The Blog I Don't Have Time For

I will keep this as brief as possible because I don't actually have time to write this. I have been so busy in the last little while that I haven't had time to make a new blog and I don't really have time right now, but I thought I would let everyone know that I am still OK and everything. I climbed two mountains in two days. The first with my entire class, on a class picnic, and the second with only one other Karen so I could take pictures from the top because I forgot the camera the last time I climbed it (we started as five, but one guy didn't have the proper footwear so 2 others went back with him). A team from Canada came to the school that I am staying at, and in fact one of the ladies was from Global Harvest, Helen Gagliano, also known as the 'flagging lady'. So it was nice to meet up with some Canadians, because all of the missionaries that come through here are either from the USA or Korea. Oh and another guy on the team, I had already meet in the summer in Kelowna, when some friends and I went up for the weekend to go camping. Luke is a friend of Liz's (one of the people that I went to Kelowna with), and he works in Teen Challenge in Kelowna, and when we meet we had a really good worship session with him, but I never thought I would see him again. Then to meet up with him in Thailand in a Karen refugee camp, that is almost weird if I didn't know my God any better, but it totally sounds like something that God would do. I love Him (of course for more than His good sense of homour, but it doesn't hurt). Anyways I am almost done teaching as tomorrow is the final exam and is also the reason why I don't really have time to make this blog. Right after the final I am off to Bangkok to meet up with Paul DeGagne and Anthony Chartrand, for a conference with their missions organization. Also the Canadian team that was here, has left to go to the conference as well, so I will know my fair share of people there. It will be for the rest of the week and then next week is to hand in all of my marks, which are updated except for the final and one assignment. Then graduation is on March 11th and then I have no idea what I am going to do till I fly home on the 28th (probably try and visit all the other camps, but we'll see). So this is my blog that I don't have time to write.

I Ran Up a Waterfall, and Walked Out of the Desert.

Pretty interesting title eh? The first part is literal, and the second part is figurative. Anyways I will explain what both mean.

After I recovered from being sick, I started teaching again, and I don't think I realized what I had done to myself after just missing two days. In the one week, they had a writing exercise, and grammar exercise due, a spelling quiz, and a mid term on the Friday. I had planned ahead and spaced them out to give myself enough time to finish marking each thing before the next day, so I wouldn't get swamped. Then I was sick on Tuesday and Wednesday, and the writing and grammar exercise had to be handed in on the same day, and the spelling quiz also had to be on Thursday. On top of that I didn't even have the mid-term written for the students to take yet. Needless to say I got swamped the exact way I had planned to avoid being swamped (did I mention that I have 46 students). Well I managed to mark all 40 or so spelling quizzes and finish making up the 6 page midterm, but that kept me up till about 11:00. On Friday I had the 3 hr midterm, and in combination with the other two assignments I had literally just under five inches thick of paper that I had to mark. This is the problem with having 46 students, you have 46 individual items to mark every time you assign something or have a quiz. It is Monday now and I have finally managed to finish marking the midterm after about 20 hrs of work, but I can't say the same about the two assignments. It was a really super cool fun time marking the midterm though. Well after such a boring intro I will get to the good stuff that you have been waiting for, and that the title had enticed you into reading.

