building a new home for a needy family is so rewarding

The house that the four Iowa guys (along with some of our campus staff) built for Yong's family was built out of big cement blocks.  The second build was a different style with smaller bricks. It was about a 2 hour drive toward the north from the other site last week.

When we arrived they had the frame and support poles already up.  You can see their old home on the left that was falling apart and they had stopped living in.  They had moved in with other relatives.

The group divided up into pairs and each chose a wall to get started laying the bricks.  There may have been some competition during this build between who was faster and yet whose walls were straighter.  We won't mention names.

On this build we added 6 more native Waterloo-ian's.  The Aronson family was on a holiday/mission trip and spent 3 days helping build this house.

Starting out at ground level here. 

Slowly going up......

concentration.....

teamwork.....

a test of marriages... 

(actually I was impressed how well Seth and Jess work together- not sure I can always say that for Mike and I)

...and yes, here is proof that I did more than just take pictures.  I found this one  in Paisan's pictures!

It was SO FUN to work together with this crew!

We were so proud of our walls as they went up.  Aren't they beautiful?

The Thai workers taught us how to make a design in the bricks to leaves holes for better air flow, giving them a breeze into the living room area. 

It took a lot of team work, with several people sticking with their particular job.  These guys were constantly mixing the cement by hand and preparing it for the people laying bricks.

Chad and Jim were constantly carrying the bricks and buckets of cement to the people on the walls. I  heard their names called out a lot for things like hammers, drills, nails, etc.  I guess you could call them gophers or cheerful servants! :)

Sister-in-law's bonding time!

They all agreed the higher the walls got, the harder the work was.  Although once Mike and Phil invented and patented their bucket hangars, the job got easier. 

This is the long wall on the side of the house going up at the end of day #1, day #2, and day #3!

Here's the whole work crew. 11 Americans, 9 drove down from Paisan's church in Chiang Rai, and 8 local people from the church in the Erawan area where we built.  The 9 from Chiang Rai brought a dog with them in the back of a pick up truck on a 8 hour drive. :)

Their old house is in such bad shape that they said they will use it for the cows and buffalo's to stand under.

The new house almost done on our last day and looking so good to them.

This is the sweet and grateful family that we built it for.  They have two boys and a baby girl 4 months old.  Our last day, we had a little "present the key to the new home owner"  ceremony and both of them could not stop smiling.

The father has a birth defect that has affected one side of his body (but not his mind) from a drug his mother took during pregnancy.  He is a hard working farmer in spite of his handicap and was always smiling as he worked with us.  I think he communicated a heart of gratefulness to all of us with his constant smile. 

Mike and I with Mr. Sombut and Mrs. Tuanjai.  He is the brother of Sompit who is Paisan's wife. Paisan has helped Mike on so many building projects, and Mike was happy to give back to some of his family members who were needy.  They are involved in the local Erawan church, and some of their church members also came to help us build. 

Tuanjai gave hand woven fabric gifts to everyone who helped.  They were made by a church member on her loom. 

As we pulled away that last day and took one final look at this house that was almost finished and basically built for them in just 4 days, we all felt such a sense of fulfillment.  Yes, it was hot and dirty and hard work- but such a small effort in relation to the joy and blessing it will be to this family. Thank you to all who contributed money towards the building supplies or  prayed for the team. You were a part of blessing this family also.  We pray that they will continue to be a testimony to the people in their community as a result of our gift to them.

Baby Daniel is Here!!!

I was with Rew and Dew for  their  engagement,  and with them at  their  wedding,  where our grand-kids were in the ceremony. When I heard that they were going to be at the hospital alone for their their first baby, they felt like family to me and I did not want them to be alone.  None of their family were able to come into town, so this morning, I had the privilege of being the waiting grandma outside the operating room with Rew.

Baby Daniel has been breech for one month and since he was not turning, the Dr. did a c-section delivery.

Rew and I waited patiently outside while they performed the surgery, with our Wawee morning coffee's. 

They took Dew in at 7:00am, we talked to the Dr. when she went in at 8:00am and saw Daniel when they brought him out at 8:40am.

They wheeled him by us pretty quick, but we both jumped up to have a peek.  I love Rew's proud big smile when he saw his son for the first time here, even if it was only for a few seconds. 

We then moved to the nursery area and waited outside for Rew to get a chance to see his son. This is a government hospital with quite strict visitors rules, even for the parents.  I was pretty disappointed that I was not allowed to take any photos of this precious new life.

We kept peeking through the curtains into the nursery to try and get a peek of baby Daniel.

Daddy Rew was so anxious to see his son.

Finally at 9:40, they let Rew go in to look at his son.  He came out describing each feature on his face to me, reporting that he has a lot of black hair and weighed in at 3035 grams. (6.69 pounds) 

Congratulations Rew and Dew on your sweet baby Daniel.  I can't wait to hold him and take pictures of him someday soon!

