A Thai Meal

Me and Bow told Paul Friday night at the basketball court that they were going to come over on Saturday and cook us a meal. =) We were delighted to have them and excited that they initiated this event! We expected them to come around 7PM (when the guys finish playing "bas" (nickname given to basketball here). However, on Saturday afternoon Paul got a call saying they were going to come at 5. This caused me to get on the ball with getting the kitchen and downstairs cleaned up a little more! I had had a busy morning/afternoon at the office and so around 3 or so I sat down on our couch and rested my legs and body a bit before they got here. The whole family was doing the same! As I am in my light slumber, I heard voices after a while and realized someone was in our house! I woke up, turned around and sure enough Me and Bow were standing at the door wondering (probably) what they should do since I was snoozing there! I am sure it was quite comical. At any rate, I saw Bow hit Me (in a playful way) and say, "You told them we were coming at 5!" (and it was 4!!!) I told them not to worry and proceeded to get Paul and PJ.

So, onto the food. We had khaaw botkapi (rice with shrimp paste) and then you add toppings to it like fried little fish, cut up green beans (not cooked), egg, sour mango, and sweet pork. Needless to say, it was quite fishy tasting but not too bad. We then had a dish called plaaduk (I think). Basically you take a leaf of lettuce, put some white spaghetti-like noodles on it (called khanom jiin), some friend fish (see pictured on the left) and then some yummy spicy sauce. Paul and I really enjoyed the plaaduk. Bow made everything right here in our kitchen and I got to help! I fried the fish, made the egg omelettes, and taste-tasted the spicy sauce. It was all a lot of fun. They ended up staying here until 10! We were so blessed that they came and stayed. Please continue praying for them and for us. They've invited us, as a family, to go on a "thiaw" to Bow's home in the east sometime in the future. Please pray that God would continut to give us opportunities to spend time with them. *thiaw is the Thai word for a 1-2 day outing*
And pictured to the left is Paul eating his first plaaduk helping. He stuffed that whole thing in his mouth! I couldn't believe it. I just noticed you can see PJ looking on in the background!

more pics

Here's Paul and Me perched on top of the waterfall, enjoy the coolness.














Here are Me and Bow after a swim.


And below is Calvin getting some much needed rest after all of his swimming! Can you see the droll coming out of his mouth?

"waterfall, seven, sisters, little"

Ok, so the title of the post is literally how it's read in Thai but the English translation is "Seven little sisters waterfall." We took two of our Thai friends, Me and Bow, there yesterday to escape from some of this heat! Most days it's 100 degrees by 10am. I must say the water felt WONDERFUL! It was so refreshing. The boys really enjoyed it. Calvin is like a duck in the water. He didn't want to get out!










We took some fruit and water along and ate lunch once we got there at a small little shop.














Here are Paul and Me with the boys getting in for a dip.











And here's Bow walking across part of the water fall.
I love swimming with Thai in Thailand because you pretty much go into the water fully clothed! No worries about people looking at you and thinking you're fat (this is always my concern when swimming just with a swimsuit on!). Thais are very modest and wear shorts and t-shirts to swim in. If they do wear a swimsuit, it's spandex bike pants with a spandex type t-shirt. Again, very modest!

Praise to the Lord

"I will always thank the LORD; I will never stop praising him. I will praise Him for what He has done; may all who are oppressed listen and be glad! Proclaim with me the LORD's greatness; let us praise His name together!" Psalm 34:1-3

I want to praise the Lord and I don't want any glory or praise for it. I have been wanting to share this information since it happened but have really struggled in my heart with true motives. I am a sinful human and we humans (for the most part) like praise and like to hear what a good job we're doing and perhaps especially if we are missionaries or pastors...we are often tempted to write a good prayer letter or, in this case, blog post, so that all you back home will know that WE are doing a "good job." Well, this, of course, is rubbish and is sinful. Taking any glory of the work here is sinful. Only God is worthy of the glory. I don't want all of you out there who read my posts to think I am bragging or in any way taking glory for what happens in this land (and that goes for our entire team). We, as a team, recognize that it's ONLY by God's grace that we see any fruit of the labor here. I also want to clarify that when I share a testimony of God's faithfulness here it's not to show what a great person I am...because I am not a great person, just a regular 'ol gal who God sometimes chooses to use as His tool, despite my weakness and unfaithfulness to Him. With all that said, I proceed with this post. Please do not look at the messengers but only the ONE who is worthy of the praise due His name.