So I ran up a water fall, and down and then back up, and I stopped at some spots in the middle to splash water at people younger than me. Well they started it (and I ended it). OK a little explanation. Judi Miller and Faith Black have come over to Thailand for a couple weeks after Craig Black (Faith's husband), so this past weekend (yes the one that I had 5 inches of papers to mark), I went to Chiang Mai again to visit them. It was the only time that I would get to see them, plus they had a package to deliver to me from my friends and family back in Canada. There was something from someone else too, but I can't remember who. Oh yeah, my girlfriend who loves me, Elisa. Anyways... I got there on Friday night and left on Sunday after church, so it was a really quick visit. But it was Saturday that was the day of significance, for it was the day that gives meaning to both parts of the title. On Saturday morning, Bonnie, Ray, Faith, Judi, and I went with all of the women from the House of Hope, or Nuu Rain, and everyone from the BBF orphanage, to a waterfall that is about an hour away from Chiang Mai. We had rented a couple of song taos for the day, and all +40 of us left from BBF, and went with our delicious food to the waterfall. The only thing about this waterfall is that the rock on top is limestone, so after the water has eroded it enough, it is like sand paper. Seriously, I was standing in the middle of the crystal clear, warm waterfall, on a +60° incline in the middle of a tropical jungle in +30°C weather in the middle of February as if I was standing on dry, level pavement. Man, Thailand is rough. Well I ran up and down the sand paper waterfall so many times I wore out the finger prints on a couple of my fingers and got a couple of blisters on the bottom of my right foot, one of which opened. Did this slow me down? Well a little bit, but that was just because it was hard to run on the outside part of my foot. After being forced to endure such an awesome place that seemed as if we had transferred to the pages of some fantasy novel, my captors made me eat their delicious food, and pressured me into enjoy their pleasant company. I tell you I had been taken by my free will to enjoy such lovely place of God’s awesome creation.

After we had enjoyed running up the sandpaper waterfall, we went back over to BBF and bought some ice cream for everyone. We didn’t stay long because we needed to get some supper, before we headed out on the next part of our arduous journey, a prayer/worship meeting at the same missionary family’s house that I visited the last time I was in Chiang Mai with Craig, the one with all of the kids. The only difference is that there weren’t as many kids this time. Three of the four boys were off with their dad on a Boy Scout trip, and only the youngest one, Josh (I think) was there. The two young ladies were there too, and their mom, along with two women who were visiting from China. Also, Ray wasn’t feeling very well so he stayed home. Oh and three women who were the neighbors of the family came over to join us too. So as you can see, it was a whole bunch of women, me and the youngest son, which doesn’t really mean anything. It was just kinda funny that it was a ladies worship night with Dave and Josh. I guess you could say that this where the walking out of the desert part comes into play, because this is where it comes into play. As Amber (oldest daughter that is in Thailand) and I where finishing up some basketball that we had been playing while we were waiting for the worship to get started, Faith started the worship on the piano. We came in and I grabbed the nearest guitar to join Faith. After that it was just worship song after dancing worship song, after slower worship song. It was great! I mean fantastic, I absolutely loved it, and it was exactly what I was looking for. Anyways, the desert part; while we were worshipping Bonnie came over and prayed for me, and said that God wanted to anoint me again or more (she wasn’t sure). It was really quick and to the point, and she wasn’t even sure what God meant, but I knew. I knew the moment she came over to pray for me, it was my ticket out of the desert that I had been in for 4 months. It was such a comforting relief to be out of the dry land of my spiritual walk that I had been in for those 4 long months. I wouldn’t change it though, if I could do it all over again. Maybe I would have let God go further with me instead of be as lazy as I was at some points, or been more diligent about some things like tithing and stuff, but whatever. Thankfully His merciful love endures forever, and His mercy is new every morning and His grace is sufficient. So I will get right next time. Anyways… after we got into the worship, then God lead us to pray for one another, which turned out to be really awesome. When we were praying for the Chinese lady, some one saw that God had given her a brand new set of armor, and another person saw that there was two heavenly figures standing very close on either side right behind her. These were angels from what I could tell, and then God reminded me of some scripture that He wanted me to tell her. It was that more important than the angels standing behind her, the glory of the Lord is our rearguard. Also that it is Him who walks where ever she walks, because He will never leave her or forsake her, He will never abandon her or fail her, because of His awesome love for her (this is true with all people who want God to love). I can’t say it was as prophetic as what the others saw but the testimony of Jesus, how much He loves us and what He did for us, is the spirit of prophecy (Rev. 19:10). We also prayed for one of the neighbors, and I can’t remember all of what was said (it was all good), but I remember someone saying that she was walking on a rocky hard path, and God told me to tell her, that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Light. He is the truth that put her on the path, the light that guides her on the path, and He is the path that she walks on. The Solid Rock of our salvation, the Stone that the builders rejected, that has become the chief corner stone. Jesus doesn’t just light the path He is the path, the Way to God. Well the only other part that I remember of the top of my head is the part where God wanted me to sing a word that He had for someone. The word was, “no longer your master, but you husband I will be”. So after everyone was there, I sang it like I was suppose to, which I think was a first time singing a word, aside from singing something prophetic in a worship service. Anyways the next day I went to church at the same place we were at 2 weeks before, and ducked out early to catch my bus back to Mae Sot. The next day I came back to Mae La, to find 58 Koreans staying at the school. The entire upstairs is full of make shift beds to accommodate the massive influx of people. On top of that there are other foreigners that have come to visit at the same time, and they have had to make room for them as well. I am really glad I to have my own room right now, and since the Koreans are occupying all of my students I am not teaching until after they leave tomorrow. Well that’s all that I have to say so God bless you all mightily and thank you for your prayers and/or for reading my blog.

