St. George and the beach

We spent a few days this past week at Rayong Beach...about three hours East of Bangkok. The country in this part of Thailand is absolutely breathtaking...it helps that it's the rainy season. Everything is SO green and lucious! This part of Thailand is known for its fruit...especially Durian and Pineapple. yum, yum. Ok, the durian I could pass on but the pineapple? yum, YUM! The boys, of course, had fun playing in the sand and PJ and Paul had fun jumping waves...they were actually rather big for the Gulf. It was nice to get away for a few days before the craziness of throwing a third child into the mix. =) And, our fall schedule is so jammed packed on top of throwing in a baby! But, we thank God for the many, many opportunities He is giving us and our team to minister His Word here.

You might remember a long time ago (January '07) I had made PJ a red cross shield out of cardboard. Well, the shield bit the dust a few weeks ago due to an upturned milk bottle that leaked onto it....and I didn't catch it until 3 days later...so we had to "ting" it (throw it away). Well, I decided to make a new one for PJ to go along with the yellow balloon sword he got at the hospital that day. I decided this time, though, to equip Calvin with a sheild as well...and then Paul decided to equip Calvin with a cardboard sword! So, they've had lots of fun running around the house fighting each other...and needless to say, cardboard swords actually can inflict some pain! PJ was quick to point out that Calvin had to be "the bad guy." Of course, PJ!

Basketball Boys BBQ

Thank you to those of you who prayed for our evening of BBQ with the basketball guys from campus. We all had a really good time of karyoke, eating, laughing, chatting, and eating some more! This time we had a couple new faces and some who were here way back in January when we last had a Basketball Boys BBQ. This time, we were much more prepared with a LOT more food..thanks to Bow (Me's girlfriend) and Paul made sure we had enough shishcabobs (not sure on the spelling on this?)...I think he said there were 125!!! Bow made a really yummy fish soup that you eat with this white spaghetti like stuff called Khanom Jiin. When she asked if I wanted to try it, I wasn't too keen on the idea but it was delicious! I had seconds...soooo good! Oh, I also made chocolate chip cookie bars and they were gone in no time! Taa told me that I should sell them...hmm, maybe I will, in my spare time, right?! They were all telling me they were the best in the world..so thanks to Betty Crocker...oh and I even messed up the recipe. Instead of putting in 1/2 tsp of baking soda I put in baking powder. Pretty funny! I think there were about 14 of us all together, including two girlfriends and two Bangkok Bible College interns (Tang and Ying) who work with our team. Pictured above is Ton, Paul and Me messing around!

Pictured above here is Taa (on the left) and Boy (R). These two were SO funny singing karyoke. We laughed SO hard at them and with them. It is truly amazing to me how outgoing Thais are when it comes to karyoke...they are not ashamed or shy in the slightest!

And above is Taa's twin brother, Jay (on the right), Brandon (the American in the middle who works with YWAM) and Nut....showing off their cabobs.

And pictured above here is Ying. Ying actually was an intern with our team last school year but just graduated in June. She is now working with our team until December at which time she is hoping to marry the love of her life and move up north to be a missionary to tribal people. She and Tang, both, are such servants. They came to our home at 4:30 and didn't leave until 10PM! It was so great having them here to talk to the girlfriends that came. Ying and Tang came over last Saturday also and helped me out as we hosted a dinner party for a couple of my English students and their families. Again, it was so nice to have native Thai speakers who love Jesus available to aid in conversation and be a source of general encouragement. Thank the Lord with us because He has give us such great girls to work with here! Ying's older brother also works with YWAM and plays basketball frequently with Paul but he wasn't able to come last night to our BBQ.
So, thank you for praying...please keep praying for these guys and pray for Paul and me to continue to be faithful witnesses. Our prayer and hope is to see this group of guys gathering around God's Word, praying and studying together and growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord...please pray this with us. Oh, and Paul hurt his knee the other day, please pray for God to heal it and for wisdom for Paul to know when to play "bas" and when to take a break and pray that he wouldn't over do it on his knee.

