Step Ahead Christmas Party

Check out new pics and one short video: http://picasaweb.google.com/briswann/StepAheadChristmasParty

Thanks for praying for our Christmas party! It was a huge success. The turnout was much bigger than I'd expected! (We had planned for a lot of ppl; we just weren't sure how many would actually show up). I don't know exactly how many came, but it must have been about 50. I think 6 or 7 students came (2 from my upper beginners class, the rest from Paul's beginners class). Our friend Gaan came, and she invited a friend also. Then we had Heather, Richmond, and Hope with us, who are traveling around the world and serving in different ministries. It was great, because they helped out a lot with preparations- cutting out shapes from cookie dough and decorating cookies, decorations, and then clean-up afterward.

I was the emcee for the night; Benz translated, and Paul gave a very good, clear message about the meaning of Christmas. Paul, Benz, Amnuey and I sang a song in Thai and one in English, and they did several more in Thai as well. It seemed like the students really enjoyed the singing; some of them sang along, too. I really enjoyed a couple of the Thai Christmas songs; they are very joyful and fun! During one of the songs, some of our goofball friends from church (Mae and Ton) turned the lights out, lit sparklers, and sprayed us with silly string from the second floor (which is why you can see green or white stuff in our hair in some of the pictures). We had SO MUCH food! We ordered from our next door neighbors, Joe and Tanya, who run a nice guest house and restaurant (we eat there a lot). The food was all delicious; we had phad Thai, green curry, a vegetable dish, and some kind of spicy pork with lettuce. It reminded me of having Thai meals at the Arkansas House, except even bigger! :)

We played a game called "pass the parcel," which is a little package with different layers that you pass around while the music is playing, but when the music stops, whoever is holding it has to peel back a layer and do whatever it says. Some examples: Hope had to rub baby powder on her face. One girl had to tell somebody she loved him (she told Paul, hehe). Somebody else had to do the chicken dance. It was hilarious and chaotic. After that, we did the gift exchange, which was also slightly chaotic b/c we didn't get the numbers quite right. Each person had to present their gift to someone by drawing numbers (it was more complicated than that, but that's the simplified version). I got a set of Tupperware containers for food, which was really practical! (Plus, they're pink, so I was happy). All in all, it was one of the best Christmas parties I've ever been to, and I'm happy that some of our friends who don't know Jesus had a chance to hear about why Christmas is so important.