Dead electronics and homesickness

I know it's been far too long since I've written anything at all. So sorry. My laptop hasn't been working since before we left Thailand. Like, spinning-wheel-of-death, freeze-up-every-two-seconds, don't-let-Jill-do-anything kind of not working. It's absolutely horrible. I've been to the Apple store here a few times and upgraded my operating system and ram, but then they also said that my hard drive is failing and that they won't be able to fix that for me since the warranty is only good in America. So I'll be shipping it home to see if I can get a new one. On top of that, my camera just died. Completely died. This whole thing has been a nightmare and that's why there haven't been any posts. Please forgive me...

India has been so great. I'm working on creating a website for one of the YWAM bases here in Delhi, and it's been a huge project. There are so many aspects to their ministry and we're trying to simplify it all so that people will understand easily. But I'm really loving working on it and can't wait until it's all finished and beautiful. Check out the team blog for more information on what everybody else is working on. It's an exciting, busy time for us all.

As much as I'm loving it here, I'm missing home more than ever. Last weekend, I discovered that my sweet little nephew, Levi, passed away. The cord wrapped around his neck twice and he was killed at about 20 weeks. The Lord has been giving me and my family so much peace. He is always good and has a plan for everything that's happening. Thank you to everyone who has been praying for my whole family. You are more of a blessing than you will ever know. My sister's labor was short and relatively easy and she and her husband are dealing with it well. Please continue to keep them in your prayers. But even though the situation is really good, I'm so homesick. I want more than anything to just be with them. Skype just isn't cutting it right now. Still, the Lord is good and has a plan for my time here. I know he has called me to India for this time and will continue to show me why I'm here.

Thanks for your prayers. Sorry for the lack of pictures. Blame Apple. :)

India!

Sorry that it's been forever since my last post. My computer has some serious issues right now and needs to go to the apple hospital once I find one. But we've been in India for a few days now and we're loving it!! A few things you may not have known about India:

1. The national bird is the peacock. They are all over the place. And they sound like dying cats.

2. People put eyeliner on their babies. I can't decide if it's creepy or hilarious.

3. There are 21 million people in Delhi. More during the day. Let's just say the subway is CRAZY during rush hour.

4. I've never had so many people openly staring at me at the same time. Apparently they like blondes.

5. The kids in our neighborhood love having their photo taken. And they call us girls deedee. It's cute. Pictures coming soon.

6. We're all super excited about our pretty clothes. And I sort of want a sari but think it might be a bit impractical.

7. The food here is way better than I expected. And definitely not as spicy as I was thinking.

8. Jesus is going to do some crazy stuff here! Can't wait to see what it is. :)

Lahu Village

We've been working with this ministry and they've been setting us up with a ton of different opportunities to document different ministries in the area. On Thursday, five of us went up to one of the indigenous mountain tribes to see how they live and spend the night in the village. After a long, dusty ride in the back of a truck, we arrived at this beautiful little place.

Noina and Pastor showed us around and introduced us to many of the people living there.

When it started getting late, we hiked up a mountain to our hut. It was amazing to watch the sun set over the whole valley.

Here's our hut for the night:

Some of the village people brought dinner all the way up the mountain for us. The meal was made up of mostly things from around the area. Fish from the river, rice from their fields, and eggs from their chickens. We also pulled out some honeycomb from the hive that was attached to that hut. The honey was the best I've ever had. It tasted flowery and warm. Delicious. Then one of our guides, Noina, started eating the larva and encouraged us to as well. I wasn't even aware that people did that, but you know, when in Rome...

After dinner, the pastor took us frog-hunting in the river with a slingshot. We ate them for breakfast in the morning. The bones were a little weird to eat, but the rest of it was pretty yummy. It tasted like something between chicken and bacon. Here are the remnants:

I was so glad to have the opportunity to be with these people. It was an experience I'll never forget.

Weekend activities

Things I did this weekend:

Swam in a waterfall with the team.

Attended a traditional Thai wedding.

Ate a whole lot of food at said wedding.

Practiced the ancient Japanese art of Karaoke at the restaurant down the street.

Sat in an air-conditioned coffee shop and skyped the family.

Discovered that the set of triplet boys that work at the coffee shop are named one, two, and three. Literally.

Also, later tonight, we're going to the international church in Chiang Rai. Somehow I got talked into playing piano... We'll see how that goes.

Here are some kids in traditional attire at the wedding.

Songkran

We spent Friday night and all day Saturday in the city documenting and participating in the Songkran festival, which is traditional Thai New Year. Originally, the holiday was meant to cleanse the people, but it has evolved into one giant nation-wide water fight. I don't think I've ever had so much fun with people I just met. Naturally, being the super white, super blonde American that I am, the Thais think it's the greatest thing ever to throw buckets of water on my head. Probably for my reaction. But I love it.

Kelsey, Marielle, Katie and I spent the day with one family and they were so kind to all of us. It seems like most Thais are very generous with everything they have. The dad kept offering us mango and pork and water and all this food. Then they took us in the back of their truck all around the city. They wanted to take us to temple with them to throw sand or something, but we had to get back to the base, so we weren't able to. They dropped us off in the middle of the most intense water fight we saw and gave us the best directions they could to the market, where we were supposed to meet up with everyone. We finally got there, about an hour late. I'm pretty sure the only reason we got there was Jesus. But all in all, it was so much fun!

Night Bazaar

Our time here so far has been so great! We started classes on Monday and have been learning a ton about the technical part of photography. The other day our whole team went to the night bazaar in the tourist part of Chiang Rai. And yes, those are crickets below. How much will you pay me to eat them? Cause I'm thinking about having a fundraiser...

Also, here's a great little photo of my fabulous team. I love them already.

Top row, from left: Kyle, Marielle, Hannah, Stephnie, Brendan. Bottom row, from left: Kelsey, Alyssa, Katie, Me, Sarah.

We've only done a little bit of ministry so far, but the kids at the home are super sweet and I'm excited to get to know them better. We're taking them swimming tomorrow, which should be the best, since it's been pretty hot here. Blog posts to come on that...

Hello Thailand!

Just wanted to quickly let you know that the whole team has arrived safely in Chiang Rai after a long journey. I'm glad to be done traveling for a little while. The area is really gorgeous and green. Here's the view from my bedroom:

And my room:

I'm on the top of the orange bunk. And, yes, I do have Buzz Lightyear sheets.

I'm really liking Thailand so far. The food is so good and the people are generally really nice. I'm really excited for everything the Lord is going to do here. Thanks for all your prayers during my travel time.

Beyond the Sea

About

A selection of stories from my crazy missionary life.

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Dead electronics and homesickness

India!

Lahu Village

Weekend activities

Songkran

Night Bazaar

Hello Thailand!

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