Khruu Awe

Well, I am very sad to announce that a dear Christian sister and friend and co-worker here on the MTW Thailand team is moving on. I am sad (as I said already) but I also know God is taking her onto another great opportunity at the International Christian School (ICS) here in Bangkok and so I know His will is being done in her life. And though, I won't see her as often, several of the children on our team will be having her as their Thai teacher at the school. (Not to mention Catherine, our friend who teaches music there) will see a WHOLE lot of her!
We had a farewell lunch for her on Friday at our office building. It was so neat to hear story after story of how Khruu Awe has been a constant source of encouragment and understanding to each one of us...both foreigner and Thai alike. I will say Khruu Awe is always the FIRST person we call when we have a problem...and her absence will be greatly missed. We love her though and we are excited for what God will do thru her at ICS with her students and their parents.

Prayer

Please be in prayer for us Saturday morning (EST) as we will be hosting a BBQ for the university students Saturday evening (BKK time!). We are really excited to do this again. Please pray that our relationships will be deepened and that many of these guys Paul plays basketball with would want to know more about Christ. Pray also for the girlfriends that will be joining their boyfriends...and pray for me and two of our Thai Christian sisters as we converse with these girls.

Thanks, in advance, for praying!

good friends and birthdays go so well together

Right before lunchtime, PJ's good friend, Emmy and her mommy and brother, Asa, stopped by to wish PJ a happy birthday and give him a gift. He received a really cool tool set along with a hard hat. Thanks Aunt Rhianna, Uncle Tim, Emmy and Asa!

And here are the younger two enjoying each other. Calvin likes to look at Asa and Asa likes to touch Calvin's eyes...they are quite cute together...and we have great hopes that they, too, will be good buddies as they grow together.

More 4th Birthday Pictures

Here's a better picture of the cake. I found the design at FamilyFun.com.

Pictured above is Daddy holding the matchbox car holder that hangs on the back of a door to keep all PJ's matchbox cars in...thanks Nanny and Pappy! PJ especially liked all the cool cars to put in the door hanger!

And even Calvin got a couple gifts...thanks Nanny and Pappy for thinking of me too! (Notice the peanut butter and jelly smeared all over his face...oops!)

And Grammie and Grampy always find good books to send our way...here PJ is pictured with "A Hole is to Dig." Can't wait to read this and the Nutshell Library that you got him! Thanks SO much to all of you for making his day so special. We celebrated PJ's birthday during/after lunchtime so he would have the rest of the day to play with all his new toys.

3rd and 4th (TODAY!) birthdays

"When I was one, I had just begun.
When I was two, I was nearly new.
When I was three, I was hardly me.
When I awas four, I was not much more."
A.A. Milne

Pictured above is PJ at his 3rd birthday...still had a bit of a baby face. He has definitely thinned out, gotten longer and grown up so much in the past year!

Below, 4th birthday...PJ is blowing out his birthday candles. I made him a race track birthday cake and thanks to Grammie and Grampy for the really cool candles and thanks to Pappy and Nanny for the cool race cars to go on the cake...PJ thought the everything was really neat!

More legos...thanks Grammie and Grampy!

Paul and PJ assembling the castle we got for PJ's birthday...over 250 little pieces...what were we thinking????!!! (But, he's a happy and well entertained little boy!)

From the Archives (Birth to 2 years old!)

"You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb." -Psalm 139:13
Pictured above is my absolute MOST favorite picture of my infant PJ. My father-in-law snapped this picture when PJ was only three days old! It's hard to believe he was that little at one time!

Since the day he was born, PJ has not celebrated July 16th (his birthday) in the United States of America. I guess that goes along with the territory of being an MK (missionary kid). His first birthday we celebrated in Ghent, Belgium with several other missionary families. Upon return to the States, however, there was a huge celebration at my parents house in August! This picture was taken then by my parents pastor and the pastor I grew up under for most of my life, Dave.

And three weeks after landing in Bangkok, we celebrated PJ's 2nd birthday at the Cunningham's home. Once again, trucks were the big hit for PJ (can you see them around the cake?)