Last Friday I took the boys and our Thai intern, Tang, to the park. I met up with a friend of mine that I've been getting to know over the past couple months. She has a son a little older than PJ and he is a very sweet little boy. If you recall the first time I met her she had a lot of questions about Christianity and (http://henrysinthailand.blogspot.com/2007/01/encouraged.html)Catholicism. I answered the best I could with what I remembered from my Christian terminology. Well, last week, I introduced my friend to Tang (the intern from Bangkok Bible College). She opened right up to Tang just like she did with me and started to ask her a bunch of questions...and Tang could answer SOOO much better than me! And, Tang, having a tremendous heart for evangelism shared the Gospel with my friend...right there sitting on the sidewalk beside the playground area. Tang had brought along with her a small booklet of pictures that walks a person thru the Gospel. It was incredible to witness and as I looked after the boys I prayed and prayed that the Spirit of God would work. My friend hasn't received Christ yet, but she did bring her son to Joy Kids the next day and joined the English class I am teaching on Saturday mornings!
It turns out my friend had seen "The DaVinci Code." Tang told me this on our way home. It all made a bit more sense at that point because my friend isn't Catholic. I was annoyed when I heard she had seen that movie but then I stopped and thanked God for the opportunity He provided thru such a horrible movie. Had she not seen it, would she have these questions? I don't know but once again God shows us He is still in control and can use evil for good...just like with Joseph way back in the OT and just like Adam and Eve when they disobeyed and got kicked out of the Garden...God had a much bigger plan, didn't He?

Well, I know many of you are faithfully praying for the Thais. Please continue to pray. God is working and we, as a team, are encouraged at what HE is doing here. Pray for hearts to be softened and ready for the Good Seed of the Gospel to take root. Pray that it lands on good soil. Pray for our interns and Thai staff as well. They share the Gospel so naturally, pray that we foreigners can learn from them. Pray also for all of us to be bold and yet humble as we share. God is SOOO good. Praise the Lord with us!

On the Way

Well, if you noticed a change to the blog over there on the right hand side, you will quickly realize that we are expecting baby #3!!! We are overjoyed and very excited at this blessing. As I live in this world I don't take things like life for granted and I am praising God that He would choose us to raise another child. I hope that this little "widget" (i just learned about these things today) will help you remember to pray for us and also watch the baby grow! I am due October 14th.

""For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. I wll give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well...Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them." Psalm 139:13-14,16

Fun!

It's no secret Calvin likes to eat and here he is proving it although it looks like there is more food on him than in him!










In other Calvin news, he started "wai-ing" on his own the other morning. This is how Thais greet each other (they bring their hands together like they're praying in front of their body) and it's especially important for children to always "wai" their elders so as you can imagine Calvin has been trained but for some reason it has taken him awhile to get it but it finally came!









And today kicked off our new Joy Kids semester at the office. PJ joined the other 30 kids for teaching from the Bible, games, snacks and lots of fun. I began teaching some parents of the kids that come some English. I had two students (three for about an hour but the one dad had to leave). Next week, I am told there will be more students for me as well! It was a lot of fun. Anyway, after Joy Kids I was asked to take some of the kids home that live in a poorer community near the office but there's really no public transport that can take them home...so I gladly offered. Here you see a number of these precious kids pictured with several of our Thai staff or interns from Bangkok Bible College and Seminary (BBCS) in the bed of our truck. Can you spot PJ with his blond hair? The cab was full of kids too. It was a blessing to serve them in this way. We also took a table and chairs over to Chai and Pawn's new home. They are so excited to have found a great house...and I was thrilled to get to see it!
Many of these kids are coming to our Sunday Thai worship services. Please continue praying for them.

