Loris’ Last Installment From Thailand
Wednesday: I’m tired this morning. I know Lucy is probably cooking already. The students are coming to listen to Pastor Frank at the church next to Kitichai & Lucy’s. They will have lunch at their house and eat the pig killed yesterday. I listen for awhile. We leave tomorrow afternoon and I don’t want to forget the early morning sounds of the village.
Lucy has made rice porridge for breakfast. We also have a fruit unknown to me, sweet sticky rice, toasted rice patties & buried eggs. The eggs look like boiled eggs but they are dry and have been salted & buried underground for 20 days. Caleb is home from school today because he begged to be here with all the activity. We eat on the patio. Joshua is dressed in his Boy Scout uniform. Shann takes his picture. He looks sharp! Instead of a wolf on the kerchief there is an elephant. He rides a motorcycle to Thai school.
I help Lucy’s mother with the onion, garlic and green onions. I think I’m in the way but I’m enjoying it and I don’t want to sit while they work. Shann gets a lesson in mashing garlic. Lucy begs me to let her wash my clothes. She is a perfect host. I’m wearing the ‘everyday’ skirt she gave me. It’s a tube you wrap around & tie—one size fits all. I’ve been told they are practical for privacy with changing or using the bathroom. I don’t plan to try that but I can see how it would work.
Kitichai takes a dump truck to LTC to bring them to his home and the church next door. The students helped build the house …they are comfortable here and seem happy to see the family settled. They pitch in in the kitchen.
We gather at the church. I haven’t seen it inside. We take our shoes off at the door. It’s beautiful. It’s concrete, painted white with tiled floors and lots of windows. The windows are wood and can be opened not to see out of but for airflow. It has some glass above. The other churches didn’t have glass. There is a drum set on the platform in front. There is a bright red cloth on the wall behind the pulpit. Fresh glads in bowls decorate the front of the church. Red & white chairs are on separate sides of the church. Girls in red, boys in white. The ceiling has a huge cross also concrete painted white. Foil Christmas trees and other decorations dangle from the ceiling.
The students sing to begin the day. Frank teaches a lesson illustrated with pencils. Ladies from the village wander in…all have been invited. The church is full. Frank has the full attention of the audience. Lucy’s kitchen smells of garlic next door. I am not hungry but distracted!
Pastor Frank & Shann are presented with Lahu vests. They are beautiful. A student asks for prayer…she’s having trouble sleeping. Pastor Frank, Shann & I pray for her in the front of the church. We say grace and then the feast. Everyone scatters to find shade and rest. Time now for more teaching/preaching in the afternoon.
Guitars are out…more beautiful singing. Animated choruses. Shann opens in prayer with Kitichai interpreting. Shann gives his testimony and Pastor Frank begins his afternoon lesson. Col. 3:1-17. Four steps to being a more godly person. This is wonderful teaching and the students are focused. I am distracted by all the babies around me…they are quiet or sleeping. Adorable!
We pray. Pastor Frank teaches and the students pray out loud for us. I had never given a thought to what angels praying sounded like…today I think they speak Lahu!
We say goodbye for now. Lucy shows me how she washes an outfit for me to change into in Tokyo on the way home. It’s quite a process. Terry and Linda bring chicken and other delights. Lucy gives me a cooking lesson and we share our last supper in Thailand. We have a long and heartfelt conversation about our trip, the future and needs of LTC.
Will we be back? God willing. Terry is very frank about the isolation missionaries feel on the field. I’m thinking about this and will continue to think about it. We have coffee, the boys are home from Chinese school and we enjoy visiting with them. It’s time for bed but we hate to go because the morning will come too soon.
