I didn’t have much of a chance to take photos this summer. For some reason, I can enjoy an experience in one way when I am taking photos and in another way when I am just in the moment. This summer, I usually wanted to enjoy the moment without the camera, so the photo shoots were few and far between. But here are a few of the kids I taught in Nonthaburi, Thailand during the first three weeks that I was there.
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-Patrick
There isn’t enough room in a library to write the things that happen in a span of five minutes, so how am I to write what has happened in the last two weeks? There is really no way, but I pray that God will give me the wisdom to write those things that are truly important.
First, I would like to say that although I have returned from Asia safely, the prayers shouldn’t stop. God has begun an amazing work in the kids that were ministered to over the last month at the Onnuri English Camp and I hope to see it completed in them. I know that God will be faithful to draw each and every one of them closer to himself, and I hope that we can be faithful to pray for them as well.
Last week, we had the opportunity to participate in a foot washing ceremony with all of our students. I was able to pray for and with each one of my students and I could see their response as they opened up to the Lord. I can’t wait to see what the Lord has in store for each one of them.
The final week was an emotional one. We watched the students go and then had only a couple of days left in Korea. I was ready to return home and see my family, but I desperately miss the people of Asia, specifically those with whom I was able to establish relationships. Please pray that my faithfulness would remain in the Lord so that I can carry out the work that He has mandated in his word. We must each devote our lives to the Lord and worship him through our faithful obedience. I pray that I can do that and that each one of you would be given the strength to do the same.
Until I return, and even then, I will be praying for what God is doing in the lives of so many. Please join me in prayer. Thank you so much for your prayers and partnership as I traveled. The Lord really worked through your faithfulness, providing me with strength to carry out his work.
Take care and look for future updates!
-Patrick
Well I sincerely apologize that I haven’t had an opportunity to update this blog since I left Thailand. So very much has happened and things have been moving along at such a great clip that it has been very difficult to find time to do much of anything outside of lesson planning and teaching! I have really been enjoying my time here although the conditions are challenging at times. We arrived in Korea two weeks ago and began teaching here at the 3rd Onnuri English Camp just outside of Chochiwon, South Korea. In the past two weeks the Lord has been doing some really awesome things in the lives of the students at the camp as well as in the lives of the teachers here. I have been so blessed by what the Lord has done. We have seen a few saltations already and the Lord has been moving in the hearts of many more. I am confident that the Lord will complete many more works in the lives of these students before our time comes to a close. Please be praying for all of the students and specifically be praying for Tom, Jonny, Eric, Lynn, Dominic, Jay, Joseph, Renaldo, Mark, Jason, and Calvin (the 11 students in my class) as the Lord draws them each to himself. Some of my students have grown up in Christian homes and some of them already know the Lord, but several of them are struggling against the Lord right now. Also be praying for the teachers, and for our strength and energy as we have been working some pretty hard hours.
Another request that I want to lift up to you is this: I have been meditating over options for graduate school for the past year or so and the Lord seems to be opening up some very interesting and unexpected opportunities for me. Please pray that I would be attentive to the desires of the Lord as I make decisions in the near future.
Finally, please pray that the Lord’s work would have its full effect in me in this final week in Asia. I want to be as effective in the Lord’s service as I can be and I want to learn from this trip what He would have me to learn. Thank you so much for your prayers and continued interest in this trip. For those of you who have supported me financially, you can be assured that your contribution has been multiplied tenfold by God in the fruit of this awesome trip, both in the lives of my students and in my own life. I am greatly indebted to you!
I may not get to update again before I get back to the States, but be expecting an update in about a week and a half! Until next time…
-Patrick
My time at Global English School is drawing to a close. My time here started with human apprehension. I confess that I was forced into reliance on the Lord (something that I think not at all a bad thing). I truly love those times when human relationships are stripped away to the point of reliance on the Lord being an absolute necessity. I can’t say that I have in any way experienced this to the farthest extent that I could, nor do I mean to say that I dislike my human attachments. Much to the contrary; they can be so good to me and so encouraging that it is easy to forget to rely on the Lord. I knew I needed this time to strip away those relationships for just a bit, to be reminded that the Lord is my shepherd, my provider, my father, and my friend. He has provided for me in abundance during my stay here. He has offered me a time of reprieve while at the same time he has given me an opportunity to serve Him, to meet new friends, and to experience cultural expansion.
I am all too aware that I have not strength of my own. I have to say that I saw this yesterday. I failed to spend time with the Lord yesterday and the difference was weighty. I could see myself struggling to fight my own battles, build my own walls, and break free from my own prisons, finding every time that I didn’t have the strength or even the will. It is all God’s. I am glad we can’t do it on our own.
Friday I leave Global English School to meet my team at the airport. I am looking forward to seeing them, although I know that there will be a lot to do when they arrive. It will be wonderful to see some familiar faces. Please pray for their travel – safety, health, and unity. Please also pray for me as I wrap up my time here at GES. Most importantly, please pray for the relationships I have been able to establish with Thai university students. Pray that our friendship can be a field fallowed for the planting of the gospel. Pray that God would build in me a witness that is not my own but one that is directly from God, supported by His strength. Thank you so much for your prayers and for your support. Again, you have had a personal hand in the sharing of the Gospel, along with having a hand in opening up opportunity for students to find jobs that they otherwise would not be able to get. For you see, bilingual young people in Thailand are not nearly as common as in other places. Thailand was never under foreign control and they have not had much exposure to English. If a student graduates from university simply with the ability to speak both English and Thai, they are exponentially better off. Again, thank you, or should I say kòp-kuun-krup! Take care friends!
