Erdene

I had three students for two weeks but now I'm down to one student named Erdene. I tutor her for two hours a day, Monday through Friday. Erdene is from Mongolia but she is here in Bangkok learning English so she can study Pharmacy Administration. Erdene speaks both Mongol and Russian but her English is very limited and my ability to teach English is limited by my inexperience. However, my ability to teach English is all but irrelevant. The fact that I am a native English speaker is the only fact that was considered in placing me with Erdene.

Thinking back to my commissioning service, I said then that my only qualifications are that I speak English and love Jesus. Somehow, maybe on the flight from the US to Thailand, I forgot that. I thought I knew a thing or two about TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language). During that flight, in my mind, I became a TEFL professional.

Sitting in the classroom with Erdene has helped me to realize how very, very wrong I was. I grew frustrated with my inability to help her become a fluent English speaker in two weeks. I forgot my second qualification, the one that brought me to the BSC, to Thailand--that I love Jesus and am here to proclaim His name, His love, His power.

In effect, I let my expectations dictate my attitude. I expected my students to be more proficient in English because I don't speak Thai. Erdene doesn't speak Thai either. No one at the BSC speaks either Mongol or Russian but I speak English, Erdene's target language.

During our tutoring session on Friday, I was feeling very discouraged by her lack of progress--blaming myself, doubting myself, doubting that God had called me to Thailand. Something compelled me to start an "Easy English" booklet with her that tells the story of how Jesus fed the 5,000 with the lunch of a small boy in the crowd. I told her to highlight the words she didn't know and so she did--she highlighted "the One True God" and asked me to explain what it means.

Wow, God. How to explain who you are to someone who is most likely a Tibetan Buddhist? I said, He is "Yahweh," the God of the Bible, the "I AM." What I loved about this particular booklet is how it points to Jesus' identity as God. I told Erdene about the miracles that Jesus performed that were things only God could do like raise the dead, make the lame walk and the blind see.

In telling Erdene these things, I had this energy that was missing before when I made English proficiency the end goal. It's not. While I want to teach English with excellence, I would rather my students know Jesus and have a relationship with Him.

I let my sin nature dictate my attitude. I didn't want something challenging for my first couple of months here but that's exactly what God had in mind. Though the process of being sifted is not a comfortable one, it's a necessary one if my faith is to be strengthened during this time in Thailand.

Please pray that I can love Erdene and be a faithful minister of the gospel toward her during the time that I have with her.

A Tour of my Room at the BSC

As promised, I made a video tour of my room here at the BSC. Enjoy!

Coffee In Thailand [Culture]

I imagine some of you out there are curious about my coffee rituals now that I am in Thailand.

Back home in the States, I might be considered a coffee snob--I only ever buy fair-trade coffee and organic coffee if it happens to be fair-trade and the roast I prefer. I buy coffee beans so I can grind them at home right before I brew the coffee in my Cuisinart coffee maker (one of my favorite graduation gifts). I then pour the coffee in a mug along with a 1/4 cup milk and voila, the best coffee on the planet.

In Thailand, this can never be. Coffee beans are ridiculously expensive here (a small bag runs close to 20 dollars). Most coffee drinkers here get their coffee from a cart but don't be fooled. Coffee here is instant, not my preference at all.

Yes, it is possible to find real brewed coffee at Starbucks (both thais and farangs, foreigners, love it) but it is dreadfully expensive. For a grande cup of regular coffee, it costs 100 baht (around 3 dollars). I've had it twice so far and I stretch it out like I'm living in the Great Depression, thai style.

So what do I do to satisfy my coffee cravings? I drink instant coffee most days using a method taught to me by my 91-year old next door neighbor, Lorena. She told me to fill a water bottle halfway with filtered water and stick it in the freezer overnight. Once frozen the next morning, you add the coffee packet, the sugar packet and the creamer packet (they really like packets here). Then you fill the rest of the bottle with room temperature water, put the cap back on and shake! It's not too bad and is appropriately cold in the warm Thai climate.

