MERRY CHRISTMAS from Thailand

"For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given and the government shall be upon His shoulder and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."  Isaiah 9:6

 

What a wonderful time of year!  We have had opportunities to share the love of Everlasting Father with these Buddhist children and their parents through Kids Club.  Amazing that these children are being exposed to the Gospel and are learning stories and songs that glorify the reason for the season!

 

The kids performed a skit, 'The Birth of Jesus'

 

 

Our Cast

 

Final run through, 15 minutes before performance time!

 

The 'Dressing Room'

 

Ready to perform their skit of the birth of Jesus

 

Our older "kids", the Karen students, held their Christmas program outside, under the stars.  These students will be spending their Christmas holiday traveling throughout Northern Thailand, sharing the gospel and serving the Lord in the villages.

 

 

 

Thank you for your prayers for Thailand. 

 

 

One of the Joys of getting older!

 

Darcy, 3 months old and full of personality

 

 

Kids Club preparing their masterpieces.

 

The kids have colored Lottie Moon pictures.  They heard the story of Lottie leaving home in the USA and traveling to China to work with the people of that country for her entire life.  Donna is teaching this generation about those who have gone before us.  Our prayer is that this will allow them to teach those in future generations as well.  Pray that these little ones will seek to know the truth of why Lottie did what she did.

 

Our Bible students also shared in the fun of coloring Lottie.  We shared the history of Lottie with them as well.  Maybe one of these young students is a rising Lottie.

This is the school where the students come to learn to share the Word of God, in English to the world

 

 

 

 

 





Random School Happenings

'English' Cooking Class

Our students came to us a couple of weeks ago and asked if we knew how to make spaghetti.  We said yes and they then asked what was needed to make it.  We were surprised the following week on class day when they said, "We want you to teach us how to make spaghetti." They had gone to the market and purchased all the ingredients we had suggested.  What a great way to teach English and to have a great time of fellowship as we cooked and then enjoyed our delicious meal.

Our students took advantage of each other while they waited for the finished product.  John was in charge of cooking the noodles.   

Our stove consisted of the 2 gas bottles in the background.  The red one on the left was where I was cooking the Chinese egg noodles.  The blue one was where we browned the pork, peppers, carrots & onions and made the sauce in a wok.  We were too busy eating to take pictures of the finished product.  It was delicious!!  We all  had a great time working together on this little 'project'.

At the end of our meal the students took to the sink to wash the dishes.  We very much enjoy sharing our lives with these young people.  They are all on fire for the Father and His work. 

IT'S ANOTHER GIRL

I would like to introduce Darcy Brynn R. to our family & friends.  She was born at 6:47AM Central Asia time on August 3, 2012.  She is 8 lbs 3 oz and is 21" long.  She has more hair than Pop does!! Both mother & little one are doing well.  Needless to say Nonna-Pop are EXCITED to see this new little one join the family.  We will travel to see the new addition in September.  WE CAN'T WAIT!!!

Of course, this is our Ava, now 3 years old and waiting to share all her BIG sister secrets with Darcy.  We are looking forward to our visit with the family next month.

Teaching assignments and prayer requests

We have been given the most delightful teaching assignment.  John and I are so blessed to be teaching English in the Karen Seminary here in Chiang Mai.  The Karen are a people group that live in the hills of Thailand but mostly in Myanmar.  The students are wearing the traditional Karen dress.   Our English book is the Bible but we also teach with games and praise songs.  Pray the Lord will use these students to reach their people with the gospel. 

On Friday afternoons, I met with several other workers wives and we hold a Kid's Club in their neighborhood.  We tell the children a Bible story and do crafts that relate to the story.  These children are from Buddhists families but the parents are open to having the children learn the Bible stories.  We have anywhere from 15 to 22 kids each week. We also have a few parents who hang around to hear the story.  Pray the Truth that we share with these kids will someday bloom into faith in our Lord.  Pray also that the parents would seek to know the One True God.

Our final request is for our little granddaughter,  Ava.  As you can see below, she is a lover of the outdoors and is full of energy and fun.  She has been having repeated infections and will have to undergo some test around the end of June.  Please pray the tests will be simple and reveal the source of these repeated infections. 

