Exciting news from Shopping!

Do you remember this guy, "Shopping"? He has been working in the south full time with Mike this year on the Tsunami rebuilding projects, and has become pretty close to us. Last week, he brought some of his family along to join him in working with the group from the Bangkok university. As a result of their week of living and working with the campus group, they all decided to become Christians. It is his college age brother and three high school age nephews. Pray for them as they return to their homes this week that they will continue growing in their new relationships with God. Shopping is thrilled beyond measure. Maybe I should take him shopping!! :)

On another side note, Mike just called and he has two of the Moken village people spending the night with him in town at our little rental property. They came into the main land to do business and after they had boat problems- were not able to get back out to the island - so they are spending the night with Mike. It may be their first time to sleep off of their island. I asked him what they were doing and he said he put on a Disney cartoon for them to watch. I have three girls from Chiang Rai here with me in our home for two weeks, and he has the villagers there with him. Life is always an exciting adventure.

Thai Tradition of Blessing the Elders

Last night was a special evening and for once it was OK for me to feel old. This month has been the Thai New Year celebration with the water throwing festival that I wrote about earlier. That tradition actually started by people pouring a little bit of water onto their elders as a blessing on their lives and a sign of respect. They also smear a mixture of powder, perfume and water onto the cheeks as a form of blessing. Last night was our monthly TCCC Alumni meeting, and the theme of the evening was the Songkran celebration and blessing their elders. They had the 6 of us who opened the ministry here in Chiang Mai 16 years ago, sit in front and they walked past us in a line to pour a little water of blessing on us and express words of respect. Mike had to be in the south so I represented the two of us, I guess, along with Boonjome and Lumai, Nutti, and Of and Supot. It brought back alot of memories as these young people filed past us and the 16 years of God's faithfulness here in Chiang Mai. I was definitely blessed.

Thanks to the RAM 2 team.

Last week, a group of about 20 students and staff from Ram 2 campus in Bangkok spent a week of their summer break working on Elephant island. They got a lot accomplished. The pathway to the church was still a dirt path, and with rainy season arriving real soon, they made cement stairs to walk up the hill. Our next project is to build a pier on the edge of the village for easier access. Up till now, they have had to stop the boats out in the water and carry the supplies through the water into the shoreline. With the new pier, the boats will be able to pull right up to the pier and then they can walk on up to land. The materials for the pier were all delivered last week, so this group did a lot of carrying of the supplies to the land to get the project started. The staff told us though that their highlight of the week was- going into the mainland and passing out rice, canned fish, and cooking oil to Burmese people at the church. A large donation of food supplies was given for us to pass out, and receiving the staple of rice to these people is like receiving GOLD. Thanks to the Ram 2 team for all they accomplished last week.

Look what my husband left for me!

Mike and I have been having to separate for ministry more than we would like in the past few months. This week, he has a team of 30 from a church in Chiang Rai that will be working on Elephant island. Their projects for this week, are to start clearing the land to build two new homes for the pastor and workers who come to the village, finish up on the stairs that are being built up to the church, and if they have time- to start the project of building a pier for the boats to come in and out of. It will be a busy week for him. And today, he went down a day early to buy a different boat to get in and out of the islands. Ours has not been too reliable lately.

Meanwhile, this is a busy week for us up here in Chaing Mai too. Tonight is the monthly TCCC Alumni meeting at which we were asked to share some words of encouragment. Next week is our first week of IBS. More on that later, but I will be coordinting the morning studies with the 10 Americans in country right now.

Yesterday we were doing errands around town together, and he pulled to the side of the road to pick up this bouquet of roses for me. With flower prices as they are, I get showered with beautiful flowers from him real often. This arrangment of 2 dozen roses was $1.50. He told me that he would miss me all week and to look at the flowers throughout the week to be reminded of him. Ahh-- so sweet!!!

Interesting thought!

Although their is a certain significance to man being created first, if you look at the line of creation, females are the culmination! In creation, everything keeps getting more sophisticated, more intricate, until finally a woman appears-- and only then does God rest. :)

THE NEW DIN!

