Settling In...

So we are all alive and well! Apologies for being so out of touch, I guess that's what happens when you travel half way around the world! We'll try and catch you up as best we can, though there's a lot to tell...

Our flights all went well and our luggage survived. We spent our first night in Thailand in the mission home in Bangkok and the next day recieved orientation (with the Satta football mission team, who will be joining us for a day on July 12th) and had a basic language tuition session in which we tried our hardest (to no avail) to make our mouths make vowels that we didn't even know existed! And then it was onwards to Ayutthaya!

Once there we settled in to our accommodation in the Tha Rua Mansion! Of course, this lived up to our expectations. Complete with refreshing ice cold shower, exotic house pets (including hungry mosquitos and an army of ants) and outside the tuneful trains and symphony of frogs and crickets to keep us well entertained at 2am!

Yesterday we looked through the programme that we'll be doing in the schools with Tim and Brenda Noble (The OMF missionaries in Ayutthaya province). It looks like we'll be having a lot of fun! We also visited a Buddhist temple in the area and prayed for the Thai people and the hold that Buddhism has over them.

Today we attended the church in Tha Rua. It was an interesting experience, though we didn't understand a single word! It was great to see Christian brothers and sisters worshipping together in a society where there are so few Christians. We then enjoyed lunch together with them, making good use of the Thai table etiqette that we have learned! Sarah is pretty sure that she ate some frog! We decided to go for a short walk in the afternoon between the Nobles' house and ours, much to the amusement of the locals who cheered and applauded us as we strolled innocently by! We also accidentally stopped a bus by pausing to let it pass by. If only catching buses back home was so easy! We managed to solve this situation with much head shaking and bowing, and were soon safely on our way. (Awkward)

Tomorrow we will begin our schools programme with drama, games, activities and songs. We're really looking forward to this, but please pray that Tim's translation will communicate our message, and that the kid's will understand (and have fun!) despite our lack of Thai.

Please also pray for:
Our health while we are here and that we would manage to cope with the heat
That we will be able to serve and encourage the Nobles and the Thai Christians in this area
The English classes that Brenda runs on a Wednesday evening (which we will be helping with) that many of the local kids attend, some of which turned up at church this morning! Praise God for that.

Sawasdee kah!
Siobhan, Sarah and Aileen