April 2013 Thai Hi!

Thai Hi! , 3/26/13

Thank you for prayers. Everyone of course needs them. We do as we move headlong not hot season, close to 100 already, and endure daily ag-burn, irritating sinuses and eyes.

We are busy and well, each working five days a week and helping friends or resting weekends. 

Sooo much to tell about and sharing of our lives and faith, as Christ's hand and feet, since "we are the body..." you know that song!

We really ( I) should sit and do a letter update, but honestly, only a few people stay in touch on FB and most don't respond thanks to direct emails...a hard fact to swallow overseas. So we simply focus are what we are called to do, and that takes about 16 hours each day already. 

We  are in two good small groups studies and a friendship group. Those keep us grounded, as well as great pastors teaching and personal study. We have deep friends at work and in the community, plus we talk with sons and granddaughter regularly, so we feel loved.

We don't plan to return to WA this summer, so don't wonder. Maybe next year. We'll finish our fifth school year by then.

 We want to serve here forever, anyway. Didn't understand before how people could absorb their new culture that way, but it's a gift of love that bonds deeply.

Working with so many cultures at school (21) is sometimes a challenge...then there's the " sin " issue, which exists no matter the language. Pray for understanding of that around the world.  We've been pushed to rely and hope in none but Christ more often and more securely than ever in our heart language...PTL! 

I am hilariously in love with chattering in Thai with friends and neighbors!! Gary sees the fun and has me teaching him bits again now. Heehee. 

Pray as I'm sharing faith and friendship with about a dozen Thai ladies and men each week. Pray for Gary as he deals with administrative  issues at work.

Thanks for listening. Not TMI, I hope...too bad ;);)

Hugs

Pennyv

Oct. break week 2012

Grace school was on Oct. break this past week, so we have been gone eight days.

Remember our recent prayer letter said visiting Bridge over the River Kwai? Well, that was the first three days, on a student and staff history field trip, with 61 of us on two tour buses...sleeping...or rather, twisting in the seats. Interesting history though! 

Also saw Hell Fire Pass, giant shadow puppets theatre of cut cowhide, WWII museum, drifted in a floating market, spent five hours on two different 3rd class trains, saw sites in Rachaburi, Chanchaburi, Branburi...I think it means town.

 I'll try to pull photos off camera this week.

Then fours days at a quite, out-of-the-way beach 15 hours south of Chiang Mai our FIRST in three years! 

Then a final day, a full 12 hours getting home. Up to Bangkok by 4 p.m. Friday, and all flights in first airline full, through the end of the night. We finally grabbed 8:30 p.m. Seats, so hung around BEAUTIFUL Suvarnabumi airport 4.5 hours and napped on a wood bench!

We were happy for a break. Tomorrow we hit the ground with normal schedule week in new office spaces, since Grace is turning our spaces into three much-needed new classrooms for now.

Saw news flashes moments ago of West coast quake and East coast storm. My!

Stay warm there. We're entering Winter season too...high 80's day time and low 70's at night.

Please pray as I share relationships and faith with three Thai lady friends. I love the socks off these women and want them in eternity with me forever!

Pray too my Thai conversation continues to improve and for a Thai Christian to explain Jesus better than I.  My friend's quizzical looks are...interesting. And we say "no understand" to each other often, but always with a smile! It's a hoot!

Happy November, almost! 

Penny

Oct. 1, 2012 Praises and Prayers

Sawasdee (hello)  friends!

We are fine and into our 4th school year! It is indeed busy, after a fun summer seeing son Jody and Rachel home-deliver our first granddaughter, and watching son Robert graduate from university!

Here in Thailand, many soccer and volleyball team members and families got back yesterday from weekend tournament in BKK. We got # 1 place in soccer and #2 in Vball said a teen, who mowed our "tiny" lawn this morning and weed-elated around the patio.

We actually have the day off, since electric and water are off for repairs in the school neighborhood. But Gary had a morning meeting at another school, so I spent 3 hours finishing our Wycliffe Asia area newsletter for the main office.

