God is moving!

Well I have finished 1 week of classes so far. From now on I will be teaching 2 classes that meet every weekday, so I will be quite busy. The class that I have been teaching is upper level and my students sometimes ask questions about grammar that I can't answer, but they're nice and its a fun class. There are 3 guys and 1 girl. I was going to teach a class of all girls, so this is an answer to prayer, in more ways than one. They know english well and we usually just have conversation for 20 min of class. We talk about American and Thai culture, friends, school, religion. They are all Buddhist, but they are familiar with Christianity. One of my students, Ice, has been to a Christian church with a friend, but his parents are devout Buddhist. Art is probably the easiest to talk to and seems somewhat interested in christianity. Yesterday, Art, Ice, and I just hung out and played badminton.

Well I've been praying about soccer as a tool for ministry, and I felt led to walk around the soccer field. So I walked around and prayed (like jericho) and met a guy who plays soccer (he knew very little english, though). thats how I found out that tons of stundents play soccer in the evening. so that was definitely from God. I went to the university fields to play ultimate frisbee with a group of "farong" (white foreigners like myself), and played soccer with a group of Thai students another day.

One of the volunteers from Georgia, Zach, goes to the Night Bazaar to evangelize. He is filled the Holy Spirit and love for Thai people, and I went with him a couple nights. It was difficult to evangelize because of the language barrier, so we handed out tracts in Thai and talked to a couple english speaking people. and we prayed for a beggar woman without hands (bloody stumps).

Yesterday I also visited an orphanage, Hope House, about 45 min south of Chiang Mai. It was started by a local Christian couple with an awesome testimony of how God made their ministry possible. There are about 20-30 kids from all several countries living there. I brought a bag of candy and toys from the US and they all loved it. Then they sang and danced for us!

Well thats what has been happening in my world this week. Please pray that God would continue to teach me to trust in Him, that relationships with my students would be strengthened and that their hearts would be open to recieve Christ. Thank you for your prayers, they are definitely felt over here and God is answering his people!

p.s. I added more photos, see the link below

Pictures?

I uploaded some photos at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/cody.kalivoda

First 3 days

So I've been in for nearly 3 days and it is amazing. There are so many sights and smells I have never experienced. The traffic here is crazy because police don't enforce any traffic laws, and tons of people ride scooters. Vehicles also drive on the left side of the road, and there almost no suv's, so it is very different from the states.

The flights were long, but good because I got to represent Christ. I talked to a lady who was in KC for some church conference. She was really encouraged by me and she prayed for me and my trip when we landed. The flights overseas were different because the people I sat next to didnt speak english, but they knew I was different because I was praying fasting and reading the Bible for most of trip.

I have spent a couple days at the Centre to talk to staff and students, sit in on some classes, and go through orientation. I will start teaching classes on Monday. There are very few guys who take ESL classes at the Centre, so I might be teaching a class of all girls. Please pray that there would be at least one guy I could hang out with and desciple. Also pray that God would give me a heart to love the students I will be working with and that I would listen to God's voice and walk by faith.

Training Wheels

Wow I can’t believe I will be in Thailand in just a few days. There is just so much I have to get organized before I go. And a lot of thoughts have been running through my head.

In a lot of ways I feel like a little kid who is about to ride a bicycle without training wheels for the first time. It’s like an adrenaline rush of emotions. I’m going somewhere foreign and am on the verge of something big. And I’m leaving everything that I’ve previously relied on (apart from God) behind. I have fears of rejection, stepping outside of my comfort zone, fear of not having the faith to overcome these things and live unrestrained, fear of not being effective for His Kingdom, or not living up to people’s expectations.

But I have God on my side, cheering me on, and that is who my hope is in. If God is for me, then who can be against me? And if God loves me and delights in me just the same if I try and fail miserably, then why should I hold anything back?

Recently I have been holding these verses close to my heart:
"For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" I John 5:3-5

So yeah, I fears and what if’s staring me down. But when I consider the power of God, there is excitement that I cannot put into words. Kind of like a kid riding a bicycle without training wheels for the first time. Please pray that fear would not hinder me in any way, but rather I would be listening for His voice and trusting in His power, not my logic. I hope this all makes sense.