Our Retreat

Thursday and Friday we go on a mini retreat in the neighbouring province of Phang Nga. We will also be going on an elephant ride to a waterfall which is pretty fantastic.

But please pray for our rest and reflection time on retreat. That we would feel refreshed and it would be a significant time for building team dynamics and a drink for our souls.

We have much to be thankful for here. We have much to reflect on. And we want to finish strong as we head into our last full week in Phuket on Saturday.

Jo

Anne of Green Gables in Thailand!

So we've been helping out in a hospital in Phuket, teaching English. Just try to imagine the kind of things people ask you to help them say properly when they work in a hospital. Today I taught "Please remove your underwear" as well as ... well ... you don't want to know the other ones for today. Let's just say yesterday's "You don't actually need to pee, you have a catheter in" is tame by comparison. My second conversation today revolved around popular culture as we discussed both the strange Thai show we saw last night (it looked like an entire hour of a man sitting in a computer chair while a woman cowered in the corner behind him ... apparently it's very popular ... maybe if I spoke the language I would understand ...) as well as Anne of Green Gables! They wanted to know why people would visit different places in Canada and I had a great time trying to explain why people would go to PEI to visit the home of a person who never actually existed.
This afternoon I taught the difference between being in, on, at, or under a car. My last class never arrived, so I had a short conversation about a car-trunk market and relationships with a random dude ...
The hospital treats us so well with so much food and water and appreciation. Our days here make me feel both extremely tired and very refreshed.
Tomorrow we leave for our mid-trip retreat. We're very excited for a break as our past few days have been extremely full albeit rewarding.
I love watching the kids in the neighbourhood get less shy as we play with them more. I love that the rain held off the exact right amount of time last night. I also love that a little boy gave me flowers yesterday.
Miss you all!
(or ... some of you anyway ...)

Parachutes

We brought 2 parachutes with us to Thailand. One smaller one great for playing with young kids, and one larger one for older kids. You know, the kind from gym class in kindergarten where you stand around it and shake it, bounce balls on it, run under it, etc.

We bring them out at our kids programs in the 2 slum areas we are working in. The size of them, bright colours and sound of the shaking parachute attract all the kids out of their homes that haven't gotten them memo that we've begun for the day.

It's a pretty joyful experience to watch these kids who have so little get so much joy out of shaking around a parachute with all their strength. Many are abused, and in turn they abuse each other and the stray dogs and cats that wander by. Many are neglected because of alcoholic parents. Some can't be sent to school because of the cost. Everyday we see them they're wearing the same clothes. Their faces are dirty and their hands are sticky. But their smiles are amazing.

Yesterday one tiny girl sat on Blythe's lap for ages not saying anything to Blythe, not doing anything. Just sitting taking the whole scene in while enjoying the love of this tall white stranger.

They love crayons and would be happy to colour for hours. They love bubbles and like to dance in them. They love balloons. Stickers. Balls. Piggybacks. Tag. Songs. And parachutes.

Thank you to those who helped get these simple supplies here. They are a real gift.

Jo

Chucky Cheese!

Hello Friends,

There is so much to tell, and so little time.

It is 12:25am, the end of an extremely long but wonderful day.

Over the past two and a half years Cynthia has a built a great relationship with her house help Jan, this has provided an opportunity for us to teach sunday school to the children living in Jan's village for the past two Sundays. The village she lives in is owned by one man, he is the owner of a major construction company, and everyone living on this piece of land works for him. At the end of our time with the kids today we were shown around a few of the houses. There were many tin roofs, fire pit stoves, wild chickens, shoe-less children, and sweat beads (dripping off almost every body part). Jan mentioned that she and her husband were 'moving up in the world' because they recently got a door for their place. In past conversations we have also been told that Jan's husband is really great at making swimming pools because on a daily basis he helps with the building of huge mansions for foreigners. The idea of spending your entire day building big beautiful homes for others, and then coming home to celebrate finally getting a door for your own house is mind boggling. Turn this idea over in your mind a few times...crazy eh?

We spent two and a half hours playing games, singing songs, acting out bible stories, making crafts and above all, loving on these children. This was our second time with these children; it was great to see their faces again and to really begin to remember their names. We are finding it very difficult to remember people's names because they are just so different from names we are used to. Some of the kids we played with today were Woot, Tang, Doon and Fie.

Woot is an energetic young boy, maybe 10 years old, who was abandoned by his mother at a young age. Apparently she ran off with a foreigner, but its difficult to know all the details. When kids experience such traumatic things at a young age it means that there is no way to really know everything they have been. Woot's father is an alcoholic and doesn't give him a lot of attention, for the most part he is being raised by the house help. It was such a joy to be able to just play, and love this boy... even if it was only for two and a half hours. One of Woot's favourite things to do is to run up behind you and grab your wenis (the flabby skin on your elbow) and yell "Juck-a-gee!" ... which to us sounds a lot like, "Chucky Cheese!". It actually means 'tickle' in Thai. This game catches on pretty quickly, and before you know it were running around holding onto to our wenises (wenises? baha) and screaming "Chucky Cheese!".

