Calvin reading his favorite book, Go, dog. Go

We had this visitor on our soi yesterday! PJ and I fed him
some sugar cane. He was very happy with that!

An interesting read

Our last surface mail newsletter of Bangkok and Beyond, I mentioned an idol craze that is affecting Thailand. I ran across this article on the BBC website. For those of you who are interested check it out at
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6976705.stm
Please remember to pray for the Thai people.

Sickness in the camp and a new friend

Hey all, above is Calvin and no, I didn't make him pose like that. I took the picture and when I looked at it he had his little hand upon his knee...all on his own! Calvin still doesn't talk, really. I mean he talks all the time, but it's jibberish and quite funny. He does call for me and Paul (momma, momma and dadada) but that is about all. He has said random words (night, night, bye bye, etc) but these are not words he will say at any given moment. I think he's trying to figure out English and Thai...we'll see what happens! He's also taken a liking to spinning in circles until dizzy and falling on his bottom all the while laughing his head off. He also has managed to climb the bunk bed ladder to he and PJ's bunk beds (that as of right now only PJ sleeps in due to Calvin still sleeping in a crib). This, thankfully, was discovered while Mommy was overseeing but still...PJ was NOT like this one!

PJ has come down with something...I was just thinking the other day how wonderful it has been the past month with the boys being relatively healthy...well, PJ's been sick since Tuesday night with mostly a fever, cough and ear ache. He looks awful (as you can see in the above picture) as his eyes are also really sore, but he has been mostly pleasant with his most fussy times at night. He's gone to bed early for the past two or three nights...tonight he wanted to climb into bed at 6:30! Sorry, kid, you gotta stay up a bit longer!

And, this is our new friend. I have yet to name him. I found him last night hanging out in my kitchen sink. He's not very big (smaller than my pinky finger) and doesn't seem to be too afraid of me. Now, I know that you know that geckos are not a big deal here. We have them...they tend to be everywhere and they just become part of your life in Thailand. So, why am I blogging about a gecko? Well, earlier today I was washing dishes (with the gecko in the sink) and I was telling Paul about him. I was asking Paul why he thinks the gecko has stayed in the sink all night and all day. His very logical and good answer was that he couldn't get OUT of the sink...he's too small!) So, I helped him out with a little push up onto the counter and thought he would escape our kitchen and find life outside the kitchen sink. A couple hours later, I was making pizza dough and saw him beside the sink, near the back of the counter. I couldn't believe this guy. He must really feel at home in our kitchen! So, I snapped a picture of him after he snapped a bug flying around in our kitchen! (This is one VERY good reason to keep geckos in your house...bug control!). So, we know have a resident kitchen gecko. Sorry, Mom, I am not getting rid of him, he's too cute and too helpful to keeping the pests down!

Important Note: On the baby widget to the right it says I am further along than is actually correct according to my doctor. I don't know how to go back and change it so just add another week onto whatever is posted and that is when I am actually due. (Actual date: October 22). Only about five weeks left!!! Woo hoo!

A Revelation

The other night as I was ironing the bushels of clean clothes I was listening to a sermon cd. It's a series on Family Worship. It's been VERY good and encouraging. The pastor talked about many different aspects of Family Worship (what it is, the Biblical example, the father's role, mother's role, how to do it, etc). But, today, I want to share with you, my faithful readers, just one SMALL point he made about pressure. At the end of each session the pastor asks for questions, and though I can't hear the person asking the question I believe this one particular person made a comment about how time consuming Family Worship is. The pastor responded by saying basically, "what are your priorities?" And he went on to say that there are two kinds of people in the world (basically, this is, of course, all para-phrased!). He said there are those who live their lives by pressures (ie, basketball practice, baseball practice, church activities, etc, etc) and then there are those who live their lives by priorities. He clearly said that if you live by priorities you are NOT going to be liked. People don't like it when you say "no" to something good because of a priority you have previously set. And this got me thinking. Do I live by priorities or by pressures? I think 10 years ago, my life would have been defined by living by pressures. But,now, I think I have moved more to the priority side of life. What caused this change? Well, I don't know for sure but I think 1) God has shown me that He must direct my days and the things with which I fill them 2) CHILDREN! Need I say more? Children have a way of becoming a priority (and rightfully so!) and so many of those other pressures get thrown out but perhaps the biggest reason is 3) MY HUSBAND! HE is a priority man. He doesn't cave in at every pressure that comes along. His conviction is firm and he sticks by it, no matter what. This very issue is what has caused a lot of misunderstandings between us...I am the one who can't say "no" and he is the one who knows his priorities and therefore CAN say "no"! After realizing this the other night, I thanked God for the way He created Paul to be a priority man and I shared with Paul too. We need to have firm priorities...things to govern our lives otherwise we are just tumbleweeds blowing in the wind, being swayed to do this or that with no real purpose. So, what about you, are you driven by every pressure that comes your way or are you driven by God given priorities?

