Dear Family & Friends,
Many
have asked how we were affected by widespread flooding here, in a country the
size of Texas. Areas, roads and one airport around the capital Bangkok remain
submerged or destroyed. Many photos are online. Some areas were flooded within
10 min. of our house. So shipping goods is difficult, detoured and stores
continue to have some empty shelves. Pray for supplies to improve.
We
live in Chiang Mai, 12 hours north (400 mi.). Thankfully, our neighborhood
(muubaan) and school (roongrian) are far enough away from the Ping River that
overflowed, so we had no damage. Many friends (phuan) did. A lot of Bangkok
people are here until their homes, university, schools, offices are usable. Please
continue praying for these people and many helping ministries. Nearly 500 died
within a month.
We
have the food we need. Fresh fruits & veggies abound in local markets. And
we will continue losing pounds. I (Penny) am down 25# and Gary’s lost 10 # in
21 mo. We cut carbs 90%, cut portions by 50% and cut sugar 90%! Praise God for great
knee surgery, benign biopsy. Pray for our good health.
Time moves fast—two year anniversary in Jan.! And we still
enjoy serving here. The first year was the biggest adjustment to distance,
language, culture and heat. But now we get cold at 77 degrees! I’m “soaking up”
vocabulary in language lessons twice a week and teaching Gary a bit.
Pray
for us as we do our daily jobs and interact with many cultures—EIGHT in my
office alone! Gary works with divisions leaders from four countries. And we
love it! We learn about and experience 24 cultures in our school of 657
students from 97 cultures. Pray for parents work in 12 nearby countries!
The main
religion is Buddhism for about 95% of Thai people, though many are nominal. Buddhist
Monk’s in saffron robes walk barefoot, carrying silver alms pots to collect food
or money people offer to earn “merit into heaven.” You can buy specially
wrapped “gift food baskets” to give them. It’s all fear based and sincere. But
Hill Tribe people have less prosperity and are eager for “hope.” Northern Karen
(kaw-wren) people have been believers for 100 years! Pray for relief of Burma’s
persecution of them.
A fun
note: parking spaces are often scarce. Creative Thai people have a solution in
crowed lots: You simply park in front of other cars and block them. But leave your
car in neutral, wheels straight. It gets pushed forward/back, when blocked cars
need to leave. This works very well, even in multi-level mall or hospital
parking garages! Pray for us to remain accident-free!
The
Loi Krathong celebration occurred a recently, where “hundreds” of 1 meter tall paper
lanterns are released into the night sky, powered heat from a flame-ring in the
base. Lanterns are launched with wishes to the gods. At the same time,
palm-sized boats of leaves, flowers and a candle are floated upon rivers, with
prayers to remove your sins. But if one floats back, that’s very bad luck! (Youtube
has great videos of both colorful celebrations). We are eager to understand
people, so we can relate well. Pray for us to live well as Christ’s witnesses. In
Grace, at Grace, Gary & Penny
