:: Lovely new place! ::

Wow praise God, I gotta testify about what God has done for me regarding accommodation. I've finally moved into Gail (my colleague)'s place, and it's so much nicer, it's quite like a jump from a guesthouse to a hotel room. I've still got my own bathroom (wow!) which has a glass door like at home, my bedroom's bigger though I can't connect to internet yet... The gym I'm quite sure is new, though i haven't seen it, and I heard good things about the pool here. :D Everything's like better here. So thank God for the change, although abrupt, it was ... indescribable, it's an upgrade!




Oops I jumped straight into unpacking before taking photos, that explains the mess. My colleague actually prepared a stuffed toy hippo on the pillow to accompany me!



I could sure do lots of reading. Perhaps it's time to pick up the Purpose Driven Life so many people talked about. :)



Perhaps the only downgrade would be the meals and the laundry, Gail doesn't do much cooking, and I prefer to eat outside anyway, so, no more free meals. There's a washing machine, but I err.. gotta learn how to operate it. I'm a washing-machine-idiot really.

Wow they actually built the walls AROUND the tree!

:: Protests in Bangkok ::

There are protests in Bangkok, people want Mr Samak to resign, but he believes that staying on protects his country.

The riots yesterday broke out into a small fight where a few people got injured, but that didn't affect me. I've been staying in a safe radius around the church, don't worry.

Tonight I am going to move into a colleague's place. Haven't confirmed with her yet, so my luggage is in the car boot and I can't be sure where I am staying tonight. Haha.. first-hand experience of being homeless. No, I'm not blaming the family that I have to move out, but that it's funny to be caught in such a situation. Okay, I think it's funny.

:: uncertainty ::

I'm supposed to move house today. My host family's son wants to use my current room for studying (it's his original room anyway). So last night they tried to arrange me to stay with another colleague at her apartment. She's nice and hospitable.

Then this morning there seems to be a change of plans. There's a vacant apartment nearer church (walkable in 15 min) where I could put up for the rest of my stay here. Only problem is the safety for me to get home after dark. Actually the safety of getting home late at the colleague's apartment is also a concern.

I would like to stay on my own (guess I don't really like accountabilty :P) but since I'm only 22, it's hard to convince my host parents to allow me to. (I can't sound too eager to move out too, you see)

And since Franza is coming and would be looking for a place on her own, she could stay in that apartment with me. So I guess I just need to contact her and firm things up.

Please pray that things could firm up soon (I've packed up already), and that wherever I move, God will protect and bless the plans.

Oh besides that, I don't know when I should book my return ticket. Should I wait till I've extended my visa? You know, AirAsia is a budget airline, I hate to have to incur extra costs for changing flights etc, although COR would bear the costs. But my visa extension would be somewhere in Oct, and by then the airfare would have been much higher. I tried to check the website whether there would be extra costs to change flight but stupid website doesn't work with Mac. So I couldn't check. =(

today i joined the malaysian team around as they do their "mission trip". It's like a crash course of (almost) all the ministries in the church. Today it's visiting children in the Chulalongkorn Hospital. We walked there from church. =x glad that i could sit back and watch what the team has prepared. i think the age group of this team is 30-60. wow. i uh think i will post photos on Facebook on Sat or something.

I really admire the staff in the church here. There are so many ministries they are involved in, eg, slums, orphanages, children's hospital, shelter for the homeless, cell grp, etc etc!! Honestly I'm quite tired out even though it's just my first week here, imagine the staff do follow up EVERY week!!

I have no more energy to stay up anymore.. (it's just 9pm and i think i ought to sleep already)

i guess it's also tiring trying to communicate with locals whose English isn't very strong, and especially u have to listen very carefully to get what they're saying.

uh.. gd night.

Please pray for an infant who came from another province with her parents to seek treatment. She was crying non-stop, almost like struggling for breath. Her eyes were swollen. I'm sorry i didn't get her name or what exactly she's suffering from, just pray for the crying baby in Shalem House, that God will sooth her and take away her discomfort, so that her parents can come to believe the God of miracles.

I wonder if the family is suffering from spiritual attacks, because last night, the dad's (borrowed) car got broken into. The thief had cut the whole glass off the back of the car and stole 2000 baht worth of wood and some coins. Funny because the car was parked right in church! Rev Yee offered the parking lot for free because the hospital carpark charges 400 baht per day. And this family can't really afford it.

The matter has been settled, a pastor offered 2600 baht to the dad to pay for the repair of the car and also to cover the cost of the wood. The dad now feels bad that the church has offered such an extent of help. Hope that he experiences the love of God through the incident.

i feel that the attacks are coming in... I'm beginning to complain (to myself, to my blog) about the food, accommodation, work, transport.....

Lots of negative thoughts are coming to me. Like, i feel inadequate and inexperienced to do the work expected of me.

okay i dun want to say too much. Just pray for me that i will get over this mindset.

:: updates ::

Mondays: off
Tues: Staff Devotion
Weds: Visit Salem House - people from other provinces bring their children/relatives to hospital in Bangkok and stays here for the duration of their hospital treatment.
Thurs: Children Hospital (Chulalongkorn) visitation, Cell group
Fris: Staff Prayer meeting
Sats: Children's Church with P'Jarim, English tuition with Fon
Sun: Church service

Next week a team is coming from Malaysia and I will be joining them to learn what we can help out in the ministry here. Staff training on graphic design will be postponed till after my information gathering trip to 3 provinces.

I'm still getting on well. Pray that i will look out for opportunities to serve rather than wait for instructions.

My number is +66 8 77 08 0406. Nice? =)

:: safe and sound! ::

I'm in the land of the thousand smiles!

It was perfect weather when I arrived, praise God. Nice sunset. =) Fon picked me up, she's pretty! =) Met Rev Yee's family, unpacked my stuff... Only started pouring when we were having dinner.

Nice house. =) Picking up wireless internet from a neighbour. hohoho.. Joshua says i'm a robber. haha.

:: still not finished packing!!! ::

i'm supposed to leave home in 15 minutes but i'm still not done packing!! lol... just checked Air Asia website, each excess 1kg costs $7.50 and i've got 4 extra kg to shed! lol.... arghhhh~~ can't decide what to take out cuz i've got many things i intend to give the pple in bkk!

ah anyway forgot to introduce, this is my first time away for so long, going to Bkk for 3 months.. haven't bought my return ticket although now i can afford to. :P

Rev Yee just called to tell me he won't be picking me up personally at the airport; he's sent a lady named Fon to pick me up. Instructions for where to look out for her is quite clear, but do pray that i won't follow the wrong person! Lol.

Cya all in 3 months' time and keep checking this blog for updates and prayer requests.

*psst*.. mom's nagging, gotta go!