Life Lately

Thailand was a good time for rest, orientation, and talking with friends and family. Still, we missed our home here in country and were more than ready to get back. Leah and I both received our 70 day business visas with no problems which is a huge blessing.

We got back in country on Tuesday night and had a busy day of teaching the next day. We teach at a school for the Good Book called AMBC each Wednesday. Leah teaches the advanced English class and I teach the beginners. Afterwards our supervisor teaches a class about how to plant fellowship groups. AMBC is a wonderful place that I have come to love very much. This is the school that Eldon* started and runs. Our friend Erin,* Eldon’s sister, is a student in Leah’s advanced English class there as well. There are roughly 40 students ages 16-33, who are like-minded brothers and sisters. Some grew up in believing families and others just recently have joined the Father’s family- regardless of background they are eager to learn more about the Good Book and how to share the Good News with those who have not heard. AMBC is filled with joy and deep faith, its students are an incredible encouragement to us both. Please lift up this place and its students. Ask the Father to continue to provide for the school and that the students will continue to learn and grow while there.

The AMBC Students!

Erin and I

We continue to study language and are becoming better friends with our language teachers. On Tuesdays, our teacher is Sue.* Sue is a beautiful local and great teacher. She has a real heart to help people learn her language. Sue is a devout believer of the main religion here. She has heard but is resistant to the Good News. Recently, her mother passed away and both Sue and her father have been experiencing trouble sleeping. Would you talk to the Father about Sue and her family? Ask for comfort, peace, seeking minds, and open hearts. Also lift up the time that Leah and I have with her- that it would be fruitful with opportunities to continue sharing with her. On Thursdays, our teacher is Daisy.* She is a like-minded local. Daisy is very funny and has been a good cultural informant for us. We hope to be an encouragement to her and would ask that you also lift up our time with her.

This past Monday, we began teaching another English class. This one is for the business where Leah volunteers as an English consultant. The students are all interested in becoming workers in the tourist industry as receptionists, tour guides, waiters, and chefs. We have around ten students and all but one are part of the Family. They have already taken us out for a day of sightseeing around our city. I am excited for the friends we hope they will become. This leads me to an area of ministry that we are really seeking the Father’s guidance in at this time. Leah and I are being led to start a small group that will meet once a week here in our city. We are hoping that many of the young people we have already met will be interested in being a part of whatever we start. We only have the time to commit to one group and so want to be very intentional with where, when, who, and how. Will you ask the Father to guide us and give us His vision for this work?

Another friend we met this week is a young woman named Pam.* She is absolutely incredible and has a wonderful story. Pam is from the northern part of our country but felt the Father leading her to do ministry near our city where many have not heard the Truth yet. She moved by herself to a new area, built a house, and has been sharing with those she lives near. Now each week a group meets in her home to fellowship. She and the others who are like-minded have faced much persecution but they continue to be faithful. Throughout our time here we will travel to her area to share with the people there and put on some English camps where our lessons will be based on stories from the Good Book. Please lift her, her ministry, and fellowship group up.

One last friend I want to tell you about is another young woman named Fran.* I met her in the oddest way and it is clear to me that the Father placed her in my path for  a reason. A few weeks ago I ventured downtown alone to pick up Leah’s camera. It had been damaged and she had taken it to a shop to get repaired. We needed to pick it up that day but she was sick and could not go, so I went out for my first solo adventure. Downtown is quite far from our house and I was going to a place I had never been before. It was quite the adventure and I really enjoyed it but the whole trip ended up taking 6 hours, 5 buses and a taxi to complete. Needless to say I was pretty tuckered out by the time I was almost home. This is where Fran comes in. I was on the last bus I took and incredibly out of it when a young woman came and sat down next to me. I said hello and asked a question in Burmese, to my astonishment she responded in English! It was a glorious sound to me at that point. We began to talk and ended up exchanging phone numbers- something I had never done on a bus with a stranger before. Since then we have gotten together twice. The first time we spent a whole afternoon together. Our conversations are good for her to practice her English and for us to practice our Burmese. Fran is Chinese but her family has lived in our country for generations. She speaks 3 languages fluently and 2 fairly well! We have found out that she has heard parts of the Good News but not all of it. She remains lost. Our hope is that we can continue meeting with her and sharing the Truth. Please be lifting Fran and our time with her up.

