Since I’ve last written, the medical clinic and my family all came and are now gone. It’s been an exciting and busy couple of weeks! We held the Medical Clinic here in the village at the Annumai, our Pa’s work place, and it was a blast! An American C medical mission team came in and took care of the medical side of things. A C Thai team also came to witness to the patients. There were 382 villagers from Ban Tum that came to the clinic and each one was not only treated medically, but each person was given the Gospel message from a Thai believer. It was really cool! Each villager left with tracks, and seventeen people supposedly accepted J. There were many that were interested. My role at the clinic was to help get people glasses! It was really funny trying to ask people if they were nearsighted or farsighted. I struggled and I was very relieved when the Thai believers came and helped me out!
After the medical team, we had a follow up the next night at Mike and Amy’s home. Our Thai pastor (the one that we work with in Kun Han) Ajan Somajai and his wife Pi Duan came and shared the Gospel and talked with the people that came. Naomi and I sat in the back and prayed, and helped with waters for people as they came in. One man that came said he knows that Satan has a great hold on this village, he knows that they are in deep trouble. He was very wise. Another woman said she has believed in C for a long time and she no longer fears the spirits. For the most part, all the people that came understood the message at least but they do not want to come to house church because of the number of children that come. This is very frustrating, but hopefully this will change in the future!
Naomi and I got on a plane to Bangkok and met with my family! My mom, dad, and little sister Jordan all came to Thailand to tour around and visit me! We had a wonderful time in Bangkok, I wish we had more time there. We actually got to spend an hour with Megan and Melissa, our friends that are on their SBU semester abroad up in Nan, Thailand! We got massages, went to the floating market, saw the temple of the Dawn and visited the Pagoda temple. Tons of Thai people came to worship at the Pagoda temple, and that was very unsettling. They burn incense to a god that doesn’t love them and that never satisfies their deepest needs. Knowing Satan’s hold on the people here in Thailand, it is no longer fun to visit the temples.
The floating market was amazing. We went around on a little wooden kayak and went to these shops on the river. Speaking Thai helped a lot in the bargaining process! The family also came to Ban Tum village! They spent four days here and it was so much fun. My supervisors and their family took me, Naomi and my family to Surin Province (about 2 hours away) where we road elephants! Jordan and I got on an elephant together and we had a blast. All our elephant did was eat and run to the front of the line to be the leader. As my dad was getting on his elephant, the elephant decided to stand up too soon…my dad was lucky that he didn’t fall off! The coolest thing about the elephant ride is that the KUI people (our people group) are the ones that do it! For centuries the Kui people have been the elephant trainers. At the elephant round-up in November, we will see tons of Kui people gathered to watch the elephant games. At the round-up, the elephants play soccer against each other and all that fun stuff!
The second day here, we went to these amazing waterfalls outside of Kun Han. It was so much fun! We got to jump off the top of a waterfall and float down the river. My sister is fearless like Naomi. I had to have my supervisor push me off the waterfall because I wouldn’t jump myself. The day was very fun and a great way to cool off in the hot Thai sun!
My family spent their last day here around the village. I took my mom and Jordan to see my hair stylist friend Anne. Anne does these amazing hair washes/head massages that lasts about 20 minutes. Mom got her hair straightened and Jordan got a Thai hair cut! Now she has mega bangs that swoop to the side and her hair is all different layers. We ate at the infamous “noodle shop” and my family decided that Thai food here is delicious! My parents also got to meet my favorite little girls here, Loy, Ayo and Yat. They fell in love with them too! On their last night in the village, we ate dinner with Maa and Pa. The food Maa and Pa made was farong (American/European) safe so my family was able to eat all of it without feeling sick! My parents had a great time getting to know my “Thai parents.”
Now my family is gone and life is starting to swing into its regular routine. This next week will be a pretty regular one. We will be p walking the village a few mornings this week and getting ready for teaching English this weekend. The following week, Naomi and I will be meeting up with Megan and Melissa in Malaysia to renew our visas!
As for all the students out there, have fun as you start to hit the books in the next few weeks. Parents, enjoy your freedom!
Miss you all!
Jenn
NEW Pictures on this link:
http://sbuniv.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2006085&l=62e54&id=177500365
P.S. If you have any old glasses (any kind) that you would want to send, please send them to my address and follow the sending directions. The people mostly need READING glasses!
Jennifer Gunderson
c/o Mike Bowles
P.O. Box 1
Amphur Phayu
Sisaket 33230
Thailand
*Make sure if you send something, that you send it via Air Mail, not Priority or FedEx. Just the regular slow mail. Packages will not get here unless you send it regularly.
*When you fill out the customs form, make sure you put USED GLASSES and NO VALUE on there. The package will be confiscated if the post office people think it’s of value!