Time with God

The first four pictures are of the Seven fountians where we had solitude time. The last gazebo is on Payap campus right next to the Zone, it is the main place to go to for our hour of quiet time every day.

Everyday during our equipping time we spend one hour of quiet or solitude time. I have really come to where I look forward to this time alone with God everyday and don't feel quite at peace without it. At times I don't feel as close to God on the weekends because I don't set that time aside for him. I find that being alone with God gives me strength, clarity and peace for my life. It brings a new energy to my day and also helps me to get ride of any negative thoughts or bad attitudes. I have learned a lot about myself during this time. I've come to understand myself on a new level, like what bothers me, what makes me upset or what brings me joy. Another big part of my solitude this summer has been healing. Bringing all my concerns, worries and frustrations before God and letting him take them from me. This healing has brought a whole new level of clarity to my life. As I have mentioned before, we have been talking about and practicing lots of different spiritual disciplines this summer. This past Wednesday we went to this Catholic place called "Seven Fountains" and had a few hours of solitude time. You are not aloud to talk, bring cell phones or make any noise at this place. We walked in to find this wonderful little chapel, beautiful gardens and this large park area with huge trees and cute little gazebos. For the first part I walked through this small maze shaped garden sevral times and just talked to God. I then went to the large park area and just sat on a bench for the rest of the time. I love just sitting in God's beautiful creation and just soaking in every part of Him, if that makes sense. Before coming to Thailand I think I would have not been very excited about spending three hours in solitude and I even think it would have been difficult for me. Now I desire this solitude time and found that it is one of the most fulfilling and relaxing things I've ever done.

I know I've rambled on a lot but this is something that has been every important to me and helped me to grow so much closer to God. If you haven't ever spent time in solitude with God... try it and I know God will bless you in that experience.

One more week left in Chiang Mai. The closer it gets to us leaving the sadder I get about leaving and the more excited I get about going home, which doesn't make a lot of sense I realize. We have a good bye retreat this weekend and then we will pack up and say our goodbyes on Thursday. Friday through Tuesday we will be in Phuket, which is a island right off the coast of Thailand. I'm looking forward to this mini vacation before heading back home. I think it will be a great time of relaxation and reflection before coming back and jumping into the busyness of life back home.

My heart in Chiang Mai

Our last day of this internship in on the 31st, so I only have 10 days left here in Chiang Mai. Thinking about leaving this town, this country and these people brings tears to my eyes. This truly has become my home this summer. I really hope I come back but it is very sad to think that I may never see some of these people again. It seems like just the past couple weeks I've had tons of great relationship breakthroughs, and now I'm leaving! My relationships with the Thais have just become so strong and we share all these silly jokes and experiences that people back home just don't understand. They truly have become my close friends and I can't imagine not seeing them anymore! I really can not put into put into words how these people have touched my life. All I can say is that part of my heart will be left in Chiang Mai when I return home.

