Highlights from Thanksgiving

So...I just realized how far behind I am in blogging! Sorry bout that! I'll try to catch you up in the next few posts :)

On Friday the 11th, I went with Stephen and two girls, Hashi & Tutu, to a village for a Thanksgiving service. The village was only about 150km away, but it took around 4.5 hours to drive there because most of the drive was up & down & through the mountains. (By far the curviest trip I've taken in Thailand! Thank you God for dramamine :))

I don't want this post to turn into a novel, so I'll just give you the highlights from this trip through pictures.

A look out we stopped at on the way to the mountain

Me at the lookout

Hashi, Tutu, & Me

We stopped at the top of a mountain just as the sun was setting...BEAUTIFUL!
There are a lot of coffee shops on this road, so we also stopped for cappucino...delicious!

As we were leaving the same spot, the moon was rising on the other side :)
(Sorry for the poor quality of pictures...I need a new camera!)

This is the church where we attended Thanksgiving service

The church is nestled into the side of a mountain

The first harvest offered to God in thanks for the blessings He provides

The Lisu ladies of the village cooking rice....lots & lots of rice!

A Thai Thanksgiving is a lot different than an American Thanksgiving. In Thai, it literally means "first harvest". A Thai Thanksgiving is church-centered. It begins with a church service full of praise & worship to God in thanks for all of the blessings that He has given. After the service, there is a time of fellowship & a meal for the whole church family. It is a very neat service! It really reminded me that Thanksgiving is not just about family, food, football, & shopping, which are all good things. It is about being thankful for all that you have & remembering that all of this comes from God, who should be our real focus at all times. I learned a great lesson from the Thai people during Thanksgiving!

After this Thanksgiving, I held a small clinic. (I'll blog about it in my next post) I thought we would be leaving to return home after this, but Stephen said that a village close to where we were had invited us to their Thanksgiving on Sunday, the 13th. So, we stayed an extra night in the village & I attended my 2nd Thai Thanksgiving! :) 



The church at the second village we went to

The first harvest offered to God at the second church

This was a great trip. I experienced some new things & learned some good lessons. I am very thankful for my first & second Thai Thanksgivings!