(Due to some problems with iWP, The Cracked Pot's server, we were unable to include Katherine's images alongside the journal. Email TCPeditor@pottersschool.org to have them sent via email, or check out the excellent video on the StudyPlace front page for accompanying visuals.)

Part I: Take-Off

On a Friday morning this January, thirty-eight TPS teens, parents, teachers, and friends -- all brimming with excitement -- boarded a plane for the other side of the world. After hours of traveling they reached Seoul and then headed onward, bound for Thailand, the “Land of Smiles.” Finally the team landed in Thailand, in a time zone opposite to the one they had left and in a completely different climate. After picking up seventy-plus pieces of luggage and one team member (yours truly), the team exited the airport with an army of luggage carts, bursting into the smog-filled Bangkok air. One bus-ride later and we reached a beautiful boutique hotel and headed to our rooms, utterly exhausted.
The TPS Thailand Trip of 2010 had just begun.

Sunday dawned with the chirping of birds and the crowing of roosters. After a delicious breakfast, several cup-stacking games, conversation, and looking around the beautiful hotel, the team mustered for worship, devotions, and an introduction to Thailand. For the next eight days we continued the practice of daily worship and devotions. “The daily worship through song, which I definitely don't get at home, made the trip amazing for me! I love singing and music, and it was a blessing to worship together with the rest of the team; I think it drew us closer together, as well,” said Rebecca Turner, one of the TPS team members.

Fastforward severl hours: we had boarded another plane, this time headed for our final destination, Chiang Mai. Once at our hotel in Chiang Mai, we met up with two more team members, completing our group of 41 members total. We then spent the rest of the afternoon hauling water from the nearby grocery store (picture multiple foreign teenagers lugging large bottles of water through a shopping mall and imagine the stares we received), changing money into Thai baht, eagerly finding out our rooming assignments, making sure our luggage made it up onto the twelfth floor (as you can imagine, the stairs didn't get much use), unpacking, and admiring the massive hotel. We felt exhilarated at having finally reached Chiang Mai.

Part II: "Tourists" in Thailand

That night we piled into song taews (covered trucks with open backs) and headed off to the night market for our first real taste of Thailand. Once at the night market most groups headed straight for the food court where we sat on rickety benches in front of rows of little restaurants. The smells of cooking meat, spices, and exotic fruits wafted through the outdoor food court. Most groups ordered an array of foods - some opted for simple foods such as Pad Thai, chicken saute with peanut sauce, or duck, whereas more adventurous souls went for green curry with chunks of liver floating in it. We watched traditional Thai dancing from afar, shopped among the wide array of souvenirs, laughed, talked, attempted to flee the persistent sellers who knew we absolutely needed the bracelet or wooden frog they could sell us. All in all, we had a good time.

 The next day we stayed on our feet in the hopes of defeating jetlag, heading out for a day at the crafters. We visited a gem gallery where we watched as artisans created jewelry out of expensive gems, then proceeded to a large room filled with jewelry - everything from $12 (360 baht) rings set with simple stones to extremely expensive jewelry encrusted with gems. Then, in Mr. Gilbert's words, we “stimulated the local economy.”

After lunch in a beautiful open-air restaurant (complete with a lake and a completely un-Thai Dutch windmill) we headed to the next crafter: the rice paper factory. We watched a demonstration of how the rice paper is made, then filed by several people making umbrellas out of the paper. Finally we came to the painters, the men and women who paint beautiful designs onto the umbrellas. They also could paint --well, anything. Soon team members were having Bibles, t-shirts, posters, shoes, water-bottles, and bags painted with brilliantly colored butterflies, dragons, pandas, birds, flowers, elephants, fish, lizards, and more. Once we returned to the hotel we had already enjoyed a wonderful day and were ready to work.

Part III: The Purpose & The Preparation

After resting briefly we mustered once again and began to prepare for the pre-conference. For the next few hours we carried (or dragged) gear bags, unpacked supplies, set up rooms, practiced a drama for the following day, and practiced worship for the conference. The next day after breakfast we headed up to a little area on the sixth floor with an amazing view of the mountains. Once there we began our team devotions. Mr. Gilbert's point came across clearly as he told us what we had come to Thailand to do. We had not come to “babysit,” he said, but rather to hold up the arms of the families serving in Asia. What did he mean?