We have been trying to cram lots of stuff in before we leave Chiang Mai so we have been VERY busy lately. This past weekend we went to the Night Safari, Elephant Camp, Leprosy Village, girls party at Casey's, the zoo and Walking Street! We just walked around the Night Safari Friday night, which is kinda like a Zoo but only at night because most of the animals are nocturnal. Some of the animals here are very different than in the states. I have never even heard of some of these creatures... like there were these "mouse deer" that looked like deer but were the size of a small dog with skinny, tiny little legs. It was crazy! So we had fun exploring and seeing all kinds of new stuff. The Thais would laugh at us because we would be so amazed, but they've all seen these animals many times! At the Night Safari, some of the Thai guys would hide and jump out and scare us in the dark!! Funny guys! It freaked us out because many of the animals aren't in cages, there are just natural barriers. So there is nothing but air and you and that strange creature over there, scary huh? The next day we woke up and went to the elephant camp. The show was INCREDIBLE!! I saw elephants dance, play harmonicas, swing their trunks around, move and stack logs, kick soccer balls into goals, paint pictures that are far batter than anything I cold ever paint and bow after everything they do!! I loved it!! After that we went back to the leprosy village where we sang to the elderly. I even got to visit the same sweet couple from the first time we came with the Aggies! That night we had a girls party at Casey's house because her best friend from the states was here to visit. We had fun eating brownies and just fellowshiping together. Casey and Chris Allison are both so sweet to us and take care of all of the interns. We don't know what we would do without them! Sunday after church we went to a waterfall to watch a baptism of this young sweet college girl who is a member at the other church here in Chaing Mai. I love baptisms here (not that I don't love them in the states too!) because they have such passion in them. It is such a celebration here, I wish the church in the states could have this same zeal and passion. After that we went to the Zoo and got DRENCHED! We still had fun though! That night we returned to Walking Street as usual, but this time I got to show Casey's friend, Amy, around. It was fun because I was showing her something that has become "mine" in a sense. It kinda makes me feel like I'm really part of the life and culture here in Chiang Mai, if that makes sense. This is our last official week of the internship and I am just trying to absorb every last second here in this country.

Thai Culture

This last weekend was so much fun... as usual! We planned a lockin for all the college and youth group. We had a short devo, played silly games like "Take A Hike", "Scoot Your Buns", and then divided up into teams for competitions. The teams competed in lots more silly games that had every one CRACKING up! It was great! After declaring a champion we had a ping pong tournament and then watched movies the rest of the night. Overall I think our plans were pretty successful and everyone had a good time. The next day we woke up early and went rafting with a lot of the same people. We were on these long skinny rafts, going through some pretty crazy rapids with NOTHING to hold on to... so much fun! Overall the weekend was busy and tiring but worth every second!

So I realized I haven't mentioned a lot about the culture here in Thailand so I thought I would share a few of the cultural differences.

1. You can't point your feet at anyone, even when sitting down. Its very disrespectful.


2. You can't wear your shoes inside, so you take them off before entering most places.


3. When greeting people you put your hands in a prayer position and bow while saying "Sawatii kha".


4. There isn't just one preacher, all the guys just take turns preaching at church.


5. They drive on the left side of the street, which still freaks me out cause I think we're always going to get hit!


6. 75% people dive motor bikes, not cars. I've never seen so many bikes in my life!


7. To add to all that, they drive CRAZY here (not quite as crazy as Cambodia). They don't stay in the lines and swerve around people stop in front of them.


8. There taxis are called "Rotedangs" and they are trucks that have benches in the back you sit on. they hold about 12 people.


9. Anyone older that you you add a "P" in from of their name. Some of the high school girls call me "P Terri".


10. Most Thais have long first names I can't pronounce but they all have short nicknames like "O", "Wah", "Woot", "Boi". Then no middle names and last names I can't pronounce either.


11. You eat rice with every meal all the time.


12. Lots of drinks come in bags, not cups.


13. They are VERY blunt. They tell other people they look fat, if their skin is breaking out, if they smell bad or anything like that. This one has been a little bit of a problem with 5 American girls! They are blunt in positive ways too, like they may just walk up and say "You are very beautiful".


14. They ask, "have you eaten?" as a form of greeting.


15. We we eat out every meal, but one meal is usually about 30 baht which is about 1 US dollar.


16. MacDonald's and Pizza Hut are much more expensive that most restaurants.


17. They don't eat much beef at all, mainly chicken and pork.


18. They eat TONS of fruit. There are fruit and other food stands everywhere you go!


19. Most Thais don't read books much at all, they would prefer to watch movies.


20. Boy/ girl relationships are very secretive so normal American flirting means that you REALLY like someone. Thais also DO NOT kiss in public.


