Hello to all from the other side of the globe 
Wow, it’s been a long time since we’ve written! Shame on us… Don’t forget you can find all of our videos and links to all of our pictures at http://aaronandlorrie.wordpress.com, or you can link right to our pictures by going to http://picasaweb.google.com/AaronandLorrie. If you have just been added to our email list, you can also read our old updates on the blog mentioned above.
So, it’s halfway through September and we’re still trying to figure out where August went. A lot has happened since the last email, and we’re wondering how much you really want to know about. So it’s looking like this email may be a bit lengthy. Our apologies.
Summer has flown by. Of course for us, it feels like summer all the time. We will definitely miss not being there for the beginning of Fall, our favorite season of the year. Since we last wrote, colleges and high schools are now in full swing back in the good ol’ USA. We hope and pray that things are going well for everyone. Don’t forget to write us and update us on what’s going on in your life, or let us know if you have any prayer requests.
We’ve been able to get to know our coworkers better through Sunday night church (hosted and created just for GES teachers), as well as through our weekly Bible studies. Lorrie was able to attend a baby shower for Roshelli McLatcher, a fellow teacher, and since that time Roshelli had her baby. The staff has enjoyed the presence of a new born baby on campus. Jaya, the baby girl, is one week old yesterday.
We both also had the chance to go to a birthday party for 5 year old Naomi, which was pretty interesting. The family is considerably wealthy, and the party lasted longer than any birthday party we’ve ever been to. The day started at 12 pm and we arrived home at 9 pm.
Aaron is still getting used to the ins and outs of teaching. He gave his 11th grade a free day since everyone passed their last test, which was a nice period off for him. He was also scheduled to speak in chapel this week, which was pretty interesting. Thank you to those of you who prayed for him to say what God wanted him to say. He thought it went pretty well, and many of the GES teachers told him as much. He didn’t think he’d be able to speak for 20 or 30 minutes straight, but as he began speaking, he started to really share his heart with the kids. At the end of it all, 20 minutes wasn’t enough. He challenged the kids to learn how to think for themselves, and not to accept/reject anything just because they’ve been taught something different. He wants to challenge the students to examine Christianity and ask questions about why they believe the things they do.
Two weeks ago the high school went on their first ever “field trip”. We journeyed downtown to go to an art museum and saw Yann Arthus-Bertrand’s photo exhibit entitled “Earth from Above”. The pictures were all taken from various aircraft around the world, and portrayed some amazing views of earth. It was so good, that we both were able to return together to see it again by ourselves the next week!
At the end of August we had the opportunity to go to Pattaya Beach with the English class of Nonthaburi Baptist Church. We spent two hours on the bus with them and got to talk with fellow Thai believers, as well as nonbelievers. Saturday morning, we spent time playing games with them and went to a short church service. There was ample opportunity to talk about Christ, and a lot of the Thai “English students” had some very insightful and challenging questions. We then spent 2 hours on the beach, enjoying the ocean, and riding on a “banana boat” (see pictures). It was such an enjoyable time, and our first time to the beaches of Asia.
Two weekends ago, we went with one of our students (Lukpad and Maprang are their names) to a town to the north called Lopburi. Our goal was to visit the church there and spend the weekend getting to know the believers and the family. God blessed us with new relationships, new stories, and a wonderful experience. As we were driving there, Lukpad’s mom, Pang, let us know that we were expected to give our testimonies at the Church! We were very surprised, and a little nervous. But God’s Spirit worked, and I believe He gave us both the words that the believers there needed to hear. Aaron talked about his mom’s death for the first time publicly since the funeral, which was both challenging and rewarding. Pang was a very generous host, and refused to let us pay for much of anything. We had the opportunity to visit the old royal palace (the King of Thailand used to live in Lopburi), as well as see monkeys. Lopburi has wild monkeys roaming free in the streets. Everyday, the monkeys come from all around to get food and sleep. In February, the city hosts a “monkey feast” in which they prepare large quantities of food to feed the monkeys for bringing the town good luck. It was cool to visit this city because we had actually read about this event in National Geographic before. The place where the monkeys were housed was an old temple site that resembled Angkor Wat, and monkeys were everywhere, we mean everywhere! Before we knew it, monkeys were jumping on to our backs, climbing on our heads, and taking anything they could get their hands on. Our friend Daniel had his 2 GB jumpdrive on a key ring attached to his belt, and a monkey literally stole it while he wasn’t looking and climbed it to the top of the temple. Needless to say, Daniel didn’t get it back. At one point, Aaron was playing with a young “baby” monkey, when all of a sudden he heard a screech and saw a mass of fur hurdling through the air. He put his arm up to block the flying ball of monkey rage, but he received a ferocious monkey bite from the jealous mother! (see pictures) It broke the skin in 2 places! But don’t worry, the monkey wasn’t rabid and the wound was very, very mild. It was like getting bit by a small child. The teeth marks looked much like a human’s (obviously).
Aaron has been battling Laryngitis and a chest cold for a week and half, and he is slowly starting to get over it. Other than that, God has blessed us with great health. There are a lot of challenges to be faced, but we definitely feel like this is exactly where God wants us to be, and we are both growing spiritually.
Lorrie was beginning to get frustrated in her class because her Thai teacher was leaving her alone with the students. This is hard because Lorrie obviously doesn’t speak their language (the 3 year olds). She was leaving because she had duties to tend to. Last week Lorrie found out that a Thai teacher assistant (Pi Ya) that had been with her a month ago was coming back for a few days. PTL but, she didn’t know for how long. SO Lorrie went to talk to the Thai admin. and told her that she really liked Pi Ya helping and that she was a wonderful assistant. SO Monday Pi YA comes in and tells Lorrie, using no English, that the Thia admin. talked to her and that she is now going to stay in Lorrie’s classroom to help Lorrie and her Thai teacher! Lorrie is very excited to have the extra hands for the rest of the year. Praise the Lord (PTL). Enjoy these videos of a typical morning at GES.
Please be in prayer for:
Aaron: sick, chapel message, challenges teaching, opportunities to share faith
Lorrie: that I won’t get Aaron’s sickness, my new Bible study will be useful and help me grow, patience for my little ones
both: that we would not let the Thai culture differences affect the way we treat people- there are a lot of differences and sometimes makes us upset but, we do not want to be- adjusting to the way school is run here
Abiding in His Love,
Aaron and Lorrie Brooks