Exodus 17:10-13 says,“So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses' hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up, one on one side, one on the other, so that his hands remained steady till sunset. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.”

Many of the families we would serve over the next four days live in incredibly difficult conditions. Some can't worship in their own language. Some have absolutely no opportunity to fellowship with other believers. Some cannot worship out loud at all -- they can't even acknowledge their faith without risking being thrown out of their country. Many are forced to homeschool their children, rather than doing so by choice. And for many of these homeschoolers  have no opportunity to find resources. Imagine trying to homeschool without proper textbooks, without any method of comparing your children to other children their age, and without anyone to give advice. All of these families have given things up in order to answer the Lord's calling. And many of them are suffering -- they can't do it alone. Hundreds of workers have left the field because they did not have the resources and the support necessary to remain.

Part IV: The Conference

So we went to Chiang Mai -- the other side of the world for most of us -- in order to “hold up the arms” of these families. During the conference older children were tested, parents attended seminars and had excellent counseling regarding their children's education, and everyone had the opportunity to fellowship and worship together. We were in Thailand, Mr. Gilbert told us, to keep families on the field by holding up their arms, just as Aaron and Hur held up Moses' arms and enabled him to remain. After our  meeting we headed to teacher orientation, finally received our assignments, met the other teachers, and set up our rooms. Next we headed to lunch where several of the team members ate with Dr. Jay Wile -- yes, the “science celebrity” who wrote the Apologia textbooks!

 Afterwards we headed to worship practice, drama practice, or the pre-conference childcare. As we spread out large pieces of paper, paint, crayons, and other craft supplies the kids started streaming in. Some acted shy at first, but almost all quickly warmed up. Soon they were telling us about their pets, showing off their Chinese, and drawing aliens. Over the next few hours we sang, built solar ovens, melted chocolate in said solar ovens (they worked!), ate the chocolate, wiped off sticky fingers, played bean-bag relays, and - for many of us - had just as much fun as the kids. Some of the team also put on a skit based on Max Lucado's book Because I Love You, which the kids loved.

The next day we had breakfast at six-thirty, team meeting with worship and devotions at seven, then off to our rooms before eight to meet the kids. Soon children were pouring into our classrooms. Over the next three days we made crafts, sang songs, danced around with dozens of little kids (waving our arms and attempting to do hand motions), made smelly explosions (the theme was science), concocted slime, wiped slime off fingers and out of hair, colored paper pictures of organs and pasted them to body-shaped cutouts (the kids loved showing them to their parents), painted hats, told jokes, carried crying babies, cheered up children missing their mothers, attempted to hold five kids' hands at once, and much more.

We watched Veggie Tales, read stories, played “Planet Scramble,” stopped squabbles, went with the older kids outside to play games (including one that could easily have been titled “Douse the TPS Helper in Water”), tried to get babies and toddlers to actually nap, ran from one room to another in search of missing supplies, had our hair braided and by little chubby fingers, listened to Bible stories, watched children express interest in Christ, and led kids in worship.

Leading worship for the adults and teenagers at the conference was also a highlight for many members of the team. “Leading worship was my favorite part of the conference,” said Lindsay Ramsland. “It was amazing to look out at the families, some of whom do not get to worship freely in their own home, worshiping God together in the same room. It gave me chills.”

During lunchtimes we had the opportunity to eat with some of the families at the conference. Most of them seemed more than happy to talk with us and tell us a little about their lives. Some live on farms, others in the midst of bustling cities. Some live in relatively safe and comfortable circumstances -- others live in daily fear of eviction from their country. Some of these families live in countries growing increasingly hostile towards Christians and the West. While not all families could talk with us openly, others gladly gave us prayer requests, told us about their work, and even invited us to visit them! Several times I walked away from lunch feeling as if the family had blessed me more than I had blessed them.

