Hey Hey!
Here are some photos! It is from Leigh Anne, my teammate's photo album on Facebook. It takes forever to upload pictures. So this was a little easier.
http://olemiss.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2086761&l=35bb4&id=6501781
I will hopefully get them in a slide show soon on my blogspot. How do you like it- the blogspot i mean??? Also... I am working on getting a couple of video clips in there somehow. I'm not the most technologically savey person but I am trying to learn. It is a little harder when you battery on your camera hasn't worked since week 2 of the trip. Luckily, i have two other team mates who are picture lovers also. Besides, i am in half of them anyways because I am not taking them! So really, it have been perfect!
This is one of my favorite little proverbs: "Many are the plans of the man's heart, but the Lord's purpose will prevail."
This last weekend rained... a lot. Whatever I thought it was going to be like, it was not. It was kinda frustrating, but overall it ended up being good. Sunday is the time we spend at the chrch and with the student. Doug, our amazing (i'm not joking- he is great) supervisor, came to speak at the service. He was really excited to sit and talk with us in person considering that he called us three times over the last two weeks and we missed his phone calls...and forgot to call him back until the third time...
But the point of talking about Doug is that he is totally letting us lead and discover what it is truely like for some people here. We are not on some organized, fast track, frenzy of a schedule that has every minute planed out while we are here. In Fact, it is the exact opposite... We are the first to work at Pay Fong like this and for this long. We decide how to use our time and how not to use our time. I feel like this is more like what I may do if I become a J-man for two years. I have a focus - it is to somehow show the love of my father to these students though using english conversation. Other than the Schedule of English classes, it is up to us. All of that is just to show you what i have discovered about my job assignment for this summer.
So, we have offically 5 days left at Pay Fong School. There is a team of 15 High Schoolers coming to work with the students english conversations. The details on exactly what they are doing are not completely worked out yet. However, I am really excited about them coming because they are the same age as the students and will be able to just relate more to them!!! Plus, there will be some young men from the male students here to be able to associate with.
This Sat. is our last day in Melaka. Then we are meeting up with some other great friends to share some time hanging out and sharing stories before we all go home. Katie L.(my Thailand travel partner) and myself are getting to travel to SINGAPORE for the last few days!!!! It was one of my dreams this summer to travel to three different countries! haha. We will be taking a nice bus there and back. Doug is arranging our night stay there. It is just crazy to see how different and how alike each country is. This will make Country number 7 on my list to travel to.
I ask you to Ptalk about my focus. I have so many plans for the next two months that i am SO EXCITED and really ANXIOUS - a good anxious- to get started. I am just overlly amazed that i could be this excited about what i am doing after college. My Big G Father is just amazing in his faithfulness to provide for me wether it be just out of wanting to see that I am doing something that I enjoy - to - finacially providing for what i need.
Also, Ask that we use our time here wisely - that 'we don't miss an opportunity' (leigh Anne and Ashley-*hint hint* quote wall), that we don't miss any time hanging out with students, that we don't miss time for ourselfs, and that we don't miss any goodbyes!
Thanks you for reading my emails... I can't begin to tell you how encouraging it is when my parents tell me that ya'll are reading and enjoying my email during your fellowship time. Once again...Soooo Encouraging. I love ya'll all.
Catie
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Malay 5
I don't usually do this... SOOO ya'll just get excited...
Here is my heart and i am sharing it with you...
"Journal Entry Monday June 16, 2007 Day 21
This morning was a tough one. We- Ashley, Leigh Anne, and myself- were so exhausted. We struggled with wanted to go to the Classes, and we straight up ignored His call for us to Ptalk toget before we left because we were so consumed in ourselves. However, our Father is so amazing. He knew how we were feeling, and I don't think it was an accident or coincidence that we got a really wonderful class that first period. We ended up going to 6 different classes, having 2 different invitations to go out on the town with some students, and a basket full of fruit given to us.
Tonight we made sure we hasd time to sit and talk as a team. We hadn't really had time to stop and serioulsly talk and plan since last week. At night we are so exhausted from the day that we maybe talk and/or py then sleep. So that time together today was so wonderful. It is so amazing how we are all on the same page and are on the same team, same place in Melaka. We have met everyone who is even in Maylaysia traveling this summer on M trips or who are career Ms. The Big G knew how to take my summer in Iowa(3 months from home), last summer in India(2 months from home) and combine it with this summer to create completely different experiences yet totally shaping me in the direction He is taking me in the next few years. I am not sure where, what, and how everything will go (Prolly not how I imagine it ( and I hope it isn't how i imagine or want it)) because G has something so much better, greater, bigger- HUGE! and most of all PERFECT for me. I have to be willing to go and accept it- whatever it is - that is all i have to do. (And that is so hard for me because i don't want to upset, hurt, or confuse my family because i LOVE them SO much!)
