Kranuan 2

Our numbers have dwindled slighly because Jenica and Matt have been sick. They went to the doctor and seem to be recovering now, but we have been somewhat shorthanded lately. Today Abbie, Cameron and I visited a local school to teach English and represent the Church (Ben went with Matt to the doctor). We’ll definitely be glad for some more Aggies to help next time!

Yesterday we went to the local church and acted out the story of David (one of the Thai boys) and Goliath (Ben). I got to be Samuel and Saul while Cameron narrated. Abbie did what she does best and sat and watched. (Addendum: I have been informed she took pictures – what a trooper!)

Later that night Cameron gave a lesson to the church about being a servant while Abbie and I washed the feet of the congregation members and Matt followed to dry their feet (Ben stayed home helping Jenica recover). Thai culture is similar to that of the Jews in Jesus’ time in that feet are considered very dirty. People do not point the bottoms of their feet at other people or take their shoes into people’s homes. I think this gave the lesson more significance to them than it would to an American congregation. They seemed very grateful and immediately came to wash ours afterwards. The preacher here, Kun Prakrong is an extremely kind man, and thanked us many times before briefly speaking to everyone about he humility that Jesus showed. He pointed out that if the Almighty King, who is much more powerful than any American, could put himself in the role of a servant, then we must also.

After the lesson the local church put on a show for us, and we (mostly Matt) sang a few songs with/for them.  Six of the teenage Thai girls dressed in traditional garb and showed us a Thai dance. Then we got to try it!

In case anyone didn’t know already, I was with the AFC Cambodia team for 5 weeks before coming to Thailand. It’s hard for me to not automatically say things like “thanks” and “hello” in Khmer! If you are interested in reading about my time in Cambodia and seeing a few pictures, please visit our blog.

Jared

Kranuan

This place is great! The level of hospitality is like a family gathering.  They are treating us like family althogh we are strangers.  The body of belivers in Thailand is incredibly close knit.  Yesterday, we went to Khon Kaen (pronouced Concan just like the place on the Frio River) to get some bedding accesories and other things we need for our stay.  Matt and I found an electronic keyboard and decided that the church could use another intrument.  They seem to love playing guitar and drums, and are really good at it, so we are sure they will use it.  We also worked on the bathrooms for the new church building.  After that, we taught english to 4-16 year old students.  It was a great day.  After I finish this post, I have to run back to the house and get ready for church. 

Ben

Tolleson Blog. Vol. 1

Ok so I am going to assume now that the rest of the group is going to update you all on how the mission trip is going and all of the details and such. Therefore, I am going to give you the inside scoop on how the members are doing and give you all updates on how Ben, Matt, Jared, and Cameron (our leader), are treating myself and sweet Abbie!

I’ll start with myself;) I’m Jenica Tolleson. I’m doing fine. I feel bad because I packed a 60lb suitcase and stay on the 4^th floor at the church…AND there’s no elevator!!! HahaI felt so bad for Tdon, our host, and Jared who helped carry it up and down the stairs! Lol other than that I am not very comfortable with trying all of the food they have to offer! It is so different and a lot easier said than done trying everything! Lol but maybe this will change as the trip continues…

 

Abbie…Sweet Abbie is doing great as well. We are getting along so well and stick together like to peas in a pod because we are the only girls

 

 

 Ben- haha is one of the mostspontaneous, up for anything, person I know! He’s doing a pretty good job of taking care of me and Abbie. Lol sometimes he can be a little sassy, but so can I so it works out fine!

 

Matt- Is the sweetheart of the guys. He has just been so nice to Abbie and I and even offered to do our laundry the other dayJ He is always the first one to carry my bag around too. What a guy;)

 

 

Jared- Is just precious. He took me and Abbie around Bangkok yesterdayJ He gets a little impatient when we like to stop at the shops and look around. He said he would work on it though when we go back

 

Cameron- is literally the best leader for this trip!!! He communicates great with the guys and with us girls! He has waited on us, been patient, and is just an all around great leader!!!

More to come in Vol. 2!

Last Day in Bangkok

Yesterday was our last day in Bangkok.  The ladies spent the begining of the day sleeping (til 11!)  The guys played ping pong in the morning and then invited a new brother in Christ (baptised 2 weeks ago)  to come over and listen to music and hang out and play ping pong.  Later, we had the chance to go help local college age students with english.

