Christmas Update

A lot has happened since we last updated our blog (sorry)!  But that means that we've been busy!  Since our last update we have taught another English course, visited Myanmar and Laos do extend/renew our visas, had Thanksgiving with our students, told the Christmas story to our students at a TLC English Christmas party, went on a scavenger hunt around Chiang Mai, attended our friend's, Doi's, Christmas outreach in his village, visited Thoeng and their Christmas service, celebrated our 2nd anniversary, and invited some students and friends to our house Christmas evening to celebrate Christmas and enjoy a visit from TLC Christmas carolers.  Time is definitely going by quickly here in Thailand.  We realized recently that we are more then a third of the way finished with our MAPS assignment and only have 7 more months.  We have really enjoyed our time here so far.  God has definitely been answering prayers and blessing the ministry here in Chiang Mai.

More students signed up for our last English course at TLC.  We are enjoying getting to know our new students and building deeper relationships with our returning students.  We are also excited to see our students come to TLC Java when they don't have English class to study or hang out.  Good community is being built and many of our students are seeing TLC as a place to study, relax, and meet new friends.  During this English course we celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas with our students.  At our Thanksgiving party, students laughed hysterically as we played "Pin the Tail on the Turkey" and enjoyed chicken, mashed potatoes, and apple cider.  They also learned about why we celebrate Thanksgiving by reinacting the first Thanksgiving (which was fun to see).  Afterwards, we all shared what we were thankful for. 

During our Christmas party, students had a "snowball" fight, built gingerbread houses, sang Christmas carols, and learned about the real reason we celebrate Christmas, Jesus.  Students also brought school and art supplies that TLC church members and English students will bring to an orphange on Saturday, January 9th.  TLC English classes are taking a break right now since students had midterms and many students are going home to celebrate the New Year.  However, during midterms, students could still be seen at TLC studying.  We encouraged students to come study at TLC during their week of midterms and we provided some snacks and soda for them to enjoy during the hours we would typically have English class.  It was so exciting to see students come and study at the coffee shop because it helps the students to see the church as a welcoming community in which they can become involved.

During the week of the students' midterms, we also had an assignment.  Lauren, our supervisor in charge of the English center, created a Scavenger Hunt for us to finally get to know the city we have been living in for four months.  We learned a lot about Chiang Mai and now feel more comfortable getting around the city.  A highlight video will soon follow and you can look forward to seeing that. :)

The weekend after our Chiang Mai Scavanger Hunt, we went 5 hours north of Chiang Mai to Thoeng.  There we helped our friend, Doi, with a Christmas outreach he had organized for his home village.  About 50 people attended the party, heard testimonies from local Thai pastors, heard about the Christmas story (some for the first time), and were blessed with hearing some traditonal Thai Christmas songs.  Those that attended had a great time and were talking about it days after the party occured.  While up North we also attended the Thoeng Christmas service (the church where we will beginning an English program in March).  During our visit more details fell into place for when we will teach English such as we found two places church members have offered us to stay for free.  We feel so blessed by this since we will be keeping our house in Chiang Mai and still paying rent for our house during the months we won't be in Chiang Mai.  The church has also begun arranging classes for us to teach throughout the days and weeks we will be in Thoeng.  We are very excited about working with the church in Thoeng. 

As we mentioned before, we celebrated our 2nd anniversary this year.  To celebrate, we took 3 nights to go relax in Southern Thailand on a beach in Phuket.  The weather and beach were beautiful!  We felt very blessed to spend our anniversary in such an amazing area.  It was a great place for us to reflect on the past two years of married life. 

We came back to Chiang Mai on Christmas day and celebrated Christmas with some friends and students we have grown close to.  One of our students/friends told us that he was very happy to be celebrating Christmas at his first ever Christmas party.  Some other firsts for some of our students/friends was putting up a Christmas tree and being visited by carolers from the church.  The carolers sang "Jingle Bell Rock" and "Feliz Navidad" by candlelight.  They did a great job and it is a Christmas we will always hold near and dear to our hearts.

