week 8

Well we are officially back from the conference. Im going to be honest it was a little sad to leave. i had a lot of fun there. We met so many peple from all different places. Actually it was kind of cool because i met a lady that used to recruit for trinity western! so when i told her hat i was from abbotsford she knew exactly where i was talking about. But i also met people from cambodia,vietnam, myanmar,australia, south africa and like a bazillion other places. there were about 160 peple there and all together hey were able to speak a total of fourty different languages. it was pretty crazy.
loren cunningham spoke at a lot of the sessions this week,the stories he has are absolutely wild. its crazy how God has provided for him and his family. he just casually told us a story about how YWAM people had two people raised from the dead in Africa two weeks ago. we were all thinking thats crazy and he just talked about it like it was just an every day occurance.
the main thing that i think that probably got out of this week was just being reminded that Gods plans for your future are not going to leave you miserable. So many times we get caugght up thinking that we are going to have to leave everything good behind and juts be so burdened for the rest of our lives becasue we are doing Gods work. but i was reminded that,no, God uses the things that we like to do and the gifts that he gives us to make us happy.
My favourite part of the week by far was an offering that we took. there were people that werent abble to pay the fees for the conference so the first part of the offering was for that,  then there were also some people that needed bus fare and then the rest of the offering would be for Laos. But it didnt stop there, we were told to just go around listening to God's voice for wo in the room we should give to. so everybody was giving things to eachother. im gonna tell you a little story just because its cool and worth sharing :). so during the offering i went up to one girl because i felt like i was being told to go to her. so i asked her if there as anything that she needed. so she told me she needed a water bottle. So i thought to myself,"Oh ill just give her my water bottle." then i remembered that during the conference i had dropped my water bottle down the stairs nd it cracked. which is sad because i take tha water bottle everywhere. but thats beside the point. at the conference they were selling water bottles so i gave her enough money to buy a water bottle and she was so happy. But the story doesnt end there. Later that day,i had a guy come up to me, wo didnt know that i had got the girl the water bottle and he didnt know that my water bottle was broken, and he gives me money and tells me that i should buy either a water bottle or a tshirt from the conference. it was really cool. So for those of you wo think God doesnt notice the little things, he even cares about water bottles. Lter people shared testimonies about the offering and it was so cool to see how they were provided for. Oh and did i mention hat the offering taken for the other things came to a total of over ten thousand dollars!? crazy right?
One of the other fun things that we did this week was set off chinese lanterns. they are so cool. theyre a lot bigger than i thought hey were. we had a few close calls though because there were a couple of them that almost didnt make it over he trees. and you would be surprised at how much flame is in those things!its possible that i almost lit my arm on fire because one was almost in the trees but i caught it first. it was a little sketchy.
tomorrow we go back to our regular schedule of classes and stuff. that will last two weeks, then we have two weeks outreach then two weeks back again and then we go on our maor outreach. things are going so fast. it will be two months that ive been gone this week. sorry that was worded funny but you know what im trying to say.
the flooding in Bankok is getting worse. we arent affected by the water because we are far enough north. but remember to pray for the whole situation. some peple are evacuating and heading our direction. but lots of people, even some that weknow fro  YWAM have lost their homes.
Anyways thats bout it for this week, im sorry if theres a ton of spelling mistakes and missing letters in this. The thing im using is really annoying to type on.

Todays Fun Fact
When Thai people dont know how to start a conversation,instead of asking how you are doing or taking about the weather, they ask you if youve showered yet.

