May 11

This morning we got to sit in on a Thai Pastor's meeting.  It's kind of like what we could call a "sectional minister's meeting" within a District.  There were about 8 ministers there, all from the Bangkok region.  It's crazy to think about, though, because that's about how many Christian ministers there are just in this city, and Thailand is probably about the size of some districts.  It's crazy to think about.

Anyway, we don't speak Thai, obviously, so we didn't really understand what was going on.  Alan explained every now and then they were talking about a money account for the section, and then they were talking about the Ordination process, and how it tends to be exclusive, and people are denied Ordination if they are too vocal at the national "General Councils."  If that was the case I think we would be without some ministers in the A/G, probably myself included.  During this time, I couldn't get on the internet, so I organized all the documents on my computer into folders pertaining to certain classes.  Yes, yes, i feel very accomplished and organized.  It was not an easy task, but I can breathe easier (not like I was worrying about it before though).

After the meeting, we went to a bakery down the street where Gabe and I got chicken fried rice and cake as an appetizer...the ministerium paid.  We sat with Tio, Pastor Bei's son.  It was fun.  We came back here for a few hours before we left for Anna's graduation party.  Anna is an MK here who is graduating from the international school.  She will be going to a school in Missouri for Musical Theatre while her parents teach as the MIR's at CBC.  The party was fun - I hung out with Jeremy, one of the other Book of Hope missionaries.  Apparently I committed to go see Star Trek with him and Gabe - I thought I was committing to Wolverine.  It's confusing.  I'm going to feel like a nerd.

I met a lot of missionaries at this party, and it's good to have these connections in Asia Pacific, especially if this is the field on which I'll be serving.  It was also nice to experience this "missionary family" kind of atmosphere - it makes the whole process seem a little easier, to have support like this in the same area.  The A/G seems to be leaning more towards this group outreach model, especially when ministering to unreached people groups or Muslims.  So that excites me.

We played a round of Settlers (of which I bid for on Ebay...and lost) and I actually won - who would have thought.  I kind of like these German board games.  They're A-OK.  Came back to the house - had an impromtu staff meeting via AIM with my children's ministry team, and discussed a new set.  Watched She's the Man and went to bed.  That's all for today folks :-)