Fran, Leah, and I

Cultural Corner: Another fun difference between our country and America lies in the world of fashion. Here women rarely wear short skirts or shorts. Instead, most women wear long skirts called longyis (pronounced lone-gee). Longyis come in a million different prints and colors. Each people group has their own traditional woven patterns that are often used for the longyi fabric. Often times they have matching three quarters length sleeve shirts on top or a simple T-shirt. The skirts can get hot but they are really beautiful and I quite enjoy wearing them.

The fun thing about longyis is that they aren’t just for girls. That’s right folks- the men wear them too. I’ll be honest that it took some getting used to to see over half of the men on the street in what look like skirts to us. The men’s longyis are not as bright and colorful. They are usually plaid and in more muted tones. Another difference is in the way they are tied. The girls wrap theirs and the men tie theirs in this weird folded knot thing. If they are playing sports or doing another activity where a longyi might get in the way the men simply fold them and tie them up into a sort of loin-cloth/shorts version of the longyi. This style is not acceptable for women, however. On the top a white tank-top, button up shirt, or t-shirt are all common pairings.

An example of the men in longyis

For everyone the shoe of choice is flip-flops. Umbrellas are a must have accessory year round- if not for the rain, then for protection from the hot sun. Bags are also acceptable for both men and women to carry. Though usually the men carry more masculine over the shoulder or messenger type bags. Thin gold bracelets, rings, or earrings are common and the girls often pull their hair up in pretty bun nets or twist it around large colored combs. Their style may be different from ours but it is often quite pretty. It has been a lot of fun learning new styles from the people here.

In Conclusion:

We have now been in country a month and a half. It is crazy to think about how much this place already feels comfortable and even normal. Things that I saw 4 weeks ago and ogled at don’t even phase me any more. It is a good feeling. The Father has been incredibly faithful through this time. Doors have been open, people clearly placed in our path, and His presence felt. Join me in giving thanks to Him for each of these blessings. Please continue to talk to the Father about us and the work we are doing here. You are each appreciated greatly!

Well that was quick... A synopsis of our first month

Whew! After the difficult first few weeks and subsequent spiritual victory the second half of the first month flew by! The semblance of a routine is beginning to be formed and we are settling into life here. I am happy to report that we can now get mostly anywhere in the city that we could ever want or need to go to by taxi and usually by bus or line car as well. Our conversations with people have grown from roughly 10 seconds (“Hi, how are you?”) to over ten minutes long, assuming they have lots of family to talk about. This is not to brag- we have so, so far to go- but I am learning to appreciate each victory, no matter how small. So please celebrate and thank the Father with me for these victories!

Culture Corner: I will share some cultural tidbits or funny anecdotes every so often that will give you an idea of living here in SEA. Let me take a moment to share about the transportation in the city as it is amusing and very different from even large cities in the USA. To start with there are seemingly few followed or enforced traffic laws, except perhaps that buses can do what they want and that a hand stuck out in a wave removes the rudeness from any following action.  Leah and I’s main modes of transportation are taxis, buses and line cars, trishaws, and of course walking. Taxis are not too expensive usually $4-8 and a great time for us to practice our language. Depending on the time of day they are also the fastest way for us to go longer distances.

