Precious People

www.megan-picturesfromthailand.blogspot.com 

Happy 4th of July!!!

Ahh! I’m out of my comfort zone!

Wow, time sure does fly! I really did intend on posting more  :) 

My time here has been going very well so far, and though challenges will probably arise at some point, I can only expect that it’s going to get better being here. Last week I started language class with my Thai teacher, Fon. She’s great! And I also learned how to ride the songthaew! Wow, talk about God getting me out of my comfort zone.  A songthaew is the local transportation system. I guess you could think of them as being mini buses that get you where you want to go . They usually cost 12 baht ($0.35 USD)  a ride. So Tuesdays-Fridays  that is what I ride to and from class. And for any friends and family out there, I have been assured many times that it is very safe! 

(Google picture of a songthaew)

 It has been nice to finally get somewhat of a schedule down.   Sundays we’re at the church from 10:00am to about 2:00pm. Mondays is our relaxing day to basically do anything we want to do. Then, Tuesdays-Fridays from 10:00am t0 12:00pm I watch Brian and Mary Beth’s children, Mercy and Micah, while MB does homeschool with their oldest, Asia. Then we eat lunch together. At 1:30pm I leave for language class which lasts till 3:30pm. When I come home, I then do my Bible courses till about 5:30. We usually eat dinner around 6:30 just depending on what’s going on that evening.

Wednesday nights we have team prayer which has been so encouraging. The team here really values the necessity of coming together as fellow believers in Christ to fellowship and pray for one another.

 Thursday evenings I go with Christina and one of the Bible students to minister to a group of children across the train tracks. The kids are so sweet and are in desperate need of attention and love. We teach them new songs, read them Bible stories, pray with them and do other things like color and such, but it just depends. As far as I know, every week looks a little bit different.  

So, anyway, that is how my days have been looking like so far. I’m sure it’s due to change . Flexibility is key. God bless! 

 

Vacation :)

Sorry for the lack of posts lately! And I apologize to those of you that I promised to email updates to. For some reason I have been able to receive emails, but, not able to send any . 

Last week the Stubenrauchs took the opportunity to go on a rare vacation while Mary Beth’s mother is here. We had  so much fun! We were by the ocean, which was a first for me, and it was beautiful! God’s artistic hand in everything continually amazes me. We didn’t do a lot except eat, swim, and sleep Haha! Actually, it was a very refreshing time for me. There were times that I could feel the Lord’s presence. To look at pictures of our time on the island click HERE. 

Tomorrow I start taking Thai language lessons with a woman nearby!  I’m pretty excited. My prayer is that I will learn the language quickly so I can communicate more with the people around me. Especially the two little girls that live in the house that I share with Christina and P’Thak.

My Room

Everything is going great here. I was able to talk with my parents and brothers this morning and last night. It was so good to hear their voices.

MB, Mrs. Clark(MB’s mom), and I just returned from going to the local gym to workout. The treadmill I went on just about took everything out of me, I think .  Well, maybe it wasn’t the treadmill so much, but, the fact that Thais don’t think it’s good for you to have air conditioning going when you exercise .  

I posted some pictures of my room! Actually, these are before photos because I got some new things to put in it yesterday but haven’t taken any more pics yet.  -

www.megan-picturesfromthailand.blogspot.com

Thailand At Last

Hello from Thailand!!! I am officially here . Wow, what a great journey to a great place filled with great people.  It feels so good to be back with Brian & Mary Beth (MB) and their family again.  Tonight we had a very nice fellowship, worship, and prayer time with the Garsee family and Christina (fellow single girl ) I truly believe that the presence of the Lord was and is with us. It was encouraging to be with everyone.

 I haven’t really taken any pictures yet, but, I hope to start tomorrow. I did put one up of my little friend though – www.megan-picturesfromthailand.blogspot.com .

 

Thank you every one again for your prayers! I apologize if this post was poorly written, but, I am struggling with heavy jet lag at the moment.  

And oh, did I mention that it’s very hot here????…and that I have no air conditioning in my room? Thank the Lord for fans!!

Countdown Thailand: Zero and some other neat news.

