The First Day of Class

Today we were given an amazing welcome by the chairman of the district and his people.  There was a welcoming ceremony where we were given seats of honor.  Everyone was introduced from our team as well as the team from Lutheran Hour Ministries. 

The people were extremely friendly and kind.  After  introductions we toured the Municipal grounds including the residence of the Head Chairman of the district.  Along the way we saw the national flower of Thailand as well as some cattle.

(Modern cowboys use motorcycles)

We were treated to lunch at a table fashioned out of a boat.  It was such a unique thing and I am sure our pictures will not do it justice.  

Everything is so beautiful here and we are enjoying the lovely weather.  A nice break from Bangkok.  We are told the weather is nice this time of year since it is winter.  (There was a high of 90 degrees yesterday!)

After lunch we were off to set up our classrooms, working in teams of 2 at 3 separate buildings.  Going into this project, we were not aware of the students' English speaking abilities.  We prepared for a higher level of fluency with the idea that we may need to be flexible in our teaching.  We adopted the attitude of "Roll with it" early on and that saying was put to the test on the first day.  We had classes as small as 3 students whose english was at a beginning level to a group of 15 with varrying degrees of  fluency.  We adjusted, we slowed down, and we had a lot of fun.

As a group we are doing great and have amazing unity and trust.  Everyone is contributing as God has gifted them.  We are establishing an early morning coffee run/walk.  There is a pedestrian walkway along the Mekong river a block away from our hotel.  We can get great coffee and this acts as our informal together time which we are all enjoying.  

We praise God for this awesome opportunity to introduce these beautiful children of God to Jesus!

-Maria