Basketball and Ice Cream

Because Paul plays basketball just about every afternoon, PJ has a fascination with anything involving slam dunks, basketballs and hoops. So, to add fuel to his fire, Paul made this make shift basketball "net" even though it is made out of cardboard! The boys have lots of fun trying to make "baskets" now.

Last week PJ requested that we should buy some ice cream cones sometime and have ice cream in them. So, when we headed to the grocery store I picked up a box of cones. PJ picked out chocolate ice cream with chocolate chunks (really good!) and we filled up the cones. Both boys (and mommy) enjoyed this special treat! At first, Calvin wasn't sure what to do with the cone but he quickly figured it all out.

The past five days have been quite rainy here in our part of the world. Thursday to Friday it pretty much rained non-stop. I know many of you out there are not rain-lovers, but I really enjoy the break from the sun! In Thailand when you have a rainy day it's like having a snow day in PA. There's lots of time for cuddling and reading good books, playing games and even watching Winnie the Pooh. Maybe some of you Floridians out there know what I mean! Unfortunately, when it rains here they are no trips to the park or really anywhere because NO ONE wants to get wet. (And when I say NO ONE I don't really mean we foreigners but mainly the Thais...I think they are afraid of the rain!) When it rains here it also means that my kitchen is a bit cooler for cooking which makes me even happier! So this past week we had things on the menu such as macaroni and cheese, lasagna, stromboli, Italian chicken, etc, not to mention the apple crisp and applesauce for dessert! So, in my opinion, bring on the rain! Dibble, dibble, dibble, dibble, dopp, dopp, dopp. =) Can anyone guess what Dr. Suess book that come (correction...comes) from???!!??

More pics of the boys

I had to include this great smile from PJ for you all to see.

PJ doing his homework...here is writing one of his Thai letters...khaw khwai. It's amazing to see how much his coloring skills have improved just in the past few weeks...he's growing up TOO quickly!

And here's flower power Calvin! Aunt Karen captured this pic at the park one night.

And this pic is of PJ one night after giving Aunt Karen hugs and kisses. We all miss her but are so thankful for the time that she was here! The first thing PJ said to me Saturday morning (the morning they left) was "I miss Aunt Karen." Thanks Aunt Karen for all your love lavished on our family...we truly miss you!

Aunt Karen in Thailand

Aunt Karen in front of our overgrown flowerbed...the work commencing!

Aunt Karen planting the plants we bought redoing the flowerbed.

Crystal and Aunt Karen on our "tour day" with the team that is here. We went to Wat Pho and to an indoor market.

Calvin and Aunt Karen...Aunt Karen has found two good buddies in PJ and Calvin...they will surely miss her when she goes.


For those of you who don't know, my Aunt Karen came along with the short term team that is here from Pittsburgh (which is why there have been no posts for a while!) We have had a blast. Aunt Karen has done some things with the team and we've enjoyed spending time together. One major project that I asked her assistance on was to plant new plants in our flower bed out front. She was REALLY excited when I asked her about this project. So, yesteday we headed to the nursery, bought a bunch of plants and came back home to start on our project. It was done by 1 PM (we started around 10:30am.) When we went to the nursery we didn't buy enough soil and thought, "Oh no, what are we going to do now?" (Paul had taken the truck to go get more paint b/c the team is painting the office building this week). Well, at this time, one of our neighbors came out and was chatting with us and she said, "Here comes the truck now that has dirt you can buy." So, that is what we did. =) But, not only that....the two men who sold us the dirt took down two papaya trees (that didn't bear fruit) and took out another root that we couldn't budge! It was such a wonderful provision of the LOrd, and we didn't even think to pray about it...isn't God good?! So, now, the front of the house looks SO nice. In the afternoon Aunt Karen cleaned up around outside with Calvin while PJ and I took a nap! It looks so nice now. Thanks Aunt Karen! I told her yesterday was her ONLY work day here! She also ironed for hours last night...which again was a huge blessing. In Thailand, we wash our clothes daily but don't have a dryer to get all the wrinkles out, so the ironing pile is always there.
We've had a lot of fun and the boys have really enjoyed having Aunt Karen here. PJ commented yesterday that he didnt' want to go to school anymore because Aunt Karen is here! I think they are really going to miss her when she leaves on Saturday morning...=(.