Visitors!

Pictured above is our family, Catherine (our friend who teaches at the international Christian school) and a medical missions team from the US. We went through a lot of training with one of the docs pictured above, Doreen (third one from the left in the white shirt) as we prepared to become long term missionaries with MTW.
So, last night our family and Catherine headed to downtown Bangkok to meet this group for supper. It was so great to meet new peoople and catch up with Doreen. They were in Cambodia for a week of medical missions and stopped in Bangkok on their way home. We got to meet Ted and Sharon Kuhn, who are over medical missions for MTW. We also got to meet Dr. SooHoo and Karen. They are from all over the US and the other half of their team had already departed for the US earlier that day. They were full of encouraging words for us and though we didn't get to hear how God had answered prayer for the Cambodia trip we did get to share with them how God is answering prayer here in Bangkok. (We asked about their trip and the only response was, "It was GREAT!" So, I think they were still processing!)
We also found some interesting connections...mainly with Paul and that little town of Waynesboro, PA. It seems all paths have crossed there at some point! Paul's dad used to work there and Ted told us the hospital is built on what used to be his grandfather's farm! Truly, the world is small.
Of course, we don't normally venture too far after 5PM on a Friday night...especially downtown Bangkok with two children in tow but last night was worth it and even the boys did fairly well. It helped that we got to ride the Sky Train (always a highlight for PJ!) and fruit and ice cream always helps to keep them occupied as well!

I also wanted to share that last week our market friend came back to worship and brought her 3 year old daughter with her! Please keep praying for them and pray for her husband too, that he would soon come and hear the Word of God. What an answer to prayer!!!!

Updates, updates!

Well, the blog scene has been a bit quiet again. I've been reading a lot lately (not something I generally do other than the Bible, of course.) Usually I "don't have the time" but I've been encouraged by my teammates to read some good books and so I've picked them up and actually finished one within 24 hours of receiving it (and that NEVER happens!). The other book I am reading is one my dear mother in law gave me when they were here in February. It's about Ann Judson of Burma. And might I add, WHOA! Talk about consecrated missionaries, pouring out their entire lives for the Gospel. It's been quite convicting and encouraging as I read this account and now I have even more of a burden to pray for the nation of Burma and her people. And that is another area I've been spending more of my "free time"...and that is in prayer. God has been so good to give me at least an hour or so in the evenings (usually) to just sit, read the Bible and pray for Thailand, SE Asia and other needs that are shared. I hope that this desire will stay and grow deep within me.

In other news, this past Sunday we had a VERY encouraging thing happen. A Thai women that our team is getting to know and continues to reach out to came to worship for the first time! She sells food in the market area and we eat at her fine establishment quite often. She came and her response was that she wants to come back every week because she LOVED it! How encouraging! The other amazing thing about this particular Sunday was that Phii Chai preached from Romans 6 and 7 about being slaves to sin or slaves to righteousness. He clearly laid out the Gospel with diagrams on the power point and all! It was truly amazing to see how God had orchestrated her first Sunday to be last Sunday! Anyway, please pray for her.

We also have welcomed a new "girl" to the team. Melanie arrived late Wednesday night and will be working with our team for two years. She has a blog if you're interested in learning more about her and how you can pray for her at... www.thaimelanie.blogspot.com. Friday night she was locked out of her apartment and so the boys and I went to pick her up and as I was telling PJ what we were doing he asked me if she was from Africa. I have no idea why. He just comes off with things like that sometimes. A couple months ago, we were in the super market and a Thai lady asked PJ is English..."Where are you from?" and I heard PJ answer..."Africa." I quickly corrected him and laughed really hard as did the woman! Anyway, we are so excited that the Lord has brought Melanie to serve here. Please pray for her as she adjusts to a new culture and life here in Thailand.

And yet, in other news, the baby is growing healthily. I saw the doctor yesterday and all looks great, he said. I thank God for the health He has granted me and I don't take it for granted. I am looking forward to meeting this new little blessing and it's only 8 weeks away!!!! Of course the whole birthing thing scares me a bit (it has each time) but I try to pray when I start getting scared and am reminded that God will be with me and He will give me the strength and endurance I need to deliver this baby.

So, I guess that is all that is going on here other than the usual. We will be having a team pray and plan meeting on friday when we set goals for the next year. Please pray with us during that time that the Spirit of God would lead and direct us.

A not-so-new site to check out!