Driving adventures in BKK

Hee, hee. I have to laugh. I also am reminded of God's goodness to me/us as we travel here. Today, Calvin had a follow up appointment for his second installment of the Japenese Enchephalitis vaccine...if you'd like to know more on JE, google it. Anyway, two weeks ago when I went I decided to drive myself and the boys to the hospital. I had only been to this hospital one other time when our teammate's daughter was a patient there last year. It's not very far away from us and is part of the same hospital system where I had Calvin. We decided to doctor there b/c of the proximity..the other hospital is downtown. I do digress. So, two weeks ago, I got the low down from Paul on how to get to this hospital. I could have taken the "safe" route (ie, not as much fast traffic and no getting on motorways and tollways, etc.) but I decided that would cost us a lot of time so I decided to go the motorway. Unfortunately, there are two exits for the road I needed to get off on and I got off at the ramp that turned the opposite direction of where I wanted to go. Not good. So, I knew I had to do a U-turn and proceeded to cross the four lanes of heavy traffic to get in the far right lane to do a Ueeey. To my utter surprise, once I got in the far right lane I HAD to turn right onto another main road. "Ok," thought I, "I will just do a U-turn on this road and then turn back on the other road and all will be well." Yeah, right. Not in Thailand. For the entire length of this road...there was NO U-turn. So, I then had to turn Right again! At that point I saw a sign for the road I first turned off of and got excited. So, we basically went around a huge block and finally made it to the hospital. And on the way home I went the long, "safe" way so not to get "lost" and frustrated again.
This leads me to today. We had to go back. I was dreading driving there again but thought I knew where I made my mistakes the first time round. As always, PJ, Calvin and I prayed before we took off down the road (we were already running late in my mind) and thought there is no way we're going to get there in 30 mins. Well, we got there 2 mins after we were supposed to be there! Pretty good timing! I thanked the Lord over and over again for His grace in leading us there so easily. By the way, the exit I should have gotten off at loops around and the first left hand turn off the ramp is the hospital! Silly me. Today, I also decided to come back the motorway because the last time it took way too long to get home. So, we did and again had no problems. I know it might seem like a very small thing to all you Americans out there...but really, driving here is just a different animal. I think when we return to the US we will be picked up and ticketed for many things because of how differently you MUST drive here or you will get hit! So, today, I give my God thanks, honor, and praise for getting us to and from the hospital without any problems..without going the wrong direction, without getting into an accident, etc . How good He has been to us.

On the Sky train

And here are Grammie and Grampy on the way home from downtown Bangkok on the BTS (or Skytrain). They went on a canal/river tour and while Calvin and I hung out at Starbucks and read (I read, Calvin slept) at a glitzy mall (Siam Paragon for those of you who know the area). We shopped (window shopped) around the mall a little and then headed home. Another good day! 

More Pics of the Zoo

 

Too Busy to Blog

Yes, that's right. We've had a whirlwind week and a half and it's been SO much fun. These four pictures won't do justice to the amounts of fun and beauty that we experienced but I hope you can get a glimpse.
Pictured to the left is PJ looking out at the ocean from the beach we went to with Paul's folks last week (Thurs to Monday...none of us wanted to leave). There are limestone mountains jutting out of the ocean throughout this part of the Andaman Sea. It was beautiful...I can't say it enough and the weather was gorgeous. We saw hornbills (flocks of them!) and monitor lizards just roaming about the island. We also saw some amazing fish and sealife while snorkeling. Paul and Grampy went on a day trip out to one of those limestone mountains that had a cave which led into an open area. (Of course, I am not doing it justice but hopefully, you'll get the idea! Google "Emerald Cave, Thailand" if you want to know more.)
Then yesterday we went to an Open Zoo about an hour or so south of our home here in Bangkok. This zoo was amazing. It is the best zoo I have ever been to. We got to feed the animals and touch them. Pictured to the left you can see we had the opportunity to pet and play with some tiger cubs (2 months old) and one leopard cub (1 month old). It was SO neat!