In my room, I found some curious looking, coffee making equipment but I have no idea what these things are...any suggestions?

Bangkok Statistics

This is an excellent video to watch made by my new friend Dylan if you want an overview of some statistics in Bangkok. Check it out...

Highlights (Dare I Say It, "Thailights")

So far, my life here in Bangkok has been a whirlwind of meetings, culture shock and jetlag. I'm pretty much settled into my new room here in the guest house at the BSC. It's standard dorm room furniture--bed, dresser, desk, wardrobe, mini-fridge, bathroom, etc. I will post more on my room later (if I remember).
It's 10:40 PM on Saturday here so I'll make this brief (notice how I always say that and then it's not...we'll see).
Here are some of my highlights so far. These may or may not be in order:

• Getting to know the other BSC teachers who live in the guest house. I just had a several hour long conversation with Danni (an Aussi teacher), Dylan (a 20 year old from Idaho who teaches as well), and Lorena (a 90+ year old who has more stories than anyone I've ever met). I am so glad that these people are my sisters and brother in Christ.
• Exploring JJ's Market with our new friend Air today. She was such a good tour guide considering how huge (overwhelming) this place was. We then got some Japanese food for dinner that was "aloy mak" ("very good").

• Friday Night Life (yesterday evening)--special concert called "Welcome Home." The worship team reenacted the story of the Prodigal Son which was incredibly moving despite the fact that I could not understand anything that was being said. Then there was this Thai man who won this singing contest in Thailand (don't ask) who sang this beautiful song in perfect English about Christ and his love for us called "His Eye is on the Sparrow" (I think...). He then sang a Thai song in perfect Thai, I'm sure. After the concert, I reunited with my friend Oh from our trip in August which was awesome that God allowed us to be together again :)

• River Markets in Ampla Wat (sp?) yesterday from 8 AM to 3 PM. It was an hour and a half long bus ride that I shared with our translator and Paul Robart, a missionary from Florida. We taught an English lesson to a group of elementary school teachers during their break and then we ate lunch with them. They were very curious about the weather in Washington, D.C. (for all intents and purposes, where I say I'm from). I told them it was the same as Thailand right now--hot! We then walked around the markets by the river that were mostly closed because it's a nighttime market. I loved talking to the translator named Ao about Jesus and hearing his heart for this country to fall in love with Christ.

• Learning how to be a teacher. We have our schedules. We have desks. It's official. And weird. There was a point in my life where I was adamant that I was never going to be a teacher. Adamant. God has a way of changing our plans to fit His will. It's hilarious when we think the whole thing was our idea...not.

More updates to come! Good night!

A Quick Recap of the Flight

I know you all are probably eager to hear details about the 30 hour trip I just took **literally** halfway around the world but I'm not eager to dwell on it too much. I'll make this brief:

The first leg of the trip was from Dulles (IAD) to Heathrow, London at 6:40 PM on Monday. I was glad that the flight left so late in the day because I had time to buy flip flops and get my Power of Attorney notarized before leaving for the airport.

I arrived at the airport and said a sad farewell to my whole family (a first in a really long time). My sister Annie helped me drag my bags over to the Virgin Atlantic economy class line and saw...Liz and her dad being assisted by a gate agent at a different desk. They flagged us over and explained that they had been through the line three times because our tickets "did not exist"--uh oh. However--due to their patience and persistence, my check-in process was a breeze and my definitely over-weight bags were checked with no hassle at all (praise God).

Drama aside. We easily made it through security and to our gate where we grabbed dinner at Potbelly's Sandwich Works (my former employer!). I was psyched to be headed to London since I studied abroad in Bath, England in 2009; the waves of nostalgia came and went. The Heathrow terminal was full of exciting stores like Boots, Pret a Mange, etc. The Queen's face was everywhere (good job being queen for so long, I guess). For the record, I did not buy any Diamond Jubilee merchandise but I did purchase some chocolate--the real thing which can only be found in England and the UK/Europe section of Wegmans for an arm and a leg. During the trip, I must have drank a month's worth of tea...

