the land of a thousand smiles

holy pad thai batman, were in thailand! so last night we boarded a sleeper bus for a 14 hour overnight drive up to chiang rai, where we will be until the 16th. the bus departed at 6.30. where i promptly popped two dramamine, receieved some oj, a bottle of water and some pastries from the crew, and then fell into the sweet unconscience sleep dramamine afford you. at midnight we had our one stop and got food...at least, i think it was food. we got a bowl of soupy rice and some unidentifiable omething or other, but it wasnt bad. i still felt so cloudy and unaware due to the drugs that i didnt even care. when i got back on the bus i took two more dramamine, not so much because i was car-sick ((which i ALWAYS am, but wasnt this time) but becuase it knocks you out cold! i didnt really wake again until 7 this morning, overall i slept about 80 percent of the time, which was great!
the pastor (still cant pronounce his name) greeted us there, and our luggage went ahead of us in a truck while we walked in, chang rai is absolutely beautiful!! it is in northern thailand, and every bit as beautiful as i imagined! you know in movies, when they pan shots of country side in asain countries, and its always quiet, and green, and the vegetation is neatly kept and theres lots of cool new foliage to look at? its exactly like that!
while were here well be doing a bit of hiking, going ino three different villages, one focusing on children, the auka people (research them if you can, its fascinating!), and another one, bandu, or something? anyway, with that last one, well be going to another...waterfall! oh Lord. and i heard this one has pockets of deep water to swim in, but it doesnt sound all that impressive. i know it will be a fun and wonderful experience though, so im excited!
the thai are getting ready for songkran, the thai new year, and its all about water! the next everal days are ministry, but after that we have time off, becuase apparently the whole country does, and throws water on eachother! its such a big deal, that all of our contacts have talked about it, and said to watch what we wear, because they especially like to dump water on farangs, or foreigners. good thing i love water! on one of our days off, we will going to ride elephants! im sooo excited about that! well have an hour long ride along a river...paradise! the next day is water day, and fter that were going to the golden triangle, its the highest part of thailand, and it overlooks the threee borders of thailand, myanmar and laos, im so excited to see this, and to pray over the land of these three countries! that brings us to the end of our time there, where well be traveling to a stones throw away from the myanmar border, to the tak province. i have no idea what we will be doing there, but im ready!
while were here, we are staying at the House of Blessing, which takes children and teenagers from the vilalges and educates them both in schooling and in culture, then sends them back to their villages fro them to spread and teach their knowledge. i think that basically covers what it is, and it has been hugely successful in the last few decades that it has existed. every night we teach them english on-on-one, tonight was our first night and it seems our students were taught more thai then they taught english! but they seem very excited to get to know new people, and establish relationships with them, even if the language is minimal. Gary and I had a great time tonight talking and praying while they were doing english (my, for english being my best subject, my sentence structure is terrible!), its so nice to be with an experienced leader, he has so much insight and wisdom to offer! i kow i dont deserve this, the position i am, but Gods grace is soo sufficient! i love being in a position where i have nothing, i am nothing, i HAVE to rely on Him, and Him carrying me and guiding me through this, its so initmate! im always praying, always seeking His word for the day, or the moment, its just a wonderful place to be! though certainly not comfortable. but well worth it :)