Christmas All Wrapped Up

Hi everyone,

Well, today is the day of departure.

Did the time pass quickly? Amazingly so.

Was it a great trip? Amazingly so.

Are we glad we came? Bet you guessed the answer to that one!

All the rest are still asleep, but since the Lord has awakened me early, it seemed like the perfect time to wrap up our past 33 days.

The highlight was most definitely being privileged to share Jesus with those precious village folk. Language has it's barriers, but the love of Christ has none... He has broken down every wall. Hand clasps, hugs, smiles, gestures and gifts given from the heart of God are all well-understood.... the bond is eternal. Each is held closely to our hearts and most definitely, the heart of our loving and living Lord Jesus.

The last stop was where a young leader had been led to initiate a Good News Club in March. It started out with a small number, of course. The Lord has multiplied those numbers. The number in attendance at our visit on Christmas Eve Day was about 300... which, praise God, would include some parents.

About a dozen teenagers are effectively serving as leaders for the Good News Club.

From Dec '09 Web

We five were joined by a Norwegian family of five whose talented, friendly, gifted children range in age from 12 to 17.


Also, an Australian family had a connection with a mutual friend and added a great dimension to a rich presentations in word and song...


The Lord gave us a violinist, guitarist, unicylist, and a simple and most powerful skit. 'His electricity' was in the air, I can still feel it and almost shiver with joy even now! Our talented 12 year old Norwegian boy even entertained with his unicyle!!! Seems everything on stage received response of great applause from those little ones which brings a lump to my throat and tears to my eyes, even now.

The Norwegian children and two of us found ourselves chatting late into the night on Christmas Eve. Together we laughed, sang, reminisced and gave thanks to our great God for the privilege to be part of this last outreach. The upshot??? This was the BEST Christmas ever!

The night before, 10 of us had packaged over a thousand little gifts... hygiene packages, small toys, sweet treats, candy canes, umbrellas (for Thailand's intense rain or shine), sports equipment, etc. At day's end, untold number of little hands excitedly reached out to eagerly receive the smallest of gifts. No wondering who was most blessed... we are quite cetain that it was us. When Jesus said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive", He surely was correct (yes, I agree, "He IS ALWAYS correct.)


Oh, to the Bethany Lutheran ladies............there was such need for the baby layette that we divided it to share with three new mommies in attendance. Yes, pictures taken for you.


Just a little aside. The Norwegians and we were blessed to be housed in an empty rental home sleeping on mattresses, some screaming throughout those cold showers and having a super time. What could be the backyard to the building is a large tin shed on a small plot of barren land beside a little pond. Early one morning, Hank and I were standing out on the balcony and noticed a little lady drawing water from the pond with a bucket.


We called it to Anders and Lori's attention. Anders said, "I think we have extra gifts which we can take to her." We looked for and found the little path leading us to her. The only interpreter we had was Jesus love. She pointed to our balcony and we nodded yes. How she smiled at those gifts, especially the umbrella. Oh, the shed? You guessed it, it is her home... and not only HER home, other younger people are living there. At the very last moments of our 3 day stay, we took a bag fruit to her. What a privilege it was to be part of even such a little gesture.


Your prayers for all of the above are coveted. Though the people remain nameless to us... He knows their name, He knows each tear that falls and we can pray that they will know Him one day!

Much love in our living and Loving Lord Jesus,

Hank, Arlene, Anders, Lori and Laurie

See December Photo Album for more pictures

Flash Fire!

We went to Anders & Lori's church again this eve. It was devoted to Thai, but Anders and a group of about 8 did an amazing and powerful skit. It really gave the message of the Good News ....... in pantomime. Excellent! There was also a sermon, but in Thai.



Once again we pack up and head for a village. Soon as we return, we'll have one day to pack for home! Hank is ready, he said. I believe this is our record of being away.

Dear friend Nan (nahn) left by bus tonight for Bangkok. Lori and Hank drove her to the bus stop. She promises to visit in CA. I think she will do just that.


Oh,, we met one of A and L's professors. This was the first faculty member of Payap Univ. that they met when inquiring about the MBA program. Get this. He was a sponsored child with Compassion International. He is the first Karen (a tribe) to achieve his PhD. Someone we would love to have as a friend.

Anders and Lori had their final final today. This professor had them writing for 6 hours straight! They were totally worn to a frazzle.