-Patrick
Every time I go to write this blog update, I feel a bit overwhelmed by all the things that I might say about my first week in Thailand. First of all, I am enjoying myself thoroughly. It is such a blessing to be back in Thailand in the same school that I served in in 2007. Some of the coolest experiences thus far have simply been seeing who remembers me from last time. Not everyone does, but some rather unlikely people do remember me from last time.
One example of this would be the woman who makes coffee and fruit shakes about two blocks from the school. I loved going and getting coffee from her last time I was here and when I went home, I craved them. I can’t really describe to you the incredible mix of instant coffee (not acceptable in the states, but amazingly delicious in this environment), sweetened condensed milk, sugar water, Oreos, and ice, all blended together into one beautifully sensational event. I should also mention that I get the equivalent of a large for a total of $0.60. So, naturally, I was looking forward to seeing if she was still around. Thankfully she is still there working 7 days a week. Well, the other day, a friend asked her if she remembered me from 2007. She didn’t hesitate to say, “Yes! But you have grown!” I was amazed that she remembered me after all of the people she has served here in Bangkok! She speaks some English so we get to have wonderful little conversations!
God has also blessed me with a wonderful church called ECB that is on the other side of Bangkok from where I am staying. It takes about 45 minutes to get there in a taxi (a grand total of $4, split several ways, usually comes out to less that $1 a piece) and is just an awesome place to worship. It is the kind of church that would be a blessing to find anywhere. I’m sad that I only get to worship there for three weeks.
This week is only a half week here at the school. On Thursday, we will be going to a beach here in Thailand for a staff retreat. Sounds luxurious! I’m looking forward to some more time of bonding and growth in the relationships that have begun to develop here at the school.
I’m enjoying my time here at GES, but I’m also looking forward to my team’s arrival on July 10th.
Please pray for their safe travel. Also pray for the many people that I have had the opportunity to share the Gospel with and the large number of people that are yet to hear. Be praying that the Lord would soften their hearts and let the seed fall on soft ground where it can grow and be nourished. Thank you for reading and I hope to update you soon (and hopefully with some pictures next time!)
-Patrick
Shall I update!? I arrived on Saturday morning very early and it took a while to adjust to the time. I can’t say that I am totally adjusted now, but I am definitely feeling better! I can’t update to extensively right now, but I want to ask that you continue to pray that God would work through me and that opportunities to share the gospel will be taken seriously. I have already been able to share the gospel to an amazing extent in two wonderful settings, one was one-on-one and the other was in a large group of students (all of which were Buddhist.) I am being so blessed by what God is doing here. I really hope that I will be able to update more fully soon. Thank you so much, again, for your prayers. I can see God answering them every day. He is so faithful.
-Patrick
this post was written last october, but the words still seem to hold true.
it can be infinitly frustrating not to have anything to say. that, for me, is not entirely the case. i have many, many things to say. but what am i to do when nought that i have to say is worthy (or right) to be typed? my words are not for a blog. they are for human ears. they are for a couch and a deep cup of coffee. yet human ears are hard to come by for me these days. but i mustn’t despair, for that has failed me in the past. bringing everything but ears. why must it be so dificult to take to GOD all that we wish to share? for HE is perhaps the only that would truely care.
yes, i am quite sure that i’d rather fight the war with blood and flesh than with time and tears. the cerebral field is much more treacherous than any terrestrial expanse. much less forgiving too; for the field that’s made of earth and grass sets you free when loss is nigh, but a loss in the mind sets the heart to fire and consumes the soul. it really is liberty or death. make me slave and give me freedom but let me fight this out and out, for time may starve the beast but it will leave me naked and empty, damp and cold, spent and worth no more.
spring is well under way and summer is quick approaching. i always have such expectations for the three months in the middle of the year. i want to read day in and day out, to travel ceaselessly, to write constantly, all the while deepening in my relationships with GOD and others. the sad thing is, most of those things are never really accomplished. the difference this time – structure and a good start. i am taking a class this summer for the first third. i desperately hope that will offer me the structure that i need to get things done without too much trouble. it all makes me wonder, “how long before i am far enough removed from the yearly cycle to settle into a way of living that can offer me growth all year long.
interestingly, as i am writing this, i am becoming increasingly aware of the fact that my own growth spiritually and intellectually follow the seasons with surprising accuracy. fall is lovely, but always difficult. winter is impossible. spring begins to see rapid growth every year. summer seems to plateau and the growth seems to stop. perhaps i need to live in a tropical country where life is constantly growing, renewing, producing. or perhaps i need to stop relying on the weather for growth and turn in stead to a CONSTANT SOURCE.
there are a few things i want to get done this summer. care to hear?
books
the brothers karamazov
the jungle
beowulf
grendel
mrs. dalloway
the hours
flight to arras
travel
los angeles
bangkok
ubon
chiang mai
cambodia
seoul
korea (elsewhere)
activities
kayaking trip
acts class
photography
short-story writing
has potential, for sure.