Coming up we will be beginning another English course on January 5th.  Please pray that students will return so that we can continue to build relationships with them.  Julie's parents are also visiting from January 6th to February 8th.  We are looking forward to their visit and spending time with family.  Please also pray for our orphanage outreach with TLC church.  Please pray that the students will be excited about this opportunity and they will witness God's love through the members at TLC.  The next Saturday we will be having an opportunity for our students we are calling "Quest."  Quest is a time when we will be inviting our students to come and learn more about God and Christianity.  Please pray as we plan this event and that the students who are seeking to learn more about God and Christianity will take advantage of this opportunity. 

Thank you so much again for your prayers and encouragement!  God is definitely answering prayers and we feel so blessed as we are serving here in Thailand.  May God bless you and may you have a happy new year!

Adventures in Thailand

Here are some pictures of some of our recent adventures in Thailand:

Hike Up Doi Suthep

When we didn't have Thai Language School one Friday morning, we took advantage of some free time and went hiking up Doi Suthep, a mountain in Chiang Mai. At the top of Doi Suthep is a Buddhist temple, a very popular spot for both Thai and foreign tourists. At the base of the temple is a staircase of 309 stairs. This was a difficult climb for us after hiking up the mountain. Along the stairs are two dragon statues whose bodies go along the stairs until the top. Within the temple are many pagodas, shrines, bells, and statues. There are also many ways for visitors to make merit. Lotus flowers and incense are sold for vistors who want to lay them on a shrine or in front of a Buddha idol. There are also areas where visitors can make merit by giving money in various ways throughout the temple.

Our friend, Leemer, came with us on the hike.

Outside of the temple.

The 309 stairs leading to the temple.

Some women offering incense in front of a Buddha idol.

A view of Chaing Mai on our hike down the mountain.

Night Safari

Our neighbor, Rak, invited us to go with her to visit the Night Safari. The Night Safari is a zoo best viewed at night. Visitors can walk around a lake viewing many animals as the sun sets. Then, trolley ride tours are given and visitors have the opportunity to see animals such as tigers, elephants, bears, deer, camels, and lions.

Loy Krathong Weekend

Loy Krthong is a very popular festival in Chiang Mai. It is held during the first full moon during the 12th month of the Thai Lunar Calendar. As with any festival, it cannot just last one day. All week people in Chiang Mai are releasing laterns, setting off fireworks, and floating Loy Krathongs down the river. A Loy Krathong is raft made from banana leaf and decorated with flowers. During Loy Krathong people float the krathongs along the river or waterways as a way of honoring the Goddess of Water. Many Thai people believe that floating a krathong will bring good luck as well take away grudges, anger, and sins. Laterns were first released as a way to rid the people of troubles and many people still release laterns today and feel it will bring good luck. Chiang Mai is known to be one of the best cities in Thailand for this celebration. The sky is filled with laterns glowing like stars and smoke residue from firecrakers and fireworks being fired into the night.

During the weekend of Loy Krathong we ate at a buffet with some of our students.

Raw meat is cooked in this pot. Fruit, vegetables, appetizers, and deserts are also part of the buffet. We ate for 2 1/2 hours!

After dinner we went for a walk along the Ping River and watched laterns and fireworks being released. We needed the walk after eating so much food.

Here fireworks and Loy Krathong rafts are being sold.




We bought a latern and released it with some of our friends from TLC.

This was the small parade the night before the big parade. They had many floats and groups performing traditional Thai dancing.

Trip to Myanmar

Last weekend we made a trip North to Myanmar to get an extra 14 days for our visa. We went with a missionary here in Thailand, Troy. We were very thankful to make our first trip to Myanmar with someone who had experienced it before. We had a 4 hour drive to and from Myanmar. On our way we stopped at a Buddhist temple called Wat Rong Khun or White Temple. We successfully made it to Myanmar and got our passports stamped to stay in Thailand for 14 days until we will need to go to Laos and apply for a new visa.

The Golden Toilet



Along the bridge to Myanmar where the Thailand flags stop and the Myanmar flags begin.

On the Thai & Myanmar border.