Now this afternoon, I'm checking emails, because I was gone Fri. To Sun. At a women's weekend. It was a great  time of worship music, prayer, crafting bookmarks, workshops and a speaker from BKK, who helps women out of sex trafficking. Wow stories! A fun break from normal routine!

Gary still serves at Grace by coordinating "operations" in the Computer, Food Services and Athletics (sports teams) divisions. He says he's more mentally active than ever. It's a hard job, but interesting and important. Pray for his uplifted attitude and wise decisions.

I interview people for web stories on school activities and ministries two days a week at GIS. Visit our web site for new stories and photos I post on www.gisThailand.org. 

One day I work from home on Wycliffe newsletter design. Two days I continue to edit translation project profiles from home, for Wycliffe partner www.theSeedCompany.org. They focus on training national people to do their own linguistic work around the world...five times faster than old ways! 

Pray for my Thai lessons twice a week, that vocabulary sinks in more and more. I can negotiate a local market, etc., but I long to explain salvation to two close Thai lady friends! That's my deepest concern...apart from anguish over the insanity of USA politics.

It's fascinating to read field stories, like the lady who was reading simple Bible stories in a new village's language here in Thailand, testing comprehension. After a few stories and questions, the listener exclaimed, "I want to trust Jesus!" She did, attends Thai church now and told her family she'd left Buddhism, which has no hope of eternal security. These stories keep us encouraged! Pray for my focus to stay strong, day-to-day.

We're moving out of  gray clouds, 90 degree rainy season...which we love...and toward "winter" cooler 85 degree season...brrrrr...Hahahahaha.

Watching our 6th banana clump ripen in the back yard, saying goodby to a few friends moving or on furlough, meeting new prayer partners, getting excited to visit the "Bridge Over the River Quai" near end of Oct.

So it's never dull, though sometimes feels very far from our western home and family. Pray for us to "feel comfort" in the peace only our Father gives, when we are lonely or discouraged. Pray we "know" His wind lifts our wings.

And know, we read your notes and pray for you!

Gary & Penny

GPlent@gmail.com

New Year, New VISA

Dear Family & Friends,

After three US Consulate appointments and five at Immigration, we now have new visas for a year! It was interesting & bit confusing, but PRAISE God we’re done. PRAY for other missionaries around the world who have these challenges yearly!

Our Chiang Mai Community Church meets in the Campus Crusade building, who recently hosted 60 Korean visitors for a Korean evangelism night. Far beyond expectation, 400 university students from many campuses attended. And 87 people accepted Jesus! Please PRAY for them and for discipleship.

God has done great things. PRAY for two young ladies Sawitree and Ga, recent Thai college graduates who helped. They feel led to serve people in China, preparing to leave in March and are so excited. 

PRAY too for Grace International School (GIS) families doing Bible translation and church planting here. We know God will continue great things through them. Can you read these sentences?

KOREAN?:全球6837種語言中，有聖經的約2700種。大約4.8億人可找到其第一語言的整本聖經

SPANISH?: Las Escrituras existen en casi 2700 de los 6837 idiomas que actualmente se sabe

Can you understand the same words in your Mother Tongue/your Heart Language?:

“Scripture exists in almost 2700 of 6837 known languages in use. At least 4.8 billion people have 471 mother-tongue Bibles.” Another 595 million people have New Testaments in 1223 heart languages. Scripture “portions” are in 1002 tongues. But about 350 million speakers of 2040 languages have nothing! People know God deeply with Bibles they understand! PRAY for people working here.

Recent NEWS: 100 organizations from 60 nations formed “Wycliffe Global Alliance.? Assisting “Faith Comes by Hearing,” Wycliffe helped complete 247 “audio” New Testaments. Our partner “JAARS” dubbed the “JESUS” film into 145 languages, the Luke video in 248 languages and a Genesis video into 86 languages. Other teams produced 1100 more “JESUS” films and printed thousands of literacy resources.