This is only scratching the surface but we wanted to you all to know we are having a great time and are very sad to be sending Grampy and Grammie home in just a little more than a day (our time.). We've sqeezed a lot in and if you know Grammie and Grampy have them show you the many pics they have taken if you want to see more! (I will try to post more soon as well.) 

In a nutshell

Faye, our friend from language school, came to visit on her way to the beach. It was so fun to catch up with her and to FIND a bathing suit for her for her beach trip. Thanks SO much Faye for coming and visiting, we were truly encouraged by seeing you.







We then headed to Hang Naam to a Christian camp there. Hang Naam is in Central Thailand about three hours drive from Bangkok. We were reunited with a few of our friends from langauge school. PJ and Nat (pictured here) had great fun playing together.








We also saw Phii Lina...our dear house helper and the lady who looked after PJ while we were in langauge school in the mornings. She loved on both boys every free moment she had (she had six other VERY young children to look after as well). It was a special time of reconnecting and reuniting with her.







In other news Paul's folks, Pat and Helen, arrived safely on Sunday evening. They are getting adjusted to the time and spent most of yesterday fighting sleep! Tomorrow we head to Khaw Yai National Park to hopefully view some wildlife. Pray for safety as we travel and safety as we navigate the park as well. 

Out and About

Hi all,
Just want to let you know that we will be super busy the next couple weeks so I'm not sure how much I will be posting on the blog. Please keep us in your prayers as we travel on Thursday to central Thailand for a retreat for all the language students from the past year. Pray for safety and pray that we will be refreshed and learn a lot about how to reach Thais.
We also are welcoming Paul's parents next Sunday! We are looking forward to their visit VERY much! I can't believe it's less than a week away already.
Thanks so much for your continual prayer support and encouraging words. Catch you later...

New Faces

We've welcomed some new faces here in Ram 2, where we minister. The picture to the left is Fred and Jean Depp. They are 74 and 70 years old...here for a five month stint with our team. They are teaching English classes at our community center. It has been WONDERFUL having them here. It's like having grandparents around to encourage us and to love on us. They are well experienced. They have 10 children and come from North Carolina where since retirement, Fred has worked with Wycliffe Bible Translators. Fred is a computer guy (and he has already helped several of us with our computer inability!). Fred is originally from the Brooklyn and has a big booming voice. Jean comes from outside DC and is soft spoken but gives much wisdom each time she speaks...truly a Proverbs 31 woman. They are a lot of fun to be with and have lots of neat experiences to share with those of us who are just starting out. So, I have them pictured mainly for all you "Senior Saints" out there who think you are too old to come and serve overseas. These two folks are living examples that if God calls you HE is faithful! They have SO much to offer not only us as a team but the Thais that we are seeking to serve as well. The Thais really respect them as is their culture. In Thailand, the older you are the more respect you receive from anyone younger. Please pray for Fred and Jean. Pray for protection as they walk about here. Pray for spiritual protection and pray that God would use them mightily while they are here.

