Location, Location, Location

One of the things that pastors often stressed in America was location, location, location. If a church is located in a good location, it is more apt to be successful. This isn't always a determining factor but it helps to make a churchget seen. We praise God that our church here in Thailand is located on the outskirts of town on a major road located next to a large market and a gas station. Thousands of people pass our church everyday however there is a place in front of our church where people make u-turns. Instead of traffic lights, Thailand uses u-turns to keep traffic flowing more, however, u-turns also create more accidents. Accidents are a regular occurence in front of our church. Today was a doosie. We had 4 ambulances in front of the church trying to help the people on the ground. The accident (as usual) involved a vehicle and a motorcycle.

Trafficking Organs (kids may not want to read)

Please pray for Lemuu and the village that he is working in. This is the same village that we went to in December and the same village that I "helped" with a wedding ceremony. Tim, our secretary, talked to him last week and he said that the people in his village are really scared right now because some villagers went missing. Later, the bodies were found with all their organs removed. To my knowledge, 3 people have died this way. All the people that have gone missing were outing walking by themselves along the road.
Tawm said that this happens pretty regularly as there is a great demand for organs in China. Since Thailand is near China, traffickers often come here to get organs so they can sell them in China, even though the trafficking of organs is illegal. Tawm also said, the Karen hilltribe is know for walking through the jungle and along roads alone making them easy targets. Although this isn't an abnormal thing in Thailand, it is hitting close to home as it has been happening in a village that we have been trying to start a church.
Please pray for the village's protection and that Lemuu would have open doors to preach the gospel during this time.

As a note = we have no intentions of going to that village anytime soon. No need to worry!

A Gift from Heaven

April is the month that Thailand public schools are on summer break. As a result, Tawm's parents are at home and so I often go outside to do my daily devotions. As I read this morning, I was listening to the pleasant sounds of birds when all of a sudden I was attacked by some bird droppings!! They landed right on the page of the Bible I was reading.

Feelin' Fishy?

Since coming to Thailand one food that I have found myself enjoying more and more is fish. When we were in America last year, I ate as much fried catfish as possible which is probably why I gained 30 pounds. Thailand has a variety of fish, but I don't love the fish as much as many Thai people. I tend to stick to the white meat, however many Thais enjoy the head. Pictured is our church secretary Tim. As you can see, Thai people really enjoy their fish.

New Mommy and Daddy Too!

 

We are happy to announce that we will be parents soon. Tawm is pregnant and is due sometime in November. We are excited and nervous at the same time. Pray for Tawm and the baby's health.

Horrible x1000 or more

What a way to end the season... I can't believe it. This is the worst season ever, the Pacers definitely need a change. Not only did they miss the playoffs, but they won enough games that they are going to lose their draft pick too. At least they were really bad they could have gotten a good player.
In a way I am thankful, now I can cheer for a half decent team. Go Phoniex!!

More Pics of Easter

 

Here are some more Easter pics from last Sunday. After services, we had an Easter egg hunt, then a Bible trivia contest and then we had lunch together. It was a really fun day.

 

 

 

Country Wide Waterfight!!!

For three days every April, in the midst of the hottest part of the year, Thailand stops to celebrate Songkran otherwise known as Thai New Year. This festival is the closest thing to Christmas. It's the time when most people return home to spend time with their families. Young people give gifts to elderly people and elderly people return the gift with a blessing. In the midst of it all, the country turns into a nation-wide water fight. If you're outside, you are a target for anyone walking or driving by, especially if you have white skin!! Thais love to bless foreigners with a big bucketful of water in order to show foreigners some Thai culture. People are even known to open the doors to your vehicle and throw water inside, so you need to remember to lock your doors too.
Chiang Mai is the best place to be and there are literally thousands of people out throwning water. The first couple times it was a lot of fun but I guess I am getting old and it isn't quite as fun anymore.

Services in the Park

Here our some pictures of our early Easter Sunday worship service. We spent time worshipping God and I spent time preaching God's Word. It was a good time. Since we were in a public place we had people stop by every once in a while to see what was going on too. On the other hand, being outside, people's attention tended to wander a little. I guess you have to take the good with the bad no matter what is going on.

Monks and Easter

No I didn't take this picture, but the scene we saw Easter morning didn't look much different (except it was a little brighter).
Our church decided to have a special sunrise Easter service in a local park. We planned to start church at 7 AM. However when we arrived at the park, I thought to myself, uh-oh because there were scores of cars lined up with Buddhists donating food to the monks in order to gain merit. This is something that happens every morning but I had never seen that many monks collecting food before, usually it is just a few. The reason there we so many monks and people was that we were meeting in was located near 2 important temples. People from all over town come to donate food to monks in these 2 temples.
I was thinking, oh my, what are we going to do???? Where were we going to have services???? But in the end, everything happened according to plan and we had a great time. We had 35 people in attendance, not bad for a 7 am start. We praise God for the wonderful day of fun and fellowship after too.
I will post some more pictures of our Easter service next time.

Fruitful Fun

As we approach Songkran, Thailand's New Year and Water Festival, we also approach fruit season. One the most amazing parts of Thailand is the food. I have lived in Thailand over 3 years now and there is still so many things that I have never tried before. The markets are filled with reds, greens, yellows, browns and all sorts of colors of fruits like munkoot (don't know how to spell), rambutun, lychee, longan, mangoes, papayas, oranges, bananas, pineapple, watermelons and on and on. It is the perfect way to be the heat. We are averaging in the mid to high 30's these past few days.

Who woulda thunk it?

Congrats to Florida and their repeat as national champions. Although I did see them play at all, I thought they had a great team (from what I watched last year while in America). I am happy they won this year and now the big question is whether the big 2, Durant and Oden will jump to the NBA. Maybe with the way my Pacers are playing lately, we can gnab one of them!!
In regards to my bracket, I picked Florida over Ohio State and as a result, I finished in the 97th percentile with over 300,000 people competing. Not bad for a Canadian livin' in Thailand who never watched a game all season eh?