Since 1999 more than 250 New Testaments were published. Plus, translation began in about 700 more languages. By Sept. 2011, alliance partners were involved in 1476 projects, and non-alliance teams are working on 500 more languages. That’s LOTS of numbers! PRAY for these. Pray for teachers for their children’s education. PRAY for Gary as he helps administrate our school. PRAY for Penny as she helps write & edit project updates. PRAISE God we can support linguist’s families by serving students.

How many Bibles are in our homes? For 350 million people — speaking 2040 languages — there is NONE of God’s Word to guide them.                                                          Please “Pray or Give or Go!”

In Grace, at Grace!  Gary & Penny Lent

Mail (2 stamps/2 weeks): c/o Grace International School, P.O. Box 32, Nong Khwai, Hang Dong, Chiang Mai 50230 Thailand

Happy Thanksgiving 2011!

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

September 2011 Thai Hi!

 Gary & Penny Lent, with Wycliffe Associates,
in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Serving Grace International School (GIS)
& The Seed Company

Representing Edgewood Bible Church, WA, USA – Sept. 2011

We enjoyed three dry weeks traveling & at eldest son Jody’s wedding with Rachel in Cleveland, then a fruitful (tiring) month of maintenance in our WA home.

      Now in the fifth week of school, we love gray clouds and nightly roof music of rainy season. (Penny, especially!) Water fills the canals, and farmers flood rice fields to plant. Temperatures hover at a humid 84 daily. J We’re at home, serving here in Chiang Mai. Gary’s addressed many needs, as operations director. Penny wrote three web stories w/photos & a student’s editing worksheet & checklist.  (Web stories @ http://www.gisthailand.org/)
       Since our return, I’ve edited 16 new translation project profiles for Wycliffe partner "The Seed Company," so work is normal.  We’re excited GIS has a record enrollment, with 557 students and 81 homeschooled. Parents of these 350 families work with 21 organizations, in about 15 nearby countries. tudents get a first-class education, so those parents can evangelize, plant churches, train and translate Scripture.

        Great news: Our house helper is more interested to become a Christian! She has no friends who attend church, but we helped her join a weekly neighborhood Bible study. Now she has a place to safely learn of our inheritance in Christ. After almost two years, she’s our friend, and we want her in eternity, with in a language we both understand — though I’m really good at pantomime! Pray for the difficult choice for Thai people to reject centuries of their families’ belief in Buddhism, especially city dwellers.

       Yet while we pray for Scriptures to reach the minds of others, we practice God’s forgiveness ourselves. For example: I urgently stated an idea to a co-worker, not anticipating it was received as a “demand” in this culture, creating friction. My heart twisted in knots of rejection over the misunderstanding, and I didn’t want to face them. My thoughts heaved on waves of emotion: Should I ignore them? Get mad? But I searched Scriptures:

“Judge yourself first,” (Matthew 7, Hebrews 12, 1 Corinthians 11). “Stop thinking fearfully,” (2 Timothy 1, 1 John 4). “Forgive, in obedience,” (Ephesians 4, Colossians 3). “Stop thinking about yourself,” (Luke 9, Romans 14). “Throw away anger,” (Galatians 5, James 1).

When my emotions cooled, I thought: Where is hope without “the Word of God, which is alive and powerful…”?  If my feelings rise and fall at a rollercoaster pace, how do people survive without Scripture?

Weeks clicked by as I struggled, knowing truth, but unable to maintain right thoughts, still wondering: How can people ever move from anger and revenge to love — without a Bible as a guide?

Before our next meeting, I prayed for wisdom for the 100^th time, but I sensed a question: “How does my Savior receive me, when I fail? When I avoid truth, get angry — or speak too strongly?”

The answer too was instant: “He receives me with open arms, always!”  

So I decided to forgive — because I am forgiven! Surprisingly, we all greeted with accepting hugs. And I understood, as John 15 and Ephesians 3:20 promise:
I can give them Jesus’ love, when I cannot find my own.

S

Praise God Gary and I are healthy and challenged by our work

Thank God that with care, my rotator cuff injury healed in three days!

