Summertime

 

    We have a lot to catch you up on! June 16th was Brandons 28th birthday! We had a party at our house and had Brandons favorite, gumbo! I also made fried rice just in case the Thai friends did not like the gumbo, but it seemed like everyone liked it! They made him a printed out birthday card, framed picture, hand made coasters, and bought him a Thai shirt! It was the sweetest thing ever. We had so much fun fellowshipping with them, our stomachs hurt from laughing so hard. Some of Brandon's students brought him a sweet treat to school and it was so sweet and thoughtful! 

Pictured: X, Namhorn, Omsin

    A couple days after Brandons birthday they wanted to take us to Doi Suthep. This is a giant mountain which is famous for the view of Chiang Mai below and has a very big temple at the top. At first it was just going to be a few of us, but then it turned into Brandon driving a bunch of Thai women up the giant mountain in the school's bus. Brandon did a great job driving and we were all thankful to our fearless leader. Unfortunately, we forgot to get a group picture, but here are a few.

Pictured: Ronkao, Weena, Mew, and friend. Kru Da and her kids Diary and Diana.

    Brandon was able to go up to a remote village to help build a pavilion for the school children. After they finish building this they will be able to install the playground! Brandon and the team worked all day with the help of the school principle and high school boys. 

    We got a pleasant surprise from our friends from Crosspoint, Larry and Gay Jones. They were in Chiang Mai serving with Trussville First Baptist teaching English in another village. They graciously invited us to come to dinner in the city where we were able to get the most American food we had eaten since being away from home! It's called Dukes and boy was it good. It was good to see them and hear about their experience and ministry right outside Chiang Mai.

Pictured: Brandon, Mallory, Gay, Mandi, Larry, and Sadie

    Happy 4th of July! We were able to find an event to celebrate the 4th. We got our face painted, ate a hotdog wrapped in a piece of bread, played tug of war, and listened to live music. A fourth to remember! 

Pictured: Lydia and Mallory with face paint, Weena and Ronkao with Statue of Liberty, and Brandon losing tug-of-war! 

    A couple weeks ago the church approached Brandon and asked if he would teach the first Sunday in July! Unfortunately after our night out celebrating the 4th, I woke up with a fever and was not able to go to church and hear him teach. Obviously I was very sad about this, but they loved his teaching on the importance of discipleship and asked him to teach once a month! We are also in the process of figuring out if we can start a youth group and what that will look like! How exciting! 

Pictured: Brandon and Mew, his Thai translator 

    School is going good! Our kids are very comfortable around us now and love to play English games. Brandon and I have been teaching ourselves some Thai as we have had a hard time with controlling the classroom. The kids think it is hilarious when we speak Thai to them, but at least they listen when we do! You can hear me yelling sit down and be quiet probably 15 times a day, and buddy when I threaten to take away their hour of chrome books on Wednesdays, you could hear a pen drop. Brandons art class is working on paper mache planets. He is such a good teacher!

pictured: Brandon and his art students 

    We only have a few more weeks of being there full time. After August 5th we will be transitioning to substitutes while still being involved with after school activities and such. This will allow us to work with David when he gets here while also still being involved with the school. Unfortunately, they are very short staffed and we are praying that God will bring more English teachers to the School of Promise. In fact, we are having to combine our level 3 class, which Brandon will now teach, and I will now be teaching level 2 in the absence of Lydia who is back in the states for 6 weeks! This means we both have around 20 students.

Pictured: Mallory and level 3 students Barry, Aye, and Mafueng 

                                

    There are so many things to be thankful for this month. God continues to bless the relationships around us.  Our students are growing quite the attachment to us which makes all the long days of teaching so rewarding. We are thankful for the opportunity to share Gods love with them everyday! We moved into our final destination a couple weeks ago and we have the best landlady ever! We actually paid her more than needed and she came to us and gave it back when we literally would have never known. We also, with the help of a few people in the states, where able to obtain our international drivers license which was a huge blessing! 

    We would like to ask for prayer for The School of Promise. They are very short staffed this year with English teachers and many unforeseen circumstances keep pulling teachers away. For example one teacher with health concerns went back to her home country and another ones dad is passing away so she is returning to the states. Another one is in the states for 6 weeks as she has just completed one year in Thailand. Another teacher just left for Nepal with his family in pursuit of medical missions. As you can see they are really hurting for full-time teachers and substitutes. This is a great need. 

    We did not get the news we wanted about our visas, BUT we know God has a plan. We will update you on that soon! 

        Love you all! 

                Mallory and Brandon