You need to look at the previous post to understand!

( The twins didn't want this photo taken- therefore the scowls)

TCCC Staff Conference- April, 2008

Our national staff conference is a highlight of every year for us. Because we are truly like one big family and every family needs a yearly reunion- this is a valuable time to gather all the staff together. The purpose of our conference each summer is to give our staff refreshment, encouragement and motivation for the next year. Our theme this year was: “Treasure Hunters”. Tom Roxas, our director for the Asia Southeast Area came to be our guest and special speaker. He reminded us that Jesus is our true treasure and while our earthly treasures will be destroyed – our heavenly treasures will last forever. Other highlights from this year were:

-A morning of personal time with God, where we were given the opportunity to travel to 7 different stations to find treasure in the Savior. Here is some of our staff drawing near to God in a beautiful garden.

At this station we made a memorial to God of things we are thankful for.

At this station we wrote on a paper something we wanted to let go of in our life and give to God and then nailed it to the cross.

---One of our evening sessions had a focused time to move around the room and appreciate other staff who had been an influence in our life and who we are thankful for. It lasted for quite awhile with hugs and tears while sharing words of appreciation. This session in particular was a huge time of encouragement to Mike and I. Several of our staff thanked us repeatedly for our investment in their lives and for continuing on with them for so many years.

-Our fun day was an afternoon at Rayong Beach where we rode banana boats, played beach volleyball, and the Thai staff’s favorite, which is cooking and eating fresh seafood and somtam. We even had a baby elephant roaming around our party.

Beach Volleyball

Cooking and barbequing

The “somtam” table

Fresh prawns on the grill
Games were played after the evening meeting sessions.
By the end of the week, we had accomplished our goals of joining together in prayer and commitment for the new year and in the style of every Thai conference or camp – we ended with one big group photo.

Locks of Love Donation

Din is one of our Thai national staff here and directs a campus team in Bangkok. He has been growing his hair out for two years and decided last week to donate it for the manufacture of wigs for cancer patients. Since I gave him the idea, he asked me to cut it for him. Yesterday I sent it in to Locks of Love for him. It turned into quite the celebration as several staff gathered around for the cutting and cheered him on. Documentation in pictures is here! Way to go, Din!!! You did it!!!

Happy Thai New Year!!

It is the annual water throwing festival here in Thailand, called Songkran. This is the biggest of all the Thai festivals and holidays. The whole city has been shut down April 13 to 16. It is also the beginning of a new year. Our entire city has turned into a giant water fight with a festival atmosphere. You cannot go out onto the streets and expect to stay dry for these 4 days. When the girls were here growing up --Mike and I were Mr. and Mrs. Songkran - enjoying the atmosphere full heartedly. Now that the girls are gone-- we're just watching the young folk celebrate. This first picture is some of our Thai staff family, and the second one shows a typical street scene.

Elephant - National Symbol of Thailand

The elephant is the national symbol of Thailand, and has been revered in Thailand for many centuries. They were important in battle and the kings mounted on the elephants to fight the Burmese and defend Thailand. On our visit to Ayutthaya, we saw these elephants, waiting to give tourists rides.

Each elephant has a mahout that takes care of him and gives him a bath or just sprays him to cool down. A Thai legend has it that a marriage is like an elephant-- the husband is the front legs, that choose the direction, the wife the back legs, providing the power !

The elephant appears in many Thai proverbs and sayings and is an emblem on regalia of national importance such as prior national flags of Thailand, royal emblems, and royal decorations. The elephant holds pride of place as the national symbol of the Kingdom of Thailand.

AYUTTHAYA

The ancient city of Ayutthaya is one place we had never visited yet after living in Thailand for 22 years. Ayutthaya was the capitol for 417 years. There are ancient ruins all over the city. It was founded in 1350 and ruled by 33 different kings until it was finally overruled by the Burmese in 1767. We were passing by the city last week which is in central Thailand, on our way to conference so decided to have a look. It's one of those places that I'm glad I saw one time-- but now I never need to go back. :)

These ruins were all over the city-- this one at a major intersection.

