School's Out!!!

Collin finished his 3rd grade yesterday and Summer finished her 2nd grade. Gone are the days of Hayley and Nathan being home alone during the day. It will be a full house at the Foltz's this summer and I'm expecting more visitors here too.

Hayley and Nathan in our fort house this week, drawing pictures for their aunties in the USA.

Hayley is excited to start kindergarten this August. 

She is an easy one to have around and so ready for school.

Nathan still gets a few more years at home- soaking up special attention. 

Collin gave his first class report this week on the country of America, complete with a power point and did a great job. 

It still amazes us that some of our grand-kids are here in Thailand with us and that we can go to special days at their school and cheer them on as grandparents. 

Summer and I are buddies and have some craft ideas in mind for summer activities.

silly sisters

There was a lot of celebrating that last week at their school.  When I found root beer at the grocery store this week, we decided to celebrate last night with root beer floats.  It was their first time and it was a hit! 

Next year they'll be in 4th, 3rd and Kindergarten.  We are so thankful for Grace International School - such a great place for them to get an education.  The latest promo on GIS has a really special little girl named Summer in it.  Watch for her at the 1:07 mark.  Gotta say that she's pretty adorable.

Happy summer..... Summer Foltz!

Auntie Say Bay

I'm still thinking about the incredible opportunity that we had to meet Aunty Say Bay a few weeks ago and I am re- reading the book about her life again.

They have run out of copies of the printed books, and we are hoping that they can be  printed again. The book is so good, that we want others to read about the life of this woman who gave so much of herself so that the Moken people could learn about God.

She told her story to Angeline Koh (far left) from Singapore who spent a lot of time with Say Bay and researched the Moken over several years as she wrote the book.  Angeline came along with Say Bay on our trip to the south a few weeks ago and we really enjoyed learning from Angeline, too.  She shared with us about the process of writing the book.

If it were not for her sacrifices, hardships and commitment to the Moken people; they would not have a Moken written language or the Bible which she has translated for them.

She has had a huge influence on each of the people in this picture.  The majority of them are Moken who she has either led to the Lord or trained and they are now reaching other Moken's with the message of God's love.

She has poured into the lives of many people like Polay here, who is now teaching other Moken's the things that Say Bay taught her.

This is a short video showing her passion for the Moken people.  I cannot listen to her without tears. 

I have been especially thankful lately for people like Aunty Say Bay who are such a beautiful example of people who put their life on the line to accomplish their mission.  It is that time of year when we have a lot of short term mission teams come over.  We are very appreciative of them and they give a big boost to our ministry.  They get really excited about seeing what God is doing, share amazing stories of  how God used their time while here and then they are gone. We've seen a lot of new workers here come and go quickly when they had intended to stay longer. Mission work can be hard.  That is why I have enjoyed learning so much from Auntie Say Bay- who left her home in Burma and lived on the island with the people for 40 years. Her stories of trials and victories through obedience to God remind me that God wants to bless us as we obey and follow Him. Without out all of her risks and hardships, there would not be a Bible for the Moken to read.  I don't think that I could do what she has done, but am so thankful for her example of perseverance and trust in God.

happy 37 years to us

The year was 1977!  We were so young and naive! Do I even need to tell you the year?  This picture looks so 70"s!  The tuxes were the newest line out that year- pastel colors in blue, pink, green and yellow. We made the girls dresses,  white eyelet over coordinating  pastels underneath.  The sunhats were amazing too. Ages 22 and 24- a student at UNI and a factory worker at John Deere's.

Today,  after breakfast, I got out our wedding albums.  First thing Mike said was" We look so young"! Yes,  37 years of life does that to some of  us.  After that many years of tropical heat and  humidity our pictures have taken a beaten too.  They have spots of mold and are discolored- just like us.

Little did we know in 1977, the adventurous life we would live.  All we prayed was, "God we are yours, lead us in the way that You want us to go and guide us in every step" That is still our prayer! Our first  3 year commitment  has led to 37 years.  Would we do it again?  You betcha!  He has blessed us beyond what we could have imagined! 4 daughters, 3 son-in-laws, 6 grand-kids, and special relationships all over the world.

