18th December, Saturday
The previous 2 days were spent in a mad rush. We had to replan all our lessons within a tight schedule because we underestimated the english standard of the Thai youths. All the materials, worksheets, and games we prepared for them weren't suitable because they were more suited for primary 1 kids. But thankfully God was really helping us because the ideas just kept coming to us from everywhere - the missions team, the pastor, and our Brother Tom and Sister Am (our Thai hosts and caretakers of Narada). It was like a miracle! God truly is gracious and faithful to us. :)

On one hand I wanted the English Camp to be over as soon as possible because me and Wen Hui (we're overall in charge) were getting so stressed over having to oversee and plan everything and make sure everyone enjoy themselves while learning; on the other hand, I didn't want it to end because I don't want to say goodbye to the new Thai friends I made in Chiang Mai. I had so much fun with them! And we all had good laughs together even though there were language/cultural differences. Thai people are really nice and gentle, and fun-loving too! I played volleyball with some of the youths, and they are gooood! We exchanged emails before leaving, and it was really quite sad to say goodbye after all the good times we had together. I hope we still keep in touch after we leave Thailand.

19th December, Sunday
Today we left Chiang Mai city for Nong Wai village, where Narada Home (an orphanage supported by my church) is situated. Other than the 3 nights we'll be spending in the villager's homes, Narada will be where we're staying for the rest of the trip. It was just as I have remembered it when I came here last year - nothing has changed. It's so much different from Singapore, where you can be gone for only a few weeks, and come back to realise everything is different.

So after unpacking in Narada, the missions team split into pairs to head for our respective homes of the villagers to spend the night. Me and Vanessa went to Pupe's (pu-peh) house in the evening. Pupe is a 16 year old girl who came for the English Camp. At first I was quite apprehensive about it because I thought she was rather distant and hard to get close to, but I realised she was otherwise. All through dinner, we had good laughs over what she was trying to tell us, and surprisingly language wasn't a barrier!

One thing about staying in the villager's house is I donno whether what I'm doing will be offending them or not. In the crash course on Thai culture we had before we left for this trip, we were told pointing the soles of our feet at any persons is extremely rude and disrespectful. And in Pupe's house (as with any other house in the village), the people don't eat on tables (they don't have much furniture like chairs of sofas too), they eat on the floor. So I can't sit cross legged, I had to fold my legs neatly by the side and make sure they weren't pointing at anyone. It was okay for the first few minutes, but try sitting like that for the whole night, it gets extremely difficult, and you find you lose sensation of your legs as they go numb.

S'why I was very happy when it's finally time for bed. Not that the beds were inviting either. It was just a mattress and a blanket with a comforter. And the night was so cold! It was just 10+ degrees I think. And the cold really seeps to ur fingers and toes, those bone-chilling type of cold. It was like sleeping in the freezer lor.

21st December, Tuesday
So for the past 2 days, we've been toiling like mad levelling the ground and laying bricks for the backyard of Narada. And I never knew it was such back-breaking work fitting in the tiles and making sure they are nicely in line (kinda like tessallations). And each brick has to be painfully lifted and put in place manually by hand. And they were close to 2 kg each lah, not to mention how rough they are too. For hands that never knew hard labour, mine were blistered and sore each night. And it's not just a few hours, but 2 full days of squatting on sand and repetitively and monotonously fitting bricks, I tell you, its worse than the toughest of PT. I promise when I go back to S'pore, I will never again look at tiled roads and pavements the same way again. Nor will I take the ground I step on for granted again.

Today I played volleyball with the village youths, Khem and Bai Fern, in the field. Their net is C Div height only, and though we had no proper court (there was sand and dirt everywhere) we still had alot of fun! Volleyball is like computers in Singapore, everyone knows how to play it! It was so cool because the children here just come out and play everyday after school. I only remember being stuck at home with piles of homework to do during school terms.

Oh before I went to play vball with my Thai friends, I visited the Thai family I stayed with last year in the same village. It was so nice to see Mae La and Tom again! (Mae = mother in Thai, and La is her name, so in short, its translated as Mother La). I sawatdee-kahed to her, and sputtered whatever limited vocab of Thai words I knew to her, and when we took a photo together, she was holding on to me to tightly!

This gesture of closeness really moved me because it shows attachment. And I hope, like what the Thai pastor is trying to achieve, that the door to the villagers will be opened for God to enter their lives. (:

22nd December, Wednesday
Today was the day everyone was anticipating... shopping! I bought so much stuff (presents for everybody) I don't know how I'm gonna fit everything into my luggage. We shopped from 10am-11pm, from the Baan Kawai day market, to shopping centres, to the night bazaar. And I realise bargaining in Thai is so much fun! And especially if you successfully slashed the price by half (in Thai some more), the sense of achievement is incredible! :D

You know the food here is mouth-wateringly delicious and spicy, the stuff they sell are cheap, the people are nice, and the weather is cool, I tell you I don't mind moving to Thailand to stay a few years!