21. Thais eat small meals but are constantly eating throughout the day.


22. Thais smile all the time, and they have lots of different smiles that mean different things.


23. On your birthday YOU treat everyone else and plan everything. No one "picks up your check" or anything.


24. They are not wasteful at all. They don't buy things unless they need it, right now. They don't understand when we buy a lot of something of buy something for later on. (good to learn from them)

There are many more but those are just some of the fun highlights I could think of!

More picture albums I've added...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2059674&l=c0c7e&id=54602099
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2059677&l=ba189&id=54602099
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2059769&l=bfb88&id=54602099
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2059769&l=bfb88&id=54602099
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2060325&l=57e88&id=54602099

Knowing Jesus more

All of the churches here in Chiang Mai get together and have one big service project every month or so. This past Sunday we all went to an orphanage here in Chiang Mai. As much as I love the college ministry here, my heart is truly with children. I love playing silly games acting completely goofy and I LOVE singing all the fun kids songs! Needless to say I was very excited about going to the orphanage. It reminded me a lot of the orphanage we visited in Cambodia. All the children we so sweet, respectful but just so desperately wanting attention and love. When we first got there we all went around and introduced ourselves in Thai and then the college students led all the silly kids songs in Thai. Some of the songs we had learned but most of the time we would just follow along with the motions we knew. We then divided up into several small groups where the Thai college kids read bible stories to all the children. I was able to have some conversation with the very little Thai language I know, but it was till fun just interacting and playing with them. The ACU girls were in charge of games so we taught them how to play "Catch Her Eye" that we learned in Cambodia. It was a BIG hit once again! We also taught them this game similar to duck, duck, goose but you run with a partner that we learned in Cambodia. They loved that game too!! We had craft time for awhile and this one precious infant girl crawled into my lap. She was so precious and loved watching my camera flash when taking pictures. She sat in my lap over 20 minutes just pressing the button on my camera and taking pictures. She was just SO cute! At the end we gave all the children gift bags and then said good bye. It is always so hard to leave children after such a wonderful day. I don't think that would ever get easy! They stood on the front porch waving their little hands as we drove away. They just touch my heart in a powerful way.

That night after our usual Sunday night trip to Walking Street; Melanie, Leah and I had a sleep over with the youth group girls. I just love spending time with these girls. Sometimes I think I am better suited for working with teens and children than I am the college students, so I'm glad I get to spend time with the youth group too! We baked brownies, had ice cream, watched and sang along to the Lion King (maybe my favorite Disney movie of all time) and then watched the Wedding Date. These girls are just full of energy and so sweet to us. It was definitely a great night!

This week has been pretty laid back as usual. We have had incredible training and equipping time with Chris and David. God is continually to transform me daily and opening my mind up to new and powerful things. Our bible study of John keeps us daily in the Word, and the more I read about Jesus the more questions I seem to have. We have great discussions about His perfect timing, why He does certain things and how He always seems to do the opposite of what you might think. I have grown up hearing all of these Bible stories and about the life of Jesus but I have never studied his life so in depth. All though the study does bring up many questions, I feel the power that the Word has in my own personal life and how God is speaking to me in his own way. The training here is truly incredible and I am sad that I will have to leave soon and not have these same daily experiences.

Two languages, one heart

This past weekend we had an English Camp for the students we teach English to every week. Many members of the church here at Zone came too. We all piled into the truck and left for this beautiful cabin in the mountains. There were about twenty of us total that stayed in one big cabin over looking a valley. They had to make two trips just to get everyone there. I was excited because all but one of my English students ended up coming and joining us for the camp! Since I was in the first group to arrive we just hung outside on the deck of the cabin. I have so much fun just spending time with all the Thais here. They are all so much fun and so open to us. Some of the high school girls taught me this dance while others played card games, it was just fun and relaxing. That night we played silly games and then had this great devo right outside on the deck. I love singing under the stars and out in Gods creation. Singing in Thai is wonderful because not only does it help us feel more connected to the Thais, but their words and versions of Christians songs are just so much more beautiful. As we worshiped we could hear crickets, birds and other creation noises all around us worshipping God right along with us.

