Happy Thanksgiving - and Beyond!

Our weekend was a full one, going in many different directions as students and their cell groups went on various outreach events.  We kicked things off with a Thanksgiving party in the parking lot on Friday night during Santisuk's normal service time.  Over 50 people ate chicken, duck, mashed potatoes, stuffing, stir-fried vegetables, mangos, and quite a variety of other foods together after hearing Pastor Steve share the history of Thanksgiving.  After dinner, we sang songs, played games, and listened as Amy N shared what it means to give thanks.  Mo, from my cell group, stated on Sunday morning that she had been really excited to celebrate Thanksgiving with us as this was her first Thanksgiving ever - and wished that the party could have gone on longer! 

Weekend events included visits to the Grand Palace, the weekend market, the floating market, two different beaches, and an amusement park.  Cassidy, who went to Pattaya, said she enjoyed the weekend though was saddened to see the business in the red light district there.  At another beach called Rayong, Krista enjoyed riding a "banana boat" with three of her Business Correspondence students while Reilly's six students made him try new foods - coconut juice out of the coconut, durian chips, and a Thai jellied dessert.  Amy R and Ashley said the amusement park trip with the Santisuk youth group was exciting (or perhaps more exciting for the kids than for them, yet they enjoyed the day).  The Northwestern students who went to the Grand Palace were glad to have been warned ahead of time to wear appropriate clothes (which, ironically, the Thai students hadn't prepared for) - knees covered, shoulders covered, no ripped jeans, etc.  Never fear, one could rent the proper clothes outside the gate for a small fee before going in to see one of Thailand's most historical sites.

We're enjoying the time with our Thai students - and are excited when they join our cell groups!

Teaching at Santisuk

I'm spending the day observing our students in their new roles as teachers.  They're enjoying their task!  And probably learning more about English grammar than they ever dreamed they might.  As the saying goes, the best way to learn something is to teach it.  And teaching is anything but boring.  Just ask Anastasia and Kristen, pictured here.  Kristen (left) is watching a short skit about a prince in a dream, performed by her students; Ana (right) is listening to sentences her students make up using new vocabulary on the board. I'm sure the rest of the team all have stories to tell you when we get back home!

Seeing Pattaya with Eyes Wide Open

Each weekend the Northwestern students and their respective cell groups go on different outings with their Thai students.  Most of them are in and around Bangkok, while some go out a bit further and even include overnight stays at popular destinations which Thai students (and American ones, too!) would love to go to.  One popular destination which three of our students and a Thai youth group went to this past weekend is Pattaya, a popular beach destination about 100 miles from Bangkok.  Pattaya is well-known to Thai and "falang" (foreigners) alike.  There is a sizable foreign population living in Pattaya, especially retirees from Western nations who find the prices in Thailand more agreeable to their pension budgets.  And naturally there is a good-sized group of Thai living in Pattaya working in the tourism industry.

In preparation for this trip, our students read a book by David Livermore called Serving With Eyes Wide Open.  The gist of the book is to be aware of cultural differences and basically to expect the unexpected.  Three of our students felt that their eyes were opened when they came face to face with one of Pattaya's darker industries, catering to both foreign and local clientele, blatantly and unashamedly advertising along the streets as the sun began to set.  The Thai students were also shocked - one of them commented that he was glad he'd never been exposed to this sort of nightlife in the past. The youth group and the American students returned to Bangkok with a bit of heaviness on their hearts as they considered all of the people involved in this aspect of the "tourism" industry.

Please pray for the Thai people involved in this dark industry.  Although there are many Christians in Thailand working to serve at-risk girls and boys by helping them develop cleaner marketable life skills, there is still a very long way to go.

Loy Khrathong

Loy Khrathong is an annual festival in Thailand, a day for the Thai people to put small boats made of banana leaves on the river to ask the river goddess forgiveness for making the river dirty throughout the year.  Historically it was a day for people to ask forgiveness in general, though today it's more of a day full of fun activities - from beauty contests to carnivals to fireworks, accompanied, of course, by "loy"-ing a "khrathong" on the water. 

