Chiang Mai Friends 2018

It's been suggested that, since our reason for coming here was to teach English, that I should maybe mention teaching in at least one blog post!  As I write this our students are involved in a loud and enthusiastic games session. This is how we end our afternoon, and the games get the students eagerly practicing their English. We start our mornings with a half-hour session of worship, testimonies, and prayer. More to come

In one of the villages there is one Christian family. The husband heard about God from a German missionary when he was young, but didn't believe at that time. He was an apprentice Buddhist monk in his teens, and it wasn't until he was in prison, with his wife and new child at home, that he found that his temple wouldn't help him and his village wanted nothing to do with him. The missionary, however, was willing to care for him and his family. He was in prison for many years, and became a Christian there, while shackled in a room packed with prisoners. It was still several years until he got out. Once he was home his wife became a Christian, then his father, due to some spectacularly answered prayers. Unfortunately he and his family suffer a lot of persecution and rejection from the villagers. The next village has 4 or 5 families of believers. Church services alternate between the first member's home and a home in the next village. The host in the other village is a w

On Saturday we took a trip to two Bui villages. Compared to the villages we went to last week, these ones seemed more accessible - they were along a 2 lane road that connected two larger communities. Some armies march on their stomachs - ours sort of dawdles along - fuelled by coffee stops. On the way were drove through beautiful forests. I think they were national parks. The trees were planted in 1967. Then of course, it was time to stop for lunch. Darryl directed the driver to the most amazing restaurant. I don't know what Canadian inspectors would think of it, but the food was amazing!  Outside  The kitchen  The kitchen The counter and bar Food ready for cooking Ready to eat

This morning Fiona and I went to the church of one of our students. It was a very enthusiastic service and a missionary from Singapore preached in English and the pastor translated into Thai. Afterward we had the customary whole church lunch - spicy fish soup and rice. The church rents space in a hotel and has only been in existence since February. After the lunch we walked to the Woo Cafe - a coffee shop and gallery that Ying worked at before coming to Calgary. On the way we passed numerous stalls selling fruits and vegetables. We picked up some finger-sized bananas to take into Wycliffe tomorrow, and a couple of mangoes. Here are some market shots: We then crossed the river and found our way to the Woo Cafe. It features wonderful desserts as well as meals, and is filled with flowers. They must keep half the orchid growers in Chiang Mai in business. The orange soft cake and coffee were delicious. After that we caught a Grab car (like Ub

I think in Canada you might hear someone say, "Is it cold enough for you?" I think here the equivalent might be, "Is it raining hard enough for you?" Wat says that the rainy season features more and heavier rain into August and September. We have had a couple of very heavy rains, but they don't seem to last too long. After this rain we went to the night bazaar, driving through very flooded roads, in places with fountains coming up out of the sidewalk drains!

This short post will show you how we get from our accommodation at Dara Place to the Wycliffe office, and back home. Kim (associate pastor at Wat's church) picks us up at 8:10 with his songthaew. It has a covered back with benches. There are curtains that will close the windows if it is raining. So far we haven't had a ride in the rain. Kim was one of our beginner students last year and would love to join us, but a new daughter at home is taking his time while his wife works. So we have one of us in the cab for each ride, helping him with his English. The truck is a good way for him to get his family and church members around. Kim's Songthaew The drive is only a few kilometres long so normally takes less than 10 minutes. The trickiest part is a U-turn that has to happen into the very busy opposite lanes.  Leaving Dara Place The road's quiet this morning! We dismount at Wycliffe. At 3:00 pm Kim arrives to take us home. Sometime

On Saturday we went by van to two Bisu villages in the northeastern part of Thailand, about 3 hours drive from Chiang Mai. Coffee with a View We stopped for coffee at the aptly named "Coffee with a View" and proceeded to the first of two villages for lunch. If you are a locavore you would have loved the lunch - everything on the table other than the water bottles had gone no more than a few hundred metres from where it was grown. Even if you aren't a locavore you would have loved the lunch - the freshest of greens and vegetables and pineapple and mango. We ate by forming a ball of sticky rice and dipping it in a salsa of pepper, garlic and I'm not sure what else. It was wonderful! Depending on spice tolerance you could put a lot or a little salsa on the rice. There were cucumber slices for cooling down. Making the salsa In this first village there is only one professed Christian - a young man (animist/Buddhist) who for years was hired by W

Imagine stomping in a mud pit for an afternoon. The water and soil mixture starts out lumpy and inconsistent, but as you step and step and step some more, it gradually becomes of uniform consistency, except for some big and rather hard stones that have to be removed. I found out that the Thai equivalent of "ouch" is "jip", but I heard fewer jips than ouches. The process is just about the same as me mixing my instant oatmeal in the morning. When the mud is smooth, rice husks are added to get the right moisture level (when you pull your foot out the hole remains). And then the mud is scooped into 12 kg buckets and poured into moulds where it is worked into the corners and patted level. That process is like putting cake batter in a pan, without the licking of the fingers! The mould frame is then removed and in a week or two there will be a set of very hard, strong bricks, which is probably about the same time period for our feet to return to their normal colo

Greetings from sunny Thailand! Well, right now it's pouring rain outside, but so far it's been very hot and humid. We're in the middle of the rainy season but there (surprisingly) hasn't been much rain so far. The average temperature here is 30˚C, with the humidity anywhere between 50-80%. It's pretty easy to beat the heat, though - lots of juicy fruit and cool air conditioning are on hand! Our day starts off pretty relaxed - we eat breakfast (usually comprised of fresh fruit and some local pastry) before heading to Wycliffe in Kim's songthaew. Once at Wycliffe, we begin with worship (in both Thai and English) before splitting into our classes. We have our separate classes in the morning (with a break about halfway through) before lunch - locally made, and very tasty. After lunch we do some pronunciation and enunciation work all together as a group, and then we end the day with a couple of games. Once we head back to Dara Place, we have some quiet time.

Our morning breaks are wonderful. We get to chat with our friends and eat some wonderful fresh fruit. This morning's snack featured two types of pineapple, two types of bananas, and grapes. Yum!

Here we are looking all fresh and rested a week before the trip. And here we are looking a bit less fresh in the Beijing airport. We were met at the Chiang Mai airport by Wat, Jimmie, and Kim, who helps pastor Blessings Church. Kim was a student last year. Two suitcases, one containing some of our teaching materials, didn't make it to Chiang Mai with us. There's another flight from Beijing tomorrow so maybe they'll be tired of wandering by then and will come and join us. This morning we joined Wat at Blessings Church. We really enjoyed the enthusiastic worship, the sermon, translated for us, and especially the times of sharing and prayer. The Bethany Sunday School made a special collection to bless the children and Blessings Church, and I presented the gift to them during the service. The children then went outside for their service. After the service everyone enjoyed a nice lunch. The green papaya salad was wonderful and Jimmie made m

We are getting ready! Clothes are being selected, suitcases are coming out, lessons are being photocopied, last-minute instructions are being given to family members, and excitement is building!