My latest language evaluation put me at a level 3, much better than expected! To give you perspective, I must reach level 5 in order to begin ministry while still continuing in part-time language study with a tutor and, once I reach level 7, I will be released to full-time ministry. My language will be evaluated again in September. The LORD has brought me so far in such a short time, and I know He will continue to advance my language in His timing.
Prayer Necessities:
1. Please pray that the Father will continue to give me ears to hear and understand this language and a mind that retains the vocabulary and sentence structures. Pray that I would be diligent to practice speaking and understanding even as I am spending more time learning to read and write.
2. Pray that Fon would understand the English Bible stories that she is now beginning to read and that God would draw her to Himself through them.
3. Please pray for my fellow language student S to come to know the peace and truth that can only be found in Christ.
Inquiring Minds Wanna Know:
After three months of language study focused on speaking and understanding the Thai language, I am now finally learning to read and write! This is exciting for me, as I can now read the sign outside the school and am beginning to distinguish the words to the songs we sing at our church service. As I try to read the most basic words like "school" (spelled โรงเรียน and pronounced "roongrian" in Thai), I imagine that I sound just like any American first-grader... and maybe even a little less educated. :) Check out some of my handwriting efforts:
I am no longer learning solo, as a new student named S joined me at the beginning of this set of classes. Our first few days together were a little rocky, as he could already read and write much better than I could, but he was not quite advanced enough to pass this learning module altogether. He didn't bother to hide the fact that he was quite bored.
But he eventually began to talk to me some, and we finally had a prolonged conversation this week. Well, it lasted 15 minutes. But that was prolonged considering who S is.
See, my fellow student is a teenager.
Alright, let me explain. Teenagers make me nervous. In my mind, they always think they're smarter than I am... and most of the time, they're right about that. But they're not as smart as they think they are, and I know that from my own personal experience as a teenager. :)
I have this stereotype of teenagers in my head as sullen, angry, rebellious people who don't want to have anything to do with an adult because they know better than all of them.
I will tell you that I've met lots of adolescents who have proved to me that my stereotype is completely wrong. Those kids have restored my faith in teenagers and have made me think that the future is bright and responsible and mature.
But S fit my original stereotype so well that I could have written it for him. And I wanted nothing whatsoever to do with this angry young man. I resolved myself to getting through the four hours of class daily without saying a word to him, as he so clearly didn't want to talk to either me or the teacher.
But the Lord had other ideas.
Through a friend, He reminded me that I need to reach out to S to try to form some kind of a relationship with him. That would require humility on my part... something that I'm not very good at.
The next day, I begrudgingly asked S for advice on my pronunciation, and this simple act of humility seemed to change his whole attitude toward me. For the rest of the day, he was very pleasant to me during our class breaks, if still not the most pleasant person during the class itself. After school, he even asked me why I was in Thailand, which led to a very nice conversation.
I wish I could say he's been like that ever since, but I never know what to expect from this boy when he comes to class. He is moody and often still sullen. Still, I have managed to learn that he was born in Bangkok to Thai and Chinese parents who are Christians. The family moved to the US when he was 3 and then returned to Thailand at age 13. He's now 16 and has been here ever since, only returning once to America for a short visit.
This past Friday, he seemed especially angry, but I still felt that I should try to engage him. I asked about a book he was reading, and it led into a deeper conversation about what he believes.
The basic story is that the move here to Thailand at age 13 really sent this kid into culture shock, and he began to withdraw from everyone. He became angry and depressed, and he began to question everything, particularly the Christian faith that his parents had always taught him. He is extremely intelligent and began to seek out answers in philosophy texts which led him into worldly theories that end in hopelessness. He is still seeking the answers to his questions but seems angry at God in the midst of it all so, as he seeks truth, he is actively pushing away the only Source of real Truth with both hands.
Yet God still has His mighty hand on this kid.
See, S has a Christian family. Do you want to know just how exceedingly rare that is in Thailand? 98% of the people here classify themselves as Buddhists. Every other religion finds itself mixed into the 2% that remains, which means Christ-followers number somewhere in the 0.5% range.
In addition, he finds himself in a class taught by one of only three Christian teachers at the school and with one of the few Christian missionaries taking classes at the school this month. It seems that, in a vastly Buddhist country, S just can't seem to get away from Christians.
Please be in prayer that this young man's heart would be softened to the Truth of Christ. Pray that God would penetrate his anger with a very real demonstration of His love. And please ask that I would minister to him through the Holy Spirit and would have great wisdom and compassion.
