Jason and Doni and Family

What a treat today to finally get to visit the Weimer family in Khon Kaen, the north eastern part of Thailand.

Jason, Doni, Asia and Coleman are from our home church in Waterloo and just moved to Thailand last October.  We are so excited to have some other people from our home right here in Thailand, but a bit sad that they live  over 8 hours away from us and we won't see them often.  Doni is a fellow blogger, so I follow her new life in Thailand on her blog.  Today we had fun seeing their new home that they have set up here.

We met up with our Campus Crusade team here that works at Khon Kaen University today also and enjoyed catching up with them, while hearing updates on the campus ministry. Jason and Doni joined us to get to know the team better.  It is so so good to be with them on this side of the ocean.  We love you Weimer Family and sorry that it took us so long to get to KK and officially welcome you to Thailand!

Progression of a Seaside Dinner

Hhhmmm... do we want this for dinner?  Probably not tonight!

A walk down to the pier is a bit too far for Dick and Joy so let's give them a first class ride.

Mike found us  a great place to eat and watch the sun set.

Great to experience this with the Iowa childcare team, who don't eat at a Thai oceanside pier too often!

Fresh shrimp in fried garlic along with other seafood delicacies.

Hhmm...another decision.. which hong nam to use.

The sun has set.. lovely dinner at the pier!

Childcare Program

I think I got the easier week for childcare ministry….

Last week 190 kids-------This week 40 kids

Last week in busy Bangkok------This week at the beach

Last week 12 hour days-----This week 6 hour days

Last week I prayed----This week I played!

The conference this week was for a smaller group of leaders and their families. These people are full time Christian workers and their children are exceptional when it comes to behavior and Bible knowledge. They have been such an easy group to teach. A few snap shots of our week.

Morning song time led by Miss Katie

 

Story time led by Miss Joy

Game time led by Miss Judy. (I got to use some of my PE major expertise.)

We broke the time up into activity groups.

After an intense schedule last week, the goal this week was for the kids just to have a fun time while the parents were in meetings. It's been a great week all except the sickness that has passed around amongst the childcare workers and kids.

Many parents have expressed their appreciation for the great childcare program, enabling them to focus on the meetings and not be concerned about their children. It has been a privilege to serve the parents in this way, and it has been a fun week for me to get to know the team from Waterloo and make some new friends with Iowan's  right here in Thailand.

Puktian

The conference that I am helping with childcare at this week is in Puktian, a small beach north of Chaam. It is famous for it’s statues in the sea depicting characters from one of Thailand great poets.

The most prominent character is a six meter tall Pee Seua Samut, and aquatic female demon.

At low tide, the Thai’s like to walk out to the statues to have a closer look.

More are still being built with the usual bamboo scaffolding.

Yesterday during some time off, we took off to a beach in town. This is our group (minus two) enjoying time together.

The hut next door to us with live music and fresh fruit shakes.

Abundance of seashells for sale.

Time to get back to the little ones.  These kids have more knowledge of the Bible than any little kids that I have ever been around.  As Miss Joy teaches the lessons from Exodus, they often add their insight to the story. They have been such a fun group of kids to teach and be around.  Pictures of their sweet faces coming soon.  

BO-BO

Sea Salt Anyone?

It doesn’t get any fresher than this!

Interesting stop on our way to Puktien!

Krung Thep Mahanakhon (or better known as Bangkok)

Our week of prayer ministry is over – but we continue to think about the dear brothers and sisters often that we had the privilege of praying for.

Before heading to the next conference that we are helping with near Chaam, we have had two more days in Bangkok. Most of the people that we have worked with on the prayer team and the childcare workers from Iowa- have not been to Thailand, so we have been doing a bit of touring guiding around the city of Bangkok. A few photos here to recap the last few days.

I peeked in on the childcare and as usual, they were keeping the kids happy with songs and games to learn the lessons.

Our team had some fun times each day. On this particular day, I was given a reward for being “Miss Flexible” because of some interesting scheduling that kicked me out of my room a few times.

As we are out and about around the city, we noticed that the decorations are gearing up for Chinese New Year.

This year will be the ‘Year of the Rabbit’ thus-rabbit décor is abundant.

Gotta love those creatively made chandeliers

The Krispy Kreme rage is so evident. We’ve been by the shop several times and have never seen the line shorter than 20+ people. There are even people standing in front who offer to sell you boxes by the dozen at an increased price to save you from waiting in the line. When I saw this little vendor selling them on the street- I could not resist giving her some business to buy just one original. And yep—it was very tasty and worth every calorie to me.