Pray for Penny’s brain to absorb well in Thai language class twice a week

Pray for Gary’s brain to understand what Penny tries to teach him

Continue praying for our kidnapped translator’s safety and release (no news)

Pray for us to continue understanding being forgiven and to forgive

Thank you for praying for our lives and work & for emails & Facebook posts

 

Email, home:  GPLent@gmail.com

Home Vonage, same #:  253-848-1116, (takes messages)

Snail-mail @ school:  P.O. Box 32

T. Nong Khwai, A. Hang Dong, Chiang Mai 50230   Thailand

Web stories: www.GISthailand.org

Bible Translation Transforms Lives

October 2010—Bible Translation Results—

Why do we love working at Grace International School? Besides being a support to staff from 26 countries, and parents who work out of the Chiang Mai "hub" into 17 nearby countries, this Wycliffe story shows it all:

Imagine boarding a plane in Dallas, traveling four days on 15 flights far into SE Asia. Journey into lush mountains by truck, on a deeply rutted, muddy, slippery road with landslides. Eventually find a small Yawa-language village nestled in a valley.


Meet with church leaders; ask if anyone preaches from Yawa Scripture “portions,” over the past 20 years. “Elder Sefnat does all the time,” they’ll say. Sefnat shows you two small, worn books—translations of John, Acts and nine Epistles. His dated sermon notes and un-published handwritten verses are guarded inside.

Stop at a thatched-roof home; ask if anyone reads from Yawa Scriptures. Everyone will point to bearded, old Grandfather Bertasar. “He read to us this morning,” they say. “He told us how to apply it to our lives, too.”

Walk to this remote village church—without electricity or phones—find Andowa reading from a solar-powered laptop. A dozen people cluster closely around, listening to a new passage in Yawa. These volunteer reviewers enthusiastically discuss it, to improve awkward/unclear sentences; he revises. Then, with special software, he logs onto the internet to send and “syncs” his draft.

Halfway around the world in Arlington, Texas, Wycliffe translator Linda Jones will awake tomorrow, sync her computer and read Andowa’s revised draft. She’ll verify the meaning isn’t altered and send suggestions.

This is how final Yawa New Testament revisions occur, because of a new geo-stationary satellite, circling the equator since early 2009. Two weeks later, IT specialists from Wycliffe’s The Seed Company brought the laptop and small satellite device to the village, showed Andowa how to connect and use OurWord software for translators, created by Wycliffe’s John Wimbish.

Andowa and Linda have worked together 17 years. But when she and husband Larry moved away to lead more translations, Scripture drafts travelled by mail and hand-carry packets. Even with infrequent visits, God always helped them progress. But for final revisions, they felt blocked.

“We didn’t see how to finish without greater community involvement,” Linda said. “It looked impossible. I couldn’t stay long, and they couldn’t come here.” Then came the satellite—with IT specialists—to set it up! A few maintenance problems with equipment and satellite connection were repaired by IT remotely. One faulty part was hand-carried out and repaired, leading to 10 weeks without communication.

But soon, their New Testament will be printed, as Yawa people prepare for a June 2011 dedication! Elder Sefnat, Grandfather Bertasar, and translator Andowa are waiting, with dozens of reviewers and relatives. God’s Word is reaching yet another people-group—isolated, but not forgotten by the Creator who loves them all. He has conquered space and distance to have it done.

Warmly, President Bob Creson of Wycliffe USA

Thai English Camp-VBS

God is so GOOD song

Finished two fun & exhausting 8-10 hour days of Bible songs, devotions and English lessons with about 80 Thai kids! But the BEST part is, some wanted Thai Bibles and about HALF of them signed cards for more info. on accepting Jesus!!! Follow-up will begin in school Bible clubs, where they'll hear more truth. CEF here, without the name!

Registration

Centipede race against GIS teens!

Break-time

Beginning Readers

LUNCH!

Letter sounds...

The Truth about Heaven

Word BINGO

Word Grids

Thai Quiz #1

        We have fun finding "interesting" items, taking their photo and posting on Facebook. Then we ask people to identify them. This photo was our June Quiz.
        What is it? And what is it made of?
        Good guesses included a smoker, a steamer, a pot. Made of leather, clay, wood. But a few people obviously looked closely and discovered IT is made of recycled TIRES. Neil B. won that round.
      