Pastor Steve gave a sermon on Friday evening about the "khrathong" of God and how we have forgiveness available to us every day of the year.  We understood the parable and hoped that our Thai friends were given something to think about.  Most of the Northwestern students were able to see the khrathongs on the rivers for themselves and also had some good discussions about what it means to put the little banana boat on the river. 

First Week Done

Our first week of teaching is now over and we've survived just fine.  Most of the team discovered they actually like teaching in spite of any misconceptions they had about it ahead of time.  The curriculum here at Santisuk has been tried and tested over the years, so it's quite easy to walk into the classroom and follow the instructions.  Ana and Koob have had few problems communicating with their Level 1 students; Amy N loves the depth she can find in conversation with her Level 4 students.  Krista's been doing a bang-up job of presenting the business correspondence material which I put together while here last year; we just hope the students in our class are learning something useful amidst the fun bantering! 

Tonight is our first worship service here (worship services are Friday nights; cell groups meet on Sunday mornings).  This weekend promises some exciting outings as some cell groups take both Northwestern and Thai students on adventures in and around Bangkok, and other Northwestern students will get to experience the weekend market.  Sunday is the annual Loy Khrathong Festival which I know the Thai students will want to take us to.  More updates to come!

Sawatdee from Thailand!

We are finally settling into a routine here at Santisuk English School in Bangkok, Thailand. The group spent the weekend in orientation and training at the school. Today, Monday, we are starting to teach a variety of levels of English. Classes here range in size from 8-12, giving our students (who are generally paired up in each classroom) a great opportunity to get to know the Thai students. After only one class, Karen was already getting involved in her students' lives over lunch. There will be plenty more opportunities to eat and hang out with students in the coming weeks!

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Immediately after arriving in Thailand from our 10-hour flight from Tel Aviv last Tuesday, the group took an overnight train 12 hours out of Bangkok.  In and around that area we had many opportunities to experience culture in new ways.  Our song-taew* driver took us many places: an introductory language lesson, a monk chat at a local Buddhist temple (which that day happened to include a funeral complete with rockets to set off the funeral pyre),  prayer walking around an ancient stupa (which purportedly houses a piece of the Buddha, although no one can exactly say which part it is), prayer walking around a statue recently built for the upcoming 450th anniversary of the city, lunch and a party one evening with some local university students, and dinner in a traditional home another evening. 

Note to parents: this next sentence may be difficult for you to read, so please keep in mind that this is what your child is studying at Northwestern.  After our whirlwind travel the past few days, Ashley said she never wants to leave!  I assured her that she was more than welcome to stay for as many years as she wanted.  :)

*a song-taew  is a large covered pickup-like truck with two long benches down the sides.  The one we were in was the perfect size to haul 18 people around town.

Last Day in Bethlehem

The group is heading out in a few hours for the airport in Tel Aviv and our flight to SE Asia.  We will have a busy travel schedule for the next few days, so there may not be a blog update until Sunday, at the earliest. 

Today we visited Shepherds' Field in Beit Sahour (suburb of Bethlehem) and sang some carols after reading Luke 2.  Perhaps not quite the same atmosphere in broad daylight, yet we enjoyed the time together before exploring some caves.  It was easier to "imagine" what it would have been like 2000 years ago when we saw a Bedouin shepherd leading a small flock of sheep through the valley.  The sheep must have recognized their shepherd's voice because he was in front and they followed.

Some of the group have been able to make friends during our short stay here and are finding it difficult to say good-bye.  Jewel, Amy N, and others discovered the local Stars & Bucks coffee shop (seriously) and visit once or twice a day.  Our new friend, Basaam, gives us the Palestinian prices on coffee drinks and hopes we'll all add him as friends on Facebook.  He's invited us to his apartment for Arabic coffee, and we invited him to church to translate for us (not realizing that the church would provide wireless headphones for the guests who don't understand Arabic).  If you're ever in the Bethlehem area, please be sure to stop by - it's near Manger Square, and Basaam would love to welcome you with a tasty white mocha or an icy frappo Chino!

