Not a lot has happened, but I just wanted to give a quick update, especially so people can know how my concussion situation is going.
I had two other doctor’s appointments. The first one, on Monday, was just to ask about the nerve pain down my arm and in my shoulders. It had been hard to sleep with all the constant throbbing. The Doctor, Dr. Scott, was ironically Scottish. It was nice to be able to get an English consultation and really explain my concerns. I then had a follow-up appointment with him on Wednesday. On Tuesday before the follow-up I went and had acupenture done. The couple pictures above are of that experience. It was quite weird. I laid down and had some needles stuck in my neck, shoulders, and down my right arm that had been hurting the most. They also had this “magic” energy lamp they put on my shoulder and later moved down my arm. It was interesting. The lamp was supposed to get my qi energy moving to help facilitate the healing of the area. And you know what? After the appointment I felt a lot better! Almost completely healed. But after a little time my arm started throbbing again, but it was definitely better than before. So I would have to say, in my case, acupuncture worked!
My follow-up appointment on Wednesday was good. I was feeling a lot better and I was able to get my stitches out that day as well. With the blessing of the doctor I was going to start Muay Thai training the next day. And this week I trained Thursday, Friday, and Saturday morning. I would normally do the morning and night sessions, but I wanted to take it easy at least until the end of the week. So things went well the first couple of days, but Saturday I actually felt really good. Monday I will try to return to twice a day.
In other news, related to my income schemes, I acted in a video for a popular Thai YouTube channel. I got paid 1000 baht for the gig or roughly $30. I also got to eat a lot of delicious food during filming! It was a really weird experience and I can’t wait to see what the video looks like. In the meantime, while the video is being produced, I have some pictures of the filling process above.
Lastly, with all the time out of training with my concussion I was able to volunteer my time helping out at Thai Village (thaivillage.org). I did really simple stuff like counting inventory, and packaging. It was a really awesome experience to see the local workers making their crafts though. For those who don’t know Thai Village is a organization spun off of the church I have been attending there that teaches and facilitates income producing projects and vocations for local Thai people, especially nothern hill tribe people. It was an amazing opportunity to see how this organization has blessed the live’s of these workers and how God’s word is spread through it. The pictures above show a pickup truck that was at a location where we were picking some stuff up. I thought the truck was super cool, and I was really surprised when the guy got in and started driving it!
On Saturday night, I was able to help out with the international church craft fair. I helped Thai Village get their table set up and they were able to do a good amount of sales! It was interesting also to see all of the different international churches there. Even in Thailand you’ll see massive amount of older white women “oohing” and “aahing” at different knick knacks and crafts.
When the Christian population in Thailand is around 1% it’s almost a necessity to work together. I know people in the US, especially conservative WELS members, might see that as a bad thing, but really it’s eye opening to see what’s really important. There is definitely a delicate dance of weighing the pros and cons regarding how best to advance God’s work when working with others. Would you rather work with a Christian Church you didn’t 100% agree with if it meant that it would be the only opportunity for these people to hear about Jesus? Every situation is different and it makes you contemplate much more deeply how best to share God’s word. It is, for sure, a delicate situation. The circumstances in the United States are completely different, and I am glad to have had the opportunity here because there aren’t many parallels in our own society. I’ve learned it’s not always as black and white as I grew up thinking. The best thing anyone can do is pray and ask God for his guidance!
That wraps it up for me! Soon you’ll get to see my Thai acting debut and I’ll have a post about my Thai Thanksgiving celebrations coming up as well.