On the second night of the conference the TPS team hosted the famous“Parent's Night Out.” Almost all of the two-hundred kids in the program were signed up to participate. The TPS team took care of them for several hours so their parents could spend some time alone. Many parents told us this was their first chance to spend time alone in years. For those few hours we kept the kids busy, dashed back and forth making sure everyone had enough pizza (while frantically trying to gulp down a piece ourselves), kept the kids with allergies far, far away from the pizza, rocked babies to sleep, and cleaned off yet more sticky fingers. Finally we sat down and relaxed as the kids watched a movie. Although exhausting, the knowledge of the service we were providing to the parents and what it meant to them felt incredibly rewarding. And at the end several of the kids gave out cries of, “Aww, I don't want to go yet!” to their parents: which should give you an idea of the joyful service our team members gave.

On the final day of the conference we led the kids into the main auditorium where they sang for their parents, recited a Bible verse, and then dispersed into the audience to sit with their families. Then the worship team led the entire conference in a final bout of praise to the Lord: the reason we had come to Thailand. After the worship we said our final goodbyes to the kids from our classes. Most of us had formed close friendships in those three days and there were several tearful goodbyes. Many of the kids' parents came up to us and told us how much their children had enjoyed the conference and how much they had loved us. The feeling was completely mutual.

Part V: Of Elephants and Orchids

That night we packed up the supplies we had used for the conference and the next morning we piled into vans, headed higher into the mountains (with a few detours along the way).

Soon we pulled up at our first stop: an orchid farm. The theme of the conference's children's program had been science, focusing on how we can see God's Glory clearly in his creation. This theme  stood out vividly as we walked through rows of brilliantly colored orchids of all different shapes and sizes. Purples, yellows, pinks, blues, whites, and more gleamed in the morning light -- all examples of God's creativity. Once we had admired the flowers and walked through the butterfly cages (the butterflies seemed to be in hibernation), we headed back into the vans and on towards the eagerly anticipated elephant farm.

Crossing a swinging bridge, we entered the elephant park. The great, gray creatures stretched out their trunks at us, watching us out of soft, sunken, dark eyes. Purchasing bananas, we began to feed the elephants. A few of the braver team members, at the urging of Lattany, the TPS Administrator and Thailand Trip Veteran, stuck bananas in their own mouths, leaned over the fence, and watched as the elephants reached over and snatched the bananas away. Once finished with their snack, the elephants walked down,  flopped on their sides and splashed in the water (splashing their mahouts in the process). After the elephants had finished bathing, we headed for an arena where we watched the elephants show off their talents, including their artistry, which they displayed by painting pictures, holding the paintbrushes in their trunks. The pictures turned out far better than any I could ever paint!

 Arranging ourselves into pairs, we walked up onto a little platform and sat down on a seat mounted high on an elephant's back. Walking with a slow, loping pace, the elephants headed down a dirt road and then up into a mountain path. The elephants walked along the trail, sometimes veering frighteningly close to the edge of a steep drop. We rode through a river, past trees, around bends in the path, and up steep inclines. Once again, God's Glory showed clearly in His creation -- this time in the great, powerful elephants and the nature all around us. Finally, after leaving the elephants and driving some more, we reached The Nest Resort.

We were greeted by a delicious meal before heading off again for bamboo rafting. The rafts, made of long pieces of bamboo lashed together with strips of rubber tire, sunk slightly in the water (although we had little bamboo benches to sit on above the water). We piled a few people onto each raft (making them sink a little bit further) and then our guides --long bamboo poles in hand--pushed us down the river. Soon several of us began to stand up, and then we began poling our rafts. Over the next hour we poled, waved “hello” to Thai kids on the banks, spotted water buffalo (everybody's got a water buffalo, yours is fast...), splashed each other, and competitively tried to pole faster than everyone else. By the end of the trip several of us were splattered with water and two team members and one camera had fallen into the river (the team members survived, the camera did not).

 Back at The Nest we ate another scrumptious Thai meal, and then headed over to the campfire in the hopes of warming ourselves (the temperature had dropped drastically with the setting of the sun). Sitting underneath the brilliant, glittering stars, and warming our hands and feet at the flickering fire, we enjoyed a time of worship and sharing.

Part VI: The Karen Village

The next day we piled into several pickup trucks and began our drive higher into the mountains. The view of the rising and falling peaks was utterly breathtaking: even more so when we thought about how “the mountain peaks belong to [God]” (Psalm 95:4b).