As I've mentioned before, the language barrier is the hardest part of this internship. Most of the Thais speak English pretty well but some don't speak much at all. Its a struggle to form relationships with the Thais that don't speak much English. Many times at the camp, the Thais would just start talking to each other and we would be lost trying to understand the bits and pieces of Thai we have learned. During the devotional that night many times people would pray and share in Thai, which is wonderful but sad that we can't understand them and hear their hearts speaking to God.

The next day we woke up early to more games and worship. We played games to help improve their English, such as spelling and communication games. This was pretty difficult because of the language barrier too. Leah and P Wah, the Thai intern, were in charge of the games so Leah would explain it in English and P Wah would explain it in Thai. Sometimes we would all get confused because we weren't hearing the exact same rules. In the end we all had so much fun even if there was a little confusion. We had noodles for lunch, played a few more games and just relaxed on the deck. We did get to go exploring for a little while, where we walked through fields of coffee plants, and banana trees to find this small pond with a cute gazebo out in the middle. After hanging out there for a while we headed back to get packed up and head back to the Zone. Overall the "English Camp" felt more like a Payap Christian zone retreat but nonetheless, it was very uplifting and fun!

Happy Birthday America!

So it was my first 4th of July NOT in America,which was kinda sad, but no worries, we still had a big celebration! The American Embassy here in Chiang Mai hosts a big 4th of July picnic every year. The 5 ACU interns plus Chris, Casey and their precious little girls Maggie and Melanie all went to celebrate our countries birthday. We had to show our passports to get in and as soon as we walked in the door we were bombarded with hundreds of Americans and more Red, White and Blue than I have ever seen. There was a live band playing, games and tons of food!! The had tons of contests such as pie eating, water melon eating and egg smashing... two of which we participated in! (Well not me but the other ACU girls!) There was SO much American food. Burgers, hotdogs, ice cream, pizza... it was wonderful! They even had fireworks but we had to leave early to get back to cell group so we weren't able to see them. We talked to a lot of the Americans while we were there and were able to hear their stories about what brought them to Chiang Mai. It was so awesome to come together as Americans and have a celebration on the opposite side of the world. Not long before we left they read a greeting from George Bush to all Americans abroad on the 4th of July. It was so neat to hear our owns presidents words spoken to us for this holiday. I will never forget this fourth of July!

Honoring the King

The pictures are of us painting the apartments next door, the devo Saturday night, Walking Street Sunday night, equipping time at Shawn's this morning and then lunch with the youth group.

The last week has been another wonderful low key week. We pretty much keep a pretty routine schedule. Saturdays are called "friend days" where we get to hang out with the Thais all day and then Mondays are our day off where we retreat away. This past Saturday we slept in and then helped paint walls at this apartment place next door to the Zone that Robert has been renovating. It was so much fun just painting and laughing with all our Thai friends. They really are just so much fun. Everything they do, they have fun with it! That night we had this great devotional. We all sat in a circle and just prayed, read scripture, sang, pretty much whatever we felt moved to do. The devo lasted over two hours and I hardly noticed. It was so great to have this intimate, passionate fellowship with the Thais here at the Zone. They tease me a lot here because they say "you speak so fast!!". So after I would read scripture a few of them would snicker and tell me to slow down. They tease me and the other interns quite a bit, but I love it because I know that without a close friendship they wouldn't tease. Sunday we had a typical church service and then Katie and I taught a couple of the girls in the youth group that had come to the zone that day. We had no clue they were coming so we completely had to "wing it". We ended up talking about the spiritual discipline of prayer and how God wants that close intimate relationship with us. I think it turned out pretty good. Sunday night we went to Walking Street, which I've probably mentioned before, but its this huge street full of goods, foods and souvenir type things... it is incredible. A huge group of our Thai friends went with us and we had such a wonderful night walking around, talking, shopping and just fellowshiping as one big group of friends. I was able to have more personal conversations with many of the Thais that I really hadn't talked to much before. That night was great because I felt like I was truly part of their community and group of friends, not just an intern there for the summer, which is such a wonderful break through. Monday was our day off so we went to a pool and I caught up on some Nicholas Sparks reading :) Yesterday was a typical Tuesday, my English student actually showed up which was quite exciting. In Thailand they are much more laid back about time and scheduling. So everything starts 30minutes to an hour late and a lot of times people just don't show up. It can be very frustrating with our faced paced, schedule crazy American mindsets. It does teach me just to relax a little bit more and not be so caught up in set times and planning everything down to the second! That night we had several people show up for movie night at the Zone, where we watched Click.

