Some Miscellaneous HouseKeeping and Bragging

I wanted to say sorry for not blogging in a few days, but I got some good excuses. One we have taken this week off and we don't have internet access at home. Two, even when I tried to get online, the earthquake that hit Taiwan earlier this week knocked out all internet access in Thailand for a few days. We have just got back online in the last couple days.

I also wanted to brag that I finished in first place in my Fantasy Football League. Last year in my first attempt at Fantasy Football I finish near the bottom. This year, I was sitting in fourth place before the playoffs began and ended up beating the #1 and #2 seeds. Thanks Peyton!.

Aside from that, we wanted to wish you a happy New year!

And aside from that, I have an alterior motive in my blogs. I hope to paint a picture of Thailand that creates interest in the land and the work here, so that some people, both for short and long term trips, will come help in the work here? Sorry for my hidden motives, but are you interested???

Christmas in the village

Although we didn't actually spend Christmas in the village, we were there until the 22nd. We had a great time teaching the villagers and praise God for one salvation and three other young men that came to our house to hear the gospel.

A beautiful View (Thanks God)

One of wonderful things about being in the mountains is that we have a spectacular view. Northern Thailand is filled with mountains. Although living conditions aren't always the most convenient, the view is awesome. However, the view at night is even more spectacular. Each night in the village as I walked back to our house, I had to stop and stare at the sky and the amazing stars. Living in a big city, you often forget that they are still up there. While we were there, God reminded me, how great He really is.

Merry Christmas!!!

Since this is the first time I have had email access in a little over a week, wanted to wish everyone a very blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The Answer (Not the One that went to Denver!)

For all those wondering about our last post, thought I would give you a Christmas present from Thailand and give the answer. Right now in Chiang Mai, there is a special flower garden commemorating the 60th anniversary of Thailand's king's reign. During the king's reign, he has been very interested in agriculture and I guess that is why they have made this special garden. The outside perimeter of the garden is about 8 kilometers, so it is a huge garden. Countries from all over the world, not Canada or the US, have sent flowers from their country. People from all over Thailand are flocking to Chiang Mai to see the flowers, especially the tulips. Thai people have never seen tulips before because they can't grow here because it is too hot. The first batch of tulips lasted a little over a week. Holland then sent another batch for the king's birthday and they have lasted a little longer because of the cooler weather. That's when we went to the garden. To me it is hard to believe people want to see tulips so bad since I have seen tulips my whole life. I guess Thai people think the same thing about foreigners who write blogs about frogs in the house!!

Whatdaya think?

Well we will be heading to the hilltribe village this coming week where our electricity comes from a solar cell. As a result, we won't be picking up any wireless signals out there, so I won't be able to blog for a little bit. So I thought I would post a fun post where you can give me your educated guesses. People all over Thailand are talking about someone or something and are flocking to see them. What do you think all these people are gathered together for and who or what are they
fighting to see and get their picture taken with? When we get back, I will post the answer. Have fun.

Christmas Prayer Request

As Christmas approaches, we are getting really excited because we will be trying 2 new things in the next week and a half. Next week we are going out to a hilltribe village that we haven't been to before to help a former Bible School student reach out to people in his village. He says he has about 60 people that meet for Bible study once a week. We plan to go do evangelism, help him build relations in the community and do some teaching, especially on salvation while we are there. We pray that souls would be saved and that Lemuu's work in the village would be blessed by us being there.

On the 23rd, we are having our first Christmas program. We will be playing games, singing songs, the kids will be doing a drama, and I will be presenting the gospel. Rusty, Susan, Tim, Tawm and I met yesterday to hammer out details and we made a list of all the people who were coming. If everyone comes that says they will be coming, we will probably have between 10-20 guests who are not Christian in attendance. Also most of the children in the drama are not saved too. Please pray for their salvation as well.

Proof is in the Puddin' or Soup

If you haven't read the "Meditating Frogs" Post, you should do that before you read this post.
For anyone that read that post and thought I was a little bit crazy, here is some visual evidence and some verbal evidence attempting to justify my lack of judgment. A few days ago, our frog friend returned, this time rather than meditating in the bathroom, it was meditating in the kitchen. This time we weren't home alone though. Tawm's parents were home too. Tawm's mom was busy cooking in the kitchen when she saw the frog in the corner. When she looked at it, she thought it was a lump of dirt. These meditating frogs can even fool real Thai people, not just crazy white guys. When I knew our frog friend had returned, I quickly grabbed my camera to get some visual evidence too. Tawm's mom used a broom to chase the frog out of the house and we haven't seen it since.
Last night when I returned home from teaching English, Tawm's grandpa had made frog soup. I am not sure where he got the frog, didn't want to ask. It tasted good though!

Surviving an Earthquake

Last night I experienced my second earthquake since I have been in Thailand and just like the first time, I slept through it, so I don't know if that means I have experienced it or not?? The earthquake happened at 12:04 AM and Tawm felt it because she was awake. I found out about it in the morning. The earthquake registered at a 5.1 on the Richter scale. Thailand has the occassional earthquakes but most of them are pretty small. No one was injured but a couple of high rise building had some minor damages.

Trip to Burma

One of the hardest things about living in a country that isn't your own, is dealing with visas. I thank God that I am able to get a visa through the foundation that the Barnett's helped to establish while they were here in Thailand. I am able to get a 1 year visa but I have to travel to Burma everything 3 months to get my passport stamped. Tawm likes to go and shop in Burma because you can get knock-offs of everything, watches, purses, dvd's, cd's and other things. They have even started selling viagra. It takes about 3 1/2 hours to travel to the border, so it makes for a long day. Before we were married I had to travel by bus once a month, which took 5 hours one-way, so I am thankful I don't have to do that anymore.
Everytime we go I am thankful for the opportunity to live in Thailand. Although Thailand is a developing country, Burma is still a 3rd world country. As soon as you cross the border kids are there begging for money, you heart goes out to them. However, I have a problem with the way the beg, moms with small babies will hit their kid when you aren't looking to make them cry so that they can get more money. On one occassion I gave a boy about 7 or 8 years old some change and as soon as I gave it to him, he ran and gave it to the monk that was walking down the street, trying to gain some merit. Burma is another country that is mainly Buddhist and is in desperate need of the gospel.

Happy Father's Day

Although I am a day late, I wanted to say Happy Father's Day to my dad and thanks for everything that you do for us. We really appreciate you and miss you too!
Yesterday was Father's Day here. It was also the king's birthday and a national holiday, hence, we didn't have a chance to use the internet. I usually forget when Father's day is in America, but make it a point to say thanks when the Thai people celebrate Father's day. God bless you dad!
Love Brent and Tawm

Mass Mail Out (Thai Style)

Well, a number of weeks ago, we decided that we wanted to do a mass mail out in the housing communities around our church. I hadn't heard of anyone doing that here in Thailand, but figured we would give it a try. Tim, the church secretary, went to the government office and asked for the information we wanted. They said that it would be no problem. They told us the price and we were excited about trying to do a mass mail out. However, after I talked with Tawm, I discovered that they wouldn't be putting it on disc for us, rather the money we gave them was the price of paper. They were going to print out the information. I couldn't believe it because there is several thousand people that live in these housing communities. The day that we were able to pick up the paper, I was even more surprised as the print out was an old school printer with continuous paper with all the little holes in it!! We have 2 huge boxes full of names and addresses. As I write, my excitement has died a little knowing that our mailout probably will not happen until late next year as Tim has to enter each name in the computer so we can address letters to people. Fun!
Doing ministry in Thailand is totally different that ministry in North America. Anyone want to come help type??