TLC English Classes

We just finished our third English class course at TLC. We had about 30 students during this session. We haven't needed to advertise a lot for the classes since many students return and bring their friends. Actually, we need more teachers! Our next course will start in one week after we make our trip to Laos to get new visas. Many students are returning and we have 9 more new students who want to study. Praise God for answering prayers and bringing so many students to TLC.

Here is a slideshow we made highlighting this English course. Enjoy!

Prayer Requests:

Please be in prayer for the following things...

• On our trip to Thoeng we had the opportunty to go with the missionary we are helping, Mark, and the pastor of the church in Thoeng on a visit to a family of one of our friends, Doi. Duirng the visit Doi's father, mother, and neice prayed to accept Jesus as their savior. During the visit we also prayed for Doi's father's wrist which was bruised and swollen. He is a farmer and needs the arm to work. Since then, the bruising and swelling has gone away in his wrist, but his arm still hurts. He went to the doctor and the doctor says he will need surgery. Doi's father told the doctor that he wouldn't need surgery because God is going to heal his arm. Please pray for Doi's father as he begins his journey towards growing closer to God. Please also pray that he will continue to have faith in God and that, according to God's will, God will heal his arm as a way to bring Doi's father closer to Him.
• As the seasons are changing, both of us have had a cold and not feeling 100%. Please pray that we will get well and stay well so that sickness won't keep us from teaching classes and building relationships with our students.
• We will continue to build relationships with our students and we will continue to be provided with opportunities to share the Gospel with our students. Also, that the students will continue to see TLC Church as a welcoming community.
• That our trip to Laos for new visas will go well next week.
  

2009 Thailand Assemblies of God Youth Camp and Visit to Thoeng

Last weekend we visited Thoeng, Thailand.  The reason for our visit was to meet the people of a church that was recently planted in Thoeng.  During the months of March, April, and May, Thoeng will be our new home.  We will be teaching English at some schools in Thoeng and also at the church as an outreach to the community.  Thoeng is about 3 hours North of Chiang Mai and is quite different than Chiang Mai. Their are no Seven Elevens and you do not see many foreigners. It is hard to find someone who speaks English which means we will need to really become serious about learning the Thai language.  Overall, our visit was a success.  While in Thoeng we went with the pastor of the church and the missionary we are assigned to, Mark, to visit the parents of our friend, Doi.  Doi's parents were open to having a pastor come and pray with them.  During the visit, his parents and neice prayed to accept Jesus.  We also prayed for healing for some pain Doi's father was feeling in his joints.  Please keep them in your prayers that they continue to know God more with each day.  On Sunday, we visited the church in Thoeng.  Everyone was very welcoming and we enjoyed meeting the people we will be working with in March, April, and May.

We stopped at this waterfall on our way to Thoeng, Thailand.

A view from our hotel.

Members of the church in Thoeng.

After our trip to Thoeng, we headed to Chiang Rai, Thailand.  On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, we went to the 2009 Thailand Assemblies of God Youth Camp.  The theme of the camp was, "In Christ We Are World Shakers."  We were given the job of taking pictures and videos during the camp and creating a slideshow to show the students during camp.  We also helped with an English workshop. We had a lot of fun doing these jobs and seeing the students get excited about God during their time at camp.  Many students grew closer to God and it was so amazing seeing the passion they had for God.  We could see that God has wonderful plans for the lives of these students and they will become world shakers.

The students learned that in Christ we are world shakers!

Each morning, students met in small groups for devotion time.

There were about 140 students who came to the camp.

At the end of the camp the students prayed that the world may hear about and accept Christ.

This week we also finished our second English course.  Many of our students from our first course went home during break so we had the opportunity to work with some new students.  We were really able to build relationships with the students we had and had so much fun teaching during this course.  Julie also had the opportunity to tutor a 14 year old boy during his break from school.  We had so much fun getting to know our students and hope that our relationships with them will continue to grow.  During the past four weeks we have also been starting to focus more on creating a curriculum for the English classes for future English teachers to use. 

Leemer, Korn, Ta, and Rote

We have about 20 students that have signed up to learn English during the next four weeks.  Please be in prayer that we will have many opportunities to build relationships with these students and show God's love to them.  Please also pray that we will have opportunties to share about Christ's love for them.