This week for church all the youth group kids were coming to Payap, so I got to stay for services here this week. I was really happy about that because I know the people here so much better. I woke up a little early so that I could get everything set up for church. During the month of July, all the ACU interns signed up to help set up and welcome everyone. We also signed up to get flowers for the Communion table, but not being able to drive kind of made that difficult. I found some random flowers that someone had put out downstairs, so I decided to just use those. I think they looked really nice up at the front.
During the service, I sat by Cyreal and Bom. It was quite an adventure. Bom, who is kind of like a Thai parrot, randomly spouts out quotes and other phrases he has heard Americans say. He recently learned that the bathroom is called a “john” in some places, so halfway through church he leaned over and told me that he had to go to the john and then proceeded to make constipated faces before making his exit. Cyreal, who is a little more mature than that, kept asking me if I had a boyfriend back in the states and if I was attracted to black men. I laughed off most of his questions, but they kind of freaked me out a little because a few days earlier, Whitney had told me that he was quizzing her on the stipulations of becoming a U.S. citizen through marriage. He seemed pretty harmless. P’Wut led singing, and he did a really great job. He has to be one of the nicest people that I have met here so far, and every time he went up to the front, he made me smile. Since Robert is gone, all the guys are taking turns preaching. This week was Marvin’s turn. Marvin is from Australia, and he moved here about two years ago after completing his internship at the zone. He seems to be a very accurate portrayal of what I had always imagined an Australian to be like. He spoke on James chapter one, and I think it was the first time I had ever heard a person dance around, talk about getting drunk, and use the word crap all in one sermon. After church, we all proceeded to our specified locations for class. The youth group meets on the second floor-I think they try and separate us as far as possible from the rest of the classes because we are so loud. Today we sang some songs, played charades, and watched a short Rob Bell video clip on the importance of being quiet with God. We kind of incorporated the spiritual discipline of meditation and solitude, and everyone seemed to be fairly interested in what Melanie and I had to say.
After class, we all grabbed some lunch around the zone and then met back up at about 1:30 for the all church service project. The project this time was to spend the afternoon at an orphanage. It kind of reminded me of my Cambodia days, which now seem like an eternity ago. The ACU interns were in charge of games, so after P’O finished leading some goofy kids’ songs, we were up. We played Catch Her Eye, which is always a big hit for some reason. I was kind of proud of myself because I was able to explain part of the directions in Thai. After games, we broke up into groups to read a book about Jesus and then draw a life-size picture of him. I was a little concerned in the early stages for our portrait because Jesus was turning out to look kind of like Hitler, but our group was pretty on top of it and quickly remedied the situation. After our illustration activity, we all played a few more games and then returned to our homes. On the way back, Butter asked if she could talk to me about a problem she was having with a friend. I was really glad she felt comfortable enough to talk to me about it even though I don’t feel super qualified to give guidance to teenage girls on their social problems. I did pray for her though, which she seemed to appreciate. Pretty soon after our talk, everyone headed out to Walking Street-our new Sunday hangout tradition. Melanie and I rode with P’O, Julie, and Eddie. Eddie is a student from Thailand who is studying at South Pacific Bible College, and he is on summer break for a while. Robert spoke very highly of him, and my first impression of him did not dispute that. We all grabbed a quick bite at Mike’s and then hit the streets. This week everything looked so cool, and I ended up buying several souvenirs.
Melanie, Terri, and I met Butter at Wawee and then followed her to her dad’s car. This week for our youth group activity, we all decided to have a sleep over at Butter and Yam’s house for Yam’s birthday. It was so much fun to hang out and be silly with all of them. Yam and I were the designated brownie makers. Her parents had never seen brownie mix like that before, so they all studied me intently as I mixed the ingredients. I felt like I was under a microscope with all of those eyes watching me. They turned out great though, and soon I was able to escape all of the strange looks and join the other girls who were watching the Lion King. We had the movie on sing-a-long version so that we could all fully participate in the magic of the Disney movie. After the first movie, we voted on the second movie. Our first choice was While You Were Sleeping, but for some reason that DVD didn’t work in the DVD player, so we ended up watching the Wedding Date. I fell asleep part-way through it though, so I didn’t get to see Debra Messing win the heart of the handsome escort again. I guess I will have to watch it again back in the states.
