Songkran Step Ahead conference: hot weather, waterfights, and James Bond

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"Yeah, it's always better when we're together..." I like this song a lot,  and even though it's kinda just a cute romantic song, the chorus actually makes me think about how much better everything is when we do things together w/ friends- especially friends w/ a common goal, purpose, and faith in Christ. This past weekend we had a big conference during the Songkran (Thai New Year) holiday. The Step Ahead staff from Bangkok, the YWAM Thailand directors, and some good friends of the Quinley family joined us here in Khao Lak. I helped Jeab make lunch on Thurs. and Fri. as ppl were arriving, and on Friday we had a nice dinner at Chong Fah Resort, one of our local favorites. Then on Sat. we went to James Bond Island in Phang Nga Bay. It's just a little rock formation sticking out of the water, but it was featured in one of the 007 movies, so it became famous. But Phang Nga Bay is absolutely beautiful. (See pics). We went out on a boat (36 of us), and we went sea canoeing. Jeab wanted to ride in a canoe w/ me b/c I can swim. She was afraid of the water, but she still had a good time. We canoed through caves where we had to lie down flat in order to avoid hitting our heads. We saw some very strange creatures- half lizard and half fish. After that, we had lunch at a little Muslim village called Panyi which literally floats on the water. It's just a line of houses and little shops, a narrow pathway, and a mosque. Really interesting. Everybody had their doors open (it was really hot!), so you could look in and see ppl having their afternoon siesta on hammocks or mats on the floor. 

  On Sunday we had presentations about the different ministries of Step Ahead (microfinance, preschools, language teaching) and a worship service with some very nice music from the Porter family, who live in Bangkok and run a campus ministry house. In the afternoon, some people went to join the waterfights in Khao Lak (ppl pour buckets of water over each other and spray each other w/ water guns and hoses on Songkran). Then we headed to the beach and played ultimate frisbee (YAY for ultimate!). Another lovely meal at Chong Fah concluded our conference. But actually, it was probably the in-between-events times that I enjoyed the most. I really got to know John and Kim Quinley's 3 boys a lot better (they're 15, 16, and 18), and I met some other really neat ppl as well. A group of us spent time playing games (mafia, spoons, hide-and-seek), singing songs, chatting, laughing a lot, and making late night trips to 7-11. And it was really cool talking to Steve and Marie Goode, the YWAM Thailand directors, who have been in Thailand for 28 years. They're from Tennessee. Marie and I discovered something we have  in common: motion sickness. Somehow, it was a little comforting to me to know that she has found ways to cope w/ this problem over many years in spite of her very mobile lifestyle. I could really identify w/ her when she said, "I wonder why God called me to this kind of life when I have to deal w/ this problem!" A lot of the people at the conference have worked in Thailand for many years, and so it was cool to hear some of their stories. The Quinleys worked w/ some of them in Phang Nga town when they were church-planting.    

  On Monday we went to Lampi Waterfall. It was so gorgeous. We hiked up a steep path in the forest in search of the best pool to swim in, found the perfect spot, and cooled ourselves off. On the way back down, we went down the rocks instead of through the forest. At one point we realized all the Thai ppl below were staring at us and laughing as we carefully made our way down a fairly steep and slippery part. I'm not sure what was so entertaining about it, but that's ok. We had a good time.