***PLEASE PRAY FOR US. WE LEAVE IN THE LATE MORNING (Wednesday night at your home) AND WILL BE TRAVELLING UNTIL ARRIVING HOME FRIDAY AFTERNOON. Safety, sleep and sadness at leaving are three requests.***
Loris’ Fifth Installment from the Thailand Team
Tuesday: We wake up early but not as early as our hosts. We prepare/review our lessons. We eat a nice breakfast of vegetables, chicken and rice. Kitichai & Lucy’s boys attend two schools until 9pm. They speak Lahu, Thai and now Chinese. They also understand more English than they let on. Kitichai wanted to show me how they butcher pigs…I wasn’t excited and he must have sensed that because the pig is in two large pans, clean and ready to go..I’m thankful. Shann & I head off to LTC on the motorcycle. I forgot the book of pictures I brought from home so back we go. At the school they are singing as we walk in..’Jesus, Lamb of God’ with Samuel playing the guitar. Beautiful! Now they’re singing it in a round…wish I had a recorder. Can I hold this beautiful sound in my heart?
The room is divided with girls on the left and boys on the right. They usually wear a uniform but this is a special time just after the New Year holiday so they are wearing t-shirts, flip flops, cotton slacks and Lahu skirts. A puppy wanders in listening to ‘You Alone Are My Hearts Desire’ and falls asleep underfoot. Babies come to class with their momma’s breastfeeding while they sing. Where will God lead these babies? What a good start they are getting in ministry.
Andrew speaks impromptu because Kitichai isn’t here yet…probably late because he had to butcher a pig this morning. Other students follow Andrew. Being a pastor means sharing at a moments notice and these students are off to a good start.
Chickens cluck and crow outside the classroom. The students laugh at a story. I wish my interpreter was beside me so she could tell me what he’s saying.
Terry teases the students that they’ll be speaking in English to us so one by one they go around the room and tell us their names. We get acquainted just like we would at home.
My interpreter is Thai and hasn’t done this before, she gets nervous so another teacher who is fluent in Thai translates into Lahu. This translating chain takes more time from English to Thai to Lahu. Linda speaks them all so she hears my talk as an echo! It is time consuming but fun. We can’t understand each other but women who can laugh together can enjoy each other’s company anyway.
I didn’t really understand what I needed to prepare to speak to these women when I was at home. I carefully typed what I wanted to share. This morning God brought another script to mind so I scratched it out on my notebook. It was right. I asked the ladies if they had questions. They were shy at first but later asked personal questions. One of the ladies said she would be praying I would come back because she was ‘impressed’ with me. I could have cried.
We have a short break and the men & women meet together to hear Pastor Frank speak about keeping yourself pure.
Lunch time! My new friend and interpreter is leaving so we hurry to the house to give her a small gift. I also have a cross for my 2nd helper. I’m glad I have something to send with these dear ladies. When we get back we’ve missed lunch. They had dog. J
We ate a rambutan fruit with Terry and Shann and I join him in a tour of the school. Students are here…Pastor Frank has gone to Terry and Linda’s to call Gail. It’s 10:00pm in Idaho…he wakes her up and gets to talk with her for the first time this trip.
The second half of the day with Pastor Frank teaching is well received by the students. Daniel is the topic and being men and women of God. Shann looks tired. Probably the sweet fruit for lunch. A student brings coffee! Shann will be a better student.
The students sing ‘Rock My Soul in the bosom of Abraham’ with motions. It is obvious they are very fond of one another. They encourage each other to speak and lead prayers. They clap for each other. I am having trouble matching names to faces because the pictures are so serious and in person the faces have huge smiles!
There is a board on the classroom wall of the five 4th year students we visited in the villages. They have a picture of each one and a list of prayer requests. The 1st-3rd year students pray for them each day. These students can have a huge impact on the Kingdom of God. They can go into China and Burma. What a miracle it is that we get to be a tiny part of it!
Samuel asks if we’d like to watch him feed the school’s pigs. How can we say no? After school each student goes right to their chores then to ‘football’ (soccer). We go ‘home’, clean up and off to Terry and Linda’s for supper of barbequed prawns, salad and mangosteen fruit. We can hear the students playing football, laughing and cheering. Later, after dark, we hear them singing. Time to go home, go to bed and thank God for another wonderful day in Thailand.
