New People, New Faces, New Beginnings

It’s been a while since my last post and many things been going on. The Payap interns, Jason, Marvin, Kyle, Pui, Un, Amp, Erika, Casey, Marissa, and I, along with Robert Reagan, the missionary here, went to have some bonding time up on the mountain at Crazy Horse rock climbing. We climbed up the mountain and then repelled down into a cave. It was lots of fun climbing around and doing some outdoor adventure stuff. We stayed there most of the day and enjoyed getting out and doing something new. We have been having more and more people coming to the zone for English class and just to hang out. Each week we have cell group on Thursday night where we eat and then have a devo together. Our group is growing every week. God is working in great ways here! We are having many non-Christians starting to want to know more about this Christian thing. It is awesome that Christians that were brought to the zone as non-Christians are now teaching their friends about Christ. There are some amazing stories of how many of these students have found Christ out of Buddhism. Please pray for all these new Christians and for them to share their story with their friends.
“Friday Night Live” is one of the activities the zones, Payap and Chueng Doi, do to get to know new people. The first one we had this summer was a scavenger hunt around the area of town where Chueng Doi is located. We had lots of fun trying to get a picture of some random things. I’ll put up pictures on facebook of all these things soon. So, if you have facebook, check ‘em out. We had lots of fun and by the way my team won! It was a good time to meet new people. After we watched the pictures of each group we hung out for a long time just having a time of chillin’.
Last Sunday the church at Payap had a fellowship meal at P’Rang’s house. We had some amazing fried chicken and homemade French fries. It was a delicious meal, and the best part is that Minter brownies have made it to Thailand. After many hours of searching for ingredients, especially the chocolate and peanut butter chips, Marissa and I made some very delicious brownies. Everyone at the meal enjoyed the brownies so much that they were all gone when we left. It was a great time of singing and fellowshipping with the church members and some of the new students. Kyle Miller told of how much he enjoyed Chiang Mai and then we took him to the airport to send him back to the states. His time here was short, but like all of us he talked of how he has been touched by the people here in Thailand.
The next day, on our Sabbath, we went out to a waterfall and hung out for several hours. It was very relaxing and refreshing to just sit in the cold water and listen to people play the guitar. We also went down a short waterfall into a little pond. It was fun until the current picked up. I went off the little waterfall and got pulled back around behind the waterfall before I could grab the side. A little Thai guy had to come pull me out. It was a funny experience. After we left the waterfall we went and hung out at a cool coffee shop close to Chueng Doi called Mo’s. It was a very relaxing day. That night I started to feel sick. It started on Sunday afternoon, but then it got worse on Monday and Monday night I didn’t sleep much. I felt so gross and the next morning I went to the chemist around the corner and some medicine. I made it through equipping time, but then I had to go back to sleep. I fell asleep on a couch upstairs while everyone went on campus. Then about 1:00, I woke up to the desk in the room shaking and making noise. I had no idea what was going on, but I found out later it was an earthquake. Monday night and Tuesday were rough days trying to get over being sick. Wednesday was really refreshing because I got out of the zone and hung out at Chueng Doi in the morning and then Robert took us to his new house that is being built. It was nice to do something different one day. On Wednesday night we had a great time of prayer. We went up to the third floor here at the zone and sang and prayed for about an hour. I really enjoy hearing prayer requests from the students here. It allows me to realize these people are going through stuff as well as myself. It also reminds me of our Friday prayer time with the Minter U. I love this time during the week.
On Thursday we had a time of solitude. Each of us was asked to go to a place and not talk to anyone and listen to what God had to tell us. I felt led to go to Starbucks. I know you are thinking Mark and Starbucks…solitude? Well it was an amazing day. I got my coffee went upstairs and prayed for a while and then listened to what God wanted to say. God showed me many scriptures that hit me where I needed to be hit. Lately I have been struggling with judging others and worrying about how people judge me. God allowed me to stop worrying about this and give it to him so it can’t get in the way of his work. It was a great day of reflecting on what has gone one so far here in Thailand and to be refreshed by God’s word. After about 6 hours of solitude we met back and went back to the zone. Thursday night is cell group. This week Amp cooked cashew chicken and it was “arroi” (delicious). Aong, the student I mentioned before that started coming just recently, was the MC for the night. He had to have an icebreaker game and introduce everything. It was a great time to see him getting involved in an upfront position. Also we had 36 people at cell group!!!!! It was awesome because Robert was telling us that usually they only have about 15-20 people. This group is growing every meeting, and it is awesome.
So I bet you are getting tired of reading, but there is still more going on here. This past weekend we had an English Camp on Doi Sutep, which is the mountain on the border of the city. We had 40 people from both churches. We had several students come that had never been to the zone, and now they are signed up to come to English classes during the week. It was a great to be able to be out of the city and hang out in nature and just hang out with everyone.
I pray that you all are safe and having a blessed summer. Please keep praying for all the new students here at the zone, Aong, Bon, Pui, Pun, Arree, Oil, and Dome to name a few. Also please pray for all the interns here at the zone, Un, Amp, Marvin, Jason, Marissa, Erika, Casey, and myself to keep strength spiritually and physically. God bless each of you in all you are doing this summer.