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It was really spectactular.  The class had 20 Thai students.  They were seperated so that each one of us aggies had four or more students to ourselves.  The students interviewed us with questions like “Where are you from?” and “How many people are in you family?”.  It was amazing the way they responded to us.  In turn for helping them with english, they taught us Thai phrases that would be useful in Kranuan. Also, the night wouldn’t have been complete without a cultural exchange of chicken dances. They tought us theirs and we tought them ours. (click links for videos) After that, we frantically rushed to the bus station to catch our bus to Kranuan.  It left at 9:15 pm and we arrived in Kranuan at 6:00 am this morning.

 

HOWDY!

Hi everyone,

Today was a great day in Bangkok.  Personally I, Matt, got up early and read the bible, played some basketball and took a walk around the area to get the feel of the city which is amazing.  Everyone woke up around ten this morning trying to get the Jet lag out of our system.  The church here is really nice, and the people are very kind to us Aggies. Rungie one of the leaders at the church called College Station their home away from home.  After that the group split up and Ben and I travelled with Dton to the central bus station in Bangkok and purchased our tickets for our seven hour bus ride to Kranuan tomorrow night.  This was a great experience for us because we got to talk with Dton about his faith and how his family came to christ.  It was also enlightening because every second on the roads out here is crazy. There are motorcycles whizzing by you with no caution and taxi drivers cutting in and out of lanes like speed racer.  We made it alright and were happy to get back to the others.

The others went to the Big C which is a shopping center and they got to see what shopping in one of the biggest cities in the world is like.  Cameron and Jared went to the movies and saw Kung Fu Panda 2 which was a delight to Jared because it was the first movie he has seen since he travelled to Cambodia in the beginning of the summer.  Abbie, Jenica, Ben and I went to get a Thai massage and that was awesome.  We literally got beat up by the women giving it to us. Ben and I were trying so hard to converse with the women but the language barrier was pretty evident.  All and all we had a great time, and we are really loose now. 

We have church service tonight at 7 and we are going to lead the singing which should be a great test of how we will fare during our six weeks in Thailand.  We hope you will continue to pray for us during our journey and thank you again for all the support you have shown us.  We could not have done any of this with out your help.  God bless, Kap Krun Krap, thank you in Thai.

Matt

In Hong Kong

Hello all,
Jennica, Abbie, And I are in the hong kong airport waiting for our flight to Bangkok. The trip thus far has been loads of fun but very long. I just had some hot and spicy pork over noodles and the girls ate popeyes chicken. Will post pictures of the trip when we get to Bangkok. We are all running on about 8-10 hours of sleep from the past 2 days and a goodnights sleep in Bangkok seems like the best idea right now.
Ben

World Travelers

Hey guys, this is Cameron.

Right now the troops are scattered. Jared is waiting for us in Bangkok because he’s transitioning between our trip and Cambodia. Ben, Abbie, and Jenica have safely landed in LA and are doing their thing there while they wait for their connecting flight. Me and Matt are starting up a game of hide and seek at our gate in the San Fran airport during our lay over because no one else is here. Nishadi is finishing her next few weeks of her internship before she meets us in Chang Mai.

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I think it’s safe to say we’re all excited to see where God will lead us this week. So much preparation has gone into this trip in the hopes that we fulfill as much as possible of our potential that God has given us. We love hearing how much preparation everyone is putting into this trip too, thank you so much for your prayers and for following us on this site!

 

2 Days Left!!

Hello Everyone.  I’m Ben and I will be your commentator on this wild ride.  I will tell a gripping tale of a group of students who will fly to Thailand in hopes of serving others in a foreign land.  There is uncertainty ahead, but God will guide us and we cannot wait to see what he will do through us and what he will do to us as well.  We leave in just two and a half days!  Be praying for us and for those who we will meet in Thailand.  I will post pictures of our group when we meet up in Dallas on Sunday.  Be watching daily after that for updates on the trip and my kinda sorta funny musings that will inveitably show up here as well. I will leave you with quick picture of what the landscape of Thailand has become in my head from looking at all the travel sites.  We will see if this is how it actually is!

 

First Post

Hey Guys.  Here is our blog.  We will post information on Thailand, Mission work, and other random stuff relating to our trip.  First off, I would like to post the link to a website that has a huge amount of info about Thailand. http://www.thailandlife.com/ was started by a Thai teenager when he was 12.  The guy is now in jail for drug possession.  If you want a glimpse of the real Thai life, read this guys story.  He has also posted a bunch of learning exercises for the Thai language as well.  Enjoy!