Tribute to Uncle Ralph

A few days ago, while we were on a Tsunami project in southern Thailand we got news, that my Uncle Ralph Grady had died. This is a difficult time to be so far away from my cousins and family as we grieve his death and yet celebrate a life well- lived. It’s hard for me to send our condolences through flowers- so I wanted to share my fond memories of him through this note.

Uncle Ralph is a patriarch of Christian living to both Mike and I. We have nothing but good memories of him and the example that his walk with God was to us.

My first memories go back to my childhood and visiting him on his dairy farm. GRADY FARMS DAIRY was always such a fun place for a child, to see the cows being milked, and the whole dairy process taking place. The above milk bottle from his dairy has always been a fun memory in my kitchen. When my Dad worked for him and made the milk deliveries, it was such a fun day for me as a kid to get to ride with him on his route and then get the treat of that delicious chocolate milk fresh from the dairy bottles. He also had the biggest and coolest hay mount of any farmer for kids to play in that I can remember.

I will remember him as a man who always stood firm for what he believed—even if it went against what the majority felt. At church business meetings, he would speak boldly for what he felt was right in God’s eyes, even if everyone did not agree.

He was also was an example to us of sharing his faith in Jesus to others. He would tell us of people that he had shared God’s love with. He loved to tell others about the most important person in his life so naturally in his conversations.

Ever since we first felt a call to go overseas as missionaries- Uncle Ralph has been nothing but an encouragement to us. He always supported us whole heartedly with his finances and even more through prayer. When we would visit him and Aunt Anna Mae at their house in town on Ridgemont, they would tell us that they prayed for us every single day. Then when he was alone in Friendship Village- at each of our visits he would continue to tell us that he still prayed for us every single day. What a huge blessing and encouragement that was to us every time we heard it.

His legacy will remain strong in our lives as an uncle of character, integrity, and a Godly example of a life well- lived for eternity. We know he is so happy in heaven right now with his lifetime sweetheart and with Jesus. We will miss you Uncle Ralph- but know you are in the best place ever-- the arms of Jesus.

American CCC Summer Project Has Arrived!

10 college students and 1 CCC staff member have arrived in Thailand for 6 weeks of ministry. They are a great group and we are already excited about all that God is going to do in and through them this summer. Their first two days were spent in Bangkok going through some orientation to Thailand culture and ministry. I asked the current Stint team who have been here for 1-2 years to teach most of the sessions from their experiences. Their afternoons and evenings were somewhat of a planes, trains and automobiles experience. We maneuvered them around Bangkok to see some sights and to keep them awake during the jet lag hours. The above picture is them with their Bangkok subway coins- ready to travel across the big city.

Orientation about using the Thai Baht

The 9 hour bus trip to southern Thailand for a work project.

Orientation from Mike about the Tsunami work project.

The two hour boat trip to Elephant Island

One of the work teams, clearing some land.

As of this writing they have completed two work days and have two more to go. They are incredible workers and are getting so much done. We had to make a supply run into town tonight. We'll try to post pictures soon of all the progress on the island. Thanks for praying for their last two days of work and adjustments. It is hot and dirty and hard to sleep with no fans, and take public dipper baths, but they are doing great!

Safe trip for Lori from Burma to Thailand to USA

I want to give a quick update that Lori got back safely from Burma today, had a few hours lay over here in Thailand and is now on her way back to the USA (via 10 hours in Japan). I was able to meet her and get a report of the trip- which I want to share later in more detail. In summary, the situation in Burma is very pathetic—much help is needed for the cyclone victims—but the government will still not give visas for the people who are waiting to get in. Lori said the hardest thing was when she heard the people from the delta area tell about how in the evenings they hear constant crying from the children because of hunger now. There is another wave of deaths expected because it's been three weeks today since the cyclone hit causing a lack of water, food and shelter.

Pier at Koh Chang (Elephant Island)

Tomorrow morning I leave on an eight hour bus trip to the south with 40 students for a week long Tsunami relief project. Completing this pier will be one of our projects. This is in the village on Koh Chang where Mike has been doing alot of rebuilding. I hope we will be able to share with you a great "before and after" picture, by the end of this week.

The week should be a great illustration of team work, as Mike thinks it will take at least 10 people to lift each cement slab up onto the footings. This project will include the 11 American summer project students who just arrived 3 nights ago, the 8 American stinters who have been here all year, and 20 Thai students from Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. 5 of these students are not Christians. We will be a very international group working and living together-from America, Thailand, the village Mogan people, and other international students from China, Korea, and Bhutan.
Please pray for our safety as we travel by bus and boat this week, especially with the monsoon season right now. We also appreciate your prayers for us as and all the logistics involved in leading this team of 40.