During the service, I sat by Cyreal and Bom. It was quite an adventure. Bom, who is kind of like a Thai parrot, randomly spouts out quotes and other phrases he has heard Americans say. He recently learned that the bathroom is called a “john” in some places, so halfway through church he leaned over and told me that he had to go to the john and then proceeded to make constipated faces before making his exit. Cyreal, who is a little more mature than that, kept asking me if I had a boyfriend back in the states and if I was attracted to black men. I laughed off most of his questions, but they kind of freaked me out a little because a few days earlier, Whitney had told me that he was quizzing her on the stipulations of becoming a U.S. citizen through marriage. He seemed pretty harmless. P’Wut led singing, and he did a really great job. He has to be one of the nicest people that I have met here so far, and every time he went up to the front, he made me smile. Since Robert is gone, all the guys are taking turns preaching. This week was Marvin’s turn. Marvin is from Australia, and he moved here about two years ago after completing his internship at the zone. He seems to be a very accurate portrayal of what I had always imagined an Australian to be like. He spoke on James chapter one, and I think it was the first time I had ever heard a person dance around, talk about getting drunk, and use the word crap all in one sermon. After church, we all proceeded to our specified locations for class. The youth group meets on the second floor-I think they try and separate us as far as possible from the rest of the classes because we are so loud. Today we sang some songs, played charades, and watched a short Rob Bell video clip on the importance of being quiet with God. We kind of incorporated the spiritual discipline of meditation and solitude, and everyone seemed to be fairly interested in what Melanie and I had to say.
After class, we all grabbed some lunch around the zone and then met back up at about 1:30 for the all church service project. The project this time was to spend the afternoon at an orphanage. It kind of reminded me of my Cambodia days, which now seem like an eternity ago. The ACU interns were in charge of games, so after P’O finished leading some goofy kids’ songs, we were up. We played Catch Her Eye, which is always a big hit for some reason. I was kind of proud of myself because I was able to explain part of the directions in Thai. After games, we broke up into groups to read a book about Jesus and then draw a life-size picture of him. I was a little concerned in the early stages for our portrait because Jesus was turning out to look kind of like Hitler, but our group was pretty on top of it and quickly remedied the situation. After our illustration activity, we all played a few more games and then returned to our homes. On the way back, Butter asked if she could talk to me about a problem she was having with a friend. I was really glad she felt comfortable enough to talk to me about it even though I don’t feel super qualified to give guidance to teenage girls on their social problems. I did pray for her though, which she seemed to appreciate. Pretty soon after our talk, everyone headed out to Walking Street-our new Sunday hangout tradition. Melanie and I rode with P’O, Julie, and Eddie. Eddie is a student from Thailand who is studying at South Pacific Bible College, and he is on summer break for a while. Robert spoke very highly of him, and my first impression of him did not dispute that. We all grabbed a quick bite at Mike’s and then hit the streets. This week everything looked so cool, and I ended up buying several souvenirs.
Melanie, Terri, and I met Butter at Wawee and then followed her to her dad’s car. This week for our youth group activity, we all decided to have a sleep over at Butter and Yam’s house for Yam’s birthday. It was so much fun to hang out and be silly with all of them. Yam and I were the designated brownie makers. Her parents had never seen brownie mix like that before, so they all studied me intently as I mixed the ingredients. I felt like I was under a microscope with all of those eyes watching me. They turned out great though, and soon I was able to escape all of the strange looks and join the other girls who were watching the Lion King. We had the movie on sing-a-long version so that we could all fully participate in the magic of the Disney movie. After the first movie, we voted on the second movie. Our first choice was While You Were Sleeping, but for some reason that DVD didn’t work in the DVD player, so we ended up watching the Wedding Date. I fell asleep part-way through it though, so I didn’t get to see Debra Messing win the heart of the handsome escort again. I guess I will have to watch it again back in the states.
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