The second picture is of Calvin with our new Director of Women's ministries....Khiaw. Khiaw is 28 years old and came to know the Lord several years ago thru our team. She is leaving a good job at a hospital to come to Ram 2 and serve the Lord. Please pray for her as she moves TOMORROW and adjusts to a new job, new co-workers (both foreign and Thai alike), a new house and new roommates. Pray for the Lord to give her opportunity to share with her family the hope she has in Christ. 

intentional relationships

The last post I asked you to pray for me and my (great) weakness in sharing the Gospel in this foreign land. I ask that you continue to pray for us (our family and our team and Thai Christians) as we all are seeking the same desire. Since last writing, I have not had opportunity to share the hope that I have in Christ with the lady I am regularly seeing at the park BUT I have had opportunity share with another Thai friend via email. (I actually wrote it in Thai with help from my Thai tutor!). Without going into much detail here on the blog, I was able to share my hope in Christ if only briefly. I had to take some things out of my original writing because I spoke a little too pointedly. That may sound bad but in Thailand when building relationships with Thais, one must take great care in knowing when to press on into sharing about Christ. I am very thankful for my tutor's experience and wisdom in this area. She has been a Christian a long time and is a pastor's wife. She told me of one experience she had when she was younger. She said this one lady befriended her (the lady lived in the south of Thailand). They became very close friends and this lady really liked my tutor. My tutor eagerly shared the gospel with this lady and the lady never contacted her again. My tutor said, "We have to be careful to know WHEN to share." So, with much prayer, I sent the email today. Please pray with me that this person's heart would be changed.
Also, the friend I am getting to know at the park continues to be SO kind and gracious towards me and the boys. She and her son are coming over next week for a meal with us. Pray that God would work in her heart as well. I really enjoy her and her friendship means so much to me. Many times, I feel like I am always the one talking, trying to pull conversation out of the Thai friends that I have but with this lady, it's not like that at all. She talks with me, asks me questions and is SO patient with me as I murder her language! I thank God for her.

This brings me to the title of my post...intentional relationships. I go to the park not merely because it is something to do outside and is entertaining to my boys but I go to the park because I can meet Thais there. A few weeks ago the women on our team and I were talking about this idea of going somewhere to hang out JUST for the SOLE purpose to meet someone and Lord willing, SHARE the Gospel with that person, after a relationship has deepened to that point. One of the women said something along the lines of..."we really don't do this in the States." We have our scheduled activities and we pray that God would use those regular activities for us to reach out to those who are also invovled in those regular activities. Since that conversation, I've been thinking about that...and it's true, at least for me. When in the States I don't really go out of my way to meet someone new for the sole purpose of introducing them to Christ. I hope that when we do return to the States I will always be looking and searching for those outside of the Fold of Christ and seek to bring them in. I've been rereading a book I read back in 1998 entitled The Master Plan of Evangelism (by Robert Coleman). I was challenged by another thought that sorta ties in with this one of intentional relationships. Christ didn't waste a minute, every step He made had purpose and every thing He did had purpose. Coleman writes,

"His life was ordered by His objective. Everything He did and said was part of the whole pattern. It had significance because it contributed to the ultimate purpose of His life in redeeming the world for God. This was the motivating vision governing His behavior. His steps were ordered by it. Mark it well. Not for one moment did Jesus lose sight of His goal." (p.24)

I don't often live that way. I don't often think with one goal in mind. These thoughts have given much more fervency in my prayer life for the lost, they have given me more boldness as I interact with Thais and Americans alike, and they have given me confidence that Christ IS building His Kingdom and I just need to be faithful to proclaiming and He will do the rest. It's not just these thoughts, though, it's Christ. His Spirit is teaching me these things and I am so thankful for the boldness that He is increasing in my life. I encourage you to pray about this too. Are there places you could go to be a light for Christ? To make intentional relationships? Or maybe there is already a place you go everyday or often (ie, work) that you haven't been seeking out the lost...trying to get to know them and share with the hope you have? Or do you lose sight of the goal? Do you lose sight that Christ is building His Kingdom and He WILL be victorious. Or maybe you are reading this and don't know Christ, what then? Do you want to know Him? Do you know how to know Him?