Aunt Karen's THOUGHTS on Thailand...
Hello all! The Thai people are very friendly. The culture is much different than the US. The women work very, very hard here. They push food carts and stand out in the sun making food are just a few things. Road conditions are horrible and there's a lot of pollution. Driving is definitely different but slower paced and they can drive this way because it's slower. We could never drive this way in the States because it's such a faster pace there.
Crystal's home is very comfortable. It has beautiful woodwork and the windows are really nice.
One thing that impresses me is that all the flooring is tile and outside there is a lot of tiling on the patios and things.
I came with Calvin PCA from Pittsburgh. They have worked very hard and diligently, and are a very dedicated and devoted group. It's good to see the young people on the team and see how responsible they are and how devoted they are. Pastor Aaron has devotions in the morning with the team and then they have a prayer time every evening before going to bed. They have been encouraging and a fun loving group.
I sleep in a room with two bunk beds with three other girls from the team and I have really gotten to know them and talk about our personal lives with each other. I really feel like I am part of their family.
I did very little mission work with the team but I feel like my role has been to come and spend time with Crystal and the family and do things with them.
We took a tour downtown on Monday. I got to ride the skytrain and a river taxi to get to Wat Pho (a Buddhist temple that houses the largest reclining Buddha). It was interesting to see how Western downtown Bangkok is. We toured the temple grounds. I can't say I was impressed with it but it was interesting to see all the structures made out of tile and mosaics. I also learned to "wai" and say "sawatdii kha" which is how you greet Thai people. And you always take your shoes off outside homes and even some businesses, like New Community, the MTW ministry center.
I feel so much better since I came here about Paul and Crystal being in Thailand with their family. It's opened my eyes to see that there aren't constant fears to their lives...no more than in America, really. The people here are so friendly and so willing to help you out. The days we've gone shopping PJ and Calvin have been huge magnets to the Thai people..they love their blue eyes and blong hair.
The money exchange was interesting to learn...still learning but I'm getting better!
On Sunday, we went to church at 9-10:30 AM. Pastor Aaron preached on Mark 4 when Jesus calmed the sea. After the sermon we brok into groups and prayed. We then went to the market for lunch until 1:30 when we started Thai worship from 1:30-3PM. Then we had Sunday School. Paul E from the Calvin PCA team led the Sunday School while Dave Veldhorst, MTW Thailand team leader, translated.
Another reason why I feel different about Paul and Crystal being here is because the team they are serving with here. They are like family to each other. They are very considerate of each others needs, very compassionate and caring and very supportive and I just feel so much better that they have family here like this. They have an outstanding team. I feel our church needs to pray that Satan doesn't intervene and cause any division because unity is so important here for the team.
We've done some shopping...I helped the economy a little bit =). They have Dairy Queen here which is a real delight...I've eaten there twice. Tim and Rhianna (teammates of Paul and Crystal's) took us out for pizza Sunday night after church. It was delicious.
We're going to take dinner to the Cunninghams today (they are teammates of Paul and Crystal's who had a baby two weeks ago). She is the one who was on bedrest for many months while carrying this baby.
Thai food is good! They have a variety of food you can eat and several dishes that aren't spicy. But, it's been good to be at Crystal's and eat some American food like grilled cheese and grits!
I would encourage anybody that has the opportunity to come here to take at LEAST two weeks to come and visit. It's unbelievable and remarkable experience and I hope to come back again bringing my sister with me. =) Sawatdii kha.

First Motorcycle Ride

OK, before you all get all worked up, I will let you know this ride only lasted about 3minutes and it was only the length of our driveway! But, Calvin did get his first ride today (outside the womb, that is). Needless to say, he LOVED it and I think Daddy had a pretty good time of it too. I didn't capture the big smile that came across Calvin's face when he was first sat in the seat but let me just tell you it was priceless! I am sure we have created a motorcycle lover! Here we go...

