Christmas in Thailand, Year 5

It has been a doozy of a year with it being the 2nd year of the Covid pandemic, school shutdowns, lockdowns, late to the game vaccine availability, and the death of my precious fur baby of almost 14 years, Lucy. But things seem to be on the upside now, as long as Omicron doesn't go and blow up here in Thailand. I still miss my Lucy terribly, but otherwise, I've been teaching every day for the past few months which has been great! It was great introducing American Christmas culture to my Thai kiddos and seeing the Christmas magic dance in their eyes as they sang Christmas carols, made Christmas crafts, and even decorated mini Christmas trees I brought for them. That has helped ease the loss of my dear Lucy during this holiday season. I love being with little children and seeing the lights in their eyes as they learn and understand new things. I have some pretty amazing students. Even though I haven't reached my dream of opening my own center from my home yet, I've enjoyed being involved in students lives and welcomed into their homes to teach and even celebrate Christmas. I'm looking forward to continuing on this way in the new year and working to open my own classroom from my home in the future. Funding is currently limited so I'll continue to teach from the homes of others for now. I will make sure to post again soon and include pictures of my students. Teaching has kept me so busy with planning, printing, preparing, driving, and actually teaching that I haven't had a lot of free time lately. But I'm enjoying 2 weeks off for now so I'll make a big effort to get back on here and post a longer update. This is just my quick Christmas update! I wish you all the merriest and joy-filled Christmases and may the new year bring much peach and many blessings! Until next time, lots of love!

I Have a Dream

So I recently sent out an update on my dream and vision for my future here in Thailand. I truly believe this dream was put in my heart from God. This dream is to find a space and open my own English center that would be called Love English Learning Center. Love because all lessons and activities would come out of Christ's love for the students as well as my love for them. I want to follow this vision and make my dream a reality more than anything else in life. Yes, the dream is a bit big. But I guess the more simple dream is to continue living and serving in Thailand with other English Centers. In this, I may not have my own space YET, but I still get to serve out of love and teach.

I absolutely believe this dream was placed in my heart for such a time as this. A time when Covid has run rampant in our lives, our communities, our cities, our world. A time when children could use the stability of a safe learning environment to not only learn English, but be loved and experience the love of Christ. A time when families have lost their income due to Covid, but still want the best for their children's education. A time for me to reach beyond my means and try to make this dream a reality. For now, I can provide and be this through other English Centers, but eventually hope to raise enough support to open my own space! You can't even imagine how many ideas and how much excitement I have for when I get a space of my own and all the skills I can work on teaching my students at no cost to them!

But what happens when you follow your heart, and your dreams aren't becoming reality? When you've tried all you can, but you just can't get the funding to make it happen? What happens when you have to consider the reality that you may never get to live out your dream or heart's calling from God? How are you supposed to live with yourself if you're not living from that dream? Do you just let it die and feel a bit of yourself die in the process? Do you accept defeat and try to move on and live without a dream anymore? How do you find contentment in not living out your heart's call, your dream, your vision for serving others well and sharing the love of Christ with others? How can you live in joy if you're not living out of that dream? So many questions. If I say goodbye to my dream, am I saying goodbye to living a fulfilled life? Will I be doomed to live a life just going through the motions unable to find true joy? A life of mediocrity? Numb and always feeling like something is missing? When I came to Thailand, it was the first time in my life that I felt like I was truly living out my purpose for life. Like I had finally found my heart's calling and this is where I was meant to be serving. Yes, there have been ups and downs. Yes, there continue to be ups and downs. And yes, there will always be ups and downs. There will be tears, sadness, and loss. There will be laughter, joy, and successes. At the end of the day, I feel like I'm where God has led me to be. At the end of the day, I keep holding on to hope that it will still happen. That it is still a possibility to continue living and serving here in Thailand. That God is on my side.

