489: Walking Tour

I visited Burapha University's campus for the second time today. The purpose of my visit was to get accustomed to where buildings are and so forth, as the last visit I made was at nighttime and I didn't do much more than ride shotgun (which is left of the driver in Thailand) as my supervisor dropped off two students at the dorms, and then took us to dinner at food stall with "poor college student" priced food. ("Poor college student" seems to be a universal truth.) So anyway, today was one grand excursion, as I made a few laps by the trolley bus and walked what seemed to be 100s of kilometers. The real kicker is that one, my ultimate goal of finding the international college building was not met, although I think I came close, and two, that my walking is not over yet for the day, as I am currently giving my near-blistered feet a rest at an air conditioned Internet cafe across the street from B.U. In other words, I have about two kilometers (a mile plus) left to go.

It's easy to write all of this in a grumbling spirit of "suffering for Jesus" when in reality, I have it pretty darn good, as last night found me sitting in a canvas chair on Baeng Saen beach, taking photos of the Gulf of Thailand at sunset, and two, I have a friend who is doing her Boyce missions internship in a pretty volatile part of South Asia, where violence has been constant for years. Besides, any "sufferings" are typical for missionary work, and have been since the days of the Apostle Paul, who was shipwrecked, stoned (with stones), and more on a large number of occasions. The real trick is to count it all joy for the sake of the gospel, and please pray that I will.

If all else fails, I'm still in walking distance of the beach.