        However, no one guessed the USE. You'll see from the next photo the tub is removeable from the base, and as Gary illustrates...it's our GARBAGE can.
       
One man throws it to the top of the truck. Another dumps it, then throws it to the ground. And you should see it BOUNCE! Lively entertainment :O

Burma Visa Run

We spent nine hours on the road recently, to and from Burma to get our 90-day Visa stamp to remain in Thailand. Plus two-hours shopping! It was a beautiful drive north, through rice fields and greet mountains against a gorgeous blue sky with white billowy clouds! Only on the trip home did we hit a rainstorm for about 30 minutes.

Finally at the border, we had rice and chicken in Mae Sai, a border town, before taking a 15-minute songtow (two-bench covered, open small truck-taxi) ride to Burmese Immigration.

After a 500 baht fee each ($15) and forfeiting our Passports into their keeping during our duration there, we crossed a bridge over a river and entered Burma. Immediately there is a large tourist market/bizarre, with mostly imported goods from China, but also local items like fabrics and fruits.

We had about two hours to look around, before getting in line to fill-out immigration forms to
re-enter Thailand, retrieve our Passports, hire a songtow, treck back to the bus station and not get left at the northern border.

It was an interesting an very long day, but we also had time to visit more with Freddie, Don and Sandra, who went with us from Grace International School also.  http://www.gisthailand.org/

We always find that people are the same the world over, in that a smile, a nod, a kind word in their language is 99% of the time warmly received. 

And we'd hoped to buy gigantic Chinese avocados, but we found they weren't in season. Ohhh the sadness. Have to get home-grown :)

Weather is a bit cooler here now. It’s trying to squeeze out rain, which is about a month or more late. Rice farmers are in drought and anxious. It actually got down to 83 degrees a few nights ago, and hovers around 96-99 daytime. Amazing how the body gets "used" to it, whether we prefer it or not. So a few of us went to a Saturday "Thai Cooking" school. Made about seven dishes from scratch, ate half of them, took home doggie-bags and a cookbook!


School closed a week ago. Many people left for their home passport country (as we call them). I work at a desk beside a white South African, a Thai born Chinese, a Korean pastor's wife, a Californian :), soon perhaps a Brit and a Mauritian Islander. Talk about multi-cultural!

Sometimes we have a good laugh over language. E.G. a biscuit to me is a cookie to my South African friend. And Thais learned desserts from expats like me, and they don't often like it too sweet, preferring fruit. In fact, my Chinese-Thai co-worker totally dislikes chocolate! How UN-natural!

Two fun books ya'll might like to look for, which give insights to another (this) culture:
1. Letters from Thailand, by Botun, historical fiction letters from a Thai immigrant to his Chinese mother, on the new culture and life's changes in the mid-20th Century. Fascinating.

2. Mai Pen Rai, by Carol Hollinger, a hilarious journal of an American consultant's wife and children during their first year in Thailand in the 60s? Insightful, funny, poignant. MUCH crazier than me!

Pray for Gary and me as we take on new responsibilities and reconsider our time-frame. In addition to web writer for our three sites, I'm Interim Recruit Coordinator, pending a permanent replacement. At church I'm now SS teacher/helper Coordinator and 4-6 grade summer teacher. Gary will work with sound & A/V at church and is helping install a "virtual" VM Ware server at the school and prepare for summer upgrades to Windows 7.

If you haven't yet read a few Grace International School stories w/photos, visit: http://www.gisthailand.org/ Good, short pieces! :) Penny

IT Team Gears Up for Summer

Gary and the computer team spent a day moving servers and racks around, for easier access. Aniroot, Den, Gary and Neung paused from their intense work here. 

Spring trees are blooming, some of which aren't out at other times. We parked beside this one in the school lot, with our nice little '96 Honda.

