The Journey Lens Thailand- Take Two

“Of what value is an idol, since a man has carved it? Or an image that teaches lies? For he who makes it trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak. Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Come to life!’ Or to lifeless stone, ‘Wake up!’ Can it give guidance? It is covered with gold and silver; there is no breath in it. But the Lord is in His holy temple; let all the earth be silent before Him.”  Habakkuk 2:18-20.

I have read many scripture verses which speak about idols, but such verses have taken on a whole new meaning to me since my arrival in Thailand. My room is exactly 11 steps away from a large golden Buddhist statue (yes, I just took a walk to count for you). The view from my balcony – to the right sits a large Buddhist temple, and to the left a spirit house belonging to the apartment owner. The school and some classrooms where I teach are adorned with Buddhist and Animistic symbols.   

I am ever more and more aware of my personal need for Jesus and how lost I am without Him. I am ever more and more thankful for the privilege of knowing Him and for His love. I am ever more and more aware of how this world needs Jesus and of the need to pray for workers to be sent into the field, for “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few” Luke 10:2.

As I walk around Tak and see the shrines, temples, and spirit houses in the thousands, it is hard to understand how this nation will be reached. I begin to pray for this city and for its people, but I have no words to say, I only weep. Despite how far from the knowledge of the truth this nation may be, God placed a beautiful verse on my heart today which brings me great hope:

“Look at the nations and watch – and be utterly amazed. For I am going to something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told”.  Habakkuk 1:5

I love the Thai people and I believe that Jesus will do mighty works in this country to show His love to them.

Thanks for reading,

Heather

The statue down the hall from my room.

The view of the temple from my balcony 

One of many spirit houses. 

Shrine of King Taksin the great.

A statue of the king can be seen through the window on the right hand side.  

Spirit houses are sometimes lit during the evenings. 

Offering to the spirits

Walk of gold images

Worshipers making offerings and burning incense.

Shrines in the river

Instant Fame

It is strange being a celebrity in a place where you have lived for only two weeks. Heather and I went to explore the other side of the Ping River and I treated her to lunch (a grand total of $2). I know that is too expensive for most men but I felt it was the right thing to do ;) When I was paying the bill the Thai cashier said in very good English “Hello teacher Connor I go to Taksin Rachanusorn School. Nice to meet you.” I teach at a different school so I was caught off guard. “Uhh how do you know me?” “Oh you are on your schools facebook page.” So apparently I am on my schools facebook page and apparently a lot of people know that.

We then went to a different area and a man came out of his house and was very happy to meet us. He had seen us at church and was excited to tell us that he had painted the sign of a cross at the entrance to his house. Then he continued to be excited. So we congratulated him multiple times because once just didn’t seem like enough.

Many Thai’s have never heard of Jesus Christ. I had a difficult time explaining Paris’s Notre Dame Cathedral to a very bright student, who is the school’s selected representative for an upcoming French competition. In the end, despite my words and drawings the student never understood what Notre Dame was as she had never heard of a Church, a Christian, or Jesus Christ.

One of the aspects of Thai culture I was looking forward to seeing was the poorly translated t-shirts. Before coming here I had seen a shirt which read “Be like your liver and love mango.” My favourite one so far is from a lady that was making our food. She was wearing a shirt with cartoon hippos in water which read “Hi, Let’s Swimming!” Sometimes it is difficult not to laugh out loud.

Heather and I have also started studying the book of Revelation. My favourite part so far is the free blessing. So if you feel like being blessed read Revelation. “Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it” Revelation 1:3

Those are some of Connor's stories from Tak and now here are some photos

This was a nice view...

This is a better view

View of Tak from the other side of the Ping River

Tak (ตาก)

Map of Tak Province. The 4th largest province in Thailand. 

Entrance to downtown Tak

The King of Thailand is a very respected and his image is everywhere. His name is Rama IX and he is the world's longest serving current head of state. He became king of Thailand in June 1946.

No marching bands!

Spirit House with food and drink offerings

Rosters at the shrine of Taksin the great.

 Random French sign!

Car with an identity crisis

Random photo of Japan!

The Journey Lens (Thailand Edition) - Take One

Welcome to School!

