A typical day in Bon Choy

I would like to describe for you a typical day here in Bon Choy:

I start out my day by waking up and getting out of bed.  This would be a simple task in America, but here it is very complicated.  Sarah, Nikki, and I are sleeping in one giant pink mosquito net.  The mosquito net is duct-taped to the ground, so climbing out of bed usually requires strategically choosing the section to un-duct tape and then sliding out on your stomach (like a snake).  From that point, I usually head to the bathroom and wait in line to use the shower.  The shower is also exciting here because our shower is actually a full room.  It truly is unique.

Breakfast happens next which is mainly bread, peanut butter, and a cup of tea.  Our team then spends an hour before school (7:00 – 8:00) in quiet time with Jesus.  I usually sit inside in an effort to avoid flies, ants, scorpions, and water buffalo.  After quiet time we participate in a bible study the thai women hold each morning.  Hunter leads worship and we sing both English and Thai songs.  By 8:30 it is time for Eric and I to leave for school.  Eric and I teach at a school called Sabao.  There are around 500 students total, but Eric and I teach around 180.  Monday and Wednesday we teach Secondary students (grades 7, 8 and 9) and Tuesday and Thursday we teach Primary (grades 5 and 6).  Teaching in the schools has been an incredible experience.

Our lessons are very simple (emotions, weather, colors, etc.), but God certainly is working through our time at the school.  Our students were, at first, incredibly shy, quiet and scared.  Now, after a week of teaching, they’re engaged, exciting, and we even have a hard time keeping them quiet.  We have also been building relationships with the teachers at school.  All in all it’s a lot of fun and has been incredibly rewarding. 

After school we come home and plan for our afternoon VBS.  This week’s them is “Who is God?”, and so far we’re taught the creation story and David and Goliath.  VBS has been a challenge because, by 4:00 we are all exhausted from a full day of teaching.  We also struggled to get the local children to come.  Unfortunately, because the area is so strongly Buddhist, many students are discouraged from coming.  Our numbers are growing tremendously.  We had 100 or more students come to VBS today!

After VBS, everyone plays with the local kids for awhile until we eat dinner.  Dinner is a lot of fun.  We all tell about our days, laugh a lot, and just catch up on the day.  It truly is a “family dinner.”  The food here is really excellent with the exception of last night’s dish of boiled blood.  When dinner is over we usually make tea then go straight into team time.  Team time is usually a mixture of worship, prayer, bible study and mainly just community.  The evenings are full of team bonding.  We have a lot of fun together – especially on our “family game night” where we played loaded questions and Nikki’s infamous “what if” game.  There are also rumors of speed scrabble, which I’m personally ecstatic about.

The evenings end around 9:30 or 10:00 when everyone heads to bed.  Last night ended with an absolutely beautiful sunset and a sky full of stars.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner and team time:

 

 

Our beautiful Bon Choy Sunset: