Day 3 (Monday 17 Feb 2014) by Gillian

Mondays are our off days - YAY. To be honest I was still a bit tired even though we barely did anything on Saturday and Sunday, so the free time sounded really appealing to me. It also gave us some extra time to adjust to the place and get to know each other better.

The morning was spent doing silly girly things like playing with make up. We got Vern to try to put make up on Karen, with no help or advice from the girls. It was so entertaining. At the end of it, Kara, Shuen, and I thought it wasn't too bad...I mean, it could be way worse. But when Karen looked in the mirror she just went "OH MY, VERN. You ruined my life, I'm so ugly!!" HAHAHA. Okay but here you go, a picture of the final product:

I must add that the photo does it no justice. The make up was much more obvious in person. But it's okay. Proverbs 31:30! So after Vern left, us girls started experimenting with the make up on each other. 

We got hungry soon after, so we decided to just grab lunch from one of the stalls next to the Zone. Shuen and I ordered pad thai, but we got some glass noodles and stuff, and Vern ordered pork fried rice but got something else. Didn't really matter though, the food was good and we were famished so who cares. I have to say, the food here is amazing. Singapore is already a food paradise but I never really had much Thai food there, so coming here to the hardcore Thai food everyday routine is pretty awesome.

In the evening, we went out to buy food from Big C (supermarket) and the market to cook dinner. We got veggies, potatoes, minced meat, a LOT of enoki mushrooms (yay), tomatoes, etc. Karen was our master chef, and we were her helpful minions. Cooking together was really fun, and the food turned out great too! Except that no one took pictures of it...See lah, complain so much about people taking photos and instagramming it, now no more photos lor. But basically we had minced meat wrapped in omelette, stir-fried veggies with tomatoes and mushrooms, and potatoes with some awesome red sauce.

This is everyone around the dinner table! Except Ben who was sitting too far out, and Shuen who was taking the photo. We should probably take proper photos next time. Karen and Vern did some yoga after dinner to (try to) burn the fat off, and the rest of us just sat around chilling even more. We chill a lot...maybe it'll make the air a little cooler ;) HAHA. 

Yeap, so that was our (un)eventful Monday! Not bad for a first day off :)

Day 2 (Sunday 16 Feb 2014) by Shuen Lim

Sunday was our first official day in Thailand. We woke up anticipating a great day ahead, and were not disappointed. First up was worship. We sang in Thai, but I knew the English version of the songs. The singing was beautiful – about 35 people, all raising their voices to praise God. There’s just something about singing in a different language that gives me a tingly feeling inside and I can’t help but smile :) It was a humbling reminder that our God is so much bigger than everyone and everything. 

A big group of us went out for lunch after worship. It was a good opportunity for Gillian, Joshua, Vern and I to get to know everyone. After lunch, we all went to a coffee shop to hang out and talk some more. I love that this Church meets together for worship on Sunday morning, and then spends the rest of the afternoon together as well. It is such a wonderful community to be a part of. I can’t wait for the next few Sundays!

Later that night, P’ Robert was kind enough to drive the girls (Kara, Wi, Gillian and I) to the ‘Walking Street’ – sorta like a big night market with tons of street stalls. I had to control myself from buying up the whole street! The boys, however, decided shopping was not for them and went to the gym instead. They missed out though, because we saw the Princess of Thailand! 

 

In all, Sunday was a wonderful day and I am already having such a good time. God’s love is definitely present and working in the lives of the people here.

Day 1 (Saturday 15 Feb 2014)

I love the diversity of this new intern group. To my left is: Gillian (Singapore) & Shuen (Australia), and to my right is: Joshua (Myanmar) and Vern (Malaysia).

This is Vern and Joshua's second time to be interns. I recruited Gillian in March 2013 during Angkor of Faith 7, and she recruited Shuen to join her for the internship.

Vern actually arrived in Chiang Mai before me. I was in the U.S. the past two weeks helping my sister renovate my parent's home. Vern arrived Friday afternoon and I arrived Friday at midnight.

Funny thing is...Joshua, didn't know Gillian and Shuen but they arrived on the same flight. An even funnier thing is...they sat next to each other on the flight (seat 4a, 4b & 4c) but Joshua said he was too shy to speak to the pretty girls beside him. So, when I met all of them in the arrival hall, they were surprised to find out they would be fellow interns for the next month.

I'm really excited to have this great group here for the next month. We have a balanced calendar of routine and road trips (that is, spiritual equipping and outreach activities). We'll be teaching in children's homes twice a week, making overnight trips to students' homes, visiting a refugee school on the border, helping coordinate a leadership camp for refugee students, etc. So, lots of exciting things happening during this internship.

Each day one of the interns will be updating this blog. It should be fun to see their perspective of their intern experience.  - Robert Reagan