Now, you may ask me why. Why is it so difficult to live out the dream? What factors are contributing to the roadblocks on the way to making this dream a reality. The dream of opening my own learning center called Love English Learning Center here in Thailand. Or the smaller dream of continuing to serve through other English Centers here in Thailand. The number one roadblock is funding. Currently, I won't even have enough monthly funding to pay my current rent for next month. If I can't even pay my basic needs to stay here in Thailand and continue serving at other English Centers, etc, how can I even think about finding a bigger space to open my own center and all the expenses that come with that? Honestly, I don't know how I will make ends meet starting next month, but I'm still not prepared to throw in the towel and retreat back to America. If I leave now, I risk never being able to come back and live out my dream here in Thailand. I'm very much afraid that if I leave now, I will officially be saying goodbye to my calling and purpose. Even if I put my own English Center on hold for now and just continue to serve with others, I'd at least still be living out that calling. But even then, I still need funding to stay here. I no longer have enough monthly support coming in to meet my living expenses. The second roadblock has been Covid itself. Due to Covid, we've been on countless lockdowns and school/english center closings for the past 2 years. It's super hard to show possible financial partners that I'm actively serving when we've been shut down so much due to Covid. The country has opened but with major restrictions and quarantines making a visit to America extremely difficult and expensive due to all the hoops you have to jump through in order to get back. It's been about a year and a half since my airline tickets to America were canceled due to Covid. I NEVER imagined Covid would still be causing problems 2 years later. I assumed I'd have time to plan a trip back to America and meet with possible supporters and find the funding to make my dream happen before I was in this boat of having no more saved funding left. But here I am. And here Covid still is. My city is still on lockdown, restaurants are only open for delivery and take out, businesses have earlier closing hours, and there's a ban on traveling outside of the city. Plus, there is news of a possible Thailand lockdown again. Covid is on a rampant spread, hospitals are full, and there's only the option to receive a crappy Sinovac vaccine which isn't fully effective against Covid. I have no idea what the new lockdown will be. It may just close Thailand again. Or it may increase restrictions. Have to wait and see. The news often talks of possible changes in lockdown and restrictions a day or two before any decisions are made. You may ask what. What have I done on my own to try and make staying in Thailand possible? The first thing I did was try to find a paying job. A job that would still allow me to serve for free at the English centers some too. Really terrible time with Covid to try and find work. And then there's the added problem of my not having a degree. Yup. I'm officially lame here because I dropped out of college before getting a degree in anything. It doesn't matter how many years of teaching and classroom experience I have (20+ years) from America as a teacher's assistant. To Thailand, the degree means everything. It doesn't even have to be a teaching degree! Any degree is acceptable for a lot of teaching jobs! So frustrating. I do however have a Teaching English as a Second Language certificate. Some folks say that's enough, but I still haven't found any schools willing to accept just that. Still searching. Second, I've tried finding some paid tutoring jobs. Just to earn enough to survive tightly so that I could devote the rest of my time to serving free of charge. But then Covid. Either folks don't have the money to study privately OR they're so scared of Covid that they're avoiding meeting others. I actually had one job lined up, but then we went on lockdown again and the parents backed out because they're so scared of Covid. Another thing I've done is develop quite a stock of teaching materials both hardcopies and online resources through this time of Covid. I've spent time online hunting free resources, activities, curriculum, etc. I've purchased teaching items as I found super cheap deals and promotions. I've spent time going through my resources and dividing them by skill and becoming familiar with what all I have so it can be utilized fully when I finally do get to teach again. I'm so beyond ready to start teaching again, it's unreal! I want to actually put to use everything I've gathered! Currently waiting to hear back from one more mom who's interested in tutoring for her 5 year old daughter. Praying that's a go soon! And third, I tried sending out a vision letter, both hard copy and email, to those in America to try and find monthly financial support. I know everyone has struggled through this time of Covid, but it's still my hope that there are those who believe in my calling and vision and would like to support my ministry here. Below are just a few pictures of the materials I've acquired during my time here. Still more I'd like to invest in, but I have to wait until things are more certain and I have funding coming in. I have quite the shopping cart lists on two of Thailand's biggest selling sites!

