Sunday, November 4, 2012

Training in Thailand

We arrived safely in Thailand on Thursday, November 1.  We were taken to our guest house to settle in.  The JJ Jew Mission Guest House is about 4 blocks and one foot bridge from Santisuk English School (hereafter SES).  After settling in we met at SES.  We were taken on a walking tour of Bankapi, the area surrounding SES.  I wish I could communicate the full experience to you all.  Bankok is city that NEVER sleeps.  The traffic is unending, with honking and screeching.  The sidewalks are filled with people, street vendors, animals, and motor bikes.  The sidewalks are very dirty and uneven.  The smells are of spicy Thai food, sulfur from the sewer, cilantro, fresh pineapple, and other exotic fruit.  7 Eleven stores are everywhere!

Friday we met with Steve Cable, the missionary and pastor here at Peace Fellowship Church (PFC) and Santisuk English School (SES).  He explained our teaching responsibilities to us.  At 5:15 p.m. that evening we had a dinner with the members of PFC.  We ate outside.  At 6:15 p.m. we attended the Friday night Thai service.  We will be attending this service every week.  A pastor from Erie, Pennsylvania, gave the message in English and then translated to Thai.  On Saturday, we had 5 hours of training in the SES curriculum.  We also had time to go to the Mall Bankapi.  It is huge! Malls here in Thailand are a combination of stores, restaurants, grocery stores, banks, post offices, cinemas, & food courts.  The Mall Bankapi has a giant waterpark on the 5th floor!

The road to the Mall Bankapi is strewn with small booths where you can buy food, clothing, and various sundry items. 

On Sunday, we met at 10 a.m.with our cell groups.  Each of us was assigned a PFC cell group.  My group met at the Vejithani Hospital.  We met with a woman who was injured in a bus crash about three weeks ago when the SES team had taken a field trip to the Bridge Over the River Kwai.  Please pray for Jane.  She has a vertebrae injury and has regained some feeling and usage of her arms, but her legs are still paralyzed.  We worshiped, read Scripture and prayed together.   Sunday evening was the PFC English service.  Our team participated in the service, singing during the offering.  After church many of us went out to dinner together at a local restaurant.  There were about 35 of us!




Today we received a cultural orientation.  We have our first teacher's meeting at 3 PM today.  Classes start tomorrow.  Please pray for all of us as we begin our teaching responsibilies at SES.  

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