Through the years, our greatest hope has been "Love is not a feeling, but a commitment". Its a choice of the heart. It is more than words, but more of self sacrificing acts. It's making memories, some that are only ours.

Here's to another 37 years and then the pictures will be even more fun to look back on with so many special people in our lives that have walked this journey with us. We are grateful for all the support and friendships of so many along the way.

Jesus Film in Moken

The Jesus Film is a ministry of Campus Crusade. A number of mission experts have acclaimed the film as one of the greatest evangelistic tools of all time.  Based on the Gospel of Luke, the "Jesus" film has now been translated into more than 1,200 languages, with new languages being added every month. A list of the languages is updated daily here.  This allows God's word to speak to people in more than 200 countries in languages they know and understand.  The reason this tool is so effective is: "It is the power of the Word of God in their heart language."

We have been showing the Jesus Film in villages all over the Philippines and Thailand throughout our years here in Asia.  However, this month, we had the opportunity to get up close with the actual translation process for the Moken people.  I have always been fascinated with the whole way it is done and we were so excited to be a part.  It is not a simple task.  The process is condensed to this:
Step 1: Translating the Script
Step 2: Testing the translation
Step 3: Recording the Voices
Step 4: Editing the Voices and Soundtrack Mixing
Step 5: Producing the Master and initial distribution
The Final Step - People hear, understand the receive the gospel

In reality, there is a lot more to it- then these simple steps. This does not  mention details like; finding the translator's and the actor voices, etc.  Actually, the Moken translation was a rare and unique language group. The requirements are  to have at least 30,000 in a people group and the Moken are down to just 2000-3000.  There is a Jesus film office here in Chiang Mai, which allowed us to do a small scale "inside house" job.  Mike and I were not with the group from the beginning, so I was able to borrow a few of Angeline Koh's photos (that I'll share here)  from inside the studio.

The studio is like nothing that comes to your mind when you think of a studio.  Considering it has been  done in villages and cities all over the world, it is amazing the kinds of studios they put together that produce the quality they need.  Bed mattresses on walls are their best device.  The Moken language was done in one of the rooms at the kids home in Ranong.

Tim (from Chiang Mai) did all the recording, editing, and mixing. He has done languages all over the world- and we were sorry to hear that this was one of the most difficult he had ever done.  The boats passing by, rain on the tin roof, the noisy fish processing plant next door all caused many interruptions.  I think the greatest difficulty was the air conditioner and fan in the room were too loud- so they worked in 100 +F weather throughout the whole week.

Look at those sweat beads.

This was the actor voice of Jesus.

The script in front of him is written in English and Moken and they follow along with the movie on a screen  as they speak.

I love this lady, Polay, one of the most joyful women I've ever met.  She was one of Say Bay's first disciples in their Burmese Moken village.

They even used a few of the kids from our Ranong Kid's home to do some of the voices. 

Ruby did the translation and since he speaks Moken, he was right by Tim's side checking the accuracy of the recording.

Most of the actor voices were Mokens who came over from Burma for the recording.  It was such a fun week together, full of anticipation.  Here we are at dinner with the actor voices celebrating the completion of recording, eager to watch the test review that evening.

They were all given some "love gift" money for their hard work, had a few hours to plan out their shopping list, and then we took them to Lotus to get some special purchases to take back home to Burma. They were such a loving, appreciative, cheerful group to work with and so full of the joy of the Lord.

Before they left on boats to return the next morning, there was the usual session of photo taking.  Here we are with the group from Burma and Somsak and Uan.  

Two key players here- Ruby the translator and Tim the recording technician!

Polay is so short that we squatted down to her height which gave everyone the giggles. 

And who would not want a photo with the Moken Jesus? 

These are all the voice actors that came in off of Chang Island for the recording. 

Mike brought them together on our visit back to the island so that he could express a thanks to each of them for their part in making this a reality.

Plans are in place to show the new Moken Jesus Film June 23-26, four nights in a row on the three islands that we have worked on and in Ranong. I guess you could call them premiere showings.  After that, our dream is to  continue to take it to Moken villages on islands  all over the Andaman Sea.  It would not be an impossible task to take it to every Moken village in Thailand over the next several years.  Please pray with us that as these dear people hear Jesus speak their language- they will understand who he is and what he has done for them.  No other movie has been translated into Moken. Since most Moken cannot read - this opportunity to hear and see Jesus may be their only chance to meet Him and begin a personal relationship with Him.  Please pray with us that as the Moken hear Jesus in their own heart language they will turn to Him. We are so privileged to be a part of this project and excited about the possibilities. 