Well, thanks for listening to my rambling. I hope it brought some encouragement to your spirit. What a wonderful God we serve.

encouraged

It's a funny thing when you see God at work and you know you've had nothing to do with it. It's actually a very FREEING thing! The last two days I have seen God answer my complaints so obviously that I can't but praise Him for His goodness to me.
Monday evening the boys and I went outside to play. The children that I wrote about the other day are usually outside and that is usually who we spend our time with. I have complained in my heart against the lack of adults there are to converse with on our street. They are all so busy and not interested in being outside and most of them are older (not that I am against older people but they are a bit harder to talk to as far as the language barrier goes). Well, on Monday my Thai tutor and I made homemade bread and sticky buns and so after she left I went outside to take the neighbor kids some treats. As I gave the little girl her sticky bun she started telling me something and was really excited. She has a speech impediment and is also really hard to understand so I got from her excited chatter something about studying English at New Community (our team's ministry center that is just a few mins walk away from our home). I asked her "What?" to clarify the details and find out what she wanted to know from me and she ran home to get her mom! I ran inside the house to get a flyer that tells all about the English classes offered at New Community and wasn't sure how things would go. When I went back outside, her mom was there. She inquired about the English classes for her daughter but then she hung around and we talked for over an hour! I found out that she is from the north eastern part of Thailand, has lived on our soi for 10+ years and irons clothes for a living. As we walked and talked we met up with another woman (younger, mother of a four year old) who's mother lives three houses down from us. She was also interested in talking with me. The amazing part of this whole story is that for the first time since arriving in Thailand I was able to communicate WHY I am here. They asked me Why we are here. (For some reason they thought we worked at the airport...not sure why). I had to tell them no, we didn't work at the airport. Then they thought Paul was teaching English at the university...but I had to tell them no, he wasn't doing that either. So, I finally was able to answer. I said, in Thai (!) "We are here to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ!" The utterly amazing thing about this is that I had JUST studied how to answer this question with my language helper one hour earlier (or so) and I actually remembered how to say it! You may be thinking this isn't a huge deal but for me it was. I am just stunned at how God opened the door for me to share (nowbeit ever small) why we are here. (*Just to clarify I usually tell people when they ask that I am a missionary but that word is not very commonly understood and if it is it can sometimes have a bad connotation and I also tell them I am a Christian. The difference of course is on the fact of PROCLAIMING the GOOD NEWS of JESUS. )
Then last night, PJ, Calvin and I went to a local park to play. PJ loves going there becuase there is sand to run his trucks thru and to make roads and stuff. We went there last Friday and met the cutest and sweetest little boy. He and PJ had a lot of fun playing together. So, we went back last night and the same little boy was there. He ran up to us as soon as we got to the plaground. After a little while his mom showed up (she was running around the track that is there for exercise while he was playing). I started to talk to her and we talked for well over an hour. She asked me the same question, "Why are you here?" And again, I was able to answer, but last night she had even more questions. She wanted to know the difference between Catholic and Protestant and where our church was located. There is a huge Catholic church not too far from our home and she thought that is where we work. It was amazing to me to see the interest this woman had about religions. She and her son go to the park every evening and I hope to deepen that relationship. Please pray for her and pray for me. Pray for God to work in this very weak vessel to proclaim His Good News. 

Neighborhood Fun

About a year ago my parents sent PJ this Ford truck. Of course, when little kids see it, they go nuts. Their eyes light up and their little minds start turning and thinking of all the fun they could have with this truck! It has been so fun to share this toy with our neighbors here in Ram 2. These children are rather poor and don't have a lot but sure enjoy playing with PJ's toys...from the little red wagon (which I have never seen one like here in Thailand) to the battery operated truck (which they do have here but are rather expensive, from what I've been told). It's been a great teaching point for PJ. He's learning how to share, how to serve and most importantly how to show Christ. My continual prayer for our family is that we would truly serve the Thai people and show God's love... even when it's uncomfortable or hard for us. Sharing this truck is a huge step for PJ. He would love to ride it the whole time but he's really done great with sharing it with his friends. There are moments of sadness and moments when I have to remind him WHY we share but I think all in all, he's getting it.
I make the kids take turns driving and here was PJ's turn at the wheel. In true Thai fashion they pile on as many people as possible and then rig up the wagon to pull even more. They have had SO much fun. It's so nice to see them all laughing together. PJ looks forward to the afternoons when his friends come home from school and they are all outside playing together.
This little guy, Niw, is the "leader" of the group. The rest follow his direction. Pray for Niw. Pray for him to com to know Christ and be a strong leader in God's church here in Thailand. Pray for us as we seek to minister to him and the others on our soi (street). It isn't always easy working with children...especially when they aren't yours and they are of another culture. Please pray that I would be gracious, gentle and humble, yet firm and strong and keep a sense of order. 

