that you woke up often has nothing to do with what actually transpires during the day. Anything CAN happen, and we just pray that whatever does happen will give glory to the One who is sending us.

On your mark, get set, ...

The fall ICS internship group at Northwestern is excited to go to Asia! To use the analogy of a horserace, I'm not sure if we're running down to the wire at this moment or just getting into the starting gate; perhaps a bit of both. As far as packing and shots and country reports and Quad 1 finals go, the students would probably agree that it's a race to the finish right now. However, it's also preparation for entering the starting gate (after going through security on the way, of course) as we prepare to take off for untold adventures on the literal other side of the world.

The students are working on some final fundraising projects these last two weeks before boarding the plane. We would love to be fully funded before leaving! Please pray for wisdom, discernment, and sanity for us as we start on our journey together.