A home church!

I have, at long last, settled on a home church.  It's called Grace Church Bangkok, and it's part of a network of churches called Every Nation.  One of the things I like about this church, which drew me to this church, is the people.  From the moment my friend and  I started visiting we were warmly welcomed and had genuine conversations with people who would actually remember our names the next time we came back.  The church has a really good heart.  It's a small church, maybe 50 people, and fairly new. It was a church plant by Every Nation Church Bangkok.  The pastors seem good at encouraging people to grow deeper in their faith, through the preaching, worship, small groups, and prayer.  One thing they have done these past two weeks is really encourage us to get involved in a small group.  My friend went to one this past Thursday, but that's the night I have my 2 hour Thai class, so getting downtown and back isn't really going to happen for me on Thursdays.  But today they were also telling me about a Bible study that meets on Tuesdays and another girl that meets with a friend for Bible study on Mondays invited me to that.  So we'll see.  I'm going to take it slow in adding too much to my schedule right now, but so far I like how everyone has made sure we are invited to lunch after church and invited to small groups.  Today the whole church had lunch together at the pastor's house to celebrate a baby dedication and I had a chance to have more conversations with people.  It's not a perfect church, but it's a good fit for me right now. There are a lot of Filipinos and quite a few people from Hawaii, as well as some Thai people, other Asians, and a couple of Westerners.  I like that the sermon is translated into Thai and my friend and I were talking to the worship team today about singing in Thai in the future.  All three girls who sang today were Thai and were saying they'd love to sing in Thai some, but just didn't have time today with the dedication.  The church is located near a large prestigious university and does a lot of campus outreach through conversational English.  That seems to be an awesome outreach tool used by many church both here and in Burma.  Anyway, I'm excited to be going to the same church consistently and to be getting to know more people outside of ICS ( I do love ICS, but I also love getting outside the bubble).  I'm excited to see how God is going to work through this small but very enthusiastic church and how their (our) ministry can impact our community for Christ! 

My World in Pictures: Going downtown

This is the main road, Bangna Trad, where I catch the bus.  To head downtown I cross the road (using that big pedestrian crossing) and the bus stop is right on the other side.  It's about 1 1/2 blocks from my apartment to the main road.

At the bus stop, waiting for a bus to take me to the skytrain (BTS)

On the bus you pay your fare, a flat rate of 8 baht, to the bus employee.  No monedas required!

I get off the bus here: BTS station Udom Suk. 

This is a bad shot of the inside of the BTS.  It's a little embarrassing to take pictures in there!  Anyway, this connects to a mall which is connected to a hotel where my church meets.  We rent a meeting room there each Sunday.

And that is my journey to church!  Which is the same for any trip downtown. I typically make the trip about three times per week for various reasons.

A cultural home

This morning I read something that resonated deeply within me as I resettle into my adopted culture and adjust to being away from my home culture.  Henri Nouwen is so often able to put words to thoughts I hadn't known that I'd thought, and this was no exception.  This is what struck me so much:

"Being back in France makes me think much about countries and cultures.  During the past few months I have been in Holland, Germany, Canada, the United States, and England, and in all these countries  I have had intense contact with people and their ways of living, praying, and playing.  There is great temptation to want to know which culture is best and where I am most happy and at home.  But this way of thinking leads to endless frustrations because the Dutch, Germans, the French, the Americans, and the Canadians are all people who have unique ways of feeling, thinking, and behaving, none of which totally fits my needs, but all of which have gifts for me... I am increasingly aware of how important it is to enjoy what is given and to fully live where one is...

Do we really need to belong to one country or one culture?  In our world, where distances are becoming less each day, it seems important to become less and less dependent on one place, one language, one culture, or one style of life, but to experience oneself as a member of the human family, belonging to God and free to be wherever we are called to be.  I even wonder if the ability to be in so many places so quickly and so often is not an invitation to grow deeper in the spirit and let our identity be more rooted in God and less in the place in which we happen to be."  (emphasis mine)

These words bring me so much comfort as I feel the pulls of the US, Thailand, and Argentina.  I relate to different aspects of each culture and yet none of them fits me completely.  I feel so blessed to be able to live in and experience different cultures, different faces of God really, and to take away what I can from each one. 

The truth about jet lag

When people tell you about jet lag and warn you about jet lag, there is one very important part that they leave out. So I am here to set the record straight. 

Jet lag is as much about eating as it is about sleeping. 