BUT
I have to learn to LOVE HIM so much more than i love my parents and everyhting else."
I hope that the email made sense.
Here is my heart and i am sharing it with you...
"Journal Entry Monday June 16, 2007 Day 21
This morning was a tough one. We- Ashley, Leigh Anne, and myself- were so exhausted. We struggled with wanted to go to the Classes, and we straight up ignored His call for us to Ptalk toget before we left because we were so consumed in ourselves. However, our Father is so amazing. He knew how we were feeling, and I don't think it was an accident or coincidence that we got a really wonderful class that first period. We ended up going to 6 different classes, having 2 different invitations to go out on the town with some students, and a basket full of fruit given to us.
Tonight we made sure we hasd time to sit and talk as a team. We hadn't really had time to stop and serioulsly talk and plan since last week. At night we are so exhausted from the day that we maybe talk and/or py then sleep. So that time together today was so wonderful. It is so amazing how we are all on the same page and are on the same team, same place in Melaka. We have met everyone who is even in Maylaysia traveling this summer on M trips or who are career Ms. The Big G knew how to take my summer in Iowa(3 months from home), last summer in India(2 months from home) and combine it with this summer to create completely different experiences yet totally shaping me in the direction He is taking me in the next few years. I am not sure where, what, and how everything will go (Prolly not how I imagine it ( and I hope it isn't how i imagine or want it)) because G has something so much better, greater, bigger- HUGE! and most of all PERFECT for me. I have to be willing to go and accept it- whatever it is - that is all i have to do. (And that is so hard for me because i don't want to upset, hurt, or confuse my family because i LOVE them SO much!)
BUT
I have to learn to LOVE HIM so much more than i love my parents and everyhting else."
I hope that the email made sense.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Pay Fong
This is the school website!
http://www.payfong.edu.my/
Da Ja How!
(this is a long email but I figured it's okay because ya'll haven't gotten to hear from me in a while! ENJOY!)
That is Chinese for hello everybody! Well we are into our 2nd week, with only 2 more weeks here at the school. Time is really flying by, yet everyday is so full.
and yes. i saw transformers in an asian country. it was pretty awesome!
"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper
time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." G 6:9
This past weekend was awesome. On Fri night we got to take part in a small group. The house was amazing and i'll share pictures later, but the coolest thing was just getting to worhip and learn with the group of national believers. Saturday night we had what we called celebrate america day bc we missed the 4th(we sang out national anthem in the car). So naturally we went to mcd's and a movie! :) That morning we spent more time with joyce and at the church getting things ready for the camp. We met some of the youth and they are so fun and so sharp! the camp is going to be awesome! Have i said that yet? Sunday was normal church, hanging out with youth, and more church. The preacher taught from Nehemiah Chapter 1 and about being broken for people and prying for them and caring for them. It was a really great message and reminder. It is always great to be part of an international church. The weekend was so good! Joyce really encouraged us.
I want to thank you for your prys! He is really opening up doors here, and I am prying for wisdom to know when to share. Some days we fill like "What are we going to do with this time???" and then the BIG G man come in a send people are way. We have stayed busy until mostly 10:30 or 11 PM (Mom - these students are in junior high and they stay up until 1 AM!). We have been playing cards, playing badmitton, going to eat, and just hanging out with the students here at Pay Fong. Mon night we were even invited to a service club's party. that was really fun and we got to really talk and hang with the students. The building we had that in was the chinese name for cleansing water. During the speeches they kept talking about being a light in the world and being the difference in the world. I'm like yall are so close!! ugh. Just pry He would fall on this place and do way more than I can ask or imagine.
The students are getting more used to us here, but we still feel like celebrities! The language barrier is extremely hard to get through, even though most of these students know English. I am learning to spend time with and love these students through action and not just words. It is quite a humbling experience. At times I wonder what I am doing here because it doesn't seem like we are doing a whole lot - I change that... We aren't doing a lot of SCHEDULE stuff. But then I think that my ways are not His. He has a plan and we are just a part of it. If anything, He has brought me here to show me that it is not about me or what I can do...but it is all about Him. I am really learning a lot about that...everyday it seems! Being in India last summer and learning that has helped to really reassure myself and the other girls. If you can imagine Catie (yeah me) just really relaxed and extremely calm about like everything (i know that is hard and almost impossible) but really that is me while i have been here. I love it.