Lastly, while they were at school, Hank, Laurie and I were home after morning church. I volunteered to make egg salad sandwiches for lunch so began to place the eggs in water and turned on the gas burner. Flash, fire! I screamed for Hank, turned off the burner, Laurie ran in first and threw a pitcher of water on it. Hank came flying downstairs and by now we had a sheet of fire starting to go up the screen. Something was feeding the fire. Almost simultaneously, Hank saw that the hose connection was loose while the neighbor jumped the fence and turned off the propane tank. How thankful we were that within 3 min. it was over, with a couple of damaged screens and smoke stain near ceiling. Thankfully also, that we were all here and acted as a team.........great neighbor included. Now, A and L will have a marvelous opportunity to gift him and his family.

Well, all are in bed except Anders and I. Within minutes, it'll be only him...:~)

Jungle Kiss

Hopefully you are in suspense and wondering what in the world is coming up in this blog entry?

Yes, we managed little adventures within the larger adventure of Thailand. The elephant ride was nothing compared to The Flight of the Gibbon, a zip line through the jungle, right outside Chiang Mai.

A van picked us up from a 7-11. By the way, looking for a business opportunity? To purchase a 7-11 franchise is very inexpensive at $300! It must be true as 7-11’s are spotted everywhere! By the way, as customers from the western culture, we appreciated each one we entered.

The scenic hour-long ride took us through hill and dale and up, up, up into the mountains! Wild poinsettias everywhere! Anticipating a zip line through the jungle, only heightened my anxiety with each mile. By the time our names were called in broken English and we were offered the harness with, “You want to put this on?” I had to answer, “I don’t know!” Perplexed, he replied, “What should I do?” Well, that did it! On it went and what a 2 kilometer ride it was!!


From the first step, high above the jungle floor, securely attached to the cable, we were instructed to move to the edge of the wooden platform, sit down and hold on…..not to touch the cable, etc. Deciding to focus on the ‘sitting down’ instruction instead of the jungle floor far below us, it was amazingly easy!! Honest!! One feels safe in such a sturdy harness attached to the thick cable. Anxiety was replaced by thrill and wonder as we left our first platform. Keeping the feet up, up, up to gracefully swing onto the next platform was the challenge. Seems there were 10 platforms and 3 repelling rope lines. It was a smooth as silk. We could hear the gibbons but they managed to hide behind the thick foliage of the rainforest. By the way, Hank and I broke records. They said the oldest ‘flyers’ thus far had been 70 years old. We beat them by 3 and 6 years! Yep, we know it, we ARE old.



Our guide offered to take our cameras so he could snap pictures throughout…….thus, on the swinging bridge, high above the jungle floor in Thailand, you witness… The Jungle Kiss.


A Thai lunch was included (Hank was already beginning to distance himself from rice as much as possible, why do you think he lost weight?) and also a lovely, peaceful walk along a path next to a gorgeous waterfall…..imagine Yosemite.


This wild adventure took place while Anders and Lori were at home, frantically studying for their exams in the Master’s Program. Surely, they appreciated the day of quietness from their month-long guests.

Yes, it was a memorable day, truly one to appreciate God’s perfectly wondrous, varied and breathtaking creation as we had never had opportunity to experience before.

Looking back... Painting

Hi,

Progress is being made on the blog, however you need an email from Thailand before that will be on its way.

We've had a couple of slower days. It has been good 'medicine'. Guess we don't realize the fast pace we've been on until there is a chance to breathe.

When we first started out on the trip to the 'village', our 17 year old Norwegian friend Keilin, was just getting over a cold. That transferred to me and now your daughter is just starting to feel a little better from hers. Colds aren't much, but they do set one back a little. We are definitely on the mend now.

We visited three stores yesterday which cater to the Western culture. One, a dept. store, Carrefour. In fact, A and L were getting their mail at the little PO there. Funny thing is, the mail would be set on TOP of the group of mailboxes and packages in an open box beside it. I guess, some of their mail had even been returned to sender. We had been to Carrefour several times. Actually, McDonald's is directly across the aisle from the PO. Kentucky Fried Chicken is just around the corner. The best feature is the normal restrooms provided by those businesses. Regular everything, as in the states. Elsewhere, we must use 'squatty-potties', which is less than desireable. Also, even though there are toilet paper dispensers attached to the wall, there is NEVER paper! NEVER! Seldom does one find paper toweling to dry hands, as well.

