Seoul, San Francisco, and Seattle

We are on our way home!!! And will be for several days if you count hours as we feel them! We have five hours to Seoul with an eleven hour layover, then ten hours to San Francisco with a five hour layover, then our last few hours to Seattle and home!

In Seoul, we were able to connect with some church people Jonathan and Jean had met at a C&MA conference. The ladies drove us to tour a palace, a local market, and treated us to a traditional Korean lunch.

I am now on American soil in San Francisco and ready to board the last leg of our many adventures. Thanks for checking out our blog!

Silk and Celedon

Today is our last day in Thailand. I have mixed feelings about it. I am ready to be home with my own bed, my boys, my dog, and mexican food...but I will really miss some of my new friends, both young and mature! We went to several factories in the area today. We were able to learn the process of making silk, paper and silk umbrellas, and celedon pottery. They were all fascinating!

Elephants and Butterflies

We really felt like tourists today! We first went to the Chiang Mai Elephant camp. We had such a fun time! We took a ride through a jungle trail and watched them being washed in the river. We got to feed them sugar cane and bananas. I got hugs from two of them and one elephant put a hat on my head! I was so dirty after that! Then we watched the elephant show. They were twirling hoola hoops, playing harmonicas, playing soccer, and painting pictures. They are very talented!

Next we went to the orchid butterfly farm. There are rows and rows of hanging orchids in what passes for hot houses. They are open air and just covered in mesh. There were some really beautiful flowers. There were butterflies in an enclosure. One landed on my arm and I was able to capture a picture of it.

That night, we went to a cultural dinner and show. The food was fabulous-curry and fried bananas were some of the favorites. The show was very sparkly. Tim got video of the knife dance.

Last Work Day

Today was our last work day here in Thailand. We went to the new land and did a bunch of odd jobs. Lilli, Jenni, Linda, and Katie weeded out the vegetable garden. Edna, Forest, and Pat continued to clear and burn brush. Forest got to use a chain saw that is really more of a sander than a cutter-very dull! Joe cut bamboo trees to make a new roof over the fish pond. Joe and Tim worked on welding and cutting rebar for organization in the new shed they walled up earlier in our trip. We had fried rice and cucumber for lunch.

After we finished up, we went to a temple and saw a 50 foot Buddah, then went to a local pond and fed fish. They were swarming around like crazy! Huge catfish and some with green heads and silver bodies.

We were all layer upon layer sweaty and dirty. Almost all of us jumped in the pool as soon as we got back to the hotel. That cold water felt wonderful!

A New Day

Today was a regular work day for us. Our regular routine is to get up and have breakfast at the hotel, stop for coffee on the way to work, work all morning, eat lunch, work another few hours, head back to the hotel, go to the home for dinner and hang out, come back to the hotel and crash!! One group continued work on some construction (Jonathan, Tim, Joe), George, Linda, Katie, and Edna did some house cleaning at a foreign friends' house, Pat, Forest, and Jenni went to another hill village, and Jean and Lilli were at the home spending time with young friends.

Thai Church

We have experienced an amazing time this morning. Church starts with singing and prayer. We even sang one we knew-"the Steadfast Love of the Lord Never Ceases" It was so fun singing in two languages at the same time! It was all led by the young friends. Then there was a time when whoever had a song or memorized scripture could share with the family.

A group that has been here a couple of weeks (we call them the Jersey Girls) led the group in a couple of African American spirituals and a short play.

Tim, George, and Pastor J shared, we gave them the bracelets we made, and then sang another song.

We had lunch together, and then games. We taught the group the "cup game" and we had a great time. Rhythm and games are universal and a great way to spend time together when language is somewhat of a barrier.

Saturday

Greetings! Or as we say here in Thailand, "sawade-kah". We had a great day at the home today. Got to spend lots of down time with our young friends! I think the favorite game we play is uno. Very funny to be playing a spanish game in thai! They are so many people coming and going. Lots of visiting friends from all over. We've met several friends who have a connection to the Salem YWAM base. Talk about a small world! One even has heard of (Kris)Tina K!!

Tim played football and frizbee and delighted one friend with catching tossed little crackers in his mouth. He also taught one of our friends to play a few chords on the guitar. Lilli worked her skills by cutting hair. Forest was the favorite for "monkey in the middle", a form of keep away. I think Jenni might be the favorite, always surrounded by friends!

The ladies were able to help prep for lunch, popping peppers, pealing and cutting garlic, and then, of course, enjoying the eating of it all the more!

We've been eating breakfast at the hotel. We have fabulous fresh juice, not so great coffee (nescafe), fried rice, soup, salad, breads, fruit, omlettes, and a huge pan of bacon!! Yes, we have found the source of all bacon (for all you Jim Gaffigan fans)

Lunch includes rice, vegetables, and a little pork in a broth. They have chili peppers, sugar, vinegar, and fish oil to add as you like.

Dinner is similar to lunch. Today we had rice noodles with all the same stuff on top. We've also had Mossimon Curry Chicken. It was fabulous. We were at a restaurant and asked for Pad Thai and they didn't know what we were talking about!

Hill Village

Yesterday, Tim Lilli and I were invited to drive up to the hills and visit several villages. Our friends here have some relationship with them, so it was not going in the dark, but renewing contact. The three of us did not interact much with the people, but mainly observed and took pictures. The rest of the group stayed here at the home and continued work. Several others trips will be made up to the hills with others of us from our team next week.

The stories we heard were heartbreaking and desperate. The homes were made of bamboo. I was truly afraid I was going to break their house when they asked me to come inside! I had to walk only on the bamboo joists and not in between where there was only bamboo matting. The bamboo joists were really really flexy, so that was a little scary!

We met with a village pastor and his wife. It was a blessing to see and hear their faithful ministry. It is amazing to see the joy they have in the midst of a very sparse life. You will see pictures of their pig farm.

Work Day

Today we spent the morning clearing brush and enclosing a structure with brick walls. It was hard work, but rewarding! After another fabulous lunch, we headed to Grace International. It is a school for MKs and local kids as well. It was great to check out their program and hear the passion the staff and administrators have for raising up leaders. They give a great education to those kids!

When we got back to the home, the ladies learned how to make Mossimo Curry. Yes, I have a recipe of sorts and will gladly share!

The Home

We spent the day at two different places. Half of us stayed at the home and did some clean up and food prep. Half did some more strenuous brick building. We got a break in the afternoon and went swimming in the salt water pool at the hotel. It was very refreshing!

This evening we played games with some of the kids. Uno and keepaway (from Forest) were the favorites! We will show those picts when we get home!!

It was fun to eat our evening meal after having helped prep for it! So tasty and a little spicy-chicken, rice, pineapple, and greens with a soupy curry sauce all over. The pans they cook in are huge. I've never seen such a big wok!

Our first day

Greetings back home to all our family and friends. We have arrived safely and are having a fabulous time. The travel was very long and delayed etc, but I will not go into details. We are here and in good health and God is good!

Our first day we went to a temple up in the mountains. Our driver I'll call him Casper is great! He is so happy and friendly and speaks english pretty well. Check out the pictures of the gold covered everything! It was quite impressive.

We hear the sound of birds in the morning from our hotel rooms. The breakfast buffet includes orange, pineapple, and guava juice. The orange juice is actually orange! Unlike the yellow stuff at home. It is fabulous!

We ate out for lunch and dinner at a Thai restaurant. The cashew chicken was really good. We also got a whole fried fish that was quite spicy.

We were able to go out to the home and meet the person it was named for and the parents that run the place. It was great to hear their story in person and get more details.

More later. Please continue to pray that God would work in and through us.