You may ask who. Who do I teach? That all depends on the English Centers and random word of mouth folks I've tutored. I've taught adults, teenagers, and littles. Mostly, I've taught and tutored for free, but there has been an occasion or two where I was paid a little too. I've volunteered in schools, 3 English Centers, and 2 churches here so far. I've privately tutored around 10 people both online and in person. I've also taught a range of subjects including math, history, and English. Let me tell you, teaching math in Thai is DIFFICULT! I have no idea what a rhombus is in Thai! But my biggest desire is to teach the littles before they enter mandatory schooling to prepare them for school and give them a good base knowledge to start with. I would also like to introduce them to the love of Christ from a young age as well. I would then hope to continue teaching them as they get older as well. That brings me to the how of it all. Yes, I have a dream. Yes, I believe that dream is a calling from God, my purpose. To keep living this calling out, I need monthly financial supporters. I need you. Please pray about and consider making my service here in Thailand possible. To allow me to continue to serve here where my heart has found it's home in service. I don't expect everyone to donate. And I don't expect all that donate to give huge or outside their means. Honestly, $15 a month would pay for my internet. I can usually eat for under $10 a day. In normal times, my travel expenses are usually around $50-80 a month depending on which English Centers and how often I'm teaching. My biggest expense is of course rent, which is $350-400 a month depending on utilities. These are just a few examples, but as you can see, money goes a bit further here. Any monthly donation will help me continue to live and serve for free here in Thailand! You can give through my organization's website at https://www.modernday.org/field-workers/clmoye77/ Or if you'd prefer I get the full donation without admin fees, you can give through Zelle using some online banking apps or downloading the Zelle app itself and using my email clmoye77@gmail.com. I pray that you will prayerfully consider supporting my outreach here in Thailand and possibly supporting the expansion of my ministry to include the Love English Learning Center in the future. If you have questions or just want to talk, feel free to send me a message! We can go over more details if you're interested or we can just chat about everything. We can arrange a video chat through Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp, Zoom, or Skype. These typically all work well for me here in Thailand. Don't be afraid to reach out to me. You are important and I appreciate the role you play in my life and ministry.

Latest and Greatest News from Thailand!

 Mission Statement: To share the love of Christ with the people of Thailand.

 
Vision Statement: To enrich the lives of Thai children, youth, and young adults with English language skills to improve their way of life, increase their chances at better jobs in the future, and introduce them to the love of Christ through relationship, teaching, and acts of service.

Introduction:

I’ve been serving in Thailand for the past 3 1/2 years, with my support organization being Modern Day Missions. My main field of service and ministry is teaching English as a second language to enrich the education of children, youth and young adults. I’ve found that learning English gives them hope of a better future while sharing the love of Christ through relationships. Because I’ve chosen to provide these lessons free of charge, it enables the lower-class and at-risk population to participate. This means providing English lessons to those who would most likely never be able to receive such teaching. I also serve in other areas of Bangkok such as delivering and handing out donations and meals to communities in need. I have a heart for the people of Thailand through acts of service, teaching, and loving well. I work to build relationships with everyone I meet here and share the kindness of Christ.

Qualifications:

For the last three years I’ve taken Thai language classes through Rak Thai Language School in Bangkok. This has enabled me to pass the Thai Competency Test, where I received a certificate for Competency in Thai Language. I also have a certification in Teaching English as a Second Language. These qualifications will allow me to be a viable and trusted teacher.

The Problem:

In Thailand, just like the United States, COVID-19 has caused frequent lockdowns and school closures. Unfortunately, I’m having to explore other outlets for helping and have recently been re-evaluating my long-term plans for serving here. These lockdowns and shutdowns have closed most volunteer teaching outlets for me. When we’re not in lockdown, I serve at a small English Center connected to Our Home Chapel, a church I was serving under before they cancelled its English teaching ministry due to COVID-19 and lack of students. At the English Center I help my ministry partner, Lena Lehualani (a Cross Cultural Worker from Hawaii), in her classes with Thai translations. Currently there are not enough students for me to have my own class as participation has decreased everywhere. I also serve with a second English Center for once a month English testing and special events. With the issue of COVID-19, I started to re-vision my goal and dream for serving in Thailand.

Vision:

While living in Ranong, Thailand, the vision of a long-term ministry was placed in me. After relocating to Bangkok and finishing my Thai studies, the pandemic hit. This had me re-evaluating how I  could better serve the people of Thailand, and that vision was prompted to the forefront of my mind once again.

This vision starts small, teaching from my home, ideally a larger space to live in, where I can also welcome children, youth and young adults to study English for free. I will call this ministry and center the Love English Learning Center because every lesson and activity will be based on God's love for all.