Another Prodigal return, of sorts?

I've written a bit about the problems of living in the West Bank.  Bethlehem, in the West Bank, considers Israel a different country.  Indeed, you have to have legal papers to cross the checkpoint.  We went last Sunday to Jerusalem, taking taxis to the checkpoint, crossing on foot, and then getting a public bus on the other side to get to Christ Church.  It wasn't so difficult until Reilly realized he'd left his Bible on the bus.  He was bummed about that, though convinced himself he'd just "given" it to the bus driver - and also convinced himself that the bus driver could read English.  I'd say that's the appropriate attitude!  (He was able to find an Arabic/English New Testament at BBC the next day, so now has learned how to read Matthew "backwards"). 

Yesterday morning we again tried to get in to Jerusalem.  We'd been hearing a lot from the Palestinian view of biblical things, so it was time to balance with a more Jewish view via a Messianic shabbat service.  We hailed taxis to take us to the wall, intending to go through on foot and find a public bus on the Israeli side again.  We all arrived to the checkpoint to find a complete standstill leaving a growing line of people anxious to get to their jobs and business on the other side.  It wasn't particularly tense, just annoying, though perhaps not totally unexpected.  In fact, it was quiet until one man standing near Koob nonchalantly took his cigarette out of his mouth and suddenly exclaimed "Boo!" to the man next to him.  I guess that's one way to deal with frustration! 

We stood in place for probably 30 minutes, wondering if we'd make the shabbat service, waiting until the line finally started to move.  Some anxious Palestinians did worm their way into the middle of our group. We didn't mind - until the rotating gate locked, leaving about 10 of our group through with 8 still on this side waiting for the green light.  I wondered if I would be taking half of the group back to Bethlehem for the day because the Israelis decided to close the checkpoint right then?  Never fear, the light turned green, and one by one we stragglers made our way through the maze of passport checks and security x-rays.

Those of us who almost got stuck in Bethlehem for the day finally emerged on the Israeli side to find the rest of our group on the bus heading to Jaffa Gate and waving for us to jump on.  Reilly, Jewel, and I literally jumped on as the bus was taking off.  As we fumbled for our 4 1/2 shekel fare while balancing in the aisle, Reilly happened to look up - and lo, there was his bible on the shelf above the seats!!  He grinned widely as he clutched the soft blue leather cover once again.  I marveled at the blessing.  The temporary closing of the checkpoint, annoying as it was, was the sole reason we ended up on the particular bus we were on.  Had things gone as smoothly as they had last week, Reilly would still be reading Matthew from right to left.

Read My Lips: Olive Juice!

A bit early for Valentine's Day, but the team did seem to be telling each other of their love for one another all morning as we picked olives at East Jerusalem Baptist Church.  Olive juice was definitely one of the common topics of discussion! We were joined by a Muslim woman, perhaps from the community, who labored alongside us.  She didn't speak a lick of English and kept telling us important things in Arabic.  Perhaps she was collecting some of the gleanings from the church's trees for her family, a la Deuteronomy 24:20?


Olives were a bit of a theme during the rest of the day as well as we walked to the Garden Tomb and the Garden of Gethsemane.  Gethsemane is a real garden at the base of the Mount of Olives and contains some olive trees which are 2000 years old.  You can see the new shoots which come up outside the older trunks. The garden is well maintained and fenced off with a sidewalk around the perimeter.  From Gethsemane, we walked back to old Jerusalem and walked the first part of the way along the Via Dolorosa, the Way of the Cross (more famously known for containing the 14 Stations of the Cross). We walked as far as the bus station, NOT to be confused with the 14.  The bus station IS, however, in front of a site which our students found to be quite interesting - Golgotha.  It was "discovered" just over 100 years ago when a Brit was in Israel trying to figure out exactly where certain biblical activities would have taken place.  He looked up from his reading one day to see the outline of a skull in the rock face across from his accommodations.  The skull-shaped cliff happened to be next to what once was a garden containing a tomb cut out of rock. "At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid" (Jn 19:41). This particular tomb has been used once... though as we saw today, it was empty. And that's the whole reason we are on this internship!!