We have one more Sunday left with these beautiful children. Pray for protection of their innocence. Pray that these children would receive opportunities today and in the future. Pray that our eyes would be opened to see these children through God's eyes, and that God would truly break our hearts for what breaks His. Pray that we would be able to lavish these children in God's prefect and unconditional love, and above all, that they would know how deeply they are LOVED by their Father.

Thank you for your continued prayer!

In love and light,

Laura

Our Night Market Booth

Dear Friends,

We don't have a lot of email access these days and there's a line up for this computer but wanted to say hello and give a brief report!

We are all doing well. No worries AT ALL here from Bangkok's problems. We are not in an area of the country where the Red Shirts are from (they come from cities in the north) and although the Thais are glued the the news stations, there is no danger to us at all. Please pray for our friends in MBMSI in Bangkok and surrounding area, but we are very safe here.

As always planned, we will not be going back through Bangkok. We fly directly from Phuket to Hong Kong (then to Toronto) on June 5. We then go to Debrief at Camp Crossroads and return to Waterloo Friday June 11.

Our team just finished at our booth in the Night Market here in the city. Thousands of people come to it each weekend and there are all sorts of things for sale- "unique" foods, clothes, illegal music and dvds, jewelery, fortune tellers, live music, beggars, puppies, machetes, you name it- its for sale. We have a booth and offer things like face painting, balloon animals, baked treats with scripture attached to it, practice English with the Thais (they all want to learn). Generally we just try and promote the centre that the our local hosts are about to open this week. We are quite the attraction for the Thai shoppers. Apparently they've never seen Farung (foreigners) have a booth before, and can't believe we want to give things away for free!

Please pray that all the legal and financial details would come through this week and the centre could be opened! this will be the site of church, English classes, a youth drop in, the MBMSI offices and generally just a permanent place in the community right on a main street. The team is good. Very mild bouts of different stomach stuff or heat exhaustion over the past few weeks that has taken a few of us out for an afternoon or something. Thankfully nothing major. Some interesting encounters with spiritual oppression. Satan has made himself very comfy in Thailand and has noticed we are here.

Overall things are good. We're learning, laughing, and sweating in equal portions. I'm still longing for softer hearts amongst all of us towards the poor and the poor in spirit here in Thailand. Please pray for that.

love and peace Jo

Buddhist Temple

Last week when were still in Chon Buri area we visited a Buddhist Temple to get a better understand of the beliefs of the people here and the spiritual environment. Being in the temple was very heavy. In one area of the temple there were statues that depicted scenes of punishment for each specific sin that one would experience in hell. For example if someone had sinned they would have their tongue cut out, and this would happen over and over based on how many times in your life you had lied. These statues were very graphic and it was difficult to look at and even more difficult to realize that the Thai people believe this and have no hope in their future. They all know that they sin but there is no way to be redeemed from that. They make merit doing various things, like donating to the temple, but this does not mean that they escape the punishment but rather only earn more years in 'heaven' before going through the punishment and then after return to earth for another life just hoping that it will be better than the last and the ultimate goal is Nirvana, which is nothingness, though only the highest of society ever really have any hope of ever reaching it. These people have no hope and nothing to look forward to in life or beyond. But to be Thai is to be Buddhist so it is very hard to break out of that lifestyle and beliefs. The irony about this is that the Buddhism practiced in Thailand is not pure Buddhism but rather is intertwined with animism and worship of spirits. They realize that Buddhism is not fufilling and are searching for something more. We pray that their searching will lead them to Jesus. Please pray that the light of the Lord will shine through the spiritual darkness of this nation and that we will be wise in the way we interact with the people here, respecting them yet being bold in the truth of our Father.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support!

Love,

Catherine

ESL at a high school

Again writing on my iPhone so I'll be quick for now.

All this week we are teaching english in a Thai high school during the days. It's pretty hilarious. Were doing a lesson on directions- left right turn around north south etc. We have different games and challenges depending on their English level but we end every class with the Hokey Pokey. Thai people love to dance! And I've never sweat so much haha

It's in the high 30s C and huuumid everyday. Most areas designed fr walking have covered awnings. You just can't stand in the sun for more than a few minutes.

We are at this school building relationships with staff and students as part of the church planting initiative here. For example, one teacher (a Dutchman) says his Thai wife just became a Christian from Buddhism and they live in the neighborhood of the church and want to attend. Pray for opportunities to love the huge classes of kids and build relationships. 50ish kids in a class makes it a challenge.