Hello once again dear friends,

Here is a look for you this week of the school in Muang Tak where I have just finished my first full week teaching. The school, its staff and students, are truly wonderful. They have welcomed Connor, myself, and two other foreign teachers so warmly that I feel privileged to be teaching here. 

I teach 18 classes a week, 13 English classes for grades 10 and 12, and 5 French classes for grades 8-12. Class sizes vary with my most advanced class having only 21 students, while the majority of classes at the school have 50-52 students. It really is nothing like the teaching I experienced in Canada! 

Some students have a good grasp of the English language, but for the most part, there is very little comprehension. Although I mainly teach the senior students, in many cases I still must start at square one. It is evident that the academic system has focused on teaching them through rote repetition, grammar, reading, and writing, but actual understanding for most students is simply not there. Communication is challenging!

Classes must be very fun and engaging to motivate the students to come to class as there really are no consequences for skipping. That goes for teachers as well - I have already skipped two classes (one to meet the new school director, and another for a department meeting).

Slowly, I am picking up a few Thai words here and there which have made teaching easier. The students also get such a kick out of my Thai pronunciation and we share many laughs together. I am learning a lot from them, and enjoying being "Teacha Heeta from Canada" very much. I really do love them already.     

So now for the photos! I hope you enjoy 'Phad' at a glance!

Morning assembly (which we had to introduce ourselves at our very first morning!)

Beautiful school grounds!

Students often sit outside to do homework, to eat, to play music, and just to spend time together. 

One of the main classroom and office buildings.

One of my classrooms (also the foods lab!)

An outdoor classroom.

Another classroom.

And yet another classroom... it is a big school! 

View from a classroom window

Thailand's main religion is Buddhism but it is also heavily inked with animism. Buddhist statues and Thai spirit houses can be found outside every business, restaurant, school, hotel, apartment, market, temple, fishing pond, and even in the middle of no where.  

Thanks again for reading!

À la prochaine! 

~Heather 

Cultural Tidbits:

-Stacking plates is a no-no (Thai superstition)
-Writing in black ink is not respectful (another superstition)
-It is important to not point your feet at anyone or anything (remembering to not cross my legs is difficult!)
-Shoes are usually always taken off before entering most buildings (classrooms, apartment buildings, some shops and restaurants, etc.)
-'Thai time,' though less relaxed than 'African time,' still lines up quite nicely with  'Heather time' :)

Teaching the Multitudes

I am not actually singing

The school that we work at is very beautiful and our department has nice teachers that can speak English fluently. I start my day by doing something extraordinarily strange. I walk to school. The Thai people cannot understand why I would do this, but they do get a good laugh out if it.

Walking is more eventful than in Canada. Almost everywhere you go dogs will chase you barking wildly. The dogs charge but don’t bite you, they just make you feel very unwelcome until you leave their territory and move on to the territory of other dogs, which might charge as well.

Does there really have to be that many dogs
in the middle of the road?

  

Every morning the monks walk by the neighbourhood to collect food. It is customary to give the monks some of your food as they pass by your house. Similarly, the same people now see me walk by everyday and one of them gave me some food as well! It made me feel great.

I only realized just how many students I am teaching when I walked up to the man in charge of copying and printing worksheets and said without a moment of hesitation. “I would like 400 double-sided copies of this worksheet.” Then I realized that was for only half of my students. I’m teaching 800 people a week!

The school system here is completely different! A typical class has between 30 and 50 students whose names I cannot pronounce! The school ranks its students between 1 and 12 for each grade. The number 1’s are all the best students and are all in the same class. So teaching a 1, 2, or 3 class is unreal. They are often the fewest students and they stop speaking if you breathe in then they hang on your every word. Since they are the best they get taught in the best rooms with the best learning environments. Then there are the other classes where the entire class is a bunch of troublemakers. These are typically the bigger classes with 50 or more students and the majority are rebellious boys with no knowledge of English or any real desire to learn. They are taught in the worst rooms; the ones without air conditioning and often times without enough desks so a bunch of them have to sit on the floor. One of the toughest classes that I teach has lots of nails hammered into the chalk board.

