16: butterflies and such

Today started off meeting my Mongolian friend, Tseka, at Mo Chit station (BTS) to introduce her to my favorite park circuit! After walking around JJ Park and pointing out Queen Sirikit Park, we made our way to the Train Park. Here we stopped for some lunch, and I was treated to delicious "nam tok" and sticky rice. Yum!

In the Train Park, there is a free butterfly garden. I've run past it many, many times, and always think, "I'll come back to see it someday..." Well. Today was that someday. Loved getting to see all the cool butterflies (and moths) and, in true Thai fashion, photograph everything!

Today was the end of Week 4 teaching... only two weeks left! After classes tonight, I headed over to Chelsea and Monica's place for their open-house/goodbye party. There was quite a crowd! We stayed until late talking, taking pictures (lest we forget we're in Thailand!) and enjoying some general tom-foolery. Chelsea leaves this weekend, and Monica will leave in a little over a week. They will go back to the States for the holidays and then return to Phuket to begin their work with SHE Ministries.

And, as it's officially Thanksgiving in America, a very happy Thanksgiving to all of you! May your time with your families be sweet and special. Praying that God blesses you richly today with many memories made and moments shared. And, in memory of all us photo-happy folks in Thailand, don't forget to capture some of the moments :)

PS: For a quick pictorial lesson on how we park cars in Thailand, check out Steph's post! [click here]

21: thanksgiving

Almost five years ago, Spotswood hired a new college pastor. As I was one of the lone college students, he wanted to meet with me to talk about Spotswood's college ministry (which was pretty non-existent at the time) and the possibility of serving as a student leader to help reach out to the UMW campus. 

At the time, I was involved in a couple para-church Christian clubs on campus. Through our talks, this pastor (who we all now know and love... Pastor Doug), explained to me the importance of being invested in the Body. He asked me to pray about being fully committed to serving in and through the Church, instead of trying to split my time and waffle between commitments to different groups. At first, though reasonably presented, his request sounded odd. Being in many Christian clubs was very much a part of the college Christian culture I was in. However, as I prayed about it and talked it out with my mentors, they affirmed the decision I felt God was leading me towards, which was this:

That someday (quite soon), I would be graduating. My relationships with those clubs and groups was short-term at best. But, my relationship with the Church is eternal. As a believer, I am a part of the Body. I can either start owning that, and be an active member, or not. It wasn't just about my time or about choosing to be on leadership. For me, it came down to this decision: Am I going to love the Church? I chose yes.

Since that decision, God has given me a huge heart for His Bride. As my view of the Church changed, so did the way I viewed and did ministry and missions. Being a part of a local Body of believers became non-negotiable. Finding ways to use my gifts in the Church became a joyful challenge. Fast forward to 2012. My first month in Thailand, Claire and I were asking the pastor of LifePoint, David, about joining the Church. Why? 

As I was reminded again today in my NT reading, we are a part of one Body. There is both a responsibility and joy that accompanies connectedness. In the past five years, there have been many times when I've been able to witness the diversity of God at work within the Body of Christ. And it is beautiful. We're a messy broken people, but we are also dearly loved. It has been my greatest joy to serve the Lord, not on my own, but through the partnership and Body of Christ. I am so thankful that God saw fit to place us and grow us in the context of a Body.

1 Corinthians 12:14-20, 23-27

Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. 

Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. 

...But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. 

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

Today marked my second Thanksgiving* in Thailand (we figured we're already 12 hours ahead, why not 5 days?). Throughout the whole evening I couldn't decide if I wanted to laugh or cry. It was an it's-so-perfect-it-hurts kind of nights. There we were, 16 Americans, doing what we love best: baking, playing games, watching Christmas movies, eating turkey..., as family. I'll always be a part of the universal Church, but it is also a singular blessing to have been able to spend the last year and a half involved with LifePoint (my local church). I am looking forward to the day when all my spiritual family will be able to join and feast together at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb! What a happy, happy eternity that will be.

And speaking of feasting, here are some pictures of our tasty food... to get you motivated to start thawing that turkey and stocking up on stuffing! (And because no "Thanksgiving Post" would be complete without gratuitous pictures of food.)

Happy Thanksgiving!

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* For more details on our Thanksgiving, check out Steph's blog! [click here]

small group.

Hello sweet friends and family, 

I love being able to write to you and share what is happening here through the Lord's work (and your investment) in my life. I wish I could sit down and write each of you individually, or better yet, just have you all come to Thailand to glimpse what you are a part of! I guess we'll just have to wait until we're with the Lord to have that moment together. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your relentless prayers for both me and the Thais that God has placed in my life.

I just wanted to update you all on a new development in my life here, and ask for your specific prayer. I have started leading a LifePoint small group and we meet at Phaya Thai on Sunday evenings. Tonight was the first night, and while only two girls came, I truly believe it was exactly who God wanted there. I have been praying for God to place an unsaved Thai woman in my life for me to invest in... and I think He may have answered that prayer!