The second store, Makro, is so similar to Costco one could almost think that we were home again. The last one, Rimping, is the best. Very western and can find almost anything we'd be accustomed to buying back home. We even found Campbell's Tomato Soup so we could make my "Grandma's Spaghetti' recipe. It's one of those simple family dishes that our family loves. Mom very frequently made it.

This evening we are invited to Keilen's home. Sure would be fun to have a Norwegian dinner, but I'll bet that won't be the case. They were raised with herring and potatoes as was I. I loved that dish and Ethel didn't. My problem? I like everything. Well, now I can say......ALMOST everything.

A and L are going to be inundated with homework this week. Papers to write and their finals are this weekend. Also, three Christmas parties are scheduled. We get to attend with them.

Andy drew a name of a construction-type friend at church. We decided to get him a sectioned tool kit and plan to fill the sections with goodies.........cookies, candies, etc. Now we must purchase some wrapping paper. The rolls are very small.

We went grocery shopping yesterday at Carrefour. Pretty easy. That's where we found the beef and Hank couldn't resist a rack of barbequed ribs. Also, there were samples of soups. We found a yummy cream of spinach soup. That we purchased for your daughter.......soup is especially good when the body is suffering, right?

Well, sorry for the delay in the blog.

Oh, one more thing. A and L had made arrangements quite a while back to have their white wall and black wrought iron fence painted. No one has shown up, so Hank got to it yesterday. He was making great progress with paint roller and pan, shoes wrapped in plastic bags, etc.
In stepping back to look up at A and L who were greeting him from the balcony, his foot landed in the white paint pan. It painted the street in front of the wall, as well. Yep, pictures were taken!

Even their dog Chelsi has been in on the action. She's had a white nose, still some 'highlighting' on her fur, etc. Hank is back at it now. I think we're into the black wrought iron section. It will be the most beautiful house on the block. They live in the area called San Soi. Their section is San Soi 5 and street number is 5. That's all I know and I don't think it helps very much. (sure hope Chelsi stays away from the black.......now THAT would be rather noticeable!

Missing you. Write soon.

Much love,

Arlene

Nu Poe Outreach Work

Meeting with Good News Club leaders- the Sunday school has grown to 160+ students, after just beginning in March. The report now is that the kids love the program complete with songs, Bible stories, coloring, & solid teaching but some are being prevented from attending by their parents. We're hoping with this next outreach, the parents will come so we can personally tell them about the Good News!


Lori, Anders, and Hank taught at the discipleship training school in Nu Poe. It was a wonderful time with the students, who will in the coming months go and minister to their own villages.



After a day of teaching in the school, we combined with some of the Bible training students and ventured out to an unreached village to bring them the Good Message and some small Christmas gifts of toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, and wash cloths. Laurie and Arlene also did a children's program to share the Christmas story and bring a small Christmas gift to the children of the village...and how special, their very first one! What an evening! Anders and Lori shared their testimonies with the adults and the training class did some well-rehearsed dramas and music, and five came to Christ that night!



And plenty of new toothbrushes, provided generously from dentists of California, and carried all the way to the village by Laurie.

Our team!

Nu Poe Outreach Logistics

"By all means preach the gospel at all tiimes......and if necessary, use words." Perhaps said a bit differently by the author… Spurgeon?

We experienced the heart of that quote at Nupo. There, the lovely, beautiful Nupo people, lived out Christ before our very eyes. Materially, they have little. Spiritually, they are rich!


Our mission was to be of encouragement to them. In truth, it was we who were encouraged! Their sparking eyes accompanied by smiles, are quickly captivating. They are a living sermon, a powerful message of the living, loving reality of Christ within. Such love. Such servanthood. Such joy in the Lord.

The journey from Chiang Mai to Nupo is about 11 hours. However, our overnight almost halfway stop in Mae Sot, a town of powerful contrasts, was an amazing and unexpected place of relaxation. Leaving the world of poverty of the orphanage and a village near 'the camp', we drove to the world of which we are accustomed, a very nice motel. It is every bit, if not more beautiful, than an average one in the states. Clean with beautifully tiled bathroom and floors, refrigerator, TV, EXTRA firm mattresses, a Thai/English Gideon Bible, extremely kind and attentive 'bellhops; and a balcony overlooking an old Thailand street, in sharp contrast to the building we were occupying. Actually, the delicious breakfast buffet was served in a separate lanai with manicured flower beds, as lovely as one would experience in Hawaii.

