The 'day off' for Iowa builder's

After we got the first pouring of fresh cement done, we needed to give it a day to dry and felt like it would be good for the guys to have a chance to see some of the Thai culture.  For two of them, it was their first time to Thailand.

One of the best ways to see Thai culture and to see one of the the reasons that we live and work in Thailand, is to take guests to a Buddhist temple.  We went to this one, because they had a cable car ride that overlooked the city, but it was not working that day.

Each temple is a little unique, in the ways that they allow people to make merit. This one had a thing with elephants.

You could buy them in all sizes to make an offering at the temple. These two were $250 and $280. 

There were all sizes, shapes, and colors of elephants around the temple. 

Temples are often built on the top of a hill, making a nice lookout over the area.

More elephants....

As we walked around the grounds, we saw many visitors coming there to make merit by burning essence, lighting candles, and praying to the images around the temple. 

Going to temples for us is a good reminder to see that the Buddhist depends on himself alone for salvation. Each person must reap the consequences of his own 'karma'. Our prayer is that every Thai will realize the hopelessness of trying to save himself. and realize that  Jesus has done for him what he cannot do for himself. Please pray that the Lord of the harvest will open up hearts to cause light to shine in the darkness. 

Daddy Daughter Dance #4- 2017

The Chiang Mai Daddy Daughter Dance was a huge success again this year.  I've heard so many mom's say that their girls ask about it all year long and can't wait for the day to come.

This is a fun community event that Jon and Marisa started four years ago.  Last year- 2016 had more of formal theme, but this year- they mixed it up a bit with a 'Barn Dance" theme.

Since Marisa had just decorated for our Stint Conference dinner with an "American BBQ' theme, she was able to use a lot of the same decor for this event.

As each girl arrived she received a rose from her daddy.

Mother-Daughter registration team. 

'Dukes' catered the meal this year. 

There were questions on the table for dad's and daughters to ask each other.  I loved watching the girls beam as their daddy's spent focused time with them. 

There was a fun photo booth with some really crazy props that they really enjoyed.  I can't wait to see some of the those pictures. 

The dancing always turns out to be the highlight of the evening.  Along with the musical chairs for 'dads only'. 

I absolutely LOVE watching these daddies and daughters have so much fun together.  The night gets a bit crazy with a lot of different styles of dance, but it is so evident that the girls of all ages are enjoying the time with their dads so much. I only wish there would have been these parties for my dad and I when I was growing up- and even for my own daughters. It makes such special memories that they will keep reliving until it's time for another one next year. 

Iowans building the foundation

This year the Iowa builders started a home in Songkhla province, in the very southern tip of Thailand. In 2015 they were in the northeast part of Thailand.  Prior to that, they have done most of the building on Koh Chang. A favorite year was 2010 when they  built 5 homes in 5 days and dedicated them and the families on the last day. They are a great crew. and it is so encouraging to see them come back year after year.  2012 was the year that they had to work in the water around the tide.  While they were here last week, they reminisced the uniqueness of each year, so it was interesting for me to go back through these posts from other years and recall some of the photos of them.

This year, Mike had hoped for the project to be further along than it was when they arrived.  This is the view from the first day.  The land had been cleared of trees, filled in with dirt, and they began by putting in the re-bar for the cement foundation. He had hoped the foundation would already be done when we got there, so that they could lay the bricks.

It was a hot long first day as they tied the little wires around the re-bar by hand to hold it together.  It didn't help to hear one of the guys say he had a re-bar tying tool  back in his garage in the USA that would have done the job done a lot faster. If only they would have known before coming.

When they realized that they were going to need more re-bar, Mike and "Teep" took his side car to the closest hardware for some more.  Teep and his wife are the construction foreman team that will finish the job, now that we are gone.

This team has slept in the church on the island in years past, where life was very primitive.  No running water, or electricity at night, etc. This year they had it a lot nicer by staying in a resort that was near the work-site and right on the Gulf of Thailand. On the second morning, I woke up early enough to watch the sunrise and saw this couple fishing with their nets right on our beach.