I would be able to teach English by:

• Incorporating activities and games
• Practicing English language skills through cooking, cleaning, community outings, serving others in the community, learning teamwork, and how to make presentations to others
• And after building trusting relationships with families or individuals, incorporating Bible stories and songs into the lessons

When the ministry grows, I would be able to invite other trusted teachers to join me. As it grows further, I would hope to build partnerships with Thai partners to create a foundation. A foundation would open doors for inviting others to come and serve under a visa.

I have a heart to teach the Thai people. I have a heart to love the Thai people. I have a heart to serve the Thai people. I feel a calling to share the love of Christ through teaching English to the Thai people, which will not only give them hope for a better future for jobs, but hope in Christ as well.

Seeing the joy on students' faces during lessons and special
activities is the biggest blessing one could ask for.

What is needed?

Prayer Partners. Scripture tells us the harvest is great and the workers are few. My heart’s desire is to work with God in His Thailand fields. In this time of uncertainty and the chaos and instability COVID-19 has our world in, I would love to offer and be that consistent, stable presence so many of the children need. I believe with all my heart that Christ has placed me here in Thailand for such a time as this. Through prayer and seeking God’s direction, I have been reassured that my time here is not yet finished. It is God that placed a vision and dream in my heart, and I have faith that He will help me carry that out. Please join me in prayer for my ministry and outreach here in Thailand.

Financial support partners. A huge part of this ministry is the backing of faithful supporters. I can see the end of my money looming and I still sense I am called to serve the people of Thailand. By July, all previous support and funding raised will have been used up and I need to find new supporters in order to stay and serve in Thailand. I also need to increase my monthly budget to meet the vision for ministry growth. This includes:

• increase in housing cost in order to find a space large enough where I can both teach and live
• Teaching supplies such as paper, notebooks, dry erase markers, pencils, and other small classroom necessities
• Classroom supplies such as tables/chairs or desks, whiteboards, printer, etc
• Teaching curriculum teacher/student/workbook books and audio/DVD. (A list of these things can be provided to those interested in purchasing and shipping directly to me)

To fulfill the vision of sharing Christ’s love with the Thai people, the Love English Learning Center would have a need of $2,250 per month. For startup, the Love English Learning Center would need about $2,500-$3,500 up front in order to begin renting a new place (move in cost is usually first and last months’ payments) as well as buy necessary teaching supplies and curriculum. It is my goal to find housing that is already furnished to avoid having to buy furniture necessities such as a bed and kitchen appliances.

Conclusion:

This vision for ministry and service allows me to:

•  build deeper relationships within a Thai community
• offer English lessons to different levels and age groups throughout the week and not be limited in service, hours of operation, travel time, or staff to student ratio
• serve more freely and more often than I am able to serve through my current English Center volunteering.

This is my heart: To serve daily by loving others well and sharing the love of Christ through service and relationships.
Please prayerfully consider financially supporting me on this journey through a monthly donation or a one-time gift. You can CLICK HERE to choose a donation option that fits you best or use the following link: https://www.modernday.org/field-workers/clmoye77/

Thank you in advance for your prayers and financial support!

 My current areas of ministry and service are:

§  ULC English Center- assisting teachers in classes and special events

§  Bangkok Community Help Group- service projects for needy communities

§  Fun with English Center- English testing and special events

§  RTL School- assisting teachers with computer needs, translations, and Thai conversation practice with beginners

 

Big God, Big Dreams

I can't believe we're already into the 3rd month of a new year! Time just keeps flying by! And yet, it seems that the majority of us are still waiting for this pandemic of Covid to lessen and go away. I feel it very much. Covid has been getting worse here in Thailand. But I'm happy to see America getting the vaccine and hope that the vaccine will be available here soon. I'm praying for an end to this terrible illness that has swept through the whole world over.

So what have I been up to during this time? Well, I've been serving with 2 different English Centers as well as serving with a Community Help group. But as activities and numbers have been limited due to Covid, I've spent some time re-evaluating my plans for ministry here. And that's where I was reminded of a big dream that my big God gave me. It is my hope and prayer that I can raise enough support to continue ministering to the children, youth, and adults of Thailand. An
update is going out as I type this brief blog. If you're interested in the update and want me to email it to you, please send me your email address. I will write a longer post here about it at a later time.

For now, enjoy some pictures and videos from English teaching and camp.