As the Lord would have it, we turned out to be a group of 6... a precious 17 year old Norwegian missionary's daughter, Kielen joined us. She rounded out our team perfectly.


The ride was long, however, we had rented a pick-up truck from yet another Norwegian missionary family.


Guess we weren't heaped up like the taxi in front of us!


Initial impressions......beautiful scenery,

stick fences, rutted dirt roads, street dogs, Brahma cows, even a water buffalo here and there, bouganvilla everywhere, bare feet, sarongs and western clothing, shiny black hair, shy children, comfortable temperature, one and two story thatched-roofed homes (animals on first floor), and the bamboo church/community center encircled with a 6-8" deep trench for water drainage. Hank liked their methods...


Near the gate entry was a small group of smiling, welcoming believers.

Our heaped up truck bed was unloaded in no time with personal belongings carried to the bamboo platform/altar/bedroom.

Next to the centered, 3 bamboo steps, and in front of the platform to the left was our dining table. With evening approaching, hurriedly we blew up our air mattresses, made the beds and hooked up the mosquito netting.


Dinner was soon served from the outdoor kitchen. Want to know what an 'outdoor kitchen' looks like? An area, next to the church, set aside for the fire, huge pots of water, a slice of tree trunk for veggie chopping and cutting and food assembly.



The meals were just delicious, always with rice as the basis. There were a few new tastes, one was morning glory greens. Fish was whole and fried as were the chicken legs. (Anders and Lori tell us that the people rarely can afford meat.) Thermoses of hot water gave us choice of tea or coffee. Invitations for others to join us, were turned down.


Before falling asleep the first night as we six were in prayer together in the pitch darkness, an alarmingly huge and sudden great sound of crashing stopped us in our tracks!!!! We stopped to consider the possibilities.....what, where?? It was as though the Lord was reminding us, 'Sudden destruction, I'm coming soon... we know not when... be ready!" We took a walk in the morning and found that the main, upper portion of a large, dead tree had broken off and landed on the little rutted road across from the church building.

With the lower temperatures at this time of the year, we were so blessed to have sufficient bedding. Actually, it wasn't nearly as cold as what had been predicted. At dawn, I woke up to the crackling of the outdoor kitchen fire and its warm flickering light coming through the rectangular-shaped, silhouetted, bamboo 'window' openings. It is a memory the Lord has indelibly tucked into my heart. If only photography could have captured that moment. We were on comfy beds, just awakening and the 8 squatting kitchen 'staff, were already deep into the breakfast preparations. Remember, no running water, no electric stove, no refrigerator, no tiled floor, no chairs, no tables, etc... unto the Lord and to serve others.


As Hank and I were lying there on the bamboo mats looking up, we were impressed with the engineering of the sturdy and attractive bamboo approximately 20' X 50' structure. We noted the bracing, supports, wall construction, etc. Because discipleship training is held here, bamboo-constructed 'desks' were in sufficient number to accommodate 25-30 students. It is a work of art. Just a foot away from us, on the other side of the wall, was the tiny bedroom in which Pastor and family of 5 slept.

A small square building behind the church houses the 'squatty potty'. Inside the bathroom, also of bamboo with rickety door and wire hinge were three large buckets of water with dipper that provided 'the flush'. No paper in toilet please, which is to help avoid a plumbing challenge. Showers are also with bucket. Yep, I'm sure your conclusions are correct... brrrrr.


Breakfast of buns filled with pork, chorro-like treats (without the cinnamon and sugar), rice/noodle soup. Then the busy day begins. Anders, Lori taught the students from 9-noon....Hank shared a testimony. Laurie Lane, Kielen and I joined the pastor's wife in another location with about 30 the children while their parents are in the fields. We taught, sang and played games with 2 interpreters.



The pastor's wife interpreted from English to one Burmese dialect and a second interpreter from that to the dialect of the children. The second interpreter is probably 17-18 years old, beautiful, intelligent, believing young maidens with a great sense of humor! Boy, did we need humor! Keilen was great with games... and we sure needed that, as you can imagine. These little ones knew no English. But when we taught the Christmas story and then Jesus Loves Me, it seems they could have been American children because they caught on so fast... and we could detect no accent. They heard our sounds and repeated them perfectly. Also, their favorite game was London Bridges Falling Down.

The children are to bring their rice for their lunch. I guess that is all they have. Then, to boost their nutritional intake, pastor's wife has a soup made up to ladle over the rice. If the child brings no rice, no soup is given either. The purpose is to teach them, that is their responsibility. As you can imagine, it touched our hearts to experience this dire poverty.

