Featured Friend- Ton!

Ton with a bunch of kids from our Saturday church class


handing out prizes at Children's Day


I think Ton is the favorite emcee for any church event! (this was the Christmas gathering)


Teaching the kids some fun songs


Name: Ton (his first name is Prateep, which is Peter in English, but I can't remember his last name)

Age: 26 (exactly one month younger than me)

Interests: Jesus, teaching kids, teaching the Bible and Thai- as of recently :) , playing guitar, taking pictures, drinking coffee, playing soccer, driving a motorcycle.

Ton is such a unique person. When I first saw him, I wouldn't have guessed that he was the pastor of a small house church (that I would later attend). He looks like a rock star, for one thing, and he's really young to be a pastor! The first few times I saw him, we didn't say much at all because I couldn't speak any Thai and he only spoke a little bit of English! But a couple of months later, he became my language partner and we've had LOTS of laughs, lots of fun, and we've learned a lot together. He is such a good teacher, and he's learned quite a bit of English, too. And he has become one of my best friends here. Quite unexpectedly, I've organized two Thai classes for him to teach, and I'm helping explain things to our German students. We'll start a second Thai class next week at Step Ahead if everything goes as planned!

Ton is from northern Thailand (Chiang Rai) and he came here after the tsunami to pastor this small house church in Lam Kaen. He also worked with Siam Care, an NGO that helped children after the tsunami. I admire his commitment to God and his kindness and heart to serve and love people. He is outgoing and friendly and very funny- very silly sometimes. He has a huge smile and an infectious laugh. He takes special care to make sure that new people feel comfortable, which I really appreciate. Sometimes I don't understand his stories. And sometimes he drives me crazy. But I feel really blessed to know him.