Tuesday, July 08, 2003
It's our last week here in Chiang Mai, and of course we are busy, busy, busy. I am trying not to think about leaving this place. There are so many people I've gotten to know, to challenge, and to be challenged by. On one hand, I think that I am ready to see my family and friends again, but another part of me feels like I sort of developed a home away from home here. I wish that my journal over the past few weeks could completely describe all of the feelings, struggles, victories, and wonders that I have experienced here. Maybe that's why it has been so hard to keep writing in this journal lately; it only scratches the surface. At the same time, I want those at home to know some general activities that we are doing. However, because we have to be careful to disclose names (just in case), and because this is available to anyone to see, I can't tell much of the "behind the scenes" work going on. For those of you at home that would like to know more about my experience here, please feel free to ask. Now, I am going try to cover most of the main events that have happened in the last week or so... hang on..
Monday, June 30th:
To pick up where I last left off, Monday after classes were finished we went with our team to MonkChat, which is where common people can go talk to Buddhist Monks at Wat Suan Dok, the big school for monks and novices in Chiang Mai. While I was there, I got to talk to three monks. They were all very friendly, and were eager to speak English. The purpose of the program is to help the monks practice English, as well as allow people and foreigners to ask the monks all kinds of questions. It's a really good opportunity to share about Buddhism and Christianity. It certainly opened my eyes to some things, and it was just an enjoyable experience.
Tuesday, July 1st
Sightseeing with an Ah-jahn. NCC let us take the day off to go see several of the surrounding wats, as well as a couple of museums. There was much to see and take pictures of.. I'm beginning to think that I am going to have to develop an entire site just of my pictures of Thailand :)
Wednesday, July 2nd
Our visas ran out today, so we had to go get them renewed at the Immigration Office. After a couple of hours and a slew of hassles and minor ordeals, we got our visas, and even had them extended for two extra days so that we wouldn't have to pay the extra fine for going past the usual 10-day visa. After leaving Immigration, we headed for some small waterfalls on Doi Su Thep. We climbed around for a while (I fell once and broke my camera, but it was fixable), had a small picnic, and went ahead and had our team bible study. It was really refreshing to be outside, hearing the waterfalls, and just sharing what was on our hearts for a while. We broke up into small groups and discussed the bible study and what God has been showing us in the past week. I admitted to my team that I was a little downhearted. I had been looking to the Journeyman program to return to Thailand at the end of the year. However, I found out that it was not possible for me to do that, because of the large amount of applicants already waiting for spots. The IMB is also having more financial contraints, so there are actually going to be fewer placed in positions. Anyway, I have not tried to think too much about what what the next step is for me, but I have to be honest and say that it does haunt me in the back of my mind. We then shared prayer requests and lifted each other up in prayer.
The North Chiang Mai College team also went to one of the student's funeral tonight. The family had actually already had several days of memorial services (the more days you have supposedly shows your status/wealth), and this was the last night- the body was to be cremated the next day. It was nothing like the typical American service. The casket is put in a huge red paper/wood? house with gold decor, Christmas lights, flowers, and strobe lights all over it. After all of the funeral ceremonies are finished, the casket along with the house is burned. The Buddhists believe that the house will serve as a living place for the dead person in the next life, or heaven, I'm not sure which. During the service, people come and burn incense toward the body, placing it in a large gold urn which is beside the casket. The service took place outside, and we arrived as a monk was chanting over a PA system. He then gave a "sermon" in Thai, and afterwards they served food. We were told that most funerals lasted a long time, with 3 or 4 monks chanting and delivering messages. However, this one only had one monk, and even had a DJ and dancing afterwards. One of the Ah-jahns at the funeral said that it was because the student was so young, and many of the students came to the funeral. We left with a couple of the administrators shortly after the monk finished speaking.
Okay, getting busy (again). I'll try to update one more time before I leave, but if not I'll do it after I get over my jet lag back home. :)
Monday, June 30th:
To pick up where I last left off, Monday after classes were finished we went with our team to MonkChat, which is where common people can go talk to Buddhist Monks at Wat Suan Dok, the big school for monks and novices in Chiang Mai. While I was there, I got to talk to three monks. They were all very friendly, and were eager to speak English. The purpose of the program is to help the monks practice English, as well as allow people and foreigners to ask the monks all kinds of questions. It's a really good opportunity to share about Buddhism and Christianity. It certainly opened my eyes to some things, and it was just an enjoyable experience.
Tuesday, July 1st
Sightseeing with an Ah-jahn. NCC let us take the day off to go see several of the surrounding wats, as well as a couple of museums. There was much to see and take pictures of.. I'm beginning to think that I am going to have to develop an entire site just of my pictures of Thailand :)
Wednesday, July 2nd
Our visas ran out today, so we had to go get them renewed at the Immigration Office. After a couple of hours and a slew of hassles and minor ordeals, we got our visas, and even had them extended for two extra days so that we wouldn't have to pay the extra fine for going past the usual 10-day visa. After leaving Immigration, we headed for some small waterfalls on Doi Su Thep. We climbed around for a while (I fell once and broke my camera, but it was fixable), had a small picnic, and went ahead and had our team bible study. It was really refreshing to be outside, hearing the waterfalls, and just sharing what was on our hearts for a while. We broke up into small groups and discussed the bible study and what God has been showing us in the past week. I admitted to my team that I was a little downhearted. I had been looking to the Journeyman program to return to Thailand at the end of the year. However, I found out that it was not possible for me to do that, because of the large amount of applicants already waiting for spots. The IMB is also having more financial contraints, so there are actually going to be fewer placed in positions. Anyway, I have not tried to think too much about what what the next step is for me, but I have to be honest and say that it does haunt me in the back of my mind. We then shared prayer requests and lifted each other up in prayer.
The North Chiang Mai College team also went to one of the student's funeral tonight. The family had actually already had several days of memorial services (the more days you have supposedly shows your status/wealth), and this was the last night- the body was to be cremated the next day. It was nothing like the typical American service. The casket is put in a huge red paper/wood? house with gold decor, Christmas lights, flowers, and strobe lights all over it. After all of the funeral ceremonies are finished, the casket along with the house is burned. The Buddhists believe that the house will serve as a living place for the dead person in the next life, or heaven, I'm not sure which. During the service, people come and burn incense toward the body, placing it in a large gold urn which is beside the casket. The service took place outside, and we arrived as a monk was chanting over a PA system. He then gave a "sermon" in Thai, and afterwards they served food. We were told that most funerals lasted a long time, with 3 or 4 monks chanting and delivering messages. However, this one only had one monk, and even had a DJ and dancing afterwards. One of the Ah-jahns at the funeral said that it was because the student was so young, and many of the students came to the funeral. We left with a couple of the administrators shortly after the monk finished speaking.
Okay, getting busy (again). I'll try to update one more time before I leave, but if not I'll do it after I get over my jet lag back home. :)
Comments:
Post a Comment