32 little cups for 32 little personalities

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this:

to look after orphans and widows in their distress and

 to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." 

James 1:27

Coconut Island

Mike and I enjoyed a getaway last weekend after we finished up some work in the south.   We needed a location convenient to  our return to Chiang Mai.  I always enjoy exploring new places.  Mike would probably prefer to  return to places we've already  liked- but I'm often on a whim of new discoveries. I need to be honest that the name of this place drew me in as much as anything.  It was near by, someplace we'd never  been to and just sounded cool-- Koh Maprao (in Thai) means Coconut Island.

There were definitely coconut trees all over the island.

Our purpose for the weekend was:
-- After working on the islands, I can feel drained, dirty, and weary.  Getting away to a nicer place is a very relaxing way to recharge.
--Our wedding anniversary is in one week.  We still enjoy celebrating them even after 37 years.
--Retirement is coming up in a few years for us.  We are beginning to discuss how that might look in our situation.  The decisions are not easy as we've lived in Asia most all of our working years, and the decision of where to live is complicated.  We'd love to live near our kids and grand kids- but they are spread out in 3 states and 2 countries. Getting away to focus and discuss our lives and future is easier with out distractions.

That Mike..... he's a good man that I have by my side in this life! 

Coconut Island is just a 5 minute private shuttle  ferry from the mainland where we were and we had never even heard of this island.  It is very small with little development.  Our hotel was the only one open and there is no electricity on the island- only a generator.

The facilities were very nice and the pools were beautiful.  The island was so small that we rode bikes  from one end to the other one afternoon, right through coconut village, which was a Muslim community.

 We also took a break from our discussion times to do a little sea kayaking and exploring.

We arrived in a torrential downpour the first day, but the sky cleared up quickly and we enjoyed this colorful sunset.  No editing was done on this photo and I think the colors were even brighter than this. God was showing off some of his art work, for sure. 

The time to leave came just a bit too quick for me.  I don't have any earth shattering decisions to share with you that we were able to make- but I can say that we made some progress in sharing our hearts and desires. More than anything, we enjoyed our time together just getting away and feel very thankful for God's leading in our lives for so many years. We both know that we want to trust Him to lead us in the next several years however that may look, just as He has in the past.    

back to school commitments

Primary and secondary schools are starting back up this week, after their summer hot season break. The children are coming back off the islands to the Ranong Kids Home to get settled back in for school, too. One of our trips to both islands this week, was for the purpose of meeting with each family to discuss with the parents and children  their reasons for wanting their children to live in the dorm and study in Ranong. Last year, we had a few children panic when time came around for the difficult finals and we needed a new commitment from them for this year. We asked each family what their goals and aspirations were for their children and needed to know to what level they plan to continue on to.

Mike was able to use Auntie Say Bay as a translator so that she could talk with the families in the Moken language.  These are the parents on Koh Phyam.

Mike and Somsak then talked with the children and asked them each for a verbal commitment.

We took a family photo of each child in the home while we were on the island.  This is Que with his family who is doing so well at school and growing so much in each area of his life. 

Part of the reason that I wanted the family photos is that the families can be confusing to me.  They are not standard and consistent.  This is M with his grandma, who was raising him.

Sarena is from a large family and is the only one studying.  She wanted her photo with just her mom.

We then did a little island hopping from Phyam and here we are approaching the village on Chang.

Mike and Say Bay talking with the parents on Chang Island.

The children being prayed for as they begin a new school year and leave their parents to do their best in Ranong.

Parents praying for their children too.  It is a big privilege for them to come to the mainland and get a better education.

The STINT conference  this year raised enough money for the 30 children to get uniforms. These are some of  the high school students modeling their new school, P.E. and scout uniforms.  Thanks so much Stinters for providing these uniforms for them. There were a lot more than this, too.   They are all set for school this week, and we are praying for a good year of growth in each of their lives.