Anyways, Liz and I made it to Singapore. The flight itself (our longest leg) was okay apart from feeling like it was never going to end. The movie selection was pretty poor so I only ended up watching "Man on a Ledge"--predictable but had me saying "goodness gracious" out loud more than once. I spent a good portion of remaining time watching re-runs of sit-coms I had already seen (like Parks and Rec :) )

Making it to Singapore was big because it meant that we only had one short leg left--Singapore to Bangkok! This is where we updated everyone on Facebook that we were okay:

Hello everyone. Made it safely to Singapore (good morning). Will post once Liz Swauger and I are in Thailand :)

“Singapore Changi Airport”

The last flight was a quick jump that felt like no time at all (except for the fact that we couldn't land immediately so we had to circle over BKK for about 40 minutes before we could land).

Finally, we made it through customs and security and met John and Ruth Lapos and their two kids, Hannah and Timothy who helped us carry our ginormous bags to the car.

My last Facebook status:

It is 1:20 PM on Wednesday here in BANGKOK, THAILAND. Praise God--both Liz and I arrived safely and are settling in to our new rooms and our new city. I am feeling jet-lagged but also incredibly excited for how God is going to use me here at the BSC and in Thailand. 

My "Thai"brary

I've spent a significant portion of this afternoon packing books and heaving the heavy boxes (6, to be exact) to my car. I'm the type of person who likes to bite off more than I can chew (aka, buy more books off Amazon than I can read in a lifetime, much less a year). However, moving to Thailand limits what I can bring. I will only have so many clothes and shoes, personal items, room decorations, desk accessories, and books. Many of my books that went in boxes were books from school so I didn't mourn parting with those so much. Others were books that I purchased with great excitement only to shelve them (temporarily, I said) because I didn't have time or I was reading something else. Only six books didn't go in the boxes. I want to study these books, underline and highlight things, write notes in them, and hopefully attain some of the authors' wisdom. I'm just praying that I can fit them in my suitcase...

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**the ironic part of trying to fit 6 books in my suitcase is that I'm also bringing a least a dozen other books in my Kindle...as they say in Thailand, mai pen rai
***if I had to bring 7 books to Thailand instead of 6, which one would you suggest?

Commissioned, Loved, Sent

On Sunday, Liz and I were commissioned by the congregation at all three services. Despite some nervousness about speaking in front of so many people (who would have thought?), it was really awesome to get to share what led to the decision to go back to Thailand. My hope is that in going, I am setting a precedent for others at Spotswood to go and do the same--preach Christ to those who have never heard the gospel before. I want it to be apparent that you don't have to be a "Christian Super Star" in order to be a foreign missionary. All it takes is willingness and availability. First, you must be both of those things within the context of a local church. Like Dr. Drew said, Liz and I have been poured into, invested in and now we are displaying the fruit of that investment in our desire to go to the nations in the name of Jesus.
At the third service, the deacons, the college group and the Swauger family came and prayed over us...one word expresses what I felt in that moment--loved. I felt incredibly loved by my church and I know that even being so very far away, I am still a loved, valued member of Spotswood Baptist Church in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

Here's what I shared with the congregation on Sunday. If I can get my hands on the video accompaniment, you can be sure it will never be posted in this blog. You're welcome for that.

I was asked to share with you all why I’m returning to Bangkok, Thailand for one year. Last August, Liz, Doug, Dylan, Jared and I went on a vision trip to Bangkok. The purpose was to see if we could form a sustainable, gospel-centered partnership with the Baptist Student Center. In the course of this trip, what God wanted me to do became abundantly clear--he wanted me to make him famous through teaching English and proclaiming the gospel to those who don't know him. Theologian Frederick Buechner said that “the place God calls us to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” My qualifications being that I speak English and love Jesus, I knew God designed me to meet this apparent need. The more I learn about Bangkok, the more I realize that I love the people who live there. I consider it a privilege to get to use my gifts in order to glorify God. And really, it gives me great joy to get to do that. I am incredibly grateful that Spotswood is a church that honors the Great Commission and is sending me to serve in Thailand. So thank you.