MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM CHIANG MAI

Our office staff provided Christmas gifts to the children in the hostel behind our building. See their joy !!!

 

Before we handed out the gifts, one of our Thai staff shared the story about the Greatest Gift that was given. 

GETTING BACK TO NORMAL

I had the opportunity to go south to Nakorn Sawan this last weekend.  They were hit by the floods HARD.  They were under water for 50 days!  Again, most of you know how tall I am, and I had to reach up to show the water level on the building.  This particular building was under about 8' of water.  This is their worship center and office complex.

This stain on the side of the white wall shows nearly 10' of water damage.  This was the dorm which I stayed in.  They had us on the 3rd floor.

Another picture showing the stain on the beam where the TV bracket is located.  This was about 8-1/2' from the tile floor.  Even with the tile being underwater for 50 days, it cleaned up very well and is in very good condition. 

This was one of the places that they thought I might use my height.  Notice that I AM on a ladder, in fact on the second step!  These are vents for the stairwell to the dormitory.  I was asked to do the trim work with a paint brush while other workers used rollers on the wall areas.  I was there to serve.  Any task they gave me I was glad to do it for them.  They have come SO far in a very short period of time.

This is the name of the center where I was working.  Take note that everything was flooded and all vegetation was killed by the flood waters.  What do the nationals do first?  Plant flowers and trees!  Make the landscape look nice and then work on the buildings.  They have planted nearly 1,000 plants and trees over the last 3 weeks.

When you have a natural flower pot, why not make use of it?  There were many trees that were cut down since they were dead.  Many of them had hollow centers which is perfect for a plant.  Nothing goes to waste in Thailand!

This is the house of Khun Sam, one of the believers in the town.  His house sits over the river.  Although his house was by flooded about a foot of water, he said the water rushing through his house sounded just like a train coming through!  He hosted the teams that were working at the center for dinner on Thursday evening.  The entrance to the house is about 6' tall so I spent most of the time seated.  During the flood, we did have workers in the area delivering food and water to these people.  It is remarkable what they endured and the attitude that they possess now.  Many we talked with who experienced the flooding 35 years ago said this was far worse that that one.  This man is 72 years old and lives here with his wife who was born in this house.  He has been a believer for over 30 years and now teaches children the Bible on Saturday mornings.  See the video below.

This is the view from Khun Sam's house.  It is hard to imagine that this peaceful river could do so much damage to the surrounding areas.  I actually saw where the flood had washed the road out in 3 different places when the waters were attempting to subside.  God IS AWESOME in power!

This couple are the resident directors of the Christian Center where all the work was taking place.  The wife is actually the director and her husband is a Primary School Director.  They have been in the center for 2 years and are working very hard to get it to the point where it can reopen for youth to attend camps there to hear the Good News!

 

Those who have worked VBS for years will know the last song these children sang for us.  What a blessing to see the next generation in this town learning who God is and what He has done for them.  Even in the midst of struggles their smiles continue!

A TRIP TO THE GARDENS

On Sunday morning Donna and I went to a place called Horizon Village & Resort.  This is one of the man-made waterfalls that we encountered.  Notice the fish in the pool beneath the falls.   

There were may displays of cactus, all shapes and sizes.  Some were very short and round as the ones on the level below where Donna is seated.

There were also some John sized cactus plants.  We were amazed at the number of types of plants grow in a desert climate.  Of course we are not in a desert climate but it does get hot enough to have these growing outside year round.

This is actually part of a botanical garden that is very large.  We were able to rent bicycles and ride around the gardens and stop and enjoy the beautiful shapes and plants that had been formed.

I am not one who knows a great deal about plants or trees but this one was particularly facinating in that the leaves had been formed into balls much like powder puffs.  We spent about an entire day touring the gardens and taking pictures.  I will not post any more that I have here though!

Now you have to remember we are in the first week of December here.  The water was a wee bit chilly but if I were urged I would have gone swimming.  The tempeture during the day was in the mid 80's and as you can see, the sun was shining.

We spent the remainder of the afternoon by the pool.  We were the only one's sitting by the pool.  It was like having your own private pool without the headaches of owning a pool!  This was a GREAT way to really celebrate the king's birthday on Dec. 5.

IT'S A BIRTHDAY PARTY

This was what greeted us as we approached the ground where the King of Thailand's Birthday Celebration was held in Chiang Mai.  I don't think I have ever been this close to a hot air baloon!

This is one of the 'students' that I teach English to in the Work Permit Office.  Our main focus in conversation for the last 3 months has been this celebration.  We have reviewed and edited his proposed agenda and his invitation letters, again and again.  I for one am glad this day has finally come and gone!  Pray for Thung as I teach him English and that I will have opportunities to share more important information.