This morning we went over to Shawn Todd's house for another amazing breakfast (his french toast is incredible) and for equipping time with Shawn and David. After a wonderful lesson we hung out with and had lunch with the small youth group here in Chiang Mai. Tonight we went to see ANOTHER movie, Hancock, which was also pretty good. If it isn't obvious, Thais REALLY like to watch movies. I think I've been to the movie theater almost every week since I got here. My favorite part of every movie is that right before the movie starts the King's song is played. There is a wonderful video honoring the King and the beautiful song is played in the back ground. The loyalty and honor the Thai people have for their King is so astonishing. Something that we as Americans could never understand. Standing up and hearing that beautiful song just sends chills through me. I'm will miss hearing that song very much when I go home! What is so powerful is that the Thai people understand God as King so much better than we do. They connect when the Bible talks about a kingdom on earth and that we should only have one King. I wish that somehow I could grasp their insight because they understand an aspect of our Lord and King that we will never fully understand.

More pictures...

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2059378&l=3d7fb&id=54602099

The Simple Life

The pictures are... in cute hut on Payap campus, at Carrefour (which is like Walmart/mall/ foodcourt all in one, we go there almost every other day!), cooking food for cell group, dinner at cell group, and at a church family's house for lunch on Friday.

One thing I love about the life here is how simple everything is. It has been so great to get away from TVs, cell phones, school, work and just... be. My life back home is so busy. I have two jobs, school, many student organizations and add on a social life. My life is cram packed with stuff, things and busyness. It has been so cleansing to get away from it all, come to the beautiful city of Chiang Mai and just live for God. My sole purposes are to be daily transformed by God and show others His love. Not that we don't plan events, teach lessons and other activities but it all centers around those two things. Another aspect of this simple life that I love is no makeup, no dressing up and no getting ready. Just shower and go... I love it! We spend so much time everyday on ourselves, making ourselves look good, entertaining ourselves, making us happy, that we get lost... in ourselves. I really want to bring this simple life back with me to Abilene. Less TV, less cell phone, less noise, less time spent on appearance, less time busy and more time just living for God. It sounds, well... simple but unfortunately coming back into all the 'noise' I think it will be difficult. God has truly continued to transform me in amazing ways and I hope I can continue this when I get home.

This past week has been very low key. Sunday we had to recite John 1:1-18 to the entire congregation. I was kinda freaked out but it ended up being a great experience to have to memorize God's word and then share it with others. That night we had a big goodbye dinner for the Reagans who left for America on Tuesday. They go visit friends, family and their supporting church once a year for a month, so unfortunately they get back the DAY after we leave. We are so sad to see them leave! Jordan, one of the other interns here, fixed is an amazing Italian dinner from scratch that night... I was very impressed. The next day Katie and I went to the train station to say good bye to the Aggies as they left for Bangkok. We were pretty sad but its nice to know we can see them when we get back to Texas! Tuesday through Friday were all very typical days. Every morning we had equipping time which includes studying a chapter from John, 1 hour of quiet time, and studying a different spiritual discipline. Equipping time is such a great way to grow and be transformed through Gods word and thoughts from each other. After that we go have lunch on Payap University campus where we invite students to the zone for cell group, movie night, church and English classes. Then we teach English lass all afternoon and that night we usually have some activity with the students. I've already formed great relationships with many of the Thais and I hope that they continue to grow. I am not very talented in new languages and although we do take Thai lessons twice a week, I struggle just to get just a few sentences out. I do have five more weeks here so there is plenty of time to learn more! Thursday was cell group and the interns fixed American food for everyone; BBQ chicken, potatoes, green beans and watermelon! It was so much fun to cook and be able to share a little bit of our culture with them! Lastly, on Friday one of the sweet families from another church nearby had all the interns over for lunch. We had so much fun at their house playing/ talking with their two teenage daughters and just fellowshiping together!