First "Self Service" Gas Station

Thailand is a very "service" oriented culture. Labor is cheap, so getting full service with most purchases at a minimal cost, is expected. I have never pumped my own gas in Thailand. All stations are full service. Mike and I were quite surprised last week when we saw a self-service station for the first time. There were speakers on the pumps explaining step by step what to do. They also provided plastic gloves- to wear while filling your vehicle. It was fun watching the Thai's trying to figure out how to do it.

The Koolaid Stand (I mean Coffee Stand)

Little coffee stands are going up everywhere in Thailand. All of a sudden, I'll see a wooden booth randomly on a sidewalk where there was nothing a few days earlier. This morning I went out to support the business of one and he wanted me to sit and relax in his new chair while he mixed up my drink. I decided to take pictures of the different vehicles passing by as I waited. Wish you could have heard all the motorcycle engines that went along with the traffic passing by.

NO, HE'S NOT ROBBING A BANK, JUST DOESN'T WANT DARK SKIN!
A TUK-TUK

MOTORCYLE TAXI #15

PINK IS THIS YEAR'S FAVORITE TAXI COLOR

-----Happy Anniversary to my love!-----

Today, May 21st, is our 31st wedding anniversay. It's the first thing that I thought of when I woke up today! Too bad that Mike and I are separated 8 hours. I'm in Bangkok and he's in Ranong, but we both know that God's call is not always centered around all our conveniences.

I recently read a quote that said:

"I'd rather be where God wants me to be-than where I want to be"

That says it well for us today. I am so thankful for a Godly husband that loves me so much. God has led us through 31 exciting years together all over the world and I look forward to many more. The distance cannot separate our love. I love you, Michael- and look forward to seeing you in 4 days. We will eventually find a place and time to celebrate!

KT Guesthouse- my Bangkok home!

KT Guesthouse has been my home this week, and where we usually stay when we are in Bangkok. It is very near our office and only $11/night. We came down to Bangkok a week ago today to meet Loris team en route to Myramar. After a few days of catching up with her at another guesthouse , Mike had to drive down to the south to begin preparations for two teams coming down there this week. I needed to stay here in Bangkok- to meet the teams and prepare for their orientation to Thailand. We don't like being separated, but use our cell phones to keep in touch throughout the day.

The media team from Texas -Simple Bull Dog- arrived a few days ago and will be doing some documentary coverage of the changed lives through our Tsunami rebuilding projects. They are a team of 8 and are training 10 of our Thai CCC staff while here in media ministries. In two more days, the 18 of them will join Mike in the south, as he takes them around to interview some of the victims that we have worked with. Mike tells me that with the monsoon season right now- getting to the islands has been very difficult. When a storm blows in, the waves in the middle of the ocean are 6-9 feet high, and our boats are pretty small. Please pray for safety for our teams travelling to the islands this week.

Today our 8 Stinters come down from the north to join me in our orientation for the USA summer project students. 11 students from colleges in the USA- will arrive Wed. night for a 6 week mission trip here in Thailand. Thursday and Friday I will be leading them through their orientation to Thailand. During the days we will take turns teaching them tips on living and ministering in Thailand-- and then in the evenings, we will take buses, boats, tuk-tuks, subways, sky trains and taxis to show them some culture in Bangkok. On Saturday- 21 students from our campuses in northern Thailand will bus down 16 hours to join us. Then all 40+ of us will get on a bus to meet Mike in the south (another 8 hour bus ride). By Sunday, we will be taking a boat out to the islands, to finish building the pier to the island, doing some painting and whatever else Mike tells us to do. With 40 eager workers on this trip- I hope he can keep us all busy!!!

Just reading all this makes me a little tired. I think I'll go read by the pool - before the action starts arriving today!

Paula Dinkins

Last week, a very special friend was in town. Paula found out 6 years ago that she was full of bone cancer and had to evacuate Thailand with her family immediately. The Dinkins are one of those families that loves Thailand, had been here 20+ years, all fluent in Thai, and it was very hard for them to leave. This month her doctor finally gave her permission to come back again to visit. Friends from all over the city came to hear her share "her story". Paula is one of the greatest examples to me of natural "way of life witnessing". She talks about Jesus everywhere she goes and to everyone who will listen-(and sometimes even others). She shared story after story of miracles in her life through this most difficult journey and peoples lives that she has continued to be involved in. Their kids are our kids ages and friends- so we feel a special bond with their whole family, and so did all these other ladies. Some of them I hadn't seen in years. The majority of this group are veteran missionaries. As I look at the group they have all been in Chiang Mai 10-30 years. Paula is the front center. Thank you, Paula, for the privilege of knowing you and the incredible example you are to me of walking with Jesus through your hardship and continuing to share God's love with everyone that God brings into your life. You are always so encouraging to me!!

Blogging!!!

