Almost Done

Well, the summer has flown by. As I write we leave our condotel and Ban Suan church where we have spent the last 6 1/2 weeks tomorrow to go back to the OMF Mission Home in Bangkok for several days before returning to the States. After returning to Los Angeles, we will have 3 days of debriefing where we will have time to reflect on our summers and what God has been teaching us while also being taught how to effectively integrate our experiences into our life back in America. I won't try and give you a whole "what God has taught me blurb" here, (I have hardly had enough time to think about it) but I will let you in on a couple of things that happened in our last week.

1. We finished painting the wall outside Ban Suan, so now every cab/tuk tuk/bak bak driver who drives by will be sure to notice there is a church there! It is 3 crosses set on a hill, with a red, orange, and yellow sunburst emanating from the middle cross. (pictures to come later)

2. A girl named Aam at Kunatee secondary school (high school) placed her faith in Christ last Saturday! Praise God for that.

3. We have had to say many goodbyes already. Last night Ted and I taught our last adult English class sitting in a restaurant since the power was out at the church, and were sad to say goodbye to our students afterwards. In an hour we will teach our last English class of younger students (10-13 years old). Our Thai neighbors who we have become friends with are also noticing that we are leaving and have been very gracious. This morning as Ted, Katie, and I finished painting the wall our favorite lady to buy Thai Tea from (we call her Thai Tea lady) down the street came and brought us 3 free Thai Teas with boba. Tonight our team will eat our last dinner here at a Vietnamese restaurant that we have frequented and whose owners are very kind. We have been told by them that we must come and to expect gifts.

While it will be sad to leave I am also excited to return home and to debrief. After that I will have a very week with moving into my apartment, having an InterVarsity leaders retreat, and meeting freshman in the dorm where I will be leading a Bible study this semester. Pray that I will be able to see what God has taught me this summer and that I will be able to effectively integrate these things back into my ministry with InterVarsity and into my personal life in the fall. Thanks and God bless,

Erik