Good Morning from Chiang Mai

Wow! After two long days of traveling I'm here in Chiang Mai where I will be for the summer. We got into Bangkok Wednesday night about 9:00. Larry Henderson met us at the airport and we went back to the church in Bangkok to spend the night. It was about 23:00 and we hadn't eaten anything for awhile so Jeremy Hegi and Ton took us down the street to get some noodles from a street vendor. They were delicious! After finishing our bowls we headed back to the church to sleep for a few hours. Larry wanted to show us a park that many people go to early in the morning to exercise so we got up at 5:00 to head over to the park. We walked around looked at some interesting aerobics going on and saw a big lizard like animal. The group picture is us in front of the pond in the park. After the park we headed back to the church but not before buying some Chinese pork dumplings. Also on the way back Jeremy bought us some interesting fruit that had crazy hair-like things growing out of it. When you popped it open it looked and tasted like a peeled grape, but it had a big seed in the middle of it. After eating a few of these, we headed to the ATM to get some money and then go to 7-Eleven to get some juice and breakfast stuff. We went back to the church, met the interns that will be staying there and joined in on their Bible study. Afterwards we packed up and headed to the airport. Our flight left about 13:35 so we had a little time to sit around in the airport.
We finally got to Chiang Mai about 14:45. We got our baggage and walked out into the arrival lobby to find a group of about 10 people waiting to meet us. They were very excited to meet us. Robert Reagan met us and loaded Casey, Marissa, and I up and took us back to Payap Christian Zone. He showed us around and let us unpack. On the first floor, it's just a hang out place. There is a ping pong table and couches and plenty of cards. After we unpacked, Marissa and I went downstairs to meet people and hang out. Casey went with some of the other interns to be interviewed by someone. While Marissa and I were sitting down stairs one of the girls asked Marissa if she knew how to play Nertz. At that moment I knew I had come to the right place. ;) I joined in and we played for about an hour until the electricity went out because of a rain storm. We went upstairs where some girls were cooking for cell group that night. It was almost time to eat so we set up a table and sat down. We ate and then went back downstairs to have a devo. It was a great first day in Chiang Mai! Everyone is really friendly and I know that this summer is going to be great.

You Say Goodbye and I Say Hello or Sawatdee Khrab

After saying goodbye to everyone for the past three weeks is getting tiring. As you leave college you say goodbye to those who have graduated, those who aren't coming back, and those you'll see again, but not for a very long time. I'm ready to hello. Say hello to all the new people I will be meeting this summer. Say hello to all the students at the church I will be working with. Say sawatdee khrab to all the people I might meet on the street or on the Payap campus. I'm ready to start this adventure and let God use me for his work in Thailand. Please pray for my team safe travel and for us to get adjusted quickly. Also pray for the people we will be working with and for them to be open to the Gospel. Thank you for your support and my next post will be from Thailand. =)

Crazy Asians

Yesterday we started our pre-classes leading up to leaving for Thailand on the 29th. We have a man who is working on getting the word out to missionaries about the tragic epidemic of AIDS/HIV. It is sad to hear the thousands, really even millions, effected by this tragic virus. Today we heard of all the people effected in Thailand. It gives me a perspective of the people we will be encountering. These people are living in one of the most effected countries in Asia. Please pray for the Thai people's awareness of this virus and for them to work towards preventing the spread of this disease. Also please keep my team in your prayers as we can minister to these people and all the Thai people we might be in contact with. Here is a picture of the team so you can put a name to a face as you pray for us this summer.
From left: Nathan Ritter, Cassie Tamez, Adam Browning, Marissa Walker, and Me.

It's almost here

In a little over two weeks I will be traveling with 4 other ACU students to Chiang Mai, Thailand to spend my summer there. I hope to be able to have weekly posts on this blog to let everyone back home what has been going on. I'm really excited and am very appreciative of everyone's support so far. Please keep my team in your prayers during the whole summer. Their names are; Adam Browning, Nathan Ritter, Cassandra Tamez, and Marissa Walker. I will have a picture of us soon.