I am enjoying this blogging thing more and more. Last night I was thinking about how people unwind in different ways. After a busy day- some come home and surf through the TV stations to unwind, others play solitaire on their computers, others immerse themselves in a good movie. I like to sit down with my computer and create quick and simple blog posts of our lives. Being away from family and friends-- they tell me that they like to know what is going on in our lives here- so it has become a good way to share our days with them. God has given us the adventure of an exciting lifestyle and it seems there are activities most everyday to write and post about. If you could let me know that you're one of our friends who checks out our blog and how often- it may motivate me to keep going. It's fun no matter what-- but also fun to know it's being read.

Here are two contrasts in Bangkok from yesterday. The guesthouse that we've been staying in is on one of Bangkok's canals that transports students to school and adults to work. Every morning and afternoon we hear the roar of these boat motors out our window. I took this out our bedroom window. It's rainy season- so the tarp is up to keep them dry.

In contrast, this picture was taken inside one of Southeast Asia's largest malls, looking down from the 6th floor through the layers of escalators.

Miracle Visa's to Burma

It truly is a miracle. The Burmese Embassy here in Bangkok has lines of people being turned away who are trying to get visa's. The government still does not want any outside help for the 100,000 homeless victims. However, Lori's group has been granted visa's to get in. They know they are very privileged. They will not get into the delta area to actually help the victims, but they will be holding trainings for the Burmese in how to do relief work themselves-- which is better in the long run. Today they practiced giving IV's to each other as that is one of the greatest needs. The victims have had very little food and water in the last 2 weeks and they are dehydrated. Here is a picture of them during the IV training.

In the meantime- Mike and I have enjoyed some time with Lori before they leave Thailand to go into Burma. We didn't eat here- but had to have our picture with Ronald McDonald. Lori is trying to take in as much Thai food as she can in her few days here. Please pray for thier safety and best use of time once they get into Burma.

Lori Made it to Thailand!!

We met Lori and her team of 5 with all thier relief supplies at the Bangkok airport last night. Today her team is at the Burmese Embassy applying for visa's to get in. Please pray that they will be granted. We actually found an inside contact (friend of ours) that we feel is going to be very helpful- but for security reasons feel it is best to not share details.

Taken from our local newspaper about Burma: "The majority of the 1.5 million homeless people are living without safe drinking water and sufficient food- now 12 days after the cyclone Nargis hit. Thousands of people are injured or ill from bad water, helplessly waiting for treatment. Tens of thousands of corpses, including many children, are floating in ponds, creeks and rivers."

The Burmese (or Myanmar) government is still not letting help in. Aircrafts loaded with relief supplies have been sitting for days on the Thailand tarmac waiting for the green light to go in. Relief workers are still lined up waiting for visa's. It will truly be God's hand if Loris group is able to get in. The US embassy estimates that more than 100,000 people could be dead and the United nations estimates at least 1 million are homeless. One of the first tasks will be to gather up the corpses from water and land so that the water system can return to normal. Lori's group will not be involved in this. They are a medic group that will be training locals how to respond- as they give relief themselves.

Our hearts go out to these victims. This was in a note to us from from a Burmese Christian in Burma: "Only God can change the situation. We know that our authorities are so stubborned. They do not care anybody or any organization and our people have been totally manipulated by them. We pray that may the Lord use this situation for His glory and the transformation of our country."

Keep in mind that this photo was taken last night after midnight and after Lori had been travelling for over 24 hours, but I wanted you to feel the joy of mine of getting a few days with one of my daughters on this side of the globe. We are proud of Lori and her boldness to get involved and help.

Waiting patiently in the Bangkok airport for her arrival late last night.

Tookay- Friend or Foe?

This is one of the tropical critters that lives on the wall of our house- called a Tookay. I am still not sure on my thoughts of him. We have many little lizards inside our house, that don’t bother me at all. They are called chin-chokes, and they kill bugs for us and mosquitoes. They are scared of us and hide behind our pictures and curtains on the walls. Their only annoyance is that they leave their little droppings around. The tookay’s at this point are only outside. We have one on each side of our house. They are nocturnal and only come out at night and are named after the sound they make. They make a very loud unusual sound that they repeat 3-4 times, it sounds like: “toooooo-kaaaaay’! They are very ugly in coloring as you may notice. The scariest thing about them is that their paws have very strong suction claws and the Thai’s say that if they attach to you, you can not get them off- the only way is to submerge in water. They are known for keeping rats away from their area. I like that! My biggest concern is that one will decide to enter our home- while Mike is on one of his trips. If they move in- I will defiantly move out! Can’t you see me- filling up the bathtub by myself with this thing on my arm, calmly waiting to get in? Mike tries to comfort me, by telling me that they are very afraid of us. However, I am still deciding if my best defense is our little BB gun or the big rat trap I have set on our patio. We have no rats- but I think this trap should work for a tookay. I'll let you know.