24th December, Friday (Christmas Eve)
For the past 2 days we've been organising Christmas programs at Gil Lae Luang Primary School(yesterday) and Nam Bor Luang Secondary School (today) in the village. There were songs and games, and most importantly, the skit of the Birth of Jesus Christ. And my role in the skit is... (drum roll)... as a cow in the manger! It sounds like a muted and unimportant role, but let me assure you its actually quite exciting! Its a simple role actually, I just crawl out on all fours and "moo" a little, and that's enough to evoke laughter from the audience. :D But, its not that fun when you have to do it 6 times in a day. At NBL Secondary because we had 6 sessions, we had to do the Christmas program 6 times over. And I can tell you crawling around and mooing for the whole day is quite tedious. But I thank God that He has given us enough strength to get through this day, and for providing us with the creativity to organise the games and songs. :)

All in all, I really do hope that what we performed for the students at the schools will give them a better understanding of what Christmas is really about, and maybe one day they will want to find out more about this wonderful person called Jesus Christ, and accept Him as their personal Saviour and Lord. :D

25th December, Saturday (Christmas Day)
Today is Christmas day, and it didn't really feel like Christmas. We spent the whole of today decorating Narada and preparing for tonight's party that we're organising for the villagers in Nong Wai village. Jo and Jeaw came to spend time with us today, and I thank God that our friendship with the village youths are growing everyday. But that'll just make farewell all the more difficult.

Anyways, so silently the day ended, and the Christmas party began. Although we didn't really plan in detail for the party, it still went on smoothly and everyone had fun, including all the villagers! :D This I have to thank God because we were all worrying whether the villagers will feel left out and bored, but apparently not! I'm so glad everyone had a good time! And after the party, the usual Thai culture was for everyone to leave, but the villagers stayed on to talk to us. I thank God once again for giving us so many oppurtunities to build relationships with the youths and villagers. And it is really my prayer that the mission trip doesn't end tomorrow when we go back to Singapore, but these forged relationships will continue to live on, and be the key to opening the door to God for the villagers. :)

26th December, Sunday
Today marks the end of this youth mission trip to Thailand for us. I woke up with a headache and blocknose (as I have been the past 9 days). I spent the whole of the previous night making cards for the 4 girls of Narada Home - Flucky, Laila, Mai and Yupa. And though tiring, when I gave the cards to them today, the beaming smile on their faces made every single minute of my fighting to stay awake last night worth it. :D

When we came back to Narada after going to Nam Bor Sam Church, Pupe was waiting to send us off. And I have never seen her so sad. She was so different from her usual noisy, bubbly and cheerful self. I gave her a hug, and seeing her so sad and quiet, it made me really sad too... Brother Tom (not the Tom I stayed with last year) said she had some family problems, and that's why she couldn't come for last night's party too. I felt really sad and helpless because I really want to help her, but there's nothing I could really do to make her feel better. I want to just share God's love with her and let her know everything will be alright if she trust in God, but I don't know how. I guess, like what Brother Tom said, the best thing I can do for her is to pray for her. I will.

Tom (the Tom I stayed with last year), Jo and Bai Fern came to send us off at the airport. It was so nice of them, and Tom rushed from his exams specially for us. Pupe and Jeaw couldn't come because they went to a volleyball competition in the city. But Bai Fern said Pupe didn't wanna come because she know she'll cry. I hate farewells. It's so easy to make friends, but so hard to say goodbye.

So we left for the terminal. There were no teary goodbyes, but there were well wishes, and promises to write back to each other.

Even now as I sit in the airplane heading back to Singapore, I guess I've left a part of me back in Nong Wai village in Chiang Mai, because otherwise how do I explain this emptiness I feel inside? This year's trip is different from last year's because it holds so much more meaning for me. It was twice the length of last year's stay, and I guess the relationships, friendships, kinships formed are double the depth too.

We have done our part in the village by doing our best to reflect God's love to the villagers, and I hope the bonds formed is a sign that the seeds are planted, and have fallen on good soil. And I believe God will continue to do great works in Nong Wai, even as He showed us that miracles were possible the past 10 days when He helped and guided us, and gave us strength to last till today. And I believe Sister Am's vision of a church being planted will become reality one day.

It is written, believing without seeing is faith.

I have faith.