Hydroelectric Project Update

Update on the hydroelectric project...

Gracious ones made sure the community center and church in Nupo would have electricity by Christmas time. Unfortunately the labor wasn't available to install it immediately, but we still were able to inspect the power generator and other supplies that will be installed by January 15th, the village leader reported. We are so pleased and thankful for those who made this possible!


Inspecting the hydroelectric generator


The electrical wire

Beginning of the Big Outreach

"Be all packed up and in the truck by 8 AM!", Anders said, "It's a tight schedule!" So, we were off to two villages and the orphanage, the most distant village being 11 hours away. First stop was to see where Anders and Lori first set foot in Thailand, originally intending to just stay for a week. Little ones swarming around. A 3 yr. old girl came out of the bathroom, she had been washing her clothes. Big sister, about 7-8 years old went over to dress her. They sure grow up fast here!


First night in an American style motel in Mae Sot. Very nice and clean. Our balcony overlooked a little, dusty neighborhood road. Directly behind us were two farmhouses with the living area on the second floor and animals underneath. (We have seen that in Europe.) Next door, the little outdoor fresh fruit and vegetable market... wtih delicatessen included... cooking or cooked meats. They are everywhere and one wonders how they can all make a profit.

Dec. 9, Tuesday. Lovely breakfast buffet, included in the $18 overnight room. The setting was just delightful, Hawaii-like. Pack up the truck again and head out to the distant mountain village... about 8 hours away. The scenery quickly changes, air quality improves, more bamboo, thatched roof villages, all modes of transportation along the road. It's common to see a very large number of people in the truck-bed. In fact, since we were a team of 6, one person always rode in our truck bed. Guess who may have loved it the most... Hank is the correct answer! Of course, there was ample padding with all of our supplies.


Next will be a report of Nupo. Thought it would be good to secure this much before proceeding with the awesome report! We have a good supply of great pictures between all of us.

Amazing Elephants!

Worship at A and L's church. A and L at their MBA program and we headed off to the the elephant park with faithful, fun Nan in charge once again. Hank appreciated those lumbering animals from a distance but, in a few words, decided the elephant ride wasn't for him! In a few moments, I was sitting on that seat with Laurie. That might even have been the bumpiest 15 minutes of my life! Sure glad it wasn't a day trip!

Hospice Outreach 2

More preparation to the village trip. A networking lunch for leaders and missionaries at Anders and Lori's church. It was rather a smorgasbord... mostly American food, sandwiches and even baked potatoes. Boy, did we ever enjoy eating a potato!!! Next stop was the AIDS/TB hospice outreach with a group, including Lori, who help there regularly. They are dears, mostly younger folk who are all smiles to see their friends arrive. After warm greetings, a little message is given and they love the meal which the team brings.

King's Birthday- A National Event!

Everything is moving so fast. Try, twice as fast as at home! Remember how I wore out that phrase, "How time flies?" Well, now it is at Mach 6!

For a truly visual story, see December photos.

Well, we've returned from 'the villages' and orphanage, thus the great lull in communication. The pictures will give you a glimpse into this blog narrarive. Among other pix, you'll see some precious faces of the children Jesus loves around the world. They are most definitely precious in His and our sight. Let's go back to about where I think we left off last entry.

After shopping for warm clothes, blankets, sleeping bags, etc. for our trip to "the village', we proceeded to our evening plan., Nan (nahn) was our amazing tour guide again.

Because the king's birthday, December 5, is such a big event here, celebrations took place everywhere over the weekend.


We attended two. First, note pictures, next to a small lake is a park freshly decorated with gorgeous blankets of color-coordinated patterns of flowers and shrubs of every kind imaginable.

In the evening, large, bright yellow and pink, lighted lanterns added to the glorious display.

From Dec '09 Web

Actually, we were there Dec. 4, so didn't realize that it was more or less, a dress rehearsal. (The costumes are gorgeous works-of-art! ) As a result, we had ViP-type front row seats to both the Thai dancers (think 'The King and I' ) and a pageant which followed actually taking place in the water.


December 5 found us in a 2 hour traffic jam where everyone was headed to the king's fireworks display. Lori was our driver.........'Yeah, Lori"!...........We, along with a zillion others, parked ON THE SUPER-HIGHWAY and walked to the park. Guess what? It was almost over! BUT, we did it and arrived home safely!