Tip and Pat

Today we went to Tip and Pat's wedding in Bangkok. Tip has been on staff with TCCC for 15 years. She was on our team up here in Chiang Mai for several years, was the GCTC director for a few years and we have always been so encouraged by her compassion for others. Pat was also on our staff with TCCC years ago, but they will be working full time at their church now. Their wedding was so beautiful and meaningful today. Weddings are always a fun time of reunion with friends that we haven't seen for several years. Bin, the pastor speaking in this picture is a friend that we hadn't seen for years. He reminded us that after their wedding several years ago- they had no place to live, so they stayed with us in our home for their first month. That had to be interesting , living with our four little girls and we had forgotten about it- but today they thanked us again for giving them a place to live.

CONGRATULATIONS to Tip and Pat and we wish you God's very best!!

CAR MAINTENANCE- 101

God has given Mike a special gift in mechanics. I'm not sure if it is from his Iowa farming background, or if it developed after living in Asia for so many years and not trusting some of the mechanics that we had problems with. Anyway, over the years he has earned a reputation after fixing many broke down cars. Most of our Thai staff have never been taught about car maintenance- so when they were choosing practical electives for these past two weeks of afternoon classes, they asked Mike to teach on how to care for the ministry vehicles.

The last time he taught this course was to our girls in December before our return to Thailand. Mike really motivated them by telling them that if they didn't pass his final exam, they couldn't drive our car. Notice their attentiveness and motivation to even take notes.

Not sure what was happening here while Bethany was changing the tire.

This Week In Chiang Mai

This is his class of 29 in the classroom before going out to the cars.

They were divided up into 10 teams to work on 15 different cars.

This class was motivated by some tools that were given for the highest final test score.

Hopefully as we start a new year of ministry-- all the vehicles will be well taken care of this year-- thanks to "Mechanic Mike!"

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Institute of Biblical Studies

Last week and this week, our TCCC staff are studying at our IBS. The "Institute of Biblical Studies" takes place every summer as a time of personal spiritual enrichment for our staff. We bring in teachers from outside to teach seminary level classes or other types of Bible studies and classes. This year they are studying Old Testament survey, Job, and Church History in the mornings. In the afternoons they have fun seminars such as: voice lessons, computer classes, painting, English language, and car maintenance. I have been facilitating the 9 short termers here as we have watched a seminar on DVD by Dan Allendar on the topic of "Telling your Life Story". In the afternoons, Mike has been teaching a class on Car Maintenance. More about that later... Our Thai staff love these two weeks to live, eat, and study together. They are packed into all our housing rooms, and one office even has 8 girls sleeping on the floor together. We have had three girls from the American Stint team up in Chiang Rai living with us this week in our home. Last night- I captured a shot of them doing dishes together after dinner. Since they are the ages of our daughters, it's been fun to have the house full again. Thanks Amanda, Tabby, Jess, and Shana for bringing some life into our home again.

This is the Americans' morning class on DVD. The afternoon art painting seminar.

Voice lessons seminar
The music class performed for us thier last day.
The snack table with Thai treats.

One of my favorite Thai fruits called- NGA.

Garfield has ITP

Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) is a bleeding condition in which the blood doesn’t clot as it should. This is due to a low number of blood cells called platelets. This little guy named "Garfield" has ITP. His parents Noi and Jam are on our Thai CCC staff team with us. A few weeks ago, we first heard that Garfield had some health problems. They have been in Chiang Mai with us this week for our IBS classes and had to spend some time in the hospital. They asked us to recommend a good doctor in town here and since there was confusion about his condition, I decided to go with them to the best pediatrician in town that I knew of. Doctors in Thailand don't usually go by appointments, we just sit and wait for our turn. After two hours of waiting, I was relieved to hear an explanation by the Dr. about ITP. Please pray for sweet little Garfield who has to have his platelet level checked every two weeks, and has needed steroids to keep it up. Usually, the body stops making the antibodies that attack the platelets and the disorder resolves on its own- but that is not always the case. They are such a dear family, and we want to see Garfield get better.

CCC North Region Football Game

We just got home from a soccer game, or as we call it in Asia-- a football game. This time it was not one of our daughters school games as was our life years ago. Pai, one of our Thai national staff has put together a team of students and staff just to play for exercise, fun, and building relationships. About half of the team are Christians and the rest -not yet. He asked Mike and I to come to the game tonight to cheer for them. Brought back allot of memories from the girls games. This was a makeshift field, with a cow that walked through the field, motorcycles with up to four people on them around the perimeters, and as you might see -a temple in the background. Pai has such a heart for reaching out to this team and ends each game with prayer for both teams. We enjoyed being their spectators tonight, and will pray that God uses this time for Pai to build into students lives. Notice the back of their shirts with the CCC team name.