Bangkok

As a group decision, Ginny, Josh, and I decided we would have a free weekend to visit Bangkok. Hannah went to Sisaket to visit a missionary family she knew and Kristen and Becca wanted to stay at the center for the weekend. Ginny’s special friend, Dan Vangsnes is serving as a missionary in Bangkok for the summer with his brother Ryan and his friend Gary. You may recognize the names from last year’s tragic car accident of Scott Minnear, Dan, Ryan, and Jeremy Vangsnes leaving three severely injured and Jeremy still to this day paralyzed. It has been a year since the car accident on July 21st. Family and friends raise support and encouragement with “Be Jeremy’s Legs” bracelets that I have the honor to wear and use as a reminder of my mission. LINK: http://www.fanhouse.com/videos/video/tagedge/be-jeremys-legs/696177495. Our trip to Bangkok was such an amazing experience. We were able to stay in a guestroom in the BSC (Baptist Student Center) and see the program they have continually growing. They teach English and share God’s word with anyone who will hear it. I was able to meet dozens of Thai Christians, many who had been saved through the spirit calling to them in this ministry. It was a good refreshment and reminder of my purpose this summer because it is very dark where I live and it can be very discouraging with such seeming apathy for God’s word when shared.

After surviving the 8 hour bus ride leaving us to take a taxi to the BSC at 6 am on Friday morning. We visited the JJ Market which is the largest market in the world. We only saw a small part but it was plenty of time for me to get some nice gifts for you guys! We also ate at SUBWAY (!!!!!!!!) for lunch in Siam Paragon which is a huge mall. Note the excitement of how amazing it was to eat a sandwich. The guys pointed out some of the areas that were burned during the political riots and showed us the mall that was heavily attacked. We then went on a long-tail boat tour down the Chao Phraya River that lasted about an hour with a stop to the dock of the snake farm. At the snake farm was several zoo-like exhibits where we bought bananas to feed the monkeys and such. The tiger they had gave us quite a good show but nothing compared to the snake show. Three snake charmers and one announcer spoke in broken English of the facts about the snakes as the show began. To our amazement we experienced a real cobra show with two cobras without any fangs or venom glands removed with one charmer. At one point the cobra shot off the stage right to my feet; very scary moment. Other snakes continued with the charmers do things I have never seen in the US, nor do I think would be legal 55. My favorite part of the trip was Saturday night. We met up with several students and visited one’s home and then went the huge park near the bridge. A couple of friends went and bought tons of food that we all shared under the moonlight in the park by the river. After dinner we went under the bridge where tons of people hang out and began to recklessly praising God. We were playing guitar, singing, and dancing and creating quite a show that many people stopped and watched. We were singing Thai praise songs and had song books and one man even came up and sang along. We also a “dance completion” with teams that including pairs of teams making up your own motions to Waves of Mercy that many near-by watchers voted for. It was so much fun to get to worship with such awesome people and make new friends. On Sunday, we got up and visited the BSC church. We were able to wear headphones and hear the English translation. Then we went to Duane and Jeanie’s house (Dan’s uncle and aunt who are missionaries in Bangkok). They prepared us a fantastic western style lunch of spaghetti, fruit and veggies, and chocolate cake. Thai students and friends came over after we ate and we had another fun day of worship and building relationships.