Gett'n Ready to Say Goodbye

Tonight we celebrated our last night together before heading off to Bangkok. Debrief has been awesome, so awesome in fact, we thought we'd post some photos to fill you all in on the fun. Here are some of our photos from our final night in Koh Samed. 

Burmese Small Group

One of the moments that will forever stand out to me from this mission trip was the evening Julia, Joleen and I (Cory) trekked out to a Burmese small group late at night. We were asked to head out to the home of a Burmese man to encourage him and his friends in their new faith. We hopped into a truck and headed out for his home. It was already late in the evening causing this trip to end with a walk through a swamp with only flashlights guiding our steps. As we approached his home, we were shocked to see the conditions in which he lived. His home was made up of tin siding and scrap pieces of wood. In fact, there were only 3 walls to the structure. There was one room, about 10 feet by 10 feet. The house was situated in the middle of a swamp with what seemed to be acres of empty field and swamp on every side. We entered his home and sat with him and his friends for almost 3 hours. We worshiped together, prayed together, and encouraged him in his faith. Julia and Joleen both shared with him what God meant to them and how He has been working in their lives. As a youth leader, this was a very cool moment for me. I've known both these young ladies for years beginning in Junior High and now I have the privilege of listening to them share about there faith in the middle of Thailand. Crazy. It was an experience that I find difficult to put into words. He shared with us how grateful he is that God has provided for him in abundance. He was so grateful for his home, his work and the food he has everyday. The three of us sat there humbled, knowing full well we would not be taking such joy in the same situation. I felt challenged in my faith in that moment. Do I take such joy in the ways God has provided for me? To be honest, most days go by where I don't acknowledge the blessings in my life. Yet, here I sit with this man who arguably has nothing, and yet he thanks Jesus with such joy for what he has been given. The three of us left encouraged but also challenged. We have a lot. We all do. All of us are blessed and we left feeling that because God has blessed us in abundance, we have a responsibility to love and bless others. God has entrusted us all with much, and that encourages and motivates me to keep on living and loving God. Here's a few photos from that evening. 

Cory J Bell

A Few More Photos

Guys Room

Dinner Time!

You never know what you might find in the market

Inside Sothorn Temple

This one's for YOU Verena!

Sothorn Temple - Chachoengsao

Girls Room

Farewell Chachoengsao

Well folks, the end is near. We left Chachoengsao yesterday for Koh Samed to start our debrief portion of phase12. Saying goodbye was hard, but not to the rice for some. ha. We took two vans to Rayong and boarded a boat for the island. The waves were CRAZY and we spent most of the ride screaming and monitoring Sarah Wolfe for puke. The Island is gorgeous and it feels surreal to be here. I've had countless moments on this adventure where I stop and think, "wow. as if I'm doing this with my youth". Im so proud of our group and can't wait for you all to hear the stories. Our debrief time is filled with sessions, small groups, and of course, the beach. Everything is going great here and the realization that this is almost over has begun to sink in for us. We really are just enjoying these last days together as a team. Debrief is incredibly important in an experience like this as our students are now preparing to re-enter the "normal" world back home. Please be in prayer for our team as we dig into what God has taught us during our time here and what He's calling each of us to as we prepare to come back home.

More blogs to come today. Our regular bloggers are distracted with beach, showers, and american food.  ha!

Cory J Bell

Bethel Community

Bethel Church

Day 12+13: Goodmoning Teachaaaa

 We spent the past two days teaching English in a very wealthy Buddhist private school, on the outskirts of Chachoengsao. Every class greeted us by standing and reciting “Goodmoning Teacha” and as soon as dismissed, would repeat “Sank-you Teacha”. This time we were split into four classrooms for four periods of teaching. Their English was slightly better than the previous school, so we had to up the anti with sentence structure exercises, word scrambles and an un-translated story (bible story hehe). However this time we got some heat from one of the senior teachers about the subject material, yet by the grace of God we were allowed to continue teaching. It was a lot of fun and we once again advertised our English camp in hopes of more attendees. Following our first day of teaching at the new school, half of us went to Dave and Louise’s to create an outline for the English camp, while the other half visited missionaries Edd and Ingrid to lead more children’s ministry activities. Later that evening we gathered together for a larger cell group at one of the local’s houses. Two Thai women shared their inspiring testimonies and we followed with some incredible Thai/English worship where God’s presence was undeniable. We ended the night with spicy, fire breathing-worthy Thai food. It was one of the most memorable nights by far. The second of the two nights we followed our English lessons by hosting a youth night at the “Hope Centre”, spending time doing crafts, games and worship with the kids. Just as we got home from our night of fun it suddenly began to pour… hard. Because we don’t have proper windows, a lot of water filled the mezzanines and stairways causing a few wipeouts. For the past few nights it always seems to rain just as we get home, providing a peaceful lullaby and a cool breeze for a more comfortable sleep.

-J&B

Private School Courtyard

Cell group worship

Kids Ministry

Imagine us skipping rope here

Day 11: Break Time!

Today was our day off, and we got to spend all day together. We got cozy in a 12-seater gangster van and travelled an hour and a half to Pattaya, where we ziplined through the jungle. The mighty jungle. Where the lion sleeps tonight. Weeee wam bam ba wayyyy…….. anyways, it was even cooler than we expected, and the lines were sketchier than expected. The only thing keeping us on the line was a handheld pulley that could come off with a flick of the wrist. They picked out the weakest links (Acksanna and Sam) and would hold them over the edge and shake the lines just to hear them scream. Afterwards we took a safari ride around the open zoo and fed giraffes, elephants, hippos and evil monkeys that took a swing at Dave’s bananas. Luckily there were no fatalities so we piled back in the gansta-mobile and drove out to the ocean for a walk along the beach. Altogether it was another fantastic bonding experience for the team, always learning new things about each other (some things better than others) through many different circumstances.

-J&M&B

Core 4 hit the lines

The ultimate treehouse

Extreme ziplining selfie

Over 150 feet high

John's out, rhino's in