The second day, they built the wooden forms (all by hand again) to pour the cement into for the foundation.

This is where the walls of her small and simple home will be. 

 Mark is working with an ax here to cut the steaks to go into the hard ground.

These guys work together so well and have so much fun in the process, demonstrating such great teamwork.

The third morning, they were finally ready to start pouring the cement. 

But first the cement had to be mixed by hand. They mixed; sand, gravel, water and cement powder in these big tubs and did a lot of stirring before it was ready.

This is where the true teamwork came in as we made an assembly line and passed the buckets full of cement from the mixing tub to the forms and then passed the empty buckets back for more. The guys even sang some 'working on the railway' songs as they worked. 

Seeing the freshly laid cement was a beautiful sight, so much- that I carved our initials in the wet cement. 

As we left Pope at the end of the 3rd day, she was so happy and excited to see this dream of getting a home starting to become a true reality.

We took Sunday off and did some sightseeing while the cement dried, and came back on Monday to start laying more forms to lay more cement.

These will be the walls to divide the rooms.

Tying up the re-bar for the floors was not their favorite job.  

They brought in a tractor to fill in the land some more over the foundation. 

Still sweatin' and smilin' in the heat of the day.

We prayed together for Pope and the ones finishing the home as we left on the last day.  She kept asking us to stay just a little longer. 

Pope (gray shirt) is living here with her sister "Nung" (light blue shirt) next door while the house is being built.  She is excited to use her new home as she reaches out to the Muslim's in this village and plans to teach the Bible in her new home.  Teep and his wife are new Christian's and will be the ones to finish the house for her. Although the team would have liked to get more of it done for Pope, they got the foundation done which we all know is the most important part.  They also left money for them to continue on.  She is sending us daily pictures of the progress as the house goes up. Some day, I plan to tell you more about Pope, how we know her and her dreams. We also look forward to sharing a photo of her finished home being used to build God's Kingdom. 

Thanks for coming again this year, guys!  You have blessed Pope and her family more than you will ever know and as always were a huge encouragement to Mike and I. Not too many men want to use their vacation time to come labor in the hot sun for a week. Now go and take a REAL vacation! 

Iowa builders visit Koh Chang/Ranong

Those Iowa builders have come and gone already and we are so thankful for what they accomplished again this year.  The team had 3 Mark's... Brad, Phil, Mark, Mark, and Mark They got a good start on a home for Pope (gray shirt) who I'll share more about later.  Her sister "Nung", is in blue and the two Thai builders on the far right will complete the project.

These guys have been coming here during Feb. for years to build a home wherever Mike finds a need. This year it was in a new area that they had never been.  There were two newbies this year, so they wanted to make a visit to Elephant Island where they have done most of the building in past years to show them their builds and to visit the the village. We did this one of the first days.

The view up on the church steps is pretty amazing, and they spent some time looking over all the homes/huts they have built and recalling memories of years past. This is where they usually sleep.

When I walked in to the village preschool the little ones were either taking baths or playing in the water to keep cool.  Probably some of both with smiles, giggles, and squeals as I watched them.

We walked around the village and the guys inspected some of their homes to see how they were holding up.

This villager has a broken arm and he made his own cast with sticks and cloth.  They asked us to go to his home to pray for him. The villagers get by on so little, making us realize how much we take for granted.

When we got back to the mainland, we took the 33 children from the Ranong Kids Home out to dinner at KFC.  It's their favorite treat when Mike comes to town.

We mixed up the "white guys" with the kids, so that they could practice their English while eating.  I'm pretty sure there was a lot of silence because they know so little English- but Thailand will always be known as "the land of smiles".

We spent the rest of the evening at the kids home.  They sang "How Great Thou Art" for us and  sounded beautiful.  Three of the older kids shared their testimony for us, too. They did a great job. 

We are so proud of these kids.  Even the guys commented on how different the children and life on the village is from these kids who live in the home and are getting a better education.  We were thankful for this short visit with them before driving 8 hours the next day on to the building project for this year.