Pics (top to bottom): A Bunch of People Eating; Me Standing in the Waterfall (some of the girls that I had the water fight with are behind me); Ray making sure he didn't wreck his watch (it's waterproof/water-resistant till 200 ft); My Opponent (this is the girl that started the waterfight, I don't think she realized what she was getting into); My Angry Look (Faith Black in front of me, some of the BBF girls, and one of the managers of BBF (she is married to Prakit) behind them); The BBF girls (eating lunch); The BBF guys (also eating lunch, there are more than just this); Judi Like Eat Chicken (eating with the ladies and Prakit (the other manager of BBF) who is behind Judi's arm); Getting Ready to Eat (almost everybody that came is in this pic, except me, and Ray who was taking the pic); Mmm... Chickeny (Me, Prakit, and Judi); I Probably Splashed Water Up Her Nose (Some of the girls that I had a water fight with); Do You See How Steep it Is? (Me standing in the middle of the waterfall); Again the Steepness (Faith and me in the background splashing someone with water); Yeah Double Bouncing (on the trampoline at BBF, double bouncing a bunch of girls).

A Quick Update

Hello everyone and may God bless you all. This is just a quick update to let everyone know that I am feeling much better. If you received my e-mails then you know that I was sick, and now I am better. Anyways... so it started with some diarrhea, which dehydrated me, and which made me lose of control of my body temperature. Once my temperature was changing quickly, it made me feel nauseous, which of course lead to vomiting, and further dehydration. I asked for some of the Karen to pray for me, which they very diligently did so. One of them actually stayed and prayed at the foot of my bed, kneeling on the hard ground, for at least a half an hour. He stayed until sometime after I feel asleep (which is why I am not sure how long he prayed). Well prayer works, because I woke up a couple hours after all of the Karen prayed for me, and I wasn't sick anymore. I was still dehydrated, and since I was vomiting and didn't sleep that much, I was hungry and tired, but not sick. The next day they took me into Mae Sot, the nearby small city, to a clinic for some rehydration via IV needle, and the doctor gave me some medicine, and sent me on my way. Now I am feeling much better (the next day after the sickness), so praise the Lord for the quick healing. May the Lord, our God of the heavens, who is our daddy, bless you all, and thanks again for reading my blog.

P.S.- I picked up my 'lost' bag from the bus station too, so now all my stuff is together again. The person who was suppose to pick it up for me never did, and didn't say that he wasn't going to, so I thought it was lost.

