Catching Up

I've been dreading updating this blog for so long. So much time has passed since my last post that I can't think of where to start. I ended up helping out with teaching for about 3 weeks and at the end we had a graduation for the 60 or so students. It was quite the affair! I think a little more organization could've gone into it, but I guess it's over and they're all happy to receive their certificates. The graduation ended up being a prime witnessing opportunity, especially with the parents there. At times I felt the information thrown at them was a little too deep theologically (Michael preached), but hopefully they at least got a small picture of the gospel.

While down in Supan Buri Alison and I also had a chance to take a Sunday off and travel to the Bridge over River Kwai. It was nice to take a break and be a "tourist"- although generally I hate that feeling. Upon arriving in Kenchanburi we rented a little bike thing that Alison and I could barely fit in (yes, I'm gaining weight) and went to a couple museums, a large cemetery, and the bridge. There was a lot of interesting history to learn about. After wandering around a bit we decided to visit a tiger temple. We snagged a taxi and took off. It ended up being more like a haven for half dead/doped-up tigers. Not as exciting as I expected, nevertheless I got a picture with one. Following the thrilling tiger experience we went to a 7-tiered waterfall of which we only got to see two tiers (the other 5 were closed off). We still had a blast and the falls were pretty.

On the night of the 7th, Alison and I caught a bus from Bangkok back to Chiang Mai and met up with the rest of the group to make plans for Christmas break. When we arrived at the center Melissa was frantically trying to assemble some brochures and posters for the Jesus for Asia booth at GYC. We all helped her with that and got them done at the last minute before she had to fly out for the States (those of you attending GYC, be sure to stop by the Jesus for Asia booth). The next day we had a meeting about our travel plans for Christmas break. Rob, Phoebe, Alison and I are now in Cambodia after a super long couple days of traveling. Thankfully no major mishaps occured at the border when getting our visas, etc. We arrived at the Adventist School late Thursday night (after our tuk-tuk drivers got us slightly lost). On Sunday morning we left for Phnom Penh (about a 7 hr. ride from the school) at 3 in the morning. Quite frankly I'm a little tired of traveling, but since it's the only time I'm sure I'll ever be here, I guess it's worth it. Right now we're just waiting on our visas for Vietnam to go through. They are supposed to be done tomorrow- so we'll hopefully take a bus tomorrow afternoon to the border, spend a few days there and come back to Phnom Penh. I'd really like to visit places around Phnom Penh (killing fields, etc.). When I was younger I read a book about the mass genocides that took place in Cambodia during the 70's. It's interesting to actually be here and see it first hand. I'm thankful I have the opportunity to visit all these countries. The other day towards the end of worship we were talking about traveling and dealing with cultural differences, etc. We were expressing the difficulty of merging into a totally different lifestyle. When we were talking I realized Christ experienced the same thing, yet on a slightly grander scale. He, after living in heaven and being exalted and worshipped by all, stooped down to earth just so we could have an opportunity to experience eternal life. Sometimes I feel like I've been in Thailand for eternity and I find myself reminiscing about home, but I guess there is no place on this earth that can truly be called our home. I can't forget that Christ came to this world and went through a drastic culture shock, so we could go to our true home one of these days. I don't know if this makes sense, but it gave me a little something to think about. Anyway, I hope you are all enjoying the Christmas season back home! It's a little tough to get in the spirit when we're in 90 degree weather and surrounded by coconut trees. Oh well- have a great Christmas everyone and I'll see you in 5 months!