Medicine at the orphanage

The fridge with HIV meds for the boys. We organized it for them.

Goodbye Chonburi

The TLC church where we've stayed on the floor the last 5 nights with the TREK Chonburi team. Now on to Phuket with the TREK Phuket team joining our short term team. (TREK is a 6-10 month internship for young adults.)

From the Apple Store...

Hello friends,

This morning we arrived in Phuket, after spending the first 5 days in Thailand in an area called Chonburi- about an hour outside of Bangkok on the coast.

While we were there we were introduced to the bigger picture of the MBMSI ministry in Thailand, spending time with local Thai people and foreign missionaries involved in the work here. Also, we've synced up with 2 TREK teams, which are teams of Young Adults spending 6-10 months in an internship volunteering here. Inspiring stuff.

Top of my mind right now is the orphanage for HIV positive boys and girls. Inspiring stories. Please do check out the www.mbmsivideo.org (or some weblink very close to that spelling) for videos of the stories of these kids. This orphanage comes out of the heart of Karen Sanchez, a Canadian missionary here with her husband and 4 kids the last 12 years. The stories of how it all got started are in some of the short videos you can watch. But we played with these kids. Ate with them (delicious curries and cashew chicken). Helped with projects around the boys' home, and generally just sweat a lot learning to play hide and seek in Thai.

In Thailand these kids are truly the lowest of the low in society. Stories of how they got HIV include prostitute mothers (now deceased), sexual abuse from HIV+ men in their families, and sometimes bad blood transfusions.

If you are praying, please pray that they are all able to enter school this year. The school year in Thailand starts this week, and there are many prejudices and hardships they must overcome to be allowed in classrooms with other children, despite the fact that the other children are in no danger of infection at all. Lots of hatred, distrust, and simply lack of education on AIDS issues.

Pray for the new centre they are building so more kids can be in small "family homes" with a mother and stability, rather than more institutional settings they could be put into in Bangkok (Karen Sanchez described these huge orphanages with 100s of kids as "Hell on earth"). With the recession, this building project has lost some funding.

We as a team are all well here. We laugh a lot and are learning a ton. Excited to finally be in Phuket where we will be teaching English, running day camps in a slum area, and doing work with "SHE" for women coming out of prostitution.

Pray for our team as we really get into stuff here. This is a heavy place if you know what I mean.

peace

Jo

Goodbye Chonburi

The TLC church where we've stayed on the floor the last 5 nights with the TREK Chonburi team. Now on to Phuket with the TREK Phuket team joining our short term team. (TREK is a 6-10 month internship for young adults.)

Poor Fishing village

Back of a truck

Day 1. It's hot.

We are just getting ready for bed after our first full day in Thailand. According to a local Thai man, today was the hottest day he remembers in years. Let me tell you, it was the hottest day of my entire life. I have never experienced humidity like this.

Other fun facts about Thailand:
1. Monks get food for the day by travelling the streets and picking up food offerings made by people to Buddha. When they pick up the offerings, they extend blessings over the person who gave them.
2. We travel most places in the back of a decorated pick up truck called a song Tao. They are wonderful. Easy to find, cheap, and stop everywhere for pick ups and dropoffs.
3. Thai is a very hard language to learn.
4. We went to Thai church this afternoon And got to sing along to the music!
5. Tomorrow we are taking communion on the beach. I'm looking forward to the breeze off the water.

Thank you for your prayers and interest in our trip! Please keep praying we recover from jet lag soon and adjust as much as we can to the climate.

Love, Blythe.

Back of a truck Last night in Chonburi

Transportation in Thailand

We've arrived. Day 2 for us here in Chonburi just outside of Bangkok. We were pretty tired and disoriented yesterday but are feeling much better this morning.

We were greeted at the airport by 2 very excited Thai university student girls Art and Sung. Then we were taken to Chonburi a 1hr drive to meet our hosts at a conference centre we will be at with them for a few days. We will be caring for their kids. Today we take them to a beach, do crafts games and worship songs.

It's hot! Like a blanket of humidity we've really never experienced before. But were in great spirits. We really have a great team I'm so thankful for them and their positive attitudes.

Well must be off now but thanks for your prayers. God is good.

Peace,
Jo

Ps These are written on Joanna's iPhone so the grammar may be a little off with the blog from here on out!

Hong Kong

Were here 16hr flight later. Tired but good spirits. Landscape of the island is amazing.

Hong Kong airport

Were tired but good! 12hr time difference makes it 130pm Saturday here.

In the airport!

At Pearson. Met by Julie and Darren Demelo bringing gifts of a parachute for the day camps, gum for the plane, and prayer for the journey.

more photos

Catherine... working...

Les artistes planning their landscape:

Proof we're here!