Hey everyone, check out our new and updated MTW Thailand webiste at
www.mtwthailand.org

Thai Mother's Day

In Thailand, Mother's Day is on August 12th every year becuase this is the HM the Queen's birthday. This year the Lord led our team to do a speacial worship service to honor the mother's of the children with whom we are in contact. God graciously answered our prayers as many, many people came to our ministry center today for the FIRST time and heard God's Word preached and Lord willing, saw God's family, the church at work. I counted 15 moms that came and several fathers (!). It was a HUGE encouragement to us as a team. After the service we all ate kuay thiaw together from two local shops (kuay thiaw is basically ramen noodles with meat and often times other things added in there too!).
In Thailand, it is custom during Mother's Day for the children to present their mother with a fake jasmine flower and thank them for being their mom. In the first picture you see a row of women sitting and their children on their knees in front of them presenting them with a flower pin. If a child's mother didn't come, she/he just picked another mom that was there and gave it to her.
In the second picture, you see Phii Nong. She attended a few of my English classes but has stopped coming due to having to work. She is one of the movers and shakers at the Maahaadthai Community we are working with. She is a sweet, sweet woman...please pray for her.
And in the third picture you will notice these three women are "wai-ing." This is perhaps the most common gesture you will see and do in Thailand. I can't recall why these women are wai-ing. Most times one wais to greet someone, say good-bye, say thank you or if you are offering merit or praying to a Buddha or other spirits.
And the last picture is of my dear little Calvin with his most favorite Thai person in the world...Phii Charin. Charin is one of our BBCS interns and is GREAT with kids...especially Calvin! Charin, Tim Mills and Pramote (the other intern) have been taking a Thai traditional music class for the past several months (for Christian worship) and today was their debut. They played some Thai traditional music with instruments. It was beautiful and they all did a superb job! Charin is seen here getting a head start teaching Calvin the outworkings of this classical Thai instrument that is much like a guitar and yet distinctly Thai. (Tim, maybe you could let me know the name of this instrument...I have forgotten!).
I also wanted to point out to all you faithful readers that you might have noticed a lot of folks dressed in blue. This is the color for mother's day here in Thailand. Many of you might recall that yellow is the HM the King's color but blue, specifically light blue is for HM the Queen. Everyone wears these shirts...men, women, children and most of them say something like "I love mom" or LOVE MOM" in both Thai or English. I got Calvin a shirt that says, "I love mom" in Thai. It's really a neat idea...the whole country gets blanketed in these colors at specific times of the year or even specific days of the week (for example on Mondays in Thailand, virtually everyone is in yellow!).
And lastly, I wanted to thank you for your prayers for today. It was SO exciting and though I wasn't able to hear Charin's sermon on being a godly mother I heard it went really well. And the important thing is that God's Word was proclaimed to many who have never heard it before! Pray now, for those who came, that the Spirit of God would bring them back to hear more of the Gospel and that they would be hungry for more and more truth. Thanks again for faithfully praying. "To God be the Glory, great things HE has done!"

Thai Mother's Day

Joy Kids...

Jane, the girl pictured in the first shot with little Asa Mills took off with our camera this morning and captured most of the pics for this blog...and she did a pretty good job of it too! Jane has two younger sisters and if often left to look after them as her parents are out working.
Pictured second is none other than Miss Catherine with Diw.
In the third picture some of our Joy Kids girls prepared special songs for today. One was Thai (sorry, I don't know the name of it) and the other was an English song that goes..."Let us pray, let us pray, every where and every way, every moment of the day it is the right time..." What a blessing to see these children proclaiming God's love for us before their parents and grandparents. To God be the glory!
And thirdly, the Joy Kids did another special song.

Outreach

Two Sundays ago, our team hosted a neighborhood BBQ. We invited everyone on the street our ministry center is located on and we also invited friends who live in the area. In the first picture you will see my two friends from the park, Jum and Tum along with Miss Aunt Becky Bronson (as PJ affectionately calls her!). In the second picture we have three of the girls from Maahaadthai, and then we have Tang and Pawn keeping tabs on the fire in the grill...and lastly we have Mot (BBCS intern) pictured with some of the young men from Maahaadthai.

We have another exciting opportunity coming up this Sunday, August 12. Please be praying for our Sunday worship service. It is Thai Mother's Day this Sunday and we are having a special service with the Joy Kids singing special songs and we've invited lots of families to this worship service. Afterwards we will be sharing a meal together in celebration of our moms. Please pray for the Spirit of God to move thru the preaching of His Word. This will be the first time many of them will hear the Gospel. Pray for the Spirit to be at work. Thanks be to God for the work He is doing here! And pray for us to not become weary in doing good.

bound to happen

It was bound to happen that someone would get their head stuck in our homemade baby gate...and sure enough, PJ did! I laughed so hard and then said, "Hold on, I gotta take a picture." Poor kid. =)
And Calvin has been enjoying CHERRIOS!!! Yeah for Grammie and Aunt Catherine for sending/bringing them. Calvin has immensely enjoyed this treat!

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.