Temperatures have indeed been in the low 100s daily, over the past two weeks. But we thank God he gave people the brains to invent fans and A/C!  And throught it all, we're fine and busy with projects at work and things around the house on weekends.

CHILI CRAB

Since we were required to leave Thailand to have our 90-day Visa renewed, we decided to visit a new city a few days. And the timing was perfect for Grace International School's Spring break. So we stayed with a family in Singapore, the son of friends at our home church in WA.

It was interesting to be in a new culture, mostly Chinese, yet to hear English as the national language, which is more rare in Thailand. People were friendly and helpful; we shared an entire, messy, world-famous, spicey CHILI CRAB. YUM. And the variety of old and new architecture was AMAZING!

No two buidlings in Singapore were alike, except the old, old ones. This reminded me of Rob's time as an exchange student in Shanghai seven years ago. He learned of their law that not two buildings were allowed to be designed alike. A fun week, and we're legally stamped for another 90-days in Chiang Mai.

Beautiful, HOT Singapore

     Here is Gary examining a beautiful tree display at the airport. People living here have a saying about the weather, "We have four seasons in Singapore: Hot, hotter, dry and wet."
     And though 80% are of at least partial Chinese ancestry, many people are also from Indonesia, Malaysia, India and Burma. They are friendly, polite and most speak English, as the national language, along with their home country tongue and often a regional or village dialect too.
     Nearly 5-million people live on this island country, which is about 20 miles long and 10 miles wide (though they measure it in metric kilometers), with a wide, colorful variety of orchids everywhere. This garden and Koi pond greeted us at the airport.

     We were awestruck at the amazing and varied architecture, ranging from 19th century British colonial styles to modern structures that are art in themselves. Even miles and miles of subsidized public housing is harmoniously decked in layers of monochromatic colors, with green parks and shopping centers as hubs.

     And after 5-months of packing/prep. and three months of serving in Thailand, it was nice vacation period, since we were required to leave the country (every 90 days) to have our Visa stamped.

Kluay, Kluay, Kluay!

Bananas aren't really coming out our ears, and we do love the little buggers. But we haven't even begun to taste all the varieties.

My niece Julianna tells me her Internet research shows the world has 500 varieties, and we haven't tasted THAT many yet.

My Internet research shows there are purple and red bananas--skins at least. But I haven't found them here yet, so don't know if the flesh inside is colored.

And a Thai friend at school tells me the type protruding from my head is not the smallest. The littlest are about the size of your pinkie and are, in fact, called "Lady Fingers." I have seen those, but not tasted. Fewer are grown, so they are more rare.

Gary's Banana Harvest

For weeks we had been watching the big "kruah" or "bunch" of bananas hanging green and heavy on one of our banana trees.

"When the first tips turn yellow, cut it down," one of Gary's co-workers said.

Get 12-feet up there, how?  And cut it down with what? we thought.

So one evening, after a friend excitedly pointed to tips of yellow, Gary enlisted the expertise, help and ladder of our next door neighbor Noom. Then with the aide of my trusty kitchen cleaver, with one "WHACK," down it came--about 20 pounds of "kluay," or bananas.

And since they ripen quickly, Noom explained to cut the "wiis," or hand clumps of 10-12, off the stock and distribute to friends immediately!  His family enjoyed two "wiis" for his services.

We also washed them in soapy water, to eliminate random ants, then enjoyed each individual banana or "luuk," as the days passed.

And since a tree only produces fruit once, the men handsomely chopped it into carriable lengths and deposited them in the trash, so the "babies" or suckers around it could grow.

Happy Harvest!

BEE ATTACK!

Thais make LOTS of honey here, as we found out, discovering this mama bee outside a honey farm.

Then friend asked, "How big are the FLOWERS?"

"What flowers? The bee squished them all!" I replied.

Such silliness. But about once a week we enjoy "trying to get lost," as our sons would say, by driving around after work or on the weekend and simply "discovering" the area. 

Work Hard. Play Hard. And stay away from BEES!