Back in Mae La

Well after a week-end long break, I am back in Mae La Karen refugee camp doing the same thing I was before I left, teaching English. I was a nice break though, although probably not needed that much, it was good to see some familiar faces and talk to people that speak English as a first language. It isn't that the Karen can't speak it well enough, it is usually them not being able to understand me. Anyways... where did I leave off? Well I did have a good birthday party (on Saturday, Feb 3rd) at the House of Hope with Bonnie and Ray and all of the women that live there. Craig came and so did Avis and Roy, and we had some banana cake that Bonnie put together, and some ice cream on the side. We bought the banana cakes (banana bread in the shape of a cake) at a grocery store and then when we pulled them out of the box, they were much smaller than we had expected. So there were two cakes instead of the three we thought we would get out of the 6 banana cakes. On Saturday night (the same day as the party), we went into downtown Chiang Mai to go to a walking market, one that Ray and Bonnie had gone to the week earlier. The only flaw in our plan was the fact that they didn't have a walking market this week, because apparently the one they had week earlier was the last on for a while. So after our disappointment, we went to a nearby restaurant and had some dessert, and sat around and talked for at least one hour, which made it not so disappointing after all.

The next day (Sunday), we were going to go to the same church that Avis and Roy go to, but took to long getting ready, and we were going to be late, so we (or more accurately Ray) decided that we were just going to go to the Thai speaking church that the women from the House of Hope go to. When we got there the song service had already begun, and all of the tunes sounded very familiar, and that's because they were of course. They are all English worship songs translated into Thai, which is no problem once you remember what song it is. Besides the language barrier, the worship was really good, and more importantly, lead by God, considering you could feel His presence so strongly. Even in the sermon part of the service, I got something out of the Scriptures that the pastor used, and along with his vivid demonstrations, I understood the just of what he was preaching. Anyways... after that we went out for lunch, to celebrate another birthday, perhaps a little more significant than mine, Roy's 60th, on his actually birthday as opposed to mine being two days early. We had a good time at the restaurant with the Rideout (I hope that's spelled right) family and it was even quite anointed conversation, talking about being vessels of God's glory, and how He is always with us.

After lunch, I went with Craig, Ray and Bonnie over to a missionary family's house and we talked with the father and his mid-twenties aged son, who recently went to China on a missions trip for a bit before we headed out for are actual destination, which was another missionary family's house further out of town. They are a family of 9, with 3 daughters, 4 sons and of course the parents to make 9. They are a very friendly family, so friendly in fact that they almost overwhelm you (if they are reading this, I am just messing around). Well they might overwhelm a normal person, but not me of course (yeah I am so humble sometimes, its amazing; "I really take pride in that" (quote from Josh Clark joking around about the same thing)). Anyways... back to the story. So yeah the friendly family; while after question and answer period, the wanted to give me the 5 cent tour of their place, so I decided to indulge them (j/k). On the tour, I noticed with my very observant eyes, that they had alot of guitars lying around, and I mean alot for even a family of 9; too many for someone in the family not to like playing them. While of course my keen observation and initial assessment was indubitably correct, as the three oldest ones that were there (the oldest daughter, age 21, is in America doing stuff (yeah I forgot what exactly, but whatever)), all played guitar, and the second oldest daughter also writes songs, which were very nice, I enjoyed listening with my very good-at-listening little ears (pardon the silliness, but I think that I am into over tired). Well the main point about this story of the missionary family of 9, was that when we started getting into the guitar playing, we started getting into the worship, and when we started going there it made my whole trip to Chiang Mai more than worth it (visiting with Ray, Bonnie and Craig was good enough to justify the not really needed that much break). Man it was really good worship, and if you know me ("can I say something", the people at Global that know me, knows what that means), than this also lead to really good, or should I say anointed conversation and then more worship (and if you don't really know me than I am not trying to be arrogant or showy or am joking around). The finale was a spontaneous worship session, and I loved it, it was totally what I needed (OK maybe I did need the break); even the adults came and joined us for a bit. After the spontaneous worship bit, we went and joined everyone else in the dinning room area for a couple more songs, and some Thai checkers (your king basically can more anywhere and do anything). After we were sang off, we got back late and went to bed.