In the weekend market yesterday, I had to get a photo of this stall full of baby bunnies for Bethany to show to her Chloe.

Last night we took the Waterloo childcare team on a dinner Cruise along the Chao Phraya River- to see a bit more of the city. They were such a hard-working team and deserved the treat for sure. They were up early every morning, to bed every night and taught the children all day long. I calculated that 16 workers for 190 children, gave them an average of 12 kids for every worker and the majority were preschool. They need more workers for next year and we’ll start taking applications now.

This view of the Grand Palace with it's golden stupas and moon overhead was a bit too dark for pictures.

This had been the view out of our hotel window all week. We leave tomorrow for a different conference near the beach area. Some of the Waterloo team will be doing more childcare for that conference. Mike’s brother and sister-in-law have been teaching the 8-11 year olds this week (40 of them). Next week, Mike will take his brother with him to the south to check in on our ministry with the Moken Sea Gypsies and Kids Home- so I will take his place and help with the childcare. I have missed the ocean and look forward to it's majesty tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Lori!

Twenty-eight years ago today, I barely made it to the Manila hospital in time to deliver our sweet Lori Lynn and she has continued on with an exciting life ever since her day of birth!

Oh, how we wish we could celebrate with you today Lori- but we will just remember the fun birthday celebration we had with you last month before saying good-bye.  Hope you are enjoying your new set of dishes and the 0-degree sleeping bag.

She is adored by her nieces and nephew.

She knows how to turn any situation into a good time and is so much fun to be around.

What fun she  had being a part of her sisters weddings this fall.

We love you so much Lori Lynn and thank God for giving you to us!

"Our dancing queen" she is!

Lori is in her second year of working at Thousand Pines camp, a Christian camp,that during the school year runs an Outdoor Science program for schools.  This new promo of the program gives you an idea of what she does and if you watch it till the end you'll see Lori in her element!

Lori, we love watching you on your life journey with God and will keep praying that you listen to His voice as He leads you day by day!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Our Week of Prayer

When we first arrived in Bangkok on Monday morning and met our prayer team for the week, we immediately recognized that we were in the presence of true prayer warriors.  As they shared their journeys with us- we realized even more that Satan did not want our team to be praying at this conference.  Each of them had experiences that would have made most people decide not to come on this trip. In the last  few months leading up to this trip....

-one team member had his home burn to the ground by a very unusual fire two months ago
-one was thrown off her horse in an unusual accident and broke her back six weeks ago
-the leader saw her daughter die less than one month ago
-one has been fighting a sickness that won't go away

and yet, they all decided to not be defeated in their desire to pray and came anyway.  Please meet: Michelle, Tim, Colleen, Marilyn, and Libby.

It has been a privilege of ours this week to be on the prayer team with them. We are only one of three different prayer teams. The people that we have been praying for work in a country where it is very difficult to do what they do.  As they have come to us and asked for prayer appointments, they have blessed us in return.  Just to hear their stories and hearts has been so encouraging.  Some of them are really hurting and I just want to pick them up and bring them to our home to live with us for awhile. Their teachable spirits and passion are something that I want too.

For some of our team members, it is their first time to Thailand- so on our breaks for dinner we have dashed out of the conference sight for them to see a bit more than just the hotel and then returned for more appointments.

City lights over Bangkok.

It's been a bit of a reunion for us too, bumping into old staff friends like the Henschel family.  This is Molly's first trip back to Thailand after being adopted from here eleven years ago.   We got to help in choosing her for her  family and arrange for her adoption. Zach has been working in Asia this year, so their family is having a fun week of reuniting. Besides our prayer appointments, it has been good to have meals with old friends and catch up with them, also.

Idols hanging from the mirror in our taxi are a reminder that we are back in a land of idol worship.

And yep, it's true.... KRISPY KREME really has just recently come to Bangkok.  I saw it last night, but the lines were so long that I was only able to smell the calories-- not taste them yet!

The team of 16 from Waterloo are doing great with the childcare.  There are over 130 kids here in the program, with around 90 in the English childcare. I think they will return to Iowa very very tired- but appreciated very much by all the parents who are enjoying the meetings.  

Oops...correction....there are 230 kids in the program with 190 in the English childcare!