Bethany's Big Day!!!

Today is a big day for Bethany... she is turning the big "three-o"!  She has been a delight to our family from day #1 and we are wishing her a happy day of celebrating!

I'm a little slow getting this news out, but it is time to announce that I will be a grandma for the 7th time! Yes, Bethany has a lot to be thankful for with baby #2 on the way for her and Michael. The way they let us know was to face-time with us while Ellanora had this shirt on.  We were a little slow with the observation until they told us to read her t-shirt. I recently realized that I had Bethany when I was 30 (just turned 60) and she is having this little one when she is 30.  She has been miserably sick this pregnancy, but regardless  they are so excited at how God is blessing their family.

As long as we're pulling out old pictures, I found this one of my sis and I for her birthday yesterday. I love it because it brings back so many memories.  Sarah thinks we're a bit too serious, but I am pretty sure we were focusing on doing our best at that first day of school of 11th grade for her and 9th for me!

Happy Birthday to both Sarah and Bethany! 

and

Congratulations to Michael, Bethany and Ellanora!

Building Yongs House Last Week

This was these  three guys from Iowa  5th time to come to Thailand and build houses with Mike. Over the years the teams have been bigger as they brought friends and their own kids to help build- but this year it was the "Faithful Four".

They know each other pretty well by now and have all figured out how to work together even in difficult conditions.

The past four projects have been on Elephant Island in the south building homes/huts for the Moken Sea Gypsies.  This year, we switched things up a bit and they finished a home for one of our TCCC staff members parents in the northeastern part of Thailand.

In Thai culture, when a child graduates from college and gets a job, it is their responsibility to send money home to their parents every month and help provide for them.  For our TCCC staff who raise their own support, it is difficult for them to help out their parents a whole lot.  Some of them come from poor families, and much is expected of them culturally. We have been talking for awhile about our desire to help our staff families, so Mike asked our leadership team to choose some staff whose family had needs.  This is Yong who has been working with us for 6 years full time, and her family has had some hardships.

Her parents are very simple farmers (they grow some kind of special nuts) and had been living in this shack up until last year.

Over this past year they had been building this home little by little as they got enough money, and the Waterloo team was able to finish off the first floor by laying these cement blocks. When the team comes from Iowa each year, they also raise the money to pay for the building supplies and bring it with them.

Yongs parents are not Christians and have not been very excited about her serving God full time with her life.  She brought along some of her staff team to help with the project too which was a big testimony to her parents as they observed their lives, watched them pray together,  and felt the team's desire to help their family.

Her dad in particular (in front in blue shirt) has had some big changes in his attitude this week.  He rode around with Mike sometimes going to buy supplies and repeated numerous times, "thank God for your team and your help".  The last day he asked them to buy two big pieces of wood to put up a cross in his new home. Please pray for Yong as she continues to share with her parents about her relationship with Jesus.  Our desire is that this building project would just be one step toward him really understanding God's love for him and his family.  May this teams acts of kindness and labor of love, help her family find God's love for them.

Building project in Northeastern Thailand

We just arrived back from a great building project in Loei province.  Being Iowa farm kids, we enjoyed being in this Thailand farming area.  It's always a nice break to get out of the city, especially during Chinese New Year when an estimated 100,000 Chinese tourists come into the city of Chiang Mai.

The team  consisted of  Iowans and Thai's and they accomplished a lot during their building time.   I think you are going to like the before and after pictures, but in the meantime- here are a few photos of rural life in Thailand from this week......

The family that we built for this week was raising these three cows for part of their income.  I was told they buy them when young for about $300  then let them roam around their land and eat what they find. They sell them for around $1200.

There's just something sweet about the face of a cow with her big brown eyes. 

There were numerous chickens with a flock of chicks at their side wandering around always looking for food.

None of them were real plump and healthy, but good enough to eat on a day when the family was hungry.

Across the road from us was a rubber tree field, but they were not producing the latex at this time of year.

Beside the house they were spraying the newly  planted sugar cane.

The family had a four month old baby who took her naps in this "pakama" hammock.

Mike and I had to make a run into the closest town of Erawan to their largest hardware for some supplies.

While there, we picked up some fresh bananas for snack time. 

A local shop owner in the market was offering food and incense to make her merit for the day.

A stark reminder that the Christian's in this area are a light to their community.

This was the kitchen area that Sompit used to cook lunch for all 30 of us at the house work site.

Our fish for lunch.............. raw.........................being fried..................................ready to eat!

The lunches were great at the work site.

One of the students did the dishes after each meal like this.

It was a great team and we are so thankful for all that we were able to accomplish this week. More pictures coming soon!