We will spend a few weeks discussing "Who is God?" and then move on to "Who is man?" "Who is Jesus?" and "What is our response?" (Sound like the Gospel? Haha... good!) I don't know what God will do, or who He will bring to this study.... But as long the Holy Spirit keeps teaching, it will be an incredible next few months.

Please pray for my heart and relationship with the Lord to remain the priority- that I will not become so caught up in being a Martha that I stop being a Mary. Pray that the Holy Spirit would speak through me... and would continue to encourage and convict and teach these girls, even after they leave small group. Pray for the friends they want to invite (one of the girls is planning to invite her Muslim friend next week). And please pray, above all, that the Name of God would be lifted high, and that His light would continue to shine brilliantly in this dark place.

Love, Liz

family.

Well, the Lifepoint Thanksgiving was a huge success!! Over 20 people were packed into the VanDykes' home, each person bringing a special Thanksgiving dish to share, complete with...surprise! A real turkey! Steve VanDyke also managed to record the Macy's Day Parade and one of the football games that aired this year... (the Lions game, or the Tigers, or Bears... oh my!) Because what would Thanksgiving be without some floats and football in the background?

Over and over I kept feeling so grateful and thankful for the family that God has given me here. He didn't just send Claire and I to Bangkok to live and work in isolation, He has connected us with a wonderful church and a real spiritual family as well. In some ways it feels like we have many families here... there is the guest-house family that changes frequently as teams come and go and as long-term volunteers and employees filter in and out. There is our BSC family, made up of the teachers and volunteers we work with on a daily basis. There is our LifePoint family. And there is our Spotswood family, who, even though they lag 12 time zones behind us, still manage to consistently encourage and bless us. And, of course, there is my real family also... who sends me treats from home, includes me via skype in family events and consistently supports, loves and prays for me.

I am so blessed.

So when I saw this "thankfulness tree" at LifePoint this morning, there was no question in my mind what I should write on my slip. I am thankful that God puts us in families. I am thankful that we're not left to struggle through our faith and our life alone. I'm thankful that even though The Church is spread throughout the world, we are all the same family, with the same Father. I am thankful that God gives us a place to belong.

happy thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving started this morning at 5:30 am, with a quick 3 mile run at the park. This was followed by showering and heading to Thai school to arrive promptly at 8:00 am. Classes went until 12:00 pm, after which I hopped on the BTS to Arie station to visit an International grocery store (Villa) to buy supplies for the Saturday-Thanksgiving-Feast with our LifePoint family. The store had 1 of my 12 items needed, so I proceeded to go back to the BTS and head home, stopping on the way at my usual grocery store. This is Thailand, so I had to make some on-the-fly recipe changes based on availability. Despite having to google the difference between active dry yeast and instant yeast and look up pictures of oatmeal to have a clerk help me locate it, I was able to find all but one ingredient I needed. Backpack loaded, I walked home, unloaded and started some laundry. It is currently 2:00 pm, and I have 3 hours to prep for class and make an apple crisp before tonight's class at 5:00 pm. After my two classes, it will be 8:30 pm, and I will have to fold my laundry, finish my Thai homework, make 2 more apple crisps and go to bed. 

Whew. Not my typical turkey/football/Bondathon Thanksgiving!

But, despite it being a crazy-hectic couple of days, God has given me some funny moments this week to smile about. Even when things are not as idyllic as I would like, there is still plenty to be thankful for...

Like friends who make you laugh and coin words like "purse jerky". (Credit for that one goes to Claire, who saw me sneaking a piece of jerky from my purse during church... but it was after the half-marathon and I was hungry!) Or embarrassing teaching moments. Like when Dani called one of our students by the nickname we gave him (that he doesn't know about) instead of his real name. Multiple times. Whoops.

What else am I thankful for?

I'm thankful that God woke me up in time to get to class every day this week, even after I slept through my alarms.

I'm thankful that I've been able to make some friends at Thai class... so it's not like high school lunch all over again.

I'm thankful for being invited to spend time with women I respect.

I'm thankful I can go see a movie and get popcorn for under $5!

I'm thankful to have plans to celebrate Thanksgiving (albeit on Saturday, but still!)

I'm thankful for unexpected messages from old friends.

I'm thankful to the Half-Marathon folks for giving me a free shirt, free bag and free tiger-balm strips after the race (I love me some free stuff)!

I'm thankful for the app LINE, so that my family and I can text for free internationally.

& I'm thankful for thoughtful friends who leave gifts like this on my doorknob:

So... To all my American friends: Hope you and your family have a wonderful day! I am so thankful to have each of you in my life. Much love coming your way!

We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone. See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people. Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thess 5:14-18