On Monday (the next day) I went back to Mae Sot, but I got back too late to catch the line bus out to Mae La, so I slept over at Sean’s house and took the line bus back early Tuesday morning. When I arrived, I found that my class was already occupied by an Australian and his team, and all their power tools, who were building musical instruments from industrial materials (like car rim bells). This meant my class got cancelled for Tuesday, but the only thing was, they were going to be there for a couple of weeks, so we couldn’t just cancel classes for the whole time. After I moved the class upstairs from the other classes, teaching English resumed as normal. Click on the pic to the right to read an extra story.

The rest of the week was pretty basic, except for Friday, when I went to Mae Sot to get my box that Bonnie and Ray had sent a couple of weeks earlier. The only result of this trip, after an hour of trying to explain my question was the location of my bag. Of course the office that it was in was closed until Monday or later that night. The only problem with waiting until it opened at 5:00pm was that the last line bus to Mae La leaves at 4:00pm, and I would have to stay in Mae Sot, and since I didn’t know if Sean was in town or not, I came back empty handed.

On Saturday I went with the Australian, his Korean companion, and three men from the camp, to follow the nearby stream to the mountain, and then go into the caves where the stream goes under the entire mountain. Well we went to the source, and went in some caves, but we didn’t go in the stream all the way under mountain because everyone besides me and the Australian didn’t want to and didn’t think it was a good idea. So after an hour of cave exploration in an extremely hot cave we decided to climb the mountain instead. It took and hour or so to get to the top (only a smaller side peak) and we had a picnic on the top. It was a really cool mountain, or I guess it is a volcano, because the entire top half (well probably the whole thing, just more protruding near the top) was made out of jagged, solid, volcanic rock, and made the rock climbing part pretty easy (except it cut my hands up pretty good, well only skin deep). It was an awesome view from the top. We could see all of Mae La camp on one side and all the way into Burma on the other. The only problem was that since we were originally going into water-filled caves under the mountain, the only person that brought a camera was the Korean because it wasn’t his. Yeah and he forgot to charge it so we didn’t get very many pictures. Oh well, next time we will just plan for climbing the mountain instead, and I will bring my camera. When we had our little picnic, and drum session with bamboo cups, we hiked back down. Well it was easier going up then climbing back down, because by this point my legs were kinda jellyish, and we ran out of water, so we were all a little dehydrated, but it was cool anyway. Yeah and now its Sunday and I'm making this much overdue blog which makes it incredibly longer than nessecary. I think incredibly long blogs have become habit. Oh well, at least you will all be well informed, and then not need to ask a whole bunch of questions when I get back (as if that is going to happen, it will probably generate more questions).

Pics (top to bottom again): Happy Birthday to Me (left to right: the legs of Nuu, two woman from the House of Hope, Tee, a couple more women from the house that I can't remember the names for, Avis, Bonnie, and me laughing at something Craig or Ray said); The Men from Canada (sitting in front of the restaurant that we ate at on Friday, Feb 2, left to right, Craig Black, myself, and Ray Emery (Bonnie almost got hit by a car as she kept backing up into the street to take the photo)); The Party of the Century (sitting around the table talking and eating Bonnie's delicious cake, left to right, Craig, Ray, me getting bored of my picture being taken, and Roy); A Rotti Stand (with good ole fashioned East Indian rotti (my new favourite dessert) being made); The New Ladies (the three new ladies to the House of Hope); A Secluded Corner (Ray and Bonita's outdoor coffee corner); Translating in My Head (trying to remember the words of the song, left to right, myself, our translator, Bonnie, Tee, and the rest of the congregation); Blowing Out 60 Years Worth of Candles (left to right, Avis and Roy); Worship in Thai (the worship leaders at the church that we attended on the 4th); Playing With the Fish (the daughters of some people visiting Ray and Bonnie, left to right, I can't remember right now); My Extra Little Story (click on the picture to read it); I love bad English (where this picture was taken, was where the walking night market was suppose to start); The Not as New Women from the House of Hope (left to right, the manager of the house, the three ladies from the house and Bonnie); My Banana Cakes (freshly made and ready to eat, left to right, I call that one Vanilla Coated and the other Chocolate Outside); View From the Top (the pic isn't here yet, but hopefully it will be soon).