Week 7

So for this week, it was a little bit different from all the other weeks so far. On Sunday, we packed up and headed out to the Ywam base in Chiang Rai which is a couple of hours away, near the very top of Thailand. On our way there, we stopped at the highest hot spring in the country.
The reason that we are in Chiang Rai, is to go to a two week DNA conference put on by YWAM. We are actually quite lucky to be able to come to the conference because its technically only for the leaders of YWAM, and DTS students are almost never invited, but this year they let our base come.The orphanage next door let the base use their land and buildings so we all have a place to sleep as well as a big classroom for the sessions. There are 4 sessions every day, lead by three main speakers. One of the speakers is Darlene Cunningham. For those of you who don't know, Darlene and her husband Loren started YWAM. Loren is going to be coming to the conference this week so it's really really cool to be able to meet them and everything. The conference itself focuses mainly on what makes up YWAM and who YWAM is. The teachings are also about how to lead and i really like listening to those ones. It's a nice change of pace.
The orphanage that we're staying at is empty. All of the kids are on a break right now. But we realised that both of the orphanage buildings have huge flat open roofs. PERFECT for sleeping on!!! So a  couple of the girls and i have spent some nights star gazing. Its so much nicer because the rooms are cooking hot, so being outside all night is nice and cool. That is one thing that I like a lot about Chiang Rai though, its quite a bit cooler than Chiang Mai. I've actually been able to wear a sweater at night.
OH and i cant forget to mention our bathroom situation... squatty potties and freezing cold buckets of water to dump on yourself as a shower. It's oh so wonderul.
Now for the coolest thing that we did this week. We got a whole group of us together and went to the Golden Triangle. It's a place where the borders of Laos, Myanmar and Thailand all meet. You can also see China in the distance. So we went for a boat ride and stopped in Laos for a few minutes.
Afterwards we had some lunch and then went to a market in Mae Sai, which is the northernmost part of Thailand. We shopped around there for a bit and then we headed back to the base.
On the way back to the base we took vehicles called Song Taows. (we take them everywhere, they're Thailands form of taxi.) They are basically pick-up trucks with covers over the back and benches in the box. They also have a platform on the back by the bumper. So me and Kathryn, (one of the other girls from my base) stood on the back the whole time. You get a really good view of the scenery standing there. I love looking at the fields back in Abby, but let me tell you, there is no field quite as pretty as a rice field. They're such a deep and bright green. I love them. i tried taking pictures, but as usual, pictures just cant capture it.
Well that's it for this week! Talk to you all later.

This Weeks Fun Fact:

Of all the 32 people that are at our base, guys and girls,

there are only 2 people that are taller than me. Lame.

Week 6

Well, week six has come and gone, to all you Canadian people out there, i hope you had a fantastic thanksgiving and ate lots of turkey and ham for me... well more ham, I'm not a huge turkey fan, you can judge if you want. :) unfortunately we didn't have any celebration. Although there is one Canadian girl here and we wished each other a happy thanksgiving so that counts. Anyways.... This weeks topic was Church... although, to be honest, we didn't really learn much about church at all. It was more about how God chooses each of us, it was a message that most of the white people had heard, so we didn't feel like we learned a whole ton of a lot, but there were a bunch of Thai people who got a lot out of it, so that was a lot better.
This week was actually crazy busy, we had a bunch homework due, BUT we also had a girl come in an teach us three different dances in just a week. That's on top of our work duties, and our work teams, class and homework. We danced anywhere between 2 and 5 hours in a day! It was crazy. Two of the dances that we did were Thai dances, and they were really hard and kind of frustrating at first, but once we caught on to them, they were actually really fun. The last one we did was like a line dance, and it was so fun because we were familiar with a lot of the steps already, it was just a matter of getting them in the right time with the music.
Well, I'm going to tell you a little story now. So, the other morning, i went to have breakfast, and there hanging in a cage was a GIANT gecko. I thought he was the coolest thing. So we were all amazed by it and we named it and all that. Then we went on with our day. I came back later to find that the cage and the gecko were gone. strange i thought. Until i realised.... guess what was there for dinner? Yep, this week i ate fried gecko. I also ate an entire fish, head, tail fins and all. He was just a little guy, but still. It was good, except a little to fishy tasting for me. ha ha
I also became just a little bit more Thai this week. All the Thais, after having showers, or just at random times  during the day, will put baby powder all over themselves. We always kind of made fun of them, until we tried it. Because its so humid out here, your skin gets really sticky, but the baby powder gets rid of that. So one of the girls and i went out and bought some, its technically not baby powder, they call it "refreshing powder" and its got cooling stuff in it too, so it feels so nice because you don't have to go to bed feeling all gross.
And for the second discovery that i made this week.... Thai massage. Oh boy. Kathryn (the Canadian) and i went to get massages today and it was SO nice. The best part about it? it cost $4 for an hour! I mighhhtt just be going back there at some point.
Little heads up, on Sunday we leave for Chiang Rai, which is a couple hours away for a two week conference. We'll be staying at the YWAM base there, the schedule for us will be pretty similar, except we'll have an extra teaching first. I don't know what the Wi-fi situation is going to look like, so i might not be giving updates for the next two weeks, but there is rumour that the base WILL have Wi-fi, but i don't want to get my hopes up.
Well that's it for this week, i hope you guys are all doing well at home, talk to you later!