I didn't notice this phenomenon too much when I arrived in July, I think because everything revolving around eating was so strange and new.  But I certainly noticed it going back in December. I was hungry- all the time. So I ate mini-meals every 3 hours those first few days.  Returning here this weekend I haven't been eating quite as much (hopefully my body is just working on using up some of its reserves from the holidays) but I am definitely hungry most all of the time.  Today, standing around the copy machine at work, I talked to two other teachers about this very thing. Both of them had been awake at 2 or 3am this morning starving- so they had gotten up, had breakfast, and gone back to sleep. Of course a second breakfast was then in order when they got up for school. 

When you think about it, the hunger thing makes complete sense. Our bodies are as programmed about when to eat as they are about when to sleep.  It's just that no one every talks about it.  So future travelers beware, and prepare to snack your way through your first few days.  And now, I am going to go back to my guava.

My World in Pictures

It has been brought to my attention that I perhaps do not take enough pictures of daily life, of the places that have become so normal to me that I forget that they're weird. So today when I went out to get something to eat, I brought my camera. I give you the first installment of My World in Pictures. 

One of my favorite eateries under the parking garage.  I order the same thing every time.  She knows this. I know this. But she lets me practice spitting it out in Thai anyway. 

The Under the Parking Garage food stand collection. 

Fast food, Bangkok style. Slice it up fresh for you. I wanted to get a picture of her slicing the guava, but she was a bit camera shy.

Home with my snack/dinner, guava and pineapple. $0.70 total.

And, may I add, this pineapple, that I am currently munching on, is some of the flat out best pineapple I have ever eaten in my life.  Mouth watering. 

Luxury Items

When I flew out here in July, my bags were filled to the brim with necessities (mostly). So this trip was my opportunity to bring some luxury items, though plenty of space and weight still went to necessities and items I picked up for other people.  I would like to state for the record, that each of my bags weighed in at 48.5 lbs.  On the one hand, that is a success.  On the other hand, with 3 more pounds on the table I could've fit another book or two...

A few special items that made the trip with me yesterday:

• My Henri Nouwen books (including the two I added to my collection last week)
• My ice skates
• The t-shirt quilt my mom made for me while I was in Argentina
• My 4" silver stilettos 
• The glass art my dad made me for Christmas- first time his glass has been able to make the overseas trek
• Mis libros en español
• A painting of the NYC skyline 
• My new carry-on bag, whose handle does not detach when you pull on it.  Very nice feature. 
• Yerba mate
• Frutigran biscuits from Argentina

The flights went well, as in they were on time and there wasn't much turbulence.  But man do I hate flying into the jet stream.  The 5 1/2 hour flight from Bangkok to Tokyo took 7 hours going the other way.  Not to mention the 10 1/2 hour flight from Tokyo to Detroit that took 13 1/2 hours in reverse!   I've been greeted by a warm breezy brilliantly sunny Saturday, and as excited as I am to see my friends and catch up with everyone, I am really enjoying this introvert day to rest and putz around my apartment.  Maybe I'll even go make another cup of tea. 

Renewed: Preparing to leave once again

I've got 48 hours left in the US and I plan to spend quite a few of them, how else, shopping.  Lots of great things to stock up on before I go.  Usually I spread out the collecting and spending over the entire visit, but this one has been so busy that it's all been left till the end.  Despite all the great products, what I love most about the US is the people, of course.  Granted, what I love most about Thailand is the people and what I miss most about Argentina is the people.  I think I just like people. 

But people, also, are hard to fit in a suitcase. And people are altogether too fragile, as a family tragedy has taught us all too well this week.  You can take every precaution, but so much of life is just unpreventable, unpredictable, and wholly unexplainable.   And that is, in part, what makes it so nice to come home and reconnect with so many people I love- too often this moment is all we have. 

My days in Michigan have been a deep breath, a step away from a life that I love, but a life also filled with challenges. I return to Bangkok this week with a renewed sense of purpose, in my life and in my work.  I return with renewed passion to live and love how Jesus did, with a layer of healing and forgiveness between me and some of the hurts of last semester, and with a joy to jump back into teaching and into learning Thai. I also return with twice as much luggage as I came with, but that's to be expected :)  These past few days the verse that keeps coming to mind is one from Isaiah, I don't know the chapter and verse off hand, but one that I have realized is just as much of a life verse as any other I have chosen: Yes, Lord, walking in your ways we wait for you, for your name and your renown are the desire of our hearts. 

May my heart always look at Jesus and say Yes, Lord. May I walk in his ways. May I wait for him, for he has a time for everything under heaven. And may the desire of my heart always be his Name and his renown.