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!)