"The Boys"

On Fridays at PJ's school, he has to wear a "Thai-style" outfit. We bought this cute little number at a local shop. Yes, it's hot, but thankfully his classroom is air conditioned! Doesn't he just look so grown up and handsome?!?

Saturday night Me and Bow invited us out "on the town" in Ram 2 to a market that came thru. In Thailand this happens on occassion (a market comes to town that is not usually in town.) In December there is a WONDERFUL winter market. They sell all kinds of Thai crafts (handmade) with lots of good food. This market was mostly food and clothing. So pictured above is Calvin with two of his favorite people in the world!

And, here's yet another picture of Calvin. He's growing SO fast. He is really able to move on his two legs these days (no running yet, but it won't be long!). Anytime I have the camera out, he wants to see it and look at the pictures on it...how different things are now from when I was a kid (ok, maybe not, we had a polaroid with instant satisfaction on paper and you got to watch the photo appear...anybody else out there remember those "old" cameras????!!!!!!!!!

And today, after a long day of school, play and fun, here's PJ chilling on the couch watching his most favorite movie of ALL time....Cars. Notice the race car next to him. =)
Well, this post has mainly been for the grandparents! I hope you enjoy it! We love you all and miss you too. Thanks for your encouraging words and your endless prayers...

MORE answered prayer!

This past Sunday SEVEN of the Maahaathai community teens received Christ as Lord and Savior! As you can imagine we are all so excited at the work of the Spirit in the hearts of these young people. Please continut to pray for them as they are discipled and will most likely face some persecution and opposition for being believers. (Six are girls and one boy).

God also brought two of our neighbor kids to Thai worship with me on Sunday! They seemed to like it. Rhianna and I also taught the younger kids Sunday School. PLease pray for this Sunday School class...it is quite a challenge as they are a rowdy group, but we praise God for bringing them to learn His truth.

PJ continues to do well at school. He has adjusted and most days forgets to say goodbye to me! Please continue to pray for a loosened tongue for him.

In other news, please be praying for this country especially today as there will be a ruling from the government regarding dissolving two of the political parties. Pray that God's will would be done and that He would grant us on the team safey if there are violent protests. Thank you!

Answered Prayers

Hi everyone out there...I have a few things to share today that I hope will encourage your hearts as they have mine.
Many of you have been praying for our neighbor friends (three little kids that PJ often plays with). Since we've moved into this house I've been asking these kids to come to Joy Kids with us on Saturday mornings. They always have some excuse and never seem interested. The Lord led me to ask Tang (one of our BBCS interns) to come here the other day for the sole purpose of getting these kids to Joy Kids...and she did it! We walked around on our soi (street) for two hours, talking to parents and four of our neighbor kids will be leaving with me in about two hours to attend Joy Kids for for the first time! This will likely be the first time they will hear the Gospel story. The Joy Kids teaching this term is on the miracles of Jesus. Please continue to pray for this important ministry and for our neighbor friends...for God to be at work in their hearts.

The other answer to prayer is the way in which God has sustained PJ this first week of school. Thank you to all of you who have been praying for him. The first two days went really well and then there was yesterday. He was fine in the morning and then just as we were to darken the door of his classroom, he clung to me and didn't want to go in. I told him, "It will be fun." He replied with, "I don't want to have fun at school." (that response made me chuckle to myself a little!) When we were about to enter the classroom, his teacher came out and said there was a mix-up and he was actually to be in another class, not hers. I was a bit annoyed, I will admit. But, I met the other teacher who is younger and FULL of energy. The first teacher took PJ into her class for a little while until he calmed down and then they moved him to the class he is really to be in. When I picked him up after lunch, he was smiling and happy. The other blessing is that the new teacher offered much more information to me in regards to how PJ did and was obviously very encouraging to PJ (and to me). So, keep praying! Thanks so much. He gets a weekend break (but we do have Joy Kids today) and then we start a full week on Monday. Fortunately, he does swimming on Monday and is really looking forward to it!