Loris’ Fourth Installment of Thailand Team Diary
Monday: The village is awake! It’s still dark outside but Pa Kluai (‘our village’) has the dancing today. Lahu from 13 villages will meet here. The church service has just finished (we don’t go to this) Kitichai comes home and shares the lesson with Shann. Pastor Frank sleeps late but has been up all night feeling sick to his stomach. I give him some Imodium and Shann prays for him. Kitichai & Lucy’s nephew wants them to come for breakfast. I insist with a lot of sign language that she should go—they finally do. They are wonderful hosts but we want to be easy guests! Frank says he’ll stay here. I’m praying he will feel better and change his mind. Terry comes to get us. The drumming is heating up! Kitichai & Lucy are dressed in beautiful Lahu outfits. We watch for a short time, Frank stays and Shann & I go with Terry to pick up Linda. She had intended to stay home but is easily persuaded to come along. I’m happy. We had planned to go to for a boat ride (a slow boat to China) and have my passport stamped in Burma but without Frank we have a change of plan. We drive to the Golden Triangle where Thailand, Burma and Laos are separated by the river. I took a picture at a buddist temple. How sad that so many souls are led astray by the untruths of this group. We’ve seen lots of monks in bright robes. Some smoking!? I plan to read about buddists when I get home. We drove past a place where chickens and pigs are raised above the water to ‘feed’ the fish. Terry teased me about buying fish at Costco. We stopped to watch huge cargo boats going to China. We ate at an Indian restaurant Terry likes in Mai Sai and did some shopping and picture taking. At the restaurant we ate roti a type of flat bread that Terry likes…..I know I keep recording what we eat….as I read what I’ve written it seems my time in Thailand has just been one meal running into the next. It seems that way in my memory too. We arrive back at Kitichai & Lucy’s as the dancing is over. We are greeted by Andrew, a student Shann knew from his trip three years ago and he gives Shann a big hug. We visited him at his home with Terry and Linda in the village where they are serving. We are happy to find Pastor Frank feeling better! This is good news because tonight we are eating at a buffet restaurant with some of the LTC Staff. We take the motorcycles about 13 kl. It’s a nice ride to and from. We cook what we have chosen from the buffet on mu-gatat. The tables had square holes in them with wire to hold a clay bucket full of hot coals. The ‘cooker’ sits on top and a piece of fat is added to the peak of a cone. Sort of like an upside down wok. Then hot water is added to the bottom where we cook vegetables. Meat is cooked on the steepest part. When the food is cooked it’s taken off with chop sticks and your choice of sauce is added to your bowl. It reminds me of fondue. Tomorrow I will speak to the female students. Lucy’s sister-in-law has come five hours by car with her husband and two young daughters to be my interpreter. We met at dinner. She is a delight! She is the only Christian in her family of 8 girls and 2 boys. Her parents are buddist and her father is not happy his youngest child is a Christian. She had Christian American woman as a teacher in high school. The woman, Sharon, lives in Denver, Co and they are still very close. She helped her learn English and get into Bible college where she met her husband. We never know how we can change the course of a life by witnessing to people we meet. She started her work tonight and I enjoyed ‘talking’ to some of the students I’ve only been able to exchange smiles with. I plan to get Sharon’s phone number and call her when we go to see Dylan & Jenna later this month. We came back and watched a video Terry made of building Kitichai & Lucy’s beautiful new home. Shann has been so curious because building practices are so different for this rainy climate. We visit, have coffee and are ready for bed. Another blessed day in Thailand.
Loris’ Third Installment of First Impressions
Saturday:
We leave the village to go to another Ba Kaw Pi, this is the ‘old village’ tomorrow we’ll go to the ‘new village’ (Ba Kaw Suh). Samuel, Rachel & baby Paulo ride along. We stop at an open to the street Chinese restaurant along the way and eat food that is nice but not spicy. The restaurant has a ‘real’ toilet and a sink to wash the dust off my face outside in the back. We ride on to Ba Kaw Pi. This is a very poor village of 17 homes. They butchered a pig for us…I didn’t watch. Two LTC interns (fourth year students) live and work here. I see a little girl dancing/skipping her way up the hill to the church with bunches of flowers in her hands for the alter. Pastor Frank, Shann & I walk down the hill to check out the rest of the village. What we didn’t know is that at the end of the village another (Thai) begins. These people were friendly and offered us whiskey we think. We decline and say ‘hello’ to all we pass. Strange to this rural raised girl to be separated by language with your next door neighbors.