Picture Albums!

I just added tons more picture to Facebook so here they are...

Sports camp and waterfall with the aggies
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2058583&l=d9a9d&id=54602099

Bungee Jumping
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2058749&l=06e78&id=54602099

Week with the Aggies
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2058752&l=6885c&id=54602099

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2058802&l=a2f03&id=54602099

Rafting/ Elephant Riding Trip
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2058805&l=e18fd&id=54602099

WHOOP!

Above pictures are: with a sweet couple at the leprosy village, at the Buddhist temple, the rafts we floated on, my rafting group, the hut/house we stayed in one night and lastly the elephant ride.

This past week with the Aggies here in Chiang Mai has been AMAZING!! A group of about 20 Aggies are on this trip called AFCO where they travel around doing different mission work in Asia. This is also the group Leah and I spent a week in Cambodia with. Here is a brief summary of our wonderful week with them...

Friday: Aggies arrive, yay!!

Saturday: Sports day at the waterfall with Thai students and then shopping at Night Bizarre

Sunday: We went to church at this village church, went bungee jumping with Thais and then went to this thing called "Walking Street" which is full of crafts and entertainment.

Monday: We went to a Christian leprosy village which was incredible. This village is now a rehabilitation center mainly for the elderly. We were able to sing Christian songs with many of the lepers and then we got to visit their little homes in the village. They were all such sweet people and they taught me a lot about faith and happiness. We were also able to buy lots of souvenirs at the gift store there to help support this village. After that some of us went to see a movie, The Happening (which isn’t 'happenin' by the way) and then just hung out at the zone the rest of the night.

Tuesday: We woke up and headed over to Shawn Todd’s house, one of the missionaries here, and had an amazing breakfast. We had equipping time and some alone time which was so nice to just stop in the middle of a busy week. After that we went to visit this beautiful temple and got a glimpse of the Buddhist faith. It just hurt me inside to see all of these people bowing down to the statues. I just wanted to run up and tell say, "Don’t you know that there is something so much greater than a statue to worship?" It really made me sad and just kinda shook me up. After that we headed over to Chuang Doi (another church here in Chiang Mai) and had cell group and taught English there for awhile. That night all of the Aggies, Thais and us went to see Kung Fu Panda which was HILARIOUS!!

Wednesday: We woke up and Robert had equipping time for us and the Aggies, and some more quiet time. We then went to this very cool umbrella factory where we watched the whole process of making these Asian fans and umbrellas. You can also have paintings done there, and by paintings I mean you can take anything in the world and they will paint on it for you. Tons of Aggies got their bibles painted on, and others just bought things there to paint. I plan to go back later and get some things painted myself. That night we had a talent show/ movie night at the zone. Us ACU girls decided to do a Sing Song Act about Thailand which is on my Facebook profile if you would like to check it out. It was so much fun and most of the Aggies knew what Sing Song was and LOVED our act. We then watched a very interesting Thai movie about and elephant and then went to sleep.

Thursday: We woke up and had more equipping time with Robert and the Aggies again. After that we went out in small groups and had lunch at the Payap university campus which is right next to The Zone. We passed out fliers about the Zone and invited people cell group that night. It was so much fun getting to talk to all of the Thais on campus and it was great to see so many show up that night at The Zone. We fixed dinner and had cell group at the Zone, which was awesome as usual.