Soon we reached our path and met our Lisu (a tribal people)tour guides, who would lead us up to a remote Karen (refugees from Burma) village. Then we began our hike through the beautiful mountains. Several times on the hike we found ourselves sliding down the slopes. Other times we crossed narrow bridges made of two or three pieces of bamboo lashed together with one, thin, bamboo hand rail. Eventually, we reached the village. When we walked in we passed several small, wooden houses on short stilts, complete with pigs, chickens, and water buffalo living underneath. Then we came to the little, one-room school house, where the Karen children greeted us.

 We headed to the school room, with the children, where we sat down on the floor and ate. Afterwards we began an array of projects. Several of us helped to build a new roof onto the school's outhouse. For much of the time we gathered together in the school room to do crafts with the children. Afterwards we played water balloons, had a coke and mentos experiment, painted the mothers' fingernails, and gave blessing bags to the villagers. The kids loved the activities, eagerly decorating hats and throwing water balloons, huge smiles on their faces.

One team member, Amy Cuddington, said “It was so much fun decorating hats with the kids and seeing how creative they were making designs with the stamps and the glitter. And playing water balloon toss was so awesome! It was neat because I really felt like I was able to connect with the kids and have fun with them even though we didn't know each other and didn't speak the same language.”

Next we walked up a steep path to a little building--the local church. We were told about half of the families in the village are Christian, half Buddhist. Walking inside the one room, we sat down in the pews. Someone began to sing and soon we were all praising the Lord with song, and outside the building the founder of the church, a Karen man, sang along with us in his own language.

Part VII: Fireside Reflections

All too soon we found ourselves getting ready for the hike back to the road. That night - after a Thai-style barbeque - we had one final time of worship and sharing around the campfire. Many people noted how God had handpicked every one of us to serve on the team. “I saw God working in the way He brought the team together in such a short time, as we were able to work together to put the conference on after only meeting a few days before. He matched the teams of teachers in a way that made all the classes a blessing to the kids who were in them, and He gave us the patience to deal with the few 'problem children,'” said Rebecca Turner after the trip.

Lindsay Ramsland agreed. “It was amazing to see how everyone on the team bonded so well. God picked a great team of people to go on the trip, and He helped us bond quickly so we could accomplish what we were there to do.” Everyone saw God working on the trip -- although not always in the ways we expected. Many people stated that the trip had completely defied expectations and that God had worked in ways completely unforeseen. But regardless of the case, God's faithfulness and sovereignty had always shown clearly.

 “The trip was different than I expected in that I thought that God would meet me in a very emotional way--I expected to be in tears more often than I was and for different reasons," said one team member. "But God met me in a different way, challenging me with a teaching position that I didn't expect and by putting me in groups that I wouldn't necessarily have picked. He showed me my own discontentment and that I needed to concentrate on looking for opportunities where He put me, rather than on wishing that I was with other people or doing something different.”

Another team member shared, “The biggest thing I realized on this trip is that a relationship with God takes a lot of work. God isn't just going to make everything right, not even if you go on a mission's trip.”

“I saw God opening my eyes to how easy my life is and how much more I need to be thankful for what God has already done in my life,” another teammate told me.

 “God definitely worked in my life while I was in Thailand. I feel like God was with me when I was there and I felt Him speak to me. I came back home feeling like I grew in my relationship with God,” said yet another TPSer.

Part VIII: All Good Things . . .

On our last full day in Thailand we headed to a Thai elementary school where we played games, taught English, attempted to learn a few Thai words, decorated calendars, painted, and bonded with the kids. Matt Pinckard, another team member, said of the Karen village and the Thai school “I was just moved by the fact that these kids couldn't understand a word we said, but they still seemed to love us anyway. . . Whether they were the American missionary kids or the Thai kids at the school and village, they all laughed at the same things and enjoyed the same things. I almost forgot I was in another country.”

 And the kids did laugh, excitedly playing games, smiling widely at us as we spouted out horridly pronounced Thai words, and chattering away with each other in Thai. Then it was back to Chiang Mai where we enjoyed our last Thai meal before heading to the airport, where three other team members and I bid farewell to the rest. Then -- with all that they had seen and done in Thailand etched on their hearts --the bulk of the team flew on to Bangkok, then to Seoul, and back to snow-covered D.C. where the trip had begun.