Walls and gates were all around the old city.

I tried to imagine what life was like then - almost 700 years ago.

I had a very handsome driver who did not want to see as much as me-- so he waited for me at a few stops in the Tsunami truck.

Thanks to Mr. Mike-- my very kind and patient driver.

Temperatures are Soaring

We are in the midst of hot season now. This week, I was having a hard time enduring the heat. Sometimes it makes me feel better to just know how hot it really is- like maybe it helps me to sympathize with myself better. So I decided to get our big Iowa farm thermometer and put it in the sun for a few minutes and see how high it would go. I laid it in the yard in front of our home. About 15 minutes later, I came out to have a look and this is what I found.

Oops-- off the gauge--- possibly it lost it's accuracy- because as Jenny told me _ "Mama- if it's that hot- I'd think you'd be dead". Okay- so now my curiosity made me wonder how hot it was in the shade of our tree. So after a bit in the shade it worked its way back down again.


After a few hours, later in the afternoon , it just stayed consistently at the 100 F. mark. So enough of the weather report. All this to say-- it gets real real hot here in the hot season.

Daily Job: Chiropractor or Boat Mechanic

While on the island last week, Mike hurt his back carrying bags of gravel from the boat to the land. He mentioned it to our pastor friend in the town. The pastor told him that he had a friend who was a good chiropractor and to come on over to the church and he'd work on his back. Mike arrived, laid on the hard church office floor as instructed and the friend went to work on his back. A bit later as they were talking, Mike found out that he is actually a boat mechanic- but is good at this too. It's amazing the skills that one can learn while working on those boat motors.

Grandchildren Withdrawal

Well, we have now survived 3 months of no hugs, kisses, and adorable daily charms from our grandchildren - and wondering how much longer we can keep going. After having Collin and Summer living here in Chiang Mai for 18 months, we are definitely going through some withdrawal. When we first got back to our home - there were reminders everywhere-- sippy cups in the cupboard, basket of toys here and there. We've put them away-- but there is still the fort that Grandpa built in the front yard, sand box, and swing set that are a bit harder to hide. God gives us the emotional strength that we need day by day-- but we want you to know that some days are much harder than others. Without being partial, we think they may be two of the most adorable grand kids in the world. Thank you Marisa for keeping us updated with photos from the last few months.

Future of village is in the children!

Mike got back in town and we went to our favorite German Restaurant for dinner and to get caught up from his trip to the islands.

The highlight of this trip for him one day was taking 15 of the school age children on an old boat into the mainland for a week of summer church camp. These kids were so excited and had never had an opportunity like this- and most likely never would if it were not for our work with this village. The little boys all sat up in the front of the boat and kept rubbing the hair on Mike's arm. Thai's do not have much hair on their arms and they are always so fascinated with ours-- along with the fact that our skin is so light compared to theirs. The girls sat in the back of the boat, and along with the boys were both apprehensive and excited about this new opportunity. One girl around age 12- kept pulling out a little powder compact and smearing powder on her face to try and get her skin lighter. (Thai's feel that dark skin is not attractive- and use a lot of powder to lighten up their skin) Every now and then she'd peek at Mike to see if he was looking and grin to show her embarrassment and excitement.

The reason this was a highlight for Mike-- is that he really sees the children as the hope for the future of these Mogan people. The parents cannot read and write and have little vision for a future any different than what they've ever had. The children, however, are now going to a school and being educated and have become Christians at young ages. This camp is a Christian camp, so we are excited about all that these children will learn this week about God's love for them and come back home to share with their parents.

Shopping, one of our Thai staff, told Mike that the kids really did not have nice enough clothes to take for a week. Once they got to the mainland, at the market they were able to buy each of the kids two new shirts for the week for just $2- and they will also get a camp t-shirt for a souvenir. Pray for a great week and future for these children.

Their daily playground!

Some of the children from the village that are now going to school.