Friday: We left early in the morning for our weekend rafting/elephant trip. We arrived in Chiang Rai in the afternoon and then floated down the river on a bamboo raft for 6 hours. It was the most peaceful and beautiful experience of my life. They divided us up into small raft groups and Leah and I got put with four of the biggest guys on the trip, so we were a little cramped. They are all great guys so we had TONS of fun. I loved just watching the mountains as we floated down this peaceful little river... that is an experience I will never forget. We arrived at a small Christian village late that night. They had prepared this big feast and then festivities for our visit there. They sang for us and then taught us some traditional Thai dances... it was so incredible. It was so awesome for them to share their faith to us through music and dance. That night we stayed with our raft groups in some of the small huts in the villages. So many families opened up their homes for us, and we pretty much took up their whole home. They showed such great Christian love and hospitality.

Saturday: We woke up the next morning (for me it was 4am to the sound of tons of roosters crowing) and then got back on the bamboo rafts for another 4 hours. At our next location we took 2 hour elephant rides through the mountains. Those things don't have seatbelts, so I almost went flying off the elephant several times. I was more scared on that elephant than I was Bungee jumping... no joke. It was so awesome to see this beautiful greean mountain scenery from the back of an elephant. We went to a waterfall after that and then left the Aggies to head back to Chiang Mai for church the next day.

I had so many life changing and incredible experiences that I could just ramble on and on about from this week. This was probably the most amazing week of my life and God is just healing me and allowing me to grow and change in powerful ways.

Waterfalls and bungy jumping!!!

The last two days with the Aggies here have been SO AMAZING!!! I missed them so much and it has just been so good to catch up and hang out with them. Each one of them is so great and I'm so excited to have formed all these new friendships, so when I go visit my best friend at A&M I can see them too!!

Yesterday we had sports day at this park/ waterfall location. The ACU, Aggies, and Thai students were evenly distributed between 6 different teams. There were three different sports; water volleyball, Ultimate Frisbee and kickball, that we rotated around at. It was so fun having so many different people come and unite together as teams. My team was called "Blue Ling", which means blue monkey. Blue Ling ended up winning the overall tournament and as our winning prize we got to attack everyone else with water balloons. It was pretty awesome until Robert nailed me with a HUGE water balloon. After that, we ate lunch at the park and then groups of us walked down to the waterfalls. These waterfalls were so beautiful. It was awesome because of the clay that the waterfall was flowing on, you could walk/climb down the whole waterfall, which was very long. There were tons of different paths to climb and little pools to sit in and at the bottom was a big beautiful waterfall...it was so amazing. We had so much fun just playing around in the water. That pretty much took up the whole day and then that night we took the Aggies to Night Bizarre.

This morning we drove to this village church that was hosting a church service for all of the churches in Chiang Mai. We were able to worship, fellowship and eat lunch with all of these wonderful christian Thai families, it was great. After that we came back to the church to change and then went BUNGY JUMPING!! (don't freak out mom and dad!!) Surprisingly I wasn't that scared at all, I was just extremely excited. It was the greatest rush I have ever got in my life just jumping off a platform into open air...I LOVED it!! Several of the Thais went with us but most of them chose not to jump... but I think we convinced some of them to come back another time! From there we went to Walking Street which is this street type market that is open every Sunday night. They have every kind of goods, clothing and souvenirs you can think of and it it SO huge!! We walked around for hours just trying to see it all. Luckily we will be here the whole summer so we have many other Sundays to check it out. Having the Aggies back has boosted my spirits so much. I love the fellowship with them, I feel like they know what Christan fellowship is supposed to look like. After a wonderful but exhausting day I'm off to bed...Happy Fathers day (that's to any dad that's reading this!).