Note: There are more pics coming (like from on top of the mountain), I am just experiencing technical difficulties.

Update from Chiang Mai

I am not sure if what I have said in this blog makes any sense, because it is late here and I am tired.

Well it has been a while since the last blog, mostly because it took so long to upload the pics so I thought that I would make another one for my loyal readers (and for the not so loyal ones too). Now where did I leave off. Oh yeah, about it being hard to live in the camp, because I didn't know anybody, and didn't feel connected to God or the church. While I think it was the next day, that I realized that it was all true about God being there, even though I didn't feel Him, and I remembered something (probably it was God who reminded me) that I have told people in the past, that we walk be faith and not by sight, but we also walk by faith and not by feeling. We shouldn't make our spiritual decisions on what we feel like or don't really feel like, but on what we believe. "I don't feel like worshipping", "I don't feel like listening or obeying", "learning patience takes too long". If this is how (and I am not trying to make accusation or anything) we always reacted everytime that we are even slightly attacked, then I don't think much would be accomplished for the Lord. We must perserve, and doing all that we can to stand, just stand for what God wants us to take a stand for, and He will come through for us and He will show Himself to be faithful yet again. So basically, I decided that it was true I was being discouraged, but then I took the example of King David, when he encouraged himself in the Lord, and decided to swing the sword that I had, and to stand up and take back my inheritance and heritage that the Lord my Daddy has given to me, and to stop it from being taken any further. Now of couse this is with the strength that my God has given me, and it is my God that tied up the strong man satan, to enable me to ransack the enemy's house, but I just decided to finally let my God lead me. So I no longer feel like I am distant from God, because feeling close and actually being close are not necessarily the same thing and when I truly believe that I am close to Him (because I was the whole time), or more importantly, that He is close to me, feeling close soon follows after. Yeah so I'm good I guess you could say.