I have another ‘new’ experience. I shower in the neighborhood shower/toilet. The water comes from a hose and is cool. After our walk through this village and the next it feels great. Linda kindly watched the door for me as it didn’t really latch. The ladies on their way to the bathroom didn’t understand ‘No!’ so I and they were surprised for a minute! It feels great to get the red dust off after our long ride in the back of the pickup.
We eat (of course) and rest before the service at the church. About 60 gather including lots of kids. Three children join the interns in singing. The man who has given us his home for the night is playing a keyboard. The children are very serious about their songs and have been practicing. They sound great! The congregation sings ‘My Hope is Built on Nothing Less’ & ‘On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand’ I am amazed to hear the hymns we sing at home in Lahu. This congregation would probably feel the same way to hear us sing ‘their’ songs! Shann shares his testimony with Kitchai interpreting. He is really amazing to watch. The Lahu language is wonderful to listen to…I think if I listen hard enough I can understand it…I certainly get the ‘spirit’ of what is being said….but Kitchai makes it look so easy to switch back and forth between the two. Pastor Frank preaches, children wander around their mothers and a heavy sweet smell of ‘bell flowers’ hangs in the air again tonight. Kitchai surprises me with a Lahu skirt. It’s black with red trim and accents of other colors. I am touched. The man sharing his home with us tells us through Kitchai of an experience with ‘white people’. He is polite but I didn’t get the feeling it was a good experience. He thanks us for coming and talks about our being brothers and sisters in Christ. Most of the church shakes hands with us and tells us ‘u sha bon a pi’ (God bless you).
After church we walk down the hill past where Shann and I watched boys of all ages playing a game with wooden tops earlier in the day. They wrap a string around the top attached to a stick. We saw David’s tops a few days ago. This is a popular game. Our home tonight is a bamboo house on the ground. It has a dirt floor and a bamboo platform for sleeping. Our beds, all our beds, were made for us when we came back from church. Pastor Frank, Terry, Linda, Shann & I took our places with Pastor Frank making no quiet announcement that he was putting in his earplugs! Great idea. Dogfights/drumming/roosters/rest? Would you ever get used to these sounds of village living?
We get up early and then hear the bell (gong) telling us to get up for the early service. We walk to the church and hear ‘Create In Me a Clean Heart’,‘Give Thanks’ & ‘Come Thou Fount’. Shann spoke of the challenges of keeping our focus in Christian living. After the service we had a large breakfast of rice, pork and vegetable dishes and a new spice to me with chilies I like very much. I am given a ‘hint’ that the darker the dish the more blood is in it. I won’t forget and will try to avoid the dark.
I have a new vest to match my skirt. I will give my testimony at the new village and I think they want to be sure I look presentable!
Before we leave we pray for an older woman who has pain in her knees. My knees hurt and I just have to carry myself around. This woman in flip flops has had a life of gardening on hills steeper than the one across from the church!
We arrive in Ba Kaw Suh (the new village). It has 20 homes. We wait for the next service in the home of an LTC student. Thai television plays while we visit. We are offered candy, fried beans and soda. Terry’s back is sore and is given a massage. We walk up the hill to the church to wait for the service to start. 11:00 am is the time but the village has its own schedule.
The choir arrives followed by the congregation. They sing beautifully. An older man is serving as the minister today and will serve communion. I give my testimony. Frank delivers a wonderful sermon and we sing and share communion. The bread is a sweet cookie and the wine is strawberry soda. Pastor Frank is not interested in hearing about changes to our practice at CCCC. The pastor of the church also has a sermon and then Kitchi summarizes the service interpreting for us. We walk down the hill to the home we first came to and have a wonderful lunch (again!) It‘s a good thing we’re walking to church at least with all these delicious meals! May-ja! Delicious! Pastor Frank holds Hpawle (Polly) & Anusit’s baby, Sarah, through the meal reliving his own Sarah. Both are smiling!