Vacation???

To all the mother's reading this Sunday blog,

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY 2012

It will be August 5th (the Queen's Birthday) before Thailand celebrates Mother's Day.

As many of you already know, we were to take a vacation to see family and friends in Centeral Asia and the US in April.  Well as our Father would have it, He substituted our vacation with back surgery for the big guy, John. 

It has now been 3 weeks since surgery and I want to update on progress and next things.  I can sit, stand, walk without the pain I had before surgery.  I am now beginning my aqua therapy, walking IN the water.  This will be the next step in my full recovery.  I return to the doctor for a follow up this week.  I am hoping for great news on the prognosis.

This is our 'neighborhood' pool, and where my aqua therapy begins.  I am waking for 30 minutes about 3 days a week.

This picture is more for the palm tree in back of me than of me.  Notice the depth of the pool.  This is the depth of the entire pool.

Right around the corner we are faced with the stark reality of why we are here, to bring light into the darkness. This picture is one of our neighbor's spirit houses.  Here they place offerings to appease the spirits to protect their homes.   Continue to pray that we will be the 'light' that we are called to be here in the dark world. 

Thank you to all who have sent well wishes, cards, calls, and the many prayers that have been raised to the Father on my behalf.  Those have been the most encouraging things that I have sensed throughout this entire ordeal.  Donna has been my awesome nurse for this entire ordeal.  She is ready to have me back to where I can do my part in all of the daily activities. 

Random Sights in Thailand

I was driving back from teaching at the Government office and what should appear?

A Monster BUG???

I was taking a chance to get even this picture.

Nothing is sent to the scrap yard!  The cab of this tank truck is made of wood.

Notice the automated sprinkler system on the top!

This truck makes its way around our neighborhood to water the trees

and shrubs during the Hot, Dry season.



A Chance to Tell

In February we traveled to Nakhon Ratchasima.  Our goal:

Tell the Good News to a group of school aged children grades 3-6

This is the group that greeted us when we arrived

Khruu Bee (left) and Khruu Sue are LIGHT in this school.  We came as much for

encouragement to them as to Tell our Story.  The are the ONLY 2 followers in the

School.  Please remember them before the Father!

Donna gravitated toward the smaller ones who were not part

of the group we were Telling.

Our leader was teaching the younger ones, not in our group, a silly song with motions

I did have a helper for my part of teaching ordinal numbers;

First, Second, Third, Forth, etc...

We departed after our two day camp having Shared no less than 20 times.

We used a dialog with motions and most of the kids picked it right up.

Now we just pray that Father will open the eyes of these young people.

First Annual Fishing Trip

Some of the folks I work with chartered this blue boat for 30 hours of fishing.  We left out at 10AM one day and came back in the next day.  We lived on the boat for the night.  This does not look like your normal US charter boat, but then who said I was normal!  We had a great time and are planning this to be an annual event.  Don G.  I will let you know when the next adventure is.  This was NOT deep sea fishing, just bottom fishing out of Pattaya, in the Gulf of Thailand.

Anyone remember the theme song that included the lyrics 'a three hour tour'? (Gilliagan's Island)



Caught several of these.

Largest Grouper boated

Largest barracuda boated

ONLY Sting Ray boated

One of two sharks boated

My personal favorite place on the whole boat!  Yes, I did get sick and spent a good amount of time in this chair.  I am going to prepare better for the adventure next year!

Flowers Everywhere

Donna and I visited the Royal Flora grounds here in Chiang Mai last Saturday.

My pictures can not do the beauty justice.  You can visit their website at http://www.royalflora2011.com/2011_en/ 

There was lots to see and we were just spell bound by the beauty of some of the plants.

Yes, the even had a combine on display!

Chiang Mai Tourist Attractions

Last week we visited the Night Safari.  The animals are well cared for and are beautiful.

This is one of the several white tigers.

These two lions were in a pen under a resturant where you could watch them eat while you were eating.

Another attraction is the Maesa Elephant Camp.  There you can ride an elephant and watch them perform during a show.

Ready for riders.

The parade opening the show.

These are just a sample of the tourist attractions available here.  We have been trying to see what is in the city so when you come we can take you.