Teens Host Toy Story Carnival

Grace International School's senior class doesn't usually dress as Buzz Lightyear, Andy the cowboy, a barrel of monkeys, Viewfinder & other "Toy Story" characters. But this past Saturday night they hosted a carnival to raise funds for their senior trip.

So Gary and I and about 600 parents, kids and community members enjoyed hamburgers, hotdogs, games and blow-up toys.

Then after the sun set at about 6:30 p.m., everyone settled on lawn chairs or on the grass for the movie, projected onto a two-story high fabric screen--fun for ALL ages!

Officially THAI drivers!

      After three weeks on the road we decided to get Thai licenses.  On Jan. 28 we spent four hours getting "residency" paperwork, health checks, color-blindness & reflex exams.  Then we paid our 805 bahts ($24.15) at various counters and got the most beautiful, reflective, holographic license you ever saw.
      And though we could have used our international (beige paper) licenses the entire time, the official Thai ones are much more gorgeous!  So we continue to sit behind a "right-hand" steering wheel and drive on the LEFT, with scooters zipping in ALL directions.

      And we seldom turn right into on-coming traffic anymore! Plus, we're told we get discounts at the zoo and many other places! It's so nice to be officially Thai drivers (though Penny still gets lost)!

Two weeks...

From Gary: Today marks 2 weeks in country and we have adjusted quickly and well. We are considering taking some Thai lessons in speech and culture…the other evening I was in a grocery store and subconsciously noticed that everyone was standing still…like in something out of the twilight zone. I finally stopped walking and listened to the last five seconds of the national anthem, something Thai’s do at 6 pm each evening. Oops. I won't do that again.

Actually, within a couple days I adapted to left-side driving – amazing myself. It is shifting with the left hand that sometimes gets me, and looking up to the left to find the rear view mirror. There is almost no honking… everyone flows like water down the stream sharing whatever path is available, regardless of lines. (Not anywhere as crazy as Cameroon.) All major roads have good medians and signal lights with flowers galore! Of course, Penny is reminding me ‘left, left, stay on the left’ … and here I thought I was more of a Republican!

Grace International School is amazing (GISthailand.org). The motivated staff and many quality programs are a tremendous asset to the many mission parents located here. My work in the computer department supports more computers than I can count, and I enjoy the Thai staff members I serve with. South of Chiang Mai there was a major fiber optic cut in the Internet circuit, but as with any computer department, the first thing you think is that your own network just crashed. And, being alone that afternoon, I got to learn our internal network with firewalls, content filters, backup connections, etc… real quick.

While we had planned to be over the Pacific Ocean heading to Southeast Asia on New Year’s Eve, Gary’s lower back had other plans and laid him low, low enough to postpone plane flights. As it turns out, the travel delay was much needed for rest, so we now fly out January 9th, the earliest ‘next flight’ with openings.

This means it is beginning to get rather warm in Chiang Mai, with the effects of humidity, upwards of 100º. This is a bit different than the freezing temperatures this past month in Edgewood.

But the enforced break is also giving us a full week of nice weather in Orange, CA while staying with relatives.

As we prepared our house in Washington State for renters during our absence one of our elderly cats said "I need a bigger box," thinking he was going with us.  It has been a challenging five months of sorting and purging many years of our possessions, along with son's and deceased parent's belongings. Several other folks who have gone to the field have commiserated and understood the effort, one couple advising us to be ruthless in the parting with things. Another said it took them two years.

During the process of going through items used during the raising a family, one of the neatest things re-discovered was a picture taken at Long Beach, when our sons were MUCH shorter. After home for the Christmas holiday, they head back to college as we fly east.

Grace International School in Thailand serves 500 children, K-12. We have accepted their request to apply and volunteer for one year beginning in January 2010. Gary’s full-time job will be in computer networking, and Penny will write, edit and be a guest teacher.

From their website, GISthailand.org: GIS supports quality educational opportunities for Christian families and their children serving overseas. Investing in the lives of these families and children is a way to have a significant and lasting impact in hundreds -- even thousands -- of lives. Not only for those children, but also for countless people groups being touched by their parents!

Our sending organization is our home church, EdgewoodBibleChurch.org.