We pack up to leave and are joined by Samuel, Rachel & Paulo and now another student from Samuel’s village. Shann and I sit in the back of the pickup with them. Samuel is a very attentive father & husband. He carefully shades his family from the sun. I suggest Shann might make some notes! His English is good enough to point out sites along the way. I’m thankful for his good disposition and willingness to try to understand us. We see the world from the back of the Toyota. We see four cows in a pickup of the same size. Water buffalo, people clearing hillsides steeper than I can believe, buddha’s on hills, and village after village are common sights. We stop for ice cream and another steamed rice bread stuffed with cabbage and meat. I can’t eat the ice cream or finish the bread.
We drop off the students at LTC and stop at Terry and Linda’s so Pastor Frank can upload photos before church tomorrow. Shann works on their water pump, Linda works at ridding her patio garden of worms that are eating her plants and Terry waters their plants. I try to stay out of the way!
Shann & I ride a motorcycle back to Kitchai & Lucy’s. A shower and clean clothes! I watch Lucy cook our dinner of ginger & crocodile. We eat on the patio.
Tomorrow the New Year’s dancing will be right outside the door!
Caleb has been packing a really long roman candle around since we got here and finally tonight he had permission to light it! He shared it with another boy who offered it to Shann. They traded back and forth as it flew off the deck!
What a wonder and blessed weekend! Tomorrow brings new adventures. What does God have in store for us?
Loris’ Second installment of First Impressions
Friday We ate a wonderful breakfast with Kitchai & Lucy. Lucy gave me a cooking lesson (fried rice). She wants to learn to bake cakes. I told her I’d be happy to give her a lesson in baking! Shann, Pastor Frank & I rode motorcycles over to the village where LTC is and where Terry & Linda live to get ready to go to the village where we’ll spend the night. The New Year’s dancing celebration moved to their village so we watched for awhile. There is a large Baptist Church there and we met several American women from Washington DC staying with the pastor and his family. We packed up and we’re off!
We made several stops. We went to a large market in the city to buy a flashlight. We’ll need one in the villages. I left my hat from yesterday at ‘home’ so I buy another shade type hat too. We bought bottled water and ate lunch in an open restaurant. Terry ordered for us. I had delicious ox tail soup but didn’t eat the chunks of fat in it. I wonder what the waitress thought. We also had a variety of curry and rice dishes. Frank ate chicken and rice. I love these spices so much I’m sorry he can’t enjoy them.
We stopped again (Terry is fun to travel with because he stops along the way!) to ride an elephant. Linda has wanted us to do this and Shann and I (especially me!) has said…’no thanks’ but here we are at the place and away we go!
Pastor Frank and Linda get on one elephant and Shann and I get on another. Terry has negotiated the price and I have no idea how long this will last or where we’re going. He will wait for us and study his sermon. We get on our elephants and right away we head out of town away from the river that runs through it and toward the hills. Elephants are slow and not very smooth! We sat in a ‘saddle for two’ I prayed it stayed on and the elephant didn’t roll over in the dust. The ‘driver’ sat on the neck of the elephant. I took my hand off my new hat to take a picture and my hat flew off! The man ‘driving’ jumped down to get it and motioned to Shann to drive!! My prayer life became even more earnest as I never in my wildest dreams thought I’d be riding an elephant my husband is driving! With this new man in charge our elephant felt free to snack along the way on the bamboo hanging over the trail! The real driver yelled something I couldn’t understand as he walked along in front of us. I laughed until I couldn’t see! Pastor Frank took a bunch of probably shaky pictures. Shaky because elephants aren’t smooth riding and because he and Linda were laughing as hard as I was! Shann didn’t laugh a lot but did manage to stay on which was no small task. We rode through some beautiful country with rice fields with water buffalo, small homes with wash hanging under them…normal life in Thailand observed from the back of an elephant. This is truly something I could not have imagined. We pass a man walking talking on a cell phone. A tourist opportunity at a point along the way…buy a bag of corn to feed your ride! Shann paid a few bot because we knew our elephant was hungry. The elephant knew the game and her trunk flew up to get the corn cobs. He didn’t share with me because he was in such a hurry to get ride of the corn so he didn’t have that trunk coming at him! We came down from the hill and toward the river. Our elephant really wanted some corn stalks she had to walk through…this made us both nervous! Our walking driver pulled a stalk and threw it in the river! We were going in!!! This is no small river! What! The man jumped on the bank and quickly was beside me in the saddle. Shann was hoping he’d ‘drive’ again. But no! With a big smile he slapped my leg and said in broken English, ‘where ya from?’ We rode back to the beginning point with the man beside me trying to have a conversation. My face hurt from smiling. Shann gave him a tip. We dismounted our elephant and our driver was finished with work for the day. We saw him riding the elephant home later as we had a snack of sweet sticky rice in a piece of bamboo, ice cream and diet coke. Now we’re off to the village. I have been stretched. J
The road to the village is dirt and dusty but not rutted to bad. Shann and I sit in the back of Terry & Linda’s pickup with our bags. They view is unbelievable. It reminds me of the National Geographic’s I looked over at my grandparent’s house when I was a kid but I can touch it and smell it today. What a blessing!