A BBQ!

Yep, we had our first university BBQ last night here at our home. We had 11 non-Christians here (all Thais and all the guys (6 of them) play basketball with Paul every night at the campus. Several of them brought their girlfriends...which was a lot of fun for me to get to know them. We had made (well, Paul and his friend Brandon who works with YWAM) a ton of shishcabobs (spelling?). They were really good and our Thai friend, Yu, made a very spicy sauce that everyone really liked. I made salsa and Paul bought fruit. It was simple but it was good!
This the group of guys that play basketball with Paul (I should say Paul plays basketball with them!) They are really a nice group of men. Please continue praying for them. The tall guy in the back is a Thai guy and also works with YWAM.









And here are a couple of the girlfriends. They enjoyed loving on PJ and Calvin and of course the boys welcomed the attention. PJ is really starting to come out of his shell. He has been quite shy but lately he's been very talkative and also speaking Thai more. Please pray that he would continue to practice and not get embarrassed easily.






This is Me with PJ. Paul went up north with this guy. PJ was saying, "Cheers" with Me. He was very excited to be drinking orange fanta (a special treat for him). The Thais love having fun and they especially love seeing children having fun and laughing. They are a very playful people and so PJ never has need for "fun" when we are with Thais!

We are hoping to have more BBQ's and things of that nature here at our home. I will say it was a bit harder for me last night because everyone who came were pretty much friends and I was the odd ball because I only knew Me and I hardly know him. But, I tried to engage some of the girls in conversation and get to know them a little. Please pray that they would be open to me and want to get to know me as well. Pray for God to show me ways that we are similar and that they would see that too and want to spend time with me. God is working...it's exciting. Not sure how long it will take until we see belief but God is working. Please pray that we would be patient with God's timetable. 

Safe

Safe. Before leaving for Thailand I knew that no place on this planet is "safe" except for being in God's hand but that knowledge has been challenged several times since living here, but perhaps most extensively (so far) on New Year's Eve when eight (?) bombs(?) went off in Bangkok...and one at a local mall that we go to often. Thankfully God wantched over our team and Thai staff and thankfully there wasn't more bloodshed. Three are dead and around 30 are injured according to reports on the BBC and the Bangkok Post. Please continue to pray for this nation...that God would work and His will would be done. That many would repent and turn to Him and understand true peace and the One Who's government is perfect and will NEVER fail and is also all powerful.

I want to thank you for your prayers that Paul returned home safely this morning (5:30 AM our time). He had a wonderful trip and I am going to TRY to get him to write a blog on his adventure. The trip was right up his alley complete with camping and cold weather...for Paul it can't get much better than that! God kept them safe on the highways and thru some other adventures that hopefully he'll share later!
The boys and I stayed busy. We hosted a New Year's Eve party here at our house and our entire team minus one couple and Kim (who is on bedrest) came. Including some visitors from the States (Tim and Rhianna Mill's family members). It was great. We played games, ate good food (and I am not talking about the food I made either!) and had a great time of fellowship. Then New Year's Day evening we had a sleepover with two other women on the team. It was a lot of fun too. We watched Fiddler on the Roof and ate peanut butter pie and popcorn. It was a lot of fun too. Haven't been to a sleep over in ages!
So, that is the news on our end of the world. Catch you later.