Well, today is the day I will be saying goodbye to my family. Wow, I knew it was going to be hard, but, I didn’t think it would be this hard. Around two o’clock or so they will be taking me to Mrs. Clark’s (Marybeth’s mom) house to spend the night with her since she is much closer to the airport than we are. In the morning she and I  will be taking off to officially be on our way to Thailand! I am so excited .  But, for the moment, I am feeling like I could cry at the drop of a hat and go to sleep at any moment. Overall though, I believe God had given us all a lot of grace.  I feel so blessed to have a family like mine.

So, my other neat news?  My braces were taken off today!!! Yay!

Sudan

Students attending the Loka Senior Secondary School

My father recieved an email this morning  from our field coordinator in Sudan, Dickson Mutiso, informing us of some very sad news. His email said that one of the students from the Loka Senior Secondary School (LSSS (a Global Response Project)) was bitten by a snake and died.  This young man was a 2nd year student and doing well.

We would appreciate it if you would please keep his family and the rest of the LSSS student body in your prayers. Thank you.

One week to go

Only one week to go till the big day…

So many emotions are whirling inside of me the more I realize that the day of departure is coming closer and closer.  I feel excitement, anticipation, joy, thrill, sadness, a pinch of stress, and a butterfly or two in my stomach.  I praise God for this opportunity of a life time that He is giving me. I don’t feel deserving of it. What have I done to deserve such trust? I am deeply humbled. I can only hope and pray that I will represent Him well. 

   I want to publicly thank all those who have committed to praying for me while I am away and also to those who have generously given their financial gifts to help make this trip even possible. There are not words enough to describe my gratitude to you.  

 I look forward to sharing with everyone my experiences and what I believe the Lord is speaking to me. May He bless you abundantly! 

Love,

Megan

cleftRock

On Monday, we left for a place called cleftRock to get away as a family so Dad and John could unwind from their most recent trip to Sudan and also to kind of prepare for my upcoming trip to Thailand. cleftRock is a retreat center for pastors and missionaries and their families. It is a wonderful, beautiful, and peaceful place set back deep into the woods. We had a great time together taking walks, listening to the birds, praying, eating junk food, playing games and of course, taking pictures . Below are some of the over 100 photos my brother, John, and I shot while on a walk together.  I took most of them because, well, I was a little bit hoggish with the camera that day . But we had a very special brother – sister time together. 

If you like any of the pictures we would really appreciate that you do not use them without our permission. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as we enjoyed taking them! God bless! 

The house we stayed in

This was the perfect name for our little hideaway 

 

 

John took this close up of the Iris – It was one of the only Iris’ there still in bloom

John wanted to take a shot of the parking sign He has a good eye cause I certainly wouldn’t have thought of it! 

I really like this pic of a fence that John took too

I took this one

John took this great picture

cleftRock was started by a couple who wanted to give pastors and missionaries a place to find rest, counsel, and quiet. Their own son was a missionary along with his wife and children in South America. Back in 2003 he was killed by guerilla rebels. His parents brought his body back to cleftRock to be buried at his favorite spot on the property. The next few photos are of his grave site and of the place surrounding it that was made for people to come to think and reflect. His family is still serving as  missionaries in South America. 

 

With the Family

I’m going to be away from the computer for a few days while our family is on a mini vacation/retreat together. When we come back home, hopefully I’ll be back with lots of photos from this week and the surprise Mother’s Day trip to New York my mom and I took while Dad and John were in Sudan:) . God bless, and Happy Memorial Day! Please remember in the midst of your family gatherings to give honor to all the men and women who gave their lives or are still fighting for our country.

Newest Blog Addition!

From the Land of Smiles    

This post was very messed up earlier and i hope it is fixed now.

   ‘From the Land of Smiles’ is yet another blog that I have started for the purpose of sharing the pictures I will be taking while I am in Thailand. I have a feeling that I will be taking more than what will be convenient to share on this blog so I decided to start a separate one just for that purpose. Please feel free to check it out and keep up with it while I am away. I will let you know on this one when I have added more photos on the other. And just to make sure it’s clear…I will be posting reguraly on THIS blog. The other one will be pics only. God bless! Countdown: 2 weeks and 3 days to go!