This weekend I had the pleasure of joining in fellowship with the church here in Thailand as we took to a nearby national park. The banner above shows the church information and celebrates the occasion. The line in red with quotations phrased as a question was the theme. Going off of memory, it roughly means “What do true friends look like?” or something close along those lines.
The weekend started early on Saturday as I got up at 6am and enjoyed the sun rise as I pedalled my bicycle to the church. We we’re to leave at 7am in a caravan for the park. However, time isn’t quite the same in Thai culture as in American culture. We didn’t end up on the road until 7:45, but I have almost started to expect delays like that at this point.
At the park the men and women each got there own dorm/bunkhouse where we would spend the night. Inside the bunkhouses were rows of mattresses laying directly on the ground. Despite the look, they we’re very comfy and I slept very well with the exception of some snoring from one of the older Thai members. We got the pavilion all set up and squared away for our multiple Bible lessons and games. Meals were provided for by the park staff and I through enjoyed all the all you can eat helping of fried rice, Pad Thai, soups, and fresh fruit for dessert.
I got my own name tag as you can see in the picture above I never would have known it was mine if someone hadn’t given it to me! With a blue name tag I was a part of the blue team. Those who had black or red name tags were a part of those teams respectively. We had all sorts of fun games and challenges to earn points for our team. Each person was also assigned a secret buddy to watch out for and do nice things for them without them knowing. That was tough for me since when I got my secret buddy I first had to take the name slip I was given and matchup the written Thai script with the name tags until I found my buddy, because there is no way I can read Thai!
The first day we had an opening service and then a couple more relaxed teaching lessons. The lessons emphaised Jesus as our friend and what good Christian friends are like, following the camp theme. Without Katie, who is sitting next to me in one of the pictures above, I would have been lost. Katie and Liz, another member of the church, have been so awesome in translating for me during church services and then especially during this weekend! Missionary pastor Rob and his wife also have been an immense help too naviagting me through the language barrier.
At night we had some skits about friendship to perform in our groups. I am proud to say the blue group won best skit! I took my role as an English teacher very serious in the skit, so I’m glad it paid off. Even though I couldn’t understand what they were saying I could help but laugh and have a good time watching everybody peform their skits! It was a real hoot! After that we played some games and then had a meat roast. I don’t know if meat roast is the right word for it, but we had several of these small grills cooking kebobbed pork, mushrooms, and who know what else I ate. I really enjoyed the custom, and while a nice smorses is good I think adding kebob roasting to my campfire traditions back home might be in order.
I found out that a major Thai party isn’t complete without some karaoke! Everyone enjoyed getting in on the action, and I even sang a couple as well. There were a lot of Thai songs song, but also a good number of English songs. One of the younger Thai boys sang Justin Bieber’s “Baby” and that was hilarious! In general, though, I noticed the theme of songs was more “get you in your feelings” melancholy type of music rather than upbeat. An example of a melancholy choice would be the video above. Needless to say, I throughly enjoyed watching them sing!
Sunday morning we had group devotions before breakfast and then a nice sevice after breakfast. We rounded up the weekend with a couple last games and the team standing. Blue team took second which earned me some cookies so I’m fine with that outcome. After that we enjoyed the day outside and then headed back to the church!
Overall, I had an awesome weekend! It was a cool experience to really connect with the Thai members and feel the fellowship between us even if we couldn’t always communicate the best. A lot can be said through smiling and laughing and there was a lot of that done this weekend! So thanks to God for that opportunity!
This Thursday I am flying out to South Korea to visit some high school friends and to see what kind of trouble I can get into at the DMZ especially with everything that is happening in the news right now. So maybe say a prayer for me regarding those travels. Check back on the blog soon to hear about my adventures there!