This Weeks Fun Fact

Fried gecko tastes like chicken

Week 5

Okay, so i know that on a lot of my posts I say how fast everything is going, but let me put this into perspective for you guys: This coming Wednesday finishes of the first quarter of my time here. Altogether I'm here for 22 weeks, and that will be 5 and a half weeks which means that its a quarter of the way through! HOW CRAZY IS THAT?!?!?!?!? Bizarre i think.

Well anyways, the best way to describe this week, is "confession week" It was about having a clear conscience and righting your wrongs with God and with other people. Some of the things that people confessed to didn't even seem like they were real, they seemed like things that you would only hear made up in the movies! Which kind of leaves you thinking about how much Satan has a hold on this world, but that being said, if you leave it at that, being in awe of Satan, you're making a mistake. I realized that the key is to be in awe of what God has done with these people regardless of what they have done, or what i have done for that matter. i think that this confession week was really helpful for a lot of people because it helped them to see that there are a lot of people here that have the EXACT same problems and struggles as they do and that they're not alone in it.

I was able to wear a sweater one day this week (although i wasn't even able to wear it the whole day without getting way to hot) i miss being able to wear sweaters... and shoes. I'm just in flip flops the whole time. But we are supposed to be getting into the cold season now which means that the temp. can drop to about ten degrees Celsius, (which in my opinion is not cold enough). Who would have thought, that I, the one who cant get enough of summer, would miss the cold? Weird right?

Friday nights we have "fun nights." So last night for fun night, we watched Lion King. I forgot how much i like that movie. One of the other girls and I were singing along to it the whole time. It was really fun.

Oh and here's a random and fun discovery that me and a couple of girls made: Cream-o's, which are a knock off of Oreos, are WAY better than Oreos themselves. BONUS, they're also cheaper. People stock up on them every weekend. The sad thing is, Peanut butter is ridiculously expensive here, so dipping them in peanut butter is expensive.. but sometimes so worth it!

Things here are still going good, the whole base is becoming more "family like" and getting more comfortable with each other, although i think that confession week probably helped with that seeing as now we all know the dirt about each other. There goes any masks that anybody had!

Well I think that's about it for this week. I'm gonna go into town and get myself some Cream-O's. :)

This Weeks Fun Fact:

White people: Sit in the sun to get darker

Thai people: Wear jackets and use umbrellas to make sure they stay light

White people: Do anything to stay skinny

Asian people: Try to eat lots because they want to have more "meat" on them (they never gain a pound anyways!)

and get this:

White people: shave their legs, and some girls shave their arms

Thai people: Are basically hairless when it comes to their legs and arms, so some of them will shave their legs trying to make it grow back thicker!!!

Who would have thought right?

Week Four

Well, week four is over. Tomorrow, it will officially be a month since I arrived in Thailand. It's going SOOO fast its ridiculous. four more months and I'll be back in Abby, how weird is that?
So today, two American girls, and myself (Canadian) went to a Mexican restaurant in Thailand... it was a very multicultural experience. Although i will say the food was absolutely delicious, I'm still full. I thought that would be a fun little thing you'd like to know. haha
Anyways, this week we talked about the nature and character of God. most of it was stuff that i had heard before, but it was good to hear it again, there was also some things that were new and interesting. This coming week we have a speaker coming in to talk about clear conscience. From what Ive been told, it can be quite the challenging week. so that should be interesting. i am looking forward to it though
Good news, and a thank you for everyone who was praying for Mai. She got her results back and it turns out that the tumour is NOT cancer! which is so good. She is going to have another checkup in about a month, and if it hasn't gone down in size, then they will have to operate, but hopefully, (with lots of prayer) surgery wont have to happen.
The couple who runs the DTS and lives on the base have a bunch of kids. The kids like to hang out with us lots, one of the girls took myself and three other DTS people to her school this weekend. Their school has this GINORMOUS pool that we got to go swimming in. It was SO nice. I love swimming.
I did do something somewhat adventurous this week though. One of the girls at the base told me she wanted a hair cut.... so i said I'd do it. Not gonna lie I was freaking out a bit, but it turned out really good if i do say so myself. Its a few inches shorter now! i said that a bowl cut would have looked nice on her, but she said no... i still cant figure out why.
Anyways, i know its kind of short, but that's about it for this week, I hope that everything back at home is still good with everybody!

This Weeks Fun Fact:

It is nearly impossible to keep your feet clean in Thailand... 

except for when you go swimming apperently.