Here is the beginnings of our garden! We were given a lot of plants and a lot of creative license about where to put them...
On the dock during free time...

Here are some pictures of the week so far. It's hard to believe it's coming to an end!

Good Morning

This is our last day of orientation! At 4am Friday we will leave for the airport. Then a 15hr flight to Hong Kong, a 3 hr layover and then we fly to Bangkok where we will be greeted by a Thai woman named Art.

Rain + Dirt = Mud

Today we spent our afternoon sessions helping out around Camp Crossraods. Our team was assigned the task of planting a flower garden just outside of the main dining hall. We ‘dug in’ to say the least. Catherine created a beautiful stone walkway through the garden while the rest of us not-so-strategically planted flowers and buds sporadically through out the garden. After a couple hours our hands and knees were muddy and we had dirt lodged underneath our fingernails. I’m quite curious to see how things will bloom over the coming weeks, and to see our ‘master piece’ when we return.

Just as we finished our work on the garden the clouds began to roll in and we could hear thunder in the distance. Blythe, Catherine and I saw this as a great opportunity for some rain dancing. The three of us eagerly embraced the rain, spinning and twirling under the big drops falling from the sky. Once we were out of breathe from our extreme dance moves we began practicing our head stands in the wet, muddy grass. Next, we attempted to teach Catherine how to do a kart weal, this was entertaining. We finished with some ballet moves (led by Blythe) through the field. It was very graceful.

Thank you for all your support!

-Laura

we're all in this together

We watched this video this morning in our training session. A great reminder that this is why we go to Thailand. Check it out.

THE I HEART REVOLUTION: WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER TEASER from Hillsong United on Vimeo.

Hello sunshine

So it is day number 5 here at camp crossroads, and the name of this blog pretty much gives away what it is like here. On Saturday and Sunday it rained a lot, so the sun is a nice change. It feels as if we have been here for much longer since none of us can remember what day it is. Laura, Alaina and I had a conversation this morning walking to breakfast saying how we feel like old-timers since we can never remember what day it is. The time spent here though is very relaxing which is a very nice change. On Friday I finished my last exam and then quickly left for 6 weeks. It’s a weird contrast of being constantly so busy, to be constantly so relaxed.

Yesterday a couple who lived in Thailand for 3 years, Kevin and Carlene Klassen, gave us information and background about Thailand, it was very useful and encouraging. We also learned 2 songs in Thai which later on, we sang to the rest of the group. Lets just say that was a very interesting experience, and something that will be happening a lot more in Thailand…oh lucky me. I have realized I can speak English and a little bit of french. But for some reason my mouth was never taught how to speak Thai, and let me say, it definitely proved that point last night!

I am really excited to be spending the next 6 weeks with such an amazing group of women, and will surely have much more to say later on.

As for now, I am going to soak up some sunshine!

Much love,

Leah

Kitchen Couture for Spring 2010

We were on breakfast making duty this morning. And we got to wear fancy things.

Today, we sang in Thai.

Picture this: a group of 7 women and 1 man under a pine tree gathered around a guitar and song lyrics... the only twist: the song lyrics are in thai. For those of you who don't know, the Thai language is a tonal language. It has approximately 44 consonants, 32 vowel sounds, and 5 separate intonations. Needless to say, we don't sound great. We have a few strong vocalists in the group (my friends and family know by reading that I am NOT one of those) but we are laughing so much together.

Tonight is our grand debut. We are performing our song for the larger group. I feel like we are a makeshift Von Trappe family... and I am Kurt.

All that to say, we are having a good time. Today was BEAUTIFUL. Everyone is wearing some sun on their faces as we head into our evening session.

So long, farewell;

Blythe

Sawatdee Kha!

So we've been at Camp Crossroads for 4 days now but we all agree that it seems much longer. We discovered a ceiling fan in our room yesterday, and Joanna discovered when the power went out that they're powered by electricity. It's been a fun albeit rainy couple of days but today the sun is bright and shiny and I already have a little bit of a sunburn (I can only imagine what this will mean for Thailand) ... Today we learned a few Thai words, but we all seem to only be able to remember how to say "Hello" which is pronounced something like 'sawatdee kha' (or khrap instead of kha if you are a dude). Apparently we are also going to bless the groups going to Nepal, Germany, and the Congo with our loverly singing voices and Thai language abilities tonight at worship - be jealous you can't hear it ...

Anywho - please keep us in your prayers as we continue to prepare for our mission in Thailand. We love you all! (or, to be more accurate - chances are that one of us cares for whoever is reading this in some way shape or form ... You'll have to decide for yourself who that someone is ...)

* Alaina

(p.s. we helped with breakfast this morning - hopefully we can upload a picture soon of us in our gorgeous outfits)