A Home Visit

Daniel in the Bethlehem Bible College gift shop invited the group over to his home last night.  At least, that's where we thought we were going.  He and his brother Paul and a couple others collected us at the hotel and walked us to a restaurant for a middle eastern dessert that Kristen, Karen, Liz and Jewel compared to "mozzarella sticks dipped in syrup."  It had a goat cheese base with a topping of a consistency similar to cornbread with honey on it.  Not sure exactly what it was, but everyone seemed to enjoy it.

Daniel's "home" was actually a room in a youth hostel where we found some instruments and space to spread out and sing and worship before the Lord.  We spent some time in rocking worship before Paul decided to teach us an Arabic dance.  I can't say that we look any more Arabic when dancing like he did, especially when the music sounded like, umm, techno Arabian 80s bull-fighting polka music?  Definitely an international flare to the music, whatever it was! We ended the time with some heartfelt prayer for the ministries they're involved in, the pilgrims who come to Bethlehem, and the town in general. 

A highlight of the evening was climbing to the roof of the building, which was on a hill, to overlook Bethlehem at night.  We could see a wedding dance going on in a courtyard at the bottom of the hill and learned that women and men dance separately at middle eastern weddings. After getting our fill of the Egyptian music wafting up the hill toward us, we headed back to the hotel. Bethlehem IS a rather quiet town at night.

The neon Internet sign (top left) didn't seem to attract a whole lot of people.

Something to Drink?

Aaron and I finished our indoor painting projects yesterday so Jihad moved us out to repaint the front gate of BBC this morning.  We'd been washing dirt from the grille work for about 30 minutes when a man ambled over from the direction of the refugee camp across the street.  He held something in plastic and started talking to Aaron about "drink" and "college in America."  Aaron interpreted that the man was inviting him to go out for a drink, which he wasn't about to do, but the man kept persisting, motioning for him to imbibe something.  Aaron kept smiling but refusing, not sure what this "drink" would contain, exactly.  The man left after a few minutes, and Aaron and I just shrugged our shoulders and got back to scrubbing our canvas, wondering how the man could have studied in the States when he could hardly piece together a complete sentence in English.  About 5 minutes later, the man returned, carrying three 330 ml plastic bottles of strawberry juice.  The first had already been partially consumed.  He unscrewed the cap off of the second one and set it on the ledge in front of me, then handed the third bottle to Aaron.  We still couldn't understand his words and Aaron was wondering if we should be concerned about the contents of the bottles, but the man kept smiling and motioning for Aaron to drink.  We thanked him, "Shukran, shukran," and he walked away, apparently satisfied.  I sampled my strawberry juice while Aaron twisted the seal off of his. 

I can't say for sure what just happened, but here's a possibility: Bethlehem is a small town; it wouldn't take long for word to get out that there's a group from a college in America doing some work at BBC.  The man lives in Bethlehem, probably across the street.  I think this was simply his way of saying thank you for helping in his village, and we at the front gate were the most convenient to approach.  Painting a gate doesn't seem a very noble task, but for a community living under occupation, a fresh coat of paint - and a raked garden, some new rose bushes, and freshly poured concrete - can serve to raise a person's spirits.  I'll never look at a bottle of strawberry juice the same way again. 

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work we go!

Jihad gives the crew some tips

Seeing Isaac and Garrett with pick-axes slung over their shoulders this morning made me start singing; the boys started whistling as they set off to dig a trench behind BBC. 
In between informative lectures on differing viewpoints on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from some of the staff at the college here (which many in our group have found to be extremely thought-provoking!), we have been getting some work done!

JT, Jewel, and Amy N practice their English with Palestinian students at coffee break

Aaron adds his artistic touch

Jewel and Amy R clean up the garden

Amy N and Krista get ready to paint

Ashley enters books into the library computer system (BBC has the only public library in Bethlehem)