Tobi and Arnaud baptizing Dini, a Nepalese guy who just accepted Jesus
Washing dishes at church w/ Erin and Arnaud
Teaching German with Tobi, from Switzerland
Visa run to Burma w/ the team
Praying for church members
More pictures at: http://picasaweb.google.com/briswann
I think that the month of June has possibly been the best month that I've had here at Step Ahead in many aspects. At the beginning of the month, a YWAM team with 13 people from a snowboarders' DTS (Discipleship Training School) in Davos, Switzerland came to help out with various things, including teaching classes, visiting and praying for church members, teaching English and hygiene with Pia at the Moken Village, and doing a bit of construction work at Pak Ping Church. At first I had some reservations about having such a big team come; I wondered how they would integrate here and whether there would be enough work for them to do... and quite frankly, how chaotic it would be w/ 13 extra people running around here! They're not sleeping at Step Ahead, but at a hotel right down the road from here, but they come here for all their meetings and spend a lot of time here during the day. I don't know how many times God will have to teach me this lesson, but every time I get anxious/worried about new people coming here, I am always surprised at how much they enrich my life, how much fun we have together, and how they seem to come at just the right time. And I think the feeling is mutual. Because I've been here for a while now and can speak some Thai, I've been able to help the team out as they navigate this area and culture!
At first I did feel a little overwhelmed with all these people. I wasn't sure how to co-ordinate things so that they could help me with my classes, and I was hitting a brick wall in my lesson planning. Also, honestly, I'm starting to feel tired of having so many short-term relationships: I meet people for a short time, we just start to get to know each other, and then they leave again. That is the nature of my work at Step Ahead, and not only that, it is the nature of my lifestyle for about the past 8 years of my life! (since college and afterward). It makes me feel like: why do I even want to put in the effort anymore? Why would I want to connect w/ ppl and then they (or I) leave? I received some of the best advice ever from Arnaud, the Dutch guy on the team, as we talked for a long time one evening about it. He said, "learn to be a friend wherever you go and whatever you do." It's so simple, but it made perfect sense. And I am so thankful for those whom I love back at home who keep up with me in spite of the distance. It's not the same as being able to talk to you face-to-face, but Skype helps a lot, and it provides a bit of stability in my crazy life. Though I find it tiring sometimes, I must say that I'm also happy with my life and definitely wouldn't change my decision to come here.
I haven't been able to join the team for all of their activities, of course, but here are some of the highlights from the team's time here so far:
- having Tobi, a Swiss German, help me teach German class! It has been so fun co-teaching, and he has great ideas and interacts so well with the students. Arnaud has helped out with German class, too, and I think his Dutch accent adds a fun element. :) The English classes w/ the other volunteers have been more lively and funnier than usual, too! We did a lesson on describing physical appearance last night that had us and the students nearly in tears from laughing so hard.
- seeing a lady at our church relieved of her backache after we prayed for her
- having evening prayer & Bible study meetings (in English!) a couple times a week
- our visa run to Burma together- doing it w/ the team was 100x better than doing it by myself, and I wasn't motion sick this time! (Evelyn sent me some magnetic wristbands which must have helped)
- getting to see Dini, a Nepalese guy that Tobi, Arnaud and Rev led to Christ, baptized in the ocean this week!
- Saturday morning pancake breakfasts with the team
- watching late night soccer matches- the Euro Cup! Playing spoons, laughing a lot together.
- big soccer matches at the beach! We had about 18 ppl playing one Sunday!
- the simple love and heart of service that I've seen in the team members.
I'll close on that note for now. There's only about a week left, and then I anticipate a sad good-bye.
