Bangkok Day 7

Our last day in Bangkok we spent relaxing and enjoying the sites. We stayed at a hotel (with A/C, and western showers and toilets).

The team enjoying our last meal together in Bangkok.

Scotty enjoying the evening.

A veiw of Bangkok from our hotel balcony.

Bangkok Day 6

Today was our last day with the BJD staff and students. We had a big party compete with Thai kabobs and fresh fruit and special tea drinks.

Celebrating under the newly constructed awning.

Bangkok Day 5

Today was spent doing more prayer walking in the morning, then in afternoon we started a cement project. We build a cement step that went around two sides of BJD. We mixed the cement by hand. It took us late into the evening to finish the step.

Bangkok Day 4

This morning we went back to the university and picked up garbage around the grounds.

First day of the work projects, we built an awning (Tom cutting a beam).

Peter securing the beam.

And repainted part of the outside of the building (Lauren and Jenn prepping the painting surface).

Bangkok Day 3

Doxology team with BJD residents.

This morning we spent prayer walking around the university near where we are staying. This evening we will invite students to come have dinner at Baan Jai Dou (BJD), the factuality we are staying at.

Bangkok Day 2--Temple Tour

Today we spent time touring some famous temples to help us understand the Budhist part of this culture. The first temple is located on a hill in Bangkok, from here you can overlook the city.

Along the steps to the top of this temple there are flowers...

...and statues...

and bells.

At the top there is this golden spire, I do not know the significance, that is surrounded on each corner by smaller bells.

Inside there were these prayer stations, where people could buy flowers and incense. They would kneel in front of this container and pray, then stick their incense in the container to continue burning and their flower in the vase next to it.

We then left this temple to drive to the next.

These "tuk tuk" taxis where all over Bangkok, kind of a three wheeler with a cover.

There were temples all over, you could see many of them as we drove.

These next pictures are from the royal temple and palace, a very ornate temple where occassionally the Thai king will still come to worship or conduct meetings in the palace.

There was a courtyard will several ornate buildings...

...all surrounded by a wall that was intricately painted the entire perimeter of the complex.

This is outside the temple with the famous Emerald Budah, you can't take pictures inside so you will just have to trust us that it was really there.

This is a view of the front of the palace. The king does not live here anymore, but occasionally will hold meetings here. Tourists are not allowed inside.

A lot of the buildings had statues on either side of the entryway. There were these lion things, or elephants, or other figures that appeared to sybolize status or serve as guardians.

Bangkok Day 1

We arrived in Bangkok 1am on Sunday morning. We dove right in that morning. Here we are having breakfast that we got from some street vendors. Things of note: mystery meat from the BBQ place, sticky rice in a bag (also from BBQ place), the best pineapple we have ever had, and no breakfast is complete with out a bag of soda, right? Welcome to Bangkok.

This is the Doxology Thailand team (minus Peter and myself) Sunday morning before heading for church. The area we are gathered at is one of the areas we would later do improvements on for the YWAM ministry we stayed with.

This is looking towards the balcony on the fourth floor where we stayed. We stayed with a ministry of YWAM call Bon Jai Diou (BJD). It is basically a Christian dorm style home for 26 Thai university students. It provides inexpensive housing for students, who hear about BJD from their friends. Students do not need to be Christian in order to live here, though a majority of them are.

This is an ally way in the BJD neighborhood, just to give some perspective of where we lived.

We are on our way to church, via a truck taxi. These were our main mode of transportation, very nice in the 100 degree weather.

sure... we'll go to Thailand

It's true, we are headed to Bangkok, Thailand during spring break. We are going with Doxology, our church, to do some work for YWAM and help out however we can.

We don't' know what our access will be to internet while we are there, however we will for sure take lots of pictures and post as often as we can.