Now, for the good stuff! teaching is going well. A typical class time is this: the students have us sit in the front of the room, we introduce ourselves, we tell them funny stories. Then they ask us to sing. That is intersting. all the students are so musical here and so talented! I totally sang the Louisiana Tech Alma Mater!!!!!!!!!! GO TECH! Then the students are able to ask us questions, and we get some interesting ones! this is helping us meet the students and form friendships, and it helps them feel more comfortable around us. the teachers told us they were afraid we would be mean to them, so they were pretty shy at first. the kids though are so similar to american kids. Sometimes we really know He is moving bc the students will continually ask why we are here and do we go to church and then some of them come up to us and tell us they're part of the C familiy! Those times are awesome! We even had one kid ask us to pray for him. That was a cool talk. There is a very interesting teacher here. his name is micheal. this is one of his quotes: "if i were a christian i would sing amazing grace." He's intelligent funny great to be around, but is hard. Pry for him.
In the aftenoons we play cards, volleyball, go into town anything to show love to the students.
The bball team got here Tuesday-It is an American m-team doing clinics throughout Malaysia for 3 weeks. They're great to have around. Also the camp is this weekend and they'll be joining us for that.
This weekend, we are going to go to a church camp with Straits Baptist Church, which is the church where Joyce (our supervisor) works. There are 86 students signed up, when only 30 were expected. So that is totally a blessing! There will be 8 different countries represented at this camp! I am looking foward to the weekend and being able to be open about why we are really here. we're going jungle trekking at the camp. Apparnently, monkeys will come sit on our shoulders. so be looking for a new facebook picture. :) I'll def write more about the camp
next week and all of our adventure in the jungle!
I'm also so thankful for my teammates. It is really great to share this trip with them. I can't say that enough. we pray together about everything. When one of us is down the other picks us up. And our diff strengths are so perfect. We laugh so much and have a blast!
On a kind of sad note, each of us(me, catie and ashley) have heard news from the states of friends who have members of their family that have gone on the be with the L. Our hearts go out to our loved ones and we are prying over here for their families back in the states. Luckily we have been able to contact them on the phone and give encouraging words. I mention that only so that you'll pray for us to not be discouraged, to stay focused, but most importantly to pray for our friends who have lost loved ones.
Pr:
The girls in our dorm...they love to hang out with us and we would like to start some sort of bible study if the door opens. Several of the students here are Christians, so that may be a way to start something.
The teachers here...they are from every background and culture...and you can tell that they are searching. Pr for michael, jennifer, wendy and chai especially. We hope to spend more time with them outside of school. We were also invited into the home of Ms. Wong- head of the English department.
My teammates, Ashley and Leigh Anne...for unity and continued encouragement. Pr for their families too and that we would all be focused here and not focused on our jobs at home.
Pr for the other teams here, some of their assignments have changed and doors have been closed, so we all have to be flexible.
Praises:
We have been able to tell a lot of the students that we are Christians. pr for them to ask questions!
one student Shem, a Christian, asked us to pr for him. he is struggling with temptation. pr that we can follow up with him.
1 john 3:1... what an awesome verse this week.
Well, i'm going to hang out some more! School just got out!
love you all so much!
Catie
ps- It is 2 AM your time when i sent this! (3:30 PM here!)
http://www.payfong.edu.my/
Da Ja How!
(this is a long email but I figured it's okay because ya'll haven't gotten to hear from me in a while! ENJOY!)
That is Chinese for hello everybody! Well we are into our 2nd week, with only 2 more weeks here at the school. Time is really flying by, yet everyday is so full.
and yes. i saw transformers in an asian country. it was pretty awesome!
"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper
time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." G 6:9
This past weekend was awesome. On Fri night we got to take part in a small group. The house was amazing and i'll share pictures later, but the coolest thing was just getting to worhip and learn with the group of national believers. Saturday night we had what we called celebrate america day bc we missed the 4th(we sang out national anthem in the car). So naturally we went to mcd's and a movie! :) That morning we spent more time with joyce and at the church getting things ready for the camp. We met some of the youth and they are so fun and so sharp! the camp is going to be awesome! Have i said that yet? Sunday was normal church, hanging out with youth, and more church. The preacher taught from Nehemiah Chapter 1 and about being broken for people and prying for them and caring for them. It was a really great message and reminder. It is always great to be part of an international church. The weekend was so good! Joyce really encouraged us.