Donna and I were part of a group of 11 that attended.  Well guess who was elected to 'speak' on stage in front of the crowd!?!  You can see me standing behind the man who has the mike in this picture.  We were allowed 3-4 minutes to give well wishes to the King of Thailand on his birthday.  I spoke about the man who extended the invitation to us to come to Thailand and the Foundation that I work for as well as wishing the king many more birthdays to celebrate.

Of course, what is a party without fireworks.  These were shot off directly behind the platform over everyone's head.  The fallout was not too terrible but I could see someone being burned by the ashe.  I didn't hear any crying so I guess all was well.

Nine large lanterns were light to honor the king on this day.  His actual birthday was December 5 but this celebration on Saturday evening, December 3.  Another close encounter with something I have not been this close to before.

I hope the video works for all.  This is the lighting and launching of the lanterns in honor of the king's 84th birthday.  We were not really sure how the evening would go but we ended up having a great time.  We never know what to expect here in Thailand!

Lantern Lighting Celebration

We found this quite interesting!  People place tea lights on their property during the full moon in November.  It was almost like daytime in the neighborhood.

This was the preparation of the floating lanterns for launch.  They are nothing more than a plastic bag with a wire frame at the opening with some sort of fire source in the middle.  This symbolized the taking away of sins by the lantern.

When the air became hot enough in the bag it would take off.

This is one that had been launched down the street from our house.

I hope you can view the movie of the take off of one of the bags.  The kids were having a great time with the parents in the street.  There were literally hundreds of bags floating in the air during about 3 different nights.  The real shame is that their sins still remain on the ground with them!  There is only one way to have those taken away and that is what we want to tell them!

Hodge Podge Post

Believe it or not, we do clean up occasionally for an event.  We attended a wedding reception for one of the Thai girls in our office.  Behind us is the cake, 6 tiers high.

The lovely bride and her handsome groom served one of the people at our table his cake after they had cut it.

Switching gears now, we sit on our front porch and watch the sun set over the mountain.

Thanksgiving Celebration on the office grounds.  There was plenty of family to go around for everyone.  There were about 70 people attending.

No roasted pig this time but plenty of turkey, ham, sweet and white potatoes, dressing, salads, deserts, and on and on and on.  There is ALWAYS too much food!!!

Harvest Festival

We celebrated the beginning of the "Cool" Season with a COOKOUT!!!

This was the 'main course' at our party.  There were 2 men who put this little piggy on the grate at 4 AM Friday morning and turned him over at 1:20 PM.  This was about 4:30 PM when this picture was taken.  Notice he is still in tact!

Of course when you have a party with kids, you need to provide activities to entertain the 'kids' whatever age.  Donna asked if she could take a turn and the little children said SURE!  I had to capture it for her.  This is actually a 'WATER' slide but we did not hook up the water to the slide as none were dressed with bathing suits.

This was the winner of the pumpkin decorating contest.  There were about 6 entries but this was by far the MOST original!  Yes there is McDonald's in Thailand!

Well it is almost time to eat!  The pork was excellent.  The man is chopping it on a block and then put it into the pan to put on the table.

This is the FIRST person through the line!  Imagine that!  There was a huge assortment of good things to eat, and plenty of it as well.  No one went away hungry!  If you did, it was your own fault!

I noticed this tree in the yard on the grounds.  I think it is a Norfolk Island Pine tree.  Well the only one that I had ever seen with any size to it was my sister-in-law's that was about 4 feet tall.  See the next picture....

As you can see, this is quite a bit taller than the 4 foot tree that I remember from years ago.  This one is over 50 feet tall and in great health.  Things is Thailand grow to be VERY big since it doen't get cold enough to make them die out.

Thought you might like to hear some of the sounds that we heard from the kids playing on the inflatables.  This was a GREAT time of fellowship with all of the workers in the office and their families.  We did have our Thai staff families at the party as well.  All in all it was a wonderful time in the yard of the office building.

Now I wonder what we will do to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas!?!

Typical Saturday

Thought you might like to see what a typical Saturday looks like in Chiang Mai.  With us working all week and not getting home until after dark, well you know what has to be done!  The grass in the picture is not a good representation of the yard.  It is green, not brown and it was time for it to be cut.


This is how I cut the grass at the house.  The yard is not real large so it takes about an hour or two with all of the plants around the fence, especially in the front!



 With a park directly across the street from us, children are always playing, swinging, laughing and running.  It is so refreshing to hear their laughter rather than traffic noise.

These three have captured our hearts since they are about our Ava's age.  When Ava comes to visit she will have friends to run, laugh and play with in the neighborhood

I though rainy season was about over.  This picture shows that I might be mistaken.  This gives some indication as to the amount of rain that was falling.  This shower lasted about 30 minutes and then it cooled off and was very pleasant.  Of course this all happened AFTER the grass cutting was completed and I was enjoying some relaxation on the front porch.