We arrive in the village. It is on a steep hill (of course). We visit in a home built on stilts as they all are but with wood floors not the bamboo we saw yesterday. Pastor Frank, Terry & Linda take our hosts up on their offer to sleep but there is too much for me to see to sleep. We are brought hot water in a glass (it has to be boiled) and then what I think is a cold potato to slice. I later learn it is a taro root…our tapioca is made from them. Shann takes a tour of the village with one of the students (Samuel) he met last time he was here. His English has improved so much Shann is really happy to get to talk to him one on one. We meet his wife, Rachel and son Paulo. Later as Kitchi, Lucy & Caleb arrive we go to another place to eat (again!) a meal of rice, fried pork fat, pumpkin and chicken in a broth. I’ve said it several times…I am amazed at the skinny dogs in the villages who wait for scraps or scavenge but don’t hurt the chickens or ducks that are underfoot. It makes sense they can’t be aggressive but it still surprises me to see.
Finally it’s time for church. It is at the top of the hill. The hill is steeper than we climb for the sunrise service. The church is full. Lots of little ones play with each other and laugh as the congregation sings. Terry preaches with Kitchi interpreting. Frank gives a short testimony and then Pastor Frank, Shann and I sing ‘How Great is Thy Faithfulness’ The congregation sings ‘As the Deer Panteth For the Water’ I wonder if the author had any idea this song would make it to a remote Lahu village.
The service is over and we go back to the home where we’ll sleep. We’ve brought blow up air mattresses like you’d use in a pool. They offer a little relief from the hardwood planks. I drift off as our hosts watch a soap opera type television show. There are satellite dishes in the village!
Loris’ First Impressions from the 2009 Thailand Mission Team
Friday January 23, 2009 Busy, busy day! I have many things to do to get ready. Things to remember…did I also remember the purpose of the trip? Hard to leave Shann’s ‘new’ sister ready to meet us and share our lives. Leaving the boys-will they be o-k? Of course, I am so silly!
Saturday January 24, 2009 Short visit with Micah. He promises to pray for us and we for him. Joel, Dani, Shann & I have dinner…rice with veggies and pack! Late to bed. It will be our last night in it for awhile. J
Sunday January 25, 2009 We went to church this morning and were sent off with good wishes. Tony Ingram has given up smoking and sent his ‘smoke’ money with us to use. Nancy Ankney gave me cloths to clean my glasses and a sweet note…Lisa Demean sent a nice note too. Along with Bryce & Mindy, Terry Kerby & the Butlers. I dropped off my cell phone (a first). Dani made a great chicken salad for lunch and Frank picked us up. Snow and slick roads to Pullman then they were fine. Check in at the Super 8…a stinky smoky room. Then off to a wonderful meal at the Olive Garden & back to rest. I called my Uncle Bob & three boys. Tomorrow we’re off!
Monday January 26, 2009 We’re off! Shann woke up ‘cold’ at 4:00am –rest over! Up at 6:00 am to pack have a quick breakfast and a shuttle to the airport. A nice young man form Texas-‘yes sir’ was the first clue drove us. Bags checked to Bangkok-opps-redo to Chiang Rai. A very nice lady-no line behind us-thank God!! We coffee up and we are off to Seattle. Frank’s belt buckle broke so we go shopping! We ate in the Seattle airport Jenna called so we get one more visit with little Micah and off we go to Tokyo-a long way from home!