I want to thank you for your prys! He is really opening up doors here, and I am prying for wisdom to know when to share. Some days we fill like "What are we going to do with this time???" and then the BIG G man come in a send people are way. We have stayed busy until mostly 10:30 or 11 PM (Mom - these students are in junior high and they stay up until 1 AM!). We have been playing cards, playing badmitton, going to eat, and just hanging out with the students here at Pay Fong. Mon night we were even invited to a service club's party. that was really fun and we got to really talk and hang with the students. The building we had that in was the chinese name for cleansing water. During the speeches they kept talking about being a light in the world and being the difference in the world. I'm like yall are so close!! ugh. Just pry He would fall on this place and do way more than I can ask or imagine.
The students are getting more used to us here, but we still feel like celebrities! The language barrier is extremely hard to get through, even though most of these students know English. I am learning to spend time with and love these students through action and not just words. It is quite a humbling experience. At times I wonder what I am doing here because it doesn't seem like we are doing a whole lot - I change that... We aren't doing a lot of SCHEDULE stuff. But then I think that my ways are not His. He has a plan and we are just a part of it. If anything, He has brought me here to show me that it is not about me or what I can do...but it is all about Him. I am really learning a lot about that...everyday it seems! Being in India last summer and learning that has helped to really reassure myself and the other girls. If you can imagine Catie (yeah me) just really relaxed and extremely calm about like everything (i know that is hard and almost impossible) but really that is me while i have been here. I love it.
Now, for the good stuff! teaching is going well. A typical class time is this: the students have us sit in the front of the room, we introduce ourselves, we tell them funny stories. Then they ask us to sing. That is intersting. all the students are so musical here and so talented! I totally sang the Louisiana Tech Alma Mater!!!!!!!!!! GO TECH! Then the students are able to ask us questions, and we get some interesting ones! this is helping us meet the students and form friendships, and it helps them feel more comfortable around us. the teachers told us they were afraid we would be mean to them, so they were pretty shy at first. the kids though are so similar to american kids. Sometimes we really know He is moving bc the students will continually ask why we are here and do we go to church and then some of them come up to us and tell us they're part of the C familiy! Those times are awesome! We even had one kid ask us to pray for him. That was a cool talk. There is a very interesting teacher here. his name is micheal. this is one of his quotes: "if i were a christian i would sing amazing grace." He's intelligent funny great to be around, but is hard. Pry for him.
In the aftenoons we play cards, volleyball, go into town anything to show love to the students.
The bball team got here Tuesday-It is an American m-team doing clinics throughout Malaysia for 3 weeks. They're great to have around. Also the camp is this weekend and they'll be joining us for that.
This weekend, we are going to go to a church camp with Straits Baptist Church, which is the church where Joyce (our supervisor) works. There are 86 students signed up, when only 30 were expected. So that is totally a blessing! There will be 8 different countries represented at this camp! I am looking foward to the weekend and being able to be open about why we are really here. we're going jungle trekking at the camp. Apparnently, monkeys will come sit on our shoulders. so be looking for a new facebook picture. :) I'll def write more about the camp
next week and all of our adventure in the jungle!
I'm also so thankful for my teammates. It is really great to share this trip with them. I can't say that enough. we pray together about everything. When one of us is down the other picks us up. And our diff strengths are so perfect. We laugh so much and have a blast!
On a kind of sad note, each of us(me, catie and ashley) have heard news from the states of friends who have members of their family that have gone on the be with the L. Our hearts go out to our loved ones and we are prying over here for their families back in the states. Luckily we have been able to contact them on the phone and give encouraging words. I mention that only so that you'll pray for us to not be discouraged, to stay focused, but most importantly to pray for our friends who have lost loved ones.
Pr:
The girls in our dorm...they love to hang out with us and we would like to start some sort of bible study if the door opens. Several of the students here are Christians, so that may be a way to start something.
The teachers here...they are from every background and culture...and you can tell that they are searching. Pr for michael, jennifer, wendy and chai especially. We hope to spend more time with them outside of school. We were also invited into the home of Ms. Wong- head of the English department.
My teammates, Ashley and Leigh Anne...for unity and continued encouragement. Pr for their families too and that we would all be focused here and not focused on our jobs at home.
Pr for the other teams here, some of their assignments have changed and doors have been closed, so we all have to be flexible.
Praises:
We have been able to tell a lot of the students that we are Christians. pr for them to ask questions!
one student Shem, a Christian, asked us to pr for him. he is struggling with temptation. pr that we can follow up with him.
1 john 3:1... what an awesome verse this week.
Well, i'm going to hang out some more! School just got out!
love you all so much!
Catie
ps- It is 2 AM your time when i sent this! (3:30 PM here!)