I had a tough Friday with a bunch of the difficult classes but then I listened to “By Your Side” by Tenth Avenue North afterwards and that cheered me up. I hope to cheer you up with these photos.

PS: I schooled a bunch of Thai kids at ping pong.

That guy's awesome!

School Auditorium

School grounds

No idea what this sign says

Street signs thankfully are in
 Thai and English

View from near the apartment

Beautiful photo of the Thai flag.
Someone is a great photographer!

Contract for an Alien

Greetings to you all from Tak, Thailand! I have been here five days now and am delighted for the opportunity to write to you today. Some may say that the adventure is just beginning, but really, the journey to teach in South East Asia started in Thunder Bay, Canada, this past spring when Connor and I began asking God where He wanted us to be this year. As mentioned in my last posting, Thailand was certainly not on my mind, but I am thankful that His thoughts and ways are greater than mine (Isaiah 55:9) which is why we find ourselves here now.

About one month ago I eagerly awaited the email which would contain my very first teaching contract. Looking forward to reading the details of the teaching position, I opened the email with great excitement and stared at the page. The contract was in Thai. Not only could I not read what it said, but I also could not read any of the symbols of their alphabet. From that moment, I knew this experience would be a challenging one.

About three weeks later (yes, one week before leaving Canada), I received my English version of the contract, titled in bold black lettering: Agreement for Employment of Alien. I then knew that the challenges of this experience would also be a whole lot of fun. My favourite clause of the contract reads: “In the case where the employee suffers injures through violence or loses any organ...”, I did not realize teaching ran the risk of organ loss.

Tak is so very different from Canada and Namibia. Everything here is a new experience and can be quite challenging. There is very little English spoken here and many shops, restaurants, and other places have no English signs so communicating is really not easy. There is lots to figure out: ordering food, bartering with tuk-tuk drivers, using squat toilets, finding classrooms, understanding currency, etc. The learning curve is steep, but it is good.

Thursday evening Connor and I were still a bit jet-legged and also very tired from our first day teaching. We were both very hungry and neither of our apartments have a kitchen (very common in Thailand since buying food is so cheap and it is too hot to cook) so we prayed that we would be able to find someplace close and did indeed take a walk in the right direction because we happened upon a huge beautiful outdoor market of vendors not 4 minutes down the road which opens only on Thursday nights. It was delicious and cheap ($3 CAD for two meals). God hears and answers prayer! Friday evening came and though I was still tired out from all the adjustments, I was also excited and said to Connor, “I wonder how Jesus will provide tonight?”. Even closer than the market was a little tin shack where we were warmly received and graciously served a tasty two course meal for $1 each and then shared dessert for $0.17. We are experiencing such blessing and provision from Jesus. I'm reminded constantly here of my dependency on God for my daily needs, but it is so good to have peace amidst all the unknown. I know that He is a loving Father, He is faithful, and He provides. I'm reminded of the reality of this verse from scripture:

“And my God will meet all your needs according to 

His glorious riches in Christ Jesus” Philippians 4:19

There is so much more to share with you, but for now, I will pass the pen over to Connor and write back again soon.

Thanks again for reading,

~Heather

Cultural Tidbits

- The Thai Alphabet has:

• 44 consonants
• 28 vowels
• 4 tone markers 
• The vowels are written to the left, right, above, or below the consonants
• In Thai writing, there are no spaces in between words

• ที่ฉันสามารถซื้อข้าวทอด is Thai for “Where can I buy fried rice?”

Destination Thailand

The journey from Connor's perspective

A week ago our plane left Ottawa and we were off to Thailand. The flight took 29 hours as we flew over large parts of North America, the Pacific Ocean, and Asia. When we arrived in Bangkok we were greeted by our new boss Noah, who escorted us out of the airport. It felt great to leave the airport and breathe in the warm humid air of a tropical country. We threw all our luggage into the back of Noah’s truck and headed off to a hotel to get some rest. Almost instantly it started to rain, than pour, and before long we were in a lightning storm which left everything we brought soaking wet.

The next day we were off to Tak. Noah explained to us what we should know about Thailand.