Oh, funny little story. Yeah so after I got back on track, or everything worked out with God, everything was going great. Then on Tuesday, an American woman came to visit Mae La camp, and wanted a tour of the camp to see what it was like, because she was coming back next year to work in the camp. So since everyone else was busy and I knew quite a bit about the camp already, I volunteered to be her tour guide. So I took her to the market and we got some really good, and really cheap rotti (a East Indian desert thing, that the Muslims make), and walked all the way to the end of the market to look at the brand new trucks the Karen Muslim refugee shop owners have. After that I took her up the windy confusing path to Lae Htee's house, so she could see what a refugee house looks like. When she had talked with Lae Htee and his family for a bit, we were off to see another college (we started in a college) that is right against the mountain and gives a good view of the rest of the camp. See the only weird thing was, that she would always walk a couple steps behind me, even when it was a wide path. I thought that maybe I was walking a bit fast or something, because she was wearing flip-flops, so they are harder to walk in and probably not the best thing for windy, uphill, dirt paths. So I tried walking slower but she still would walk behind me, so I asked if I was going to fast for her but she said that is was fine. This was kinda weird, but doesn't mean anything until, I kept seeing her checking me out every time I looked back at her. At first, I thought nothing of it, and when it was every time I looked back, I started to get suspicious. Then when I looked sorta looked back, but more at what seemed from her perspective to be the mountain, and saw her basically staring at my rear-end, I kinda knew it was coincidence anymore. And when we were at Lae Htee's house (before I saw her staring), she said kinda out of nowhere how impressive it was that I could find my way back to Lae Htee's house and how good of a tour guide I was being, and other weird things like that. Again, I thought that this was a little weird but thought that I shouldn't be so judgemental, so I brushed it off. Then when we were going up to the other college, where there is less people than in the market, (this is when I caught the staring) she started hitting on me, and complimenting me, and I am not talking about a little flirting, or a nice comment or something. I mean, out of the way compliments, and totally obvious flirting (so obvious that she was flirting, some of the stuff she said didn't even make sense). This is when I started wondering why I would ignore such obvious warning signs. I mean I can't really blame her, considering I never told her that I have a girlfriend (it never came up in conversation) in the five minutes that we talked before we started our tour of the camp. It also would seem like such a burn/insult to bring up at this point, so I just started walking faster, and if she wanted to get out of the camp, then she would have to stop talking and start walking. Well she kept up and cut back on the flirting, so that was good, but of course, after returning from the college (we where almost there when she started the flirting) she suggested that maybe we could go to the actual mountain, which was only 150 m away, and which there are absolutely no other people, because we could probably get a better view. Yeah she said it, 'to get a better view', because that is exactly what she meant. A better view behind some trees, where no one else is, far up the mountain. I kinda just stood there, and was a little freaked out, and suggested that we better get back because you are not allowed in the zone of the camp that we were in after 3:00pm, so we wouldn't have time to explore the mountain. It was only 1:00pm, and the mountain was right there, so we would have had plenty of time to 'get a better view', but I kindly declined, still a little freaked that it was actually happening to me. Stupid satan, right after I fight through a little oppression, there is some temptation right in front of me. The battle seems never ending, but thankfully it belongs to the Lord. Well I basically b-lined it (went straight back) to the college again and sorta avoided her for the rest of her stay. Praise God I made it through that one.

Well here is a little update on what I have, am, and am going to do in the next little while. Last Friday (Jan 26) I preached about worship and what it is, at the college that I took the American girl to, and taught them most of the song, "How Great is Our God", all except the last part because I ran out of room on the board. I spent Saturday and Sunday in Mae Sot, taught English on Monday and Tuesday, in both the college and at the camp office. Wednesday is a Karen statutory holiday (Karen Resistance/Revolution Day), so no school, and this is the same day that the American woman went back to Mae Sot (only one day). I also checked my e-mail on Wednesday, and found out that Craig Black, a good friend of the family, is in Thailand, and that he wanted to see me, so I e-mailed him back, and today, Thursday, I took the bus up to Chiang Mai to visit him. Oh and guess who was on the bus, the American who had been hitting on me two days earlier. They also had assigned seating on the bus and she was seated right behind me. The really messed up part is she told me that she was going to Chiang Mai, next week, and I never knew I was going until after she left, but then she must have changed her mind, and then she was sitting behind me. Anywho... tomorrow, Ray, Bonnie and I are going to Craig's place, to have dinner and watch a movie. Saturday, Craig is taking me out to a buffet for my birthday (maybe), and right after, Bonnie and Ray are having a party for me at House of Hope with the women that stay there, and some other people that they know. Sunday is when I go back to Mae La, and then on Monday, when it is my birthday, Lae Htee and his family are going to through a party for me, and I think that the school might be doing something too, but that is still suppose to be a secret. Lae Htee's mom has even made a tribal skirt thing (think kilt), and has arranged for a matching tribal shirt, backpack type of bag, and head band to be made from scratch for me, all for my birthday. I think that I will pay for most of it because that is a little expensive for them (I know they are giving the skirt thing to me, but I am not sure about the rest), especially since they hardly know me but hey whatever. Thank God for His favour that He has given me with the Karen. Well this blog is longer than I intended but hey, I hope that you have enjoyed it.

So blessings on you all, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, and please continue to pray for me, and thank-you for your prayers that you have already given for me. As you can see, your prayers are very important. Thank-you for the time that you spent reading my blog.

No pics, sorry.