Thursday, July 5, 2007
THAILAND SLIDESHOW
Okay SOOO here is the great slideshow of Thailand. HOWEVER... I have to leave it unfinished because the computer lab is closing. It has taken forever to just get these for your viewing so i really hope you enjoy looking at all of our wonderful adventure. Katie is an amazing traveling companion. I couldn't of asked for a better friend to travel with to Thailand...well at least who was on these side of the world anyways!
Oh and the Katie's parents- Thanks a ton for letting Katie travel with me!!! Enjoy.
Oh and the Katie's parents- Thanks a ton for letting Katie travel with me!!! Enjoy.
Fun times in the BIG M TOWN!
I am such a borrower- Ashley let me borrow some of her email she wrote! THANKS!
We arrived at the school in malacca... you can see what it looks like if you visit their website
http://172.16.100.254/ It is a privite Chinese school with ages 11-18.
That will give you an idea of what it looks like. Ashley, Leigh Anne and I are sharing a dorm room here and we live next to the students that live here. We are going to assist teachers in the classrooms and help give students practice with American English. The teachers are all different nationalities and religions. Today we all got to observe a class. The students are really shy with us, but they seem to be warming up a bit. We feel like movie stars because they always want our "autograph." They get points for talking to us and getting our signature, so we can't get too prideful :). We played cards with some students today. We hope to keep spending one on one time with them. They are super sweet and really like to be around us once they get up the courage. Also, Wendy is the head of the English dept. and we will be spending time with her after school around town. She is really nice. The only student name I remember right now is Nesha. She is an indian girl with great english.
Our daily schedule goes something like this: weird music plays at like 6 am and breakfast is at 7. We start teaching at 8:30 and end around 3 with a few breaks in between. We have down time and are able to hang out with students and have quiet time. Weekends will vary.
Pr that He will lead us and that we won't try to do things on our own. It is easy to be overwhelmed here because there are so many lost students (1000 attend the school). I feel pretty helpless in sharing but I know that He is using this time to make me depend more on Him.
Ashley and Leigh Anne are such a blessing. Pr that we will continue to be a blessing to one another and that we will stay healthy. We keep each other laughing. It was nice to have someone to laugh with.
Pr for the other girls here in Malaysia. I know that they are having some long days and hard days.
This weekend we will stay with Joyce, a lady from Strait Baptist Church here in town. She is super nice and friendly. She will take us around town and keep us entertained! We will get to help out with a youth camp next weekend at the church. This church is pretty well established and the people are very loving. Pr for their outreach efforts in this community full of false gods and mosques.
It is a priviledge to be here. It is neat to see what He is doing overseas.
Love ya'll! I appreciate the pr!
We arrived at the school in malacca... you can see what it looks like if you visit their website
http://172.16.100.254/ It is a privite Chinese school with ages 11-18.
That will give you an idea of what it looks like. Ashley, Leigh Anne and I are sharing a dorm room here and we live next to the students that live here. We are going to assist teachers in the classrooms and help give students practice with American English. The teachers are all different nationalities and religions. Today we all got to observe a class. The students are really shy with us, but they seem to be warming up a bit. We feel like movie stars because they always want our "autograph." They get points for talking to us and getting our signature, so we can't get too prideful :). We played cards with some students today. We hope to keep spending one on one time with them. They are super sweet and really like to be around us once they get up the courage. Also, Wendy is the head of the English dept. and we will be spending time with her after school around town. She is really nice. The only student name I remember right now is Nesha. She is an indian girl with great english.
Our daily schedule goes something like this: weird music plays at like 6 am and breakfast is at 7. We start teaching at 8:30 and end around 3 with a few breaks in between. We have down time and are able to hang out with students and have quiet time. Weekends will vary.
Pr that He will lead us and that we won't try to do things on our own. It is easy to be overwhelmed here because there are so many lost students (1000 attend the school). I feel pretty helpless in sharing but I know that He is using this time to make me depend more on Him.
Ashley and Leigh Anne are such a blessing. Pr that we will continue to be a blessing to one another and that we will stay healthy. We keep each other laughing. It was nice to have someone to laugh with.
Pr for the other girls here in Malaysia. I know that they are having some long days and hard days.
This weekend we will stay with Joyce, a lady from Strait Baptist Church here in town. She is super nice and friendly. She will take us around town and keep us entertained! We will get to help out with a youth camp next weekend at the church. This church is pretty well established and the people are very loving. Pr for their outreach efforts in this community full of false gods and mosques.
It is a priviledge to be here. It is neat to see what He is doing overseas.
Love ya'll! I appreciate the pr!
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