Monday or Tuesday. What a strange feeling not to know what day or time it is! After three cheesy movies I will try to read. A new Guidepost magazine is a blessing! Movies have helped pass the time more quickly and I’m grateful. Someone has smoked in the bathroom so the cabin smells like smoke. I’m thankful not to be addicted to nicotine…we all pray for Tony and his sweet gift to us. We enjoy Kristy Anderson’s sweet dried apples. We are South of Siberia and North of Hawaii. Clouds over the ocean. The map on my monitor says it’s -59F and we’re at 38500 ft. Shann talks to a guy standing and stretching in the aisle near us. He’s on his way to Korea with his wife for a family reunion. He’s from Whitebird. We all say ‘it’s a small world’.
Bangkok 1:30 am their time-Idaho time-no idea! Nice landings all the way. I slept on and off which made the time seem to pass more quickly. Our ‘Queens Garden Resort’ is very clean-Shann tripped up the short steps twice. Our room has A/C but the TP was not in the bathroom-it was next to the tea on the dresser. Optional?
When we woke up (or when Shann woke up I should say) we heard activity so we got up and ready..then looked outside to see it was still really dark outside L! Off to the airport early. We had a nice noodle soup with duck (Frank & Loris) and BBQ pork (Shann) and a fruit plate. We ate looking over a beautiful garden protected (?) by dragons on poles. We haven’t seen a clock at the airport! We are enjoying the parade of international people and dress as we wait for our last flight to Chaing Rai.
Wednesday evening we arrived at Chaing Rai Terry met us and we had blizzards at Dairy Queen. I wrote three post cards so we could mail them at the airport. It’s warm here! Dinner at a road side restaurant-spicy pad Thai! Great! We went to Terry & Linda’s then to Kitchi & Lucy’s home where we will stay. We are tired but happy. There is so much to se! At home it’s morning but I can’t wait to go to bed!
Thursday morning We has a good nights rest. I went to sleep with the kids of the village playing and laughing in the dark outside the window. The village church is next door. The church bell rang at 4:45 am to wake the men to come to pray. They meet each morning for one hour. Terry told me the Christians first came to Thailand 170 years ago but only 1% are Christian. Lucy made an orange bread and we had ate it with sweet coffee on their beautiful patio watching the kids leave for school then a breakfast of rice noodles with vegetables and chicken and a rice porridge (chicken soup with rice) and papaya, banana and another fruit I’ve never seen. Terry is here to pick us up to go to another village to watch dancing.
Late afternoon/early evening My mind is overwhelmed! Where to start? Terry came to get us-I rode with him on the back of his bigger motorcycle and Shann & Pastor Frank each rode a motorcycle. Everything here is really steep. We stopped at Andrew & Ruth’s home. They pastor in a village. They served us coconut cookies and candy and a sweet red soda pop. Then we rode up and down dirt roads with concrete strips where deep ruts were before—we went through villages both Lahu and Ahka. We went to a huge dance celebration of the New Year. They had huge bamboo poles with flags and ribbons with pine tree branches in the center. A tarp made shade and they danced in a circle with drums and a gourd/bamboo flute that reminded me of bagpipes. The dancing was similar to the ‘circle dance’ I’ve seen at Nez Perce pow wows. I loved watching the little kids! Things are so different but so similar! Kids ate hot dogs on sticks and one little girl wore a Mickey Mouse shirt. We saw people on cell phones everywhere!
Then we were on to Arbowdee and a visit with David & Shallee (and baby Hanna). Shallee’s father was there too. She made three dishes for our lunch. Wow! One was a meatball in a thin broth, another a really spicy tomato red curry chicken dish and another with bamboo shoots all served with rice. Wonderful or “May-ja” (delicious)!
