A Note from Bangkok -- Song (Thai for "2")

Hello from Thailand!

Things are still going well here. I've absolutely loved it so far. (I wouldn't want to be here in, say, July or August, but I love being here now.)

The English Club has been going well. We've met a LOT of Thai students, some of whom went with us sightseeing yesterday. The sightseeing itself was... interesting, to say the least. We went to see the Grand Palace of King Rama V, which was gorgeous, and the complex also housed the monastery of the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, which was intensely interesting culturally, but from a spiritual sense, I was really glad to be out once we had left and were back in the Palace courtyard.

Today, we went to the church across the street (they had an American speaker, and the pastor translated into Thai, so we could understand it!!) and then to a park, where there were all sorts of things set up to do; Kat, Julie, Jeremy and I went with Gaan, one of the Thai Christians from the church, to go out on a lake in these strange little boats that were either really shallow canoes or two-person kayaks (they called them kayaks, since they used kayak paddles). THAT was a lot of fun.

For the Cardinal & Cream staff: YES, I AM taking lots and lots of pictures.

For my mom: YES, I AM in some of them.

The best part of the day came at the very end; I realized in our team devotionals that, in leaving for the park without having gone back to our room, I had left my Bible at the church (the church is RIGHT across the little side-street from our hotel, the "Nice Palace"). Nut, who translates for us, was going to stop over there anyway, since there were some people over there, playing cards with another missionary team, so I went with him to get my Bible, and I ended up spending more than half an hour there, talking to Paul, one of the members of the worship team, who was messing around with his guitar. We ended up spending quite a bit of time reading from the Psalms and singing Chris Tomlin songs.

Whoo! Great night.

"We fall down
We lay our crowns
At the feet of Jesus -
The greatness of
Your mercy and love -
At the feet of Jesus;
And we cry holy, holy, holy,
We cry holy, holy, holy,
We cry holy, holy is the Lamb."
--"We Fall Down," by Chris Tomlin

Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twentyfour elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”
--Revelation 4:8-11