Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Many Apologies

Ok...so I do have an excuse for why it took me so long to update my blog. Up until just a few days ago my sight was in Thai and I had no idea how to switch the language to English. At first I just did it from memory but with everything else that is running through my head that knowledge was amongst the first to go. Hmm... for any of you that have been recieving my updates. My team and I are becoming relatively well settled into Lopburi which will be our home for the next year as we study Thai together and get a clearer vision of what the Lord is leading us into and becoming more inculturated. Although, that has proved to be a bit difficult as we are very much constantly with other foreigners. I think this has been the most frusterating thing for me since last time I was here I lived and worked and hung out nearly 24/7 with the Thai people and it is hard for me not to have that here. I treasure the interactions I do have with them however and look for ways to coonect whenever I can. This last Sunday I went to a wonderful church full of relaxed fun Thai people that I felt an immediate connection with and so I have decided to make this my home church for the duration of my time here in Lopburi. These next couple weeks are going to be quite busy as I will be transitioning all over the place. Tomorrow I leave for Bangkok where I will catch a flight to Penang, Malaysia becasue our RA visas have come in which means we can now apply for workers visas. This will be a very different trip from the last time I went as we have a long weekend and I intent to use it to return to Pattaya to see my friends. It is so great that they are near enough that when I have a few days I can go down and spend time with them. I know as I build a community here I will travel down less and less but right now I need that emersion into Thai society. Following that trip I will have a few weeks to trip and get as much Thai in as possible and then I head for Singapore first and then Indonesia to attend the 50th anniversary of the Bible school my grandpa started in the jungles of Borneo. I cannot wait as it will also be the last time I see my dad and sister for a long time. So I intend to treasure it. All things with my nephew are going well. My mother is perhaps a bit too doting as you can see from the picture but apparently there have been no permanant injuries to the baby. Other than that I think I am looking forward to September when I can finally settle into Lopburi and nuckle down to Thai and really start going intentionally to places I can begin building relationships, get involved in my church and just be. I have not unfortunately taken many photos for you to see what Lopburi looks like but I promise to be more diligent in the future. Life has been a bit fast paced at the moment. Well I'm not sure I have anything else of interest to say so I suppose I will sign off for the time being. Feel free and drop me a note to tell me how your doing. I feel a million miles away from most anyone reading my blog. So.....