1. There is one insult that is more offending than any other. Whatever you do, don’t call anyone a monitor lizard. No idea why but apparently it’s terrible. 

2. Walking is seen as strange, and unusual. No one walks to get anywhere. The only people that walk around here are us and monks.
3. No touching monks because if any woman touches a monk they have to go into an elongated period of solitude.

Here is the story about how both of us ended up teaching in Thailand. Last year we were in Thunder Bay figuring out what we were going to do with our lives. The thought of teaching overseas was a possibility but we weren’t sure where. Heather decided to take the evening of Tuesday, March 20^th off to pray specifically about this. Tuesday arrived and I was at track practice and felt a strong desire to pray so I left track halfway through practice and went into the woods to pray. Afterwards I met up with a friend to continue praying, asking God for clarity about next year.

Heather and I both prayed for hours that Tuesday night. After praying Heather decided to check her email before going to bed. She had received a new email from some friends she had not heard from in months. It said “Hi Heather, We are in Thailand in a small village about 5 hours north of Bangkok. We are living and offering English classes in a small and very spiritually dark community. We came to scout the land and it is Jesus and God void. They are a lost people and so blinded on every side. There are teaching opportunities here and your name came into our hearts.”

Seven months later the two of us have arrived in Thailand. Heather and I have no idea what we are doing here but we trust that God has a plan and that He will use us as He sees fit.

While thinking about being in Thailand I am reminded of Abraham’s story. Where God said to Abraham that if you leave your country than “all the peoples of the earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:3). Abraham went; he left his country and all he knew, trusting that God would do the rest. All God asked Abraham to do was to leave and because he left, Jesus, one of Abraham’s descendants was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)

Connor

Monitor Lizard

…and the Journey Pen continues

"We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us." - E.M. Forester

         I have come to greatly appreciate the above quote. In general, I tend to be open to adventures in life and find unknowns intriguing; however, there have been a few items for which I have never had any desire and have said I would never do. For example, study at Acadia University, teach kindergarten, live in Ontario, date a guy I met at university, return to my old summer job, or go to Asia.

         Now, there are good reasons behind my “not to do list,” but that being said, how many of these have I done? All except one… which I will do in just over a week. Yes indeed, as they say, if you want to make God laugh, make a plan. Or perhaps more accurately in my case, say something you don’t want to do and watch God change your heart. 

          At the end of the month I will be travelling to Asia with my friend Connor (whom I met while studying at Acadia University and started dating while living in Ontario) to begin our teaching jobs in northern Thailand. We will both be teaching English and French. The recruiting agency is providing each of us with an apartment, which we are hoping will not be too far apart, in the town of Tak, located in Tak province near Chiang Mai. Although we are going as teachers, our hearts are focused on going to serve the community around us and share Jesus’ love with them.

          I am so thankful that God has equipped me with a teaching license and am excited for how He will use this in Thailand.  Teaching will allow us to be “tentmakers”, providing financially for us and opening many doors for connecting and being involved with the community.  The word “tentmaking” comes from the experience of the apostle Paul who was a great missionary and evangelist. He used his trade of making tents to support himself while he was in Corinth to share the good news of Jesus’ love with those around him.  

          For those who followed my journey in Namibia, thank you again for all your encouragement. I hope that you will join me yet again in this mission by praying for God to be powerfully at work in Thailand. For those who are following my journey for the first time, thank you for reading! I do not know what this experience will entail, but I know the One who holds all things in His hands, and trust that it will be a meaningful adventure. I look forward to sharing it with you!

With the best of wishes,

~Heather

“The one who calls you is faithful and He will do it.” -1 Thessalonians 5:24

Cultural Tidbits:

Thailand Population: 69,518,555(according to the World Bank)

Official Language: Thai (other regional dialects are also spoken along with Chinese, Lao, Malay, Mon-Khmer, and now English too)

Capital City: Bangkok

Religious beliefs: 95% Buddhist, 3.8% Muslim, 0.5% Christian, 0.1% Hindu, 0.6% other.

Ethnic make-up: 75% Thai, 14% Chinese, 11% other

Currency: Baht ($1CAD = 31.42 THB)