We came home from Arbowdee another way and stopped at a Lahu village where they were also dancing. We were received like we were important guests! We shook hands with lots of people and were offered front row seats. They brought us soda pop and a bowl of candy and nuts while we watched the dancers. We were invited to join them but we declined. Shann bought me a very colorful hat for 200 Baht, about $7.00. Terry says nobody wears hats like this…maybe I’ll start a trend J!
Terry is really amazing! He speaks Thai and switches to Lahu—everyone seems to know him. We stopped to get a steamed rice ball stuffed like an egg roll and a cookie in a larger town founded long ago by the Chinese. It had a huge Buddha on a hill you could see for miles. I am so impressed with the use of land here. They terrace hill sides so they can plant corn, tea and coffee. Toward the bottom they raise rice. We saw water buffalo. What a day! Poor Terry…I asked him a million questions! Once when he was answering he swallowed a bug! I’m sure he was happy when Shann offered to have me ride with him.
This evening we went to Lucy’s brother’s home just down the hill. Sittichi. Several students came and we ate again! We met a German missionary who lives and works in the bigger town nearby. His name is Godfrey and he is amazing! He speaks several languages including English. His Lahu was impressive. It is nice to smile at these warm people but how I wish I could understand them! We ate more wonderful Lahu food with fruit and then tea. Tomorrow and the following night we will sleep in a village.
I have been so blessed today! What a beautiful would our God has created! We are created in His image and we a so different and so much the same!
Christmas Eve Service
We will be having our annual Christmas Eve Candlelight Service, December 24th, at 7:00 pm. All are welcome to attend. It is a wonderful way to pause in the busyness of the season and worship our Savior who was born.
Africa Team Song
BRAND NEW and BEGINNING THIS FALL: A Systematic Theology Class
BRAND NEW and BEGINNING THIS FALL:
A Systematic Theology Class
This is an actual Seminary class on Theology available free to all interested in learning with others locally. The video will be shown on the large screen in the church auditorium. A printed syllabus and discussions of the material covered will be very helpful to all Sunday School teachers, Pastors and anyone with a desire for quality Bible education at the seminary level.
The class is a video class with Professor Andrew Snider from The Master’s Seminary in Sun Valley, California. It will begin September 4th at 6:30pm at the Cottonwood Creek Community Church. The Church is located at 20706 Gifford Reubens Road. The class will be held on the first, third and fifth Thursdays of each month.
Please come and join us for a great time of learning and growing. This class will equip you to be a better teacher of God’s Word and a better student of God’s Word. In addition to that, it will strengthen and build the Body of Christ as we study and learn together. This is designed to equip all of us Pastors and teachers and all people in our churches, not merely CCCC.
For more information:
Call Pastor Frank Campbell at 208-791-4934 or
Email at cccc@inlandnet.com
Missions & Missionaries supported through our church family
Life Choices Clinic – Lewiston, Idaho
American Missionary Fellowship – Jack & Rachel DuMars, serving in Idaho
ALACCA Bible Conference – Kamiah Translator
Camp Ministry – Gabe & Andrea Stayton, serving in Idaho
New Tribes – Mike & Gwen Klontz, serving in Spokane, Washington.
Village Missions – Joseph & Karla Beard, serving in McCleary, Washington
American Missionary Fellowship – Elsie Beard, serving in Oregon
Sudan Interior Mission – Howard Borlase, retired in Oregon
TEAM – Glen & Donna Reavis, retired in Oregon
Church Planters in Colorado – Gary & Kristen Bateman
OC International – Don & Nan Boesel, serving in Colorado
Campus Crusade for Christ – Steve & Trina Stuk, serving in Ohio
Gospel Missionary Union – Edith Winstanley, serving in Canada
Andrea Gross, serving in Mexico
Wycliffe Bible Translators – Paul & Sharon Townsend, serving in Guatemala
TEAM – Clark & Yvonne Malone, serving in Portugal
ABLE Ministries – Terry and Linda Thompson, serving in Thailand
Africa Inland Mission – LeRoy & Joann Judd, serving in Kenya, Africa
Assemblies of God – Bill & Sharon Johnston, serving in Malawi, Africa
Christian Resources International
Radio Bible Class
KMBI Radio