Buses and line cars are my personal favorite and very cheap (10-20 cents!). The buses here are usually cast-offs from surrounding countries and whatever is necessary to keep them running is acceptable to all parties. They usually feature a large bouquet of green leaves strapped to the front on the outside and at least one picture of Buddha at the front on the inside- both practices are thought to bring good luck. There are no posted routes or pamphlets that tell you which bus to take where. Instead, a man called a spare leans out the side of the bus as it pulls to a stop and yells out in a long (and very confusing for foreigners) string of destinations. If you, by some miracle, happen to hear where you ware wanting to go you can hop aboard or if like us, you often can’t decipher a word they say, you can walk up to the spare and while shrugging your shoulders say in a questioning manner the name of the place you would like to go. The spare will then respond by nodding and pushing you onto the bus or will shake his head and perhaps helpfully spout out a number for the proper bus. The numbers on the buses are the one saving grace, as once you have figured out which numbers go where, you have at least a mental bus route map. Once on the proper bus, another man who is in charge of taking the money will track you down wherever you are sitting or standing to collect your fare. You then must pay a lot of attention to where you are so that you don’t miss the correct stop, which of course is never announced. Depending on the time of day buses will be practically empty or stuffed to the brim. If someone has room to breathe and exist then they will fit on the bus- this is the unspoken rule. It does not matter if you are leaning over 3 people and a baby to hold onto a hand ring or rail- you will fit. It also does not matter if you are immobile and touching six others of any age or gender- you will fit. Line cars are exactly the same, however, with just one worker. Also instead of the typical bus they are trucks with covered beds and benches lining the sides. These can hold over 35 people at one time (I know because I once counted) and the space rules apply in a similar fashion. Though line cars are usually preferable as they are usually cheaper and cooler given their more open-air nature. Depending on your feelings about personal space this mode of transportation may sound very fun or horrific. I fall into the very fun category and luckily so does Leah. It may sound crazy but we both really love the buses and line cars and are glad they are around.

The final fun mode of transportation is called a trishaw and they seem to be Leah’s favorite. A trishaw is a bicycle with a cart attached that can hold 1-5 people depending on size and your willingness to squeeze. They are powered by a man who peddles you to your destination, weaving in and out of traffic, often causing the rider, at least if its me, a minor heart attack. They are only used for shorter distances and are relatively cheap when you think about the work the poor fellow driving must do. Leah finds them very fun and I would too, I think, if I fit in them better. Unfortunately, I seem to have hips that are too wide to fit comfortably in the seats. This usually leaves me wedged in at a weird angle wincing in pain at every bump. There must be some trick as I have seen people larger than me ride them and have a seemingly grand old time. Perhaps by the time we leave I will have mastered riding a trishaw, until then they remain a fun but slightly painful way to get around.

Let’s get down to business: All funny transportation realities aside, I can assure you that it’s not all funny business here. We teach at a school for the Good Book each Wednesday, go to language class Tuesday and Thursday, and Erin* comes over once or twice a week to do extra language tutoring. We also visit our local markets frequently to buy food and build relationships with the shop owners. A few weeks ago we bought a bike and the family that sold it to us are becoming our friends. Anytime we go to the market we make sure to walk to their bike shop and say hello. One of the brothers speaks some English, which has allowed us to develop the relationship further than most. In addition to the bike store family we have a few friends at various eateries and our favorite fruit stand as well.  We are both looking forward to a time when our language is good enough to verbally share the Good News with them all.

This past weekend we had the opportunity, along with our supervisors, their girls, Eldon, Erin, and a new friend named Denise, to go in the northeastern part of the country. The area features beautiful mountains and a large lake. We were there visiting a fellow worker who manages a water filtration business there. The company has a farm and a factory in separate villages. The large farm acts as a model farm for locals who can come and see what all the workers have growing and get ideas for their own farms. Some other projects the company is involved in include raising, selling, and setting up sustainable rabbit breeding programs in surrounding villages. The rabbits provide a sustainable and reasonable sized amount of meet for a single family- helping add needed protein to the diet of those living in homes where no refrigeration is available. The company runs a similar program for stink-free pigs. I can attest to the fact that these pigs really don’t stink (it has to do with the way their pens are build and padded). Additionally they grow, dry, and encapsulate a leaf called moringa that contains loads of vitamins, minerals, protein, and calcium. This is given and sold to villagers who lack needed nutritional value in their diets. The company also makes a soap that treats lice and scabies. The crux of the business, however are the water filters that they produce and sell from their factory. The water filters are special made with sustainable elements and filter out everything from impurities to bacteria. Each filter costs about $12 and can last anywhere from 1-5 years depending on the quality of water it is filtering. I’m telling you folks the more I learned about the company the more I was amazed at everything they do. Please ask me about it sometime as I would love to share much more.

The trip allowed us the opportunity to tour the company, attend fellowship on the lake, and encourage a group of women from two of the smaller ethnic groups that live there. We did a craft, sang songs, ate together, and studied some women of the Good Book. It was an encouragement and joy to teach these women. I chose to talk about two women we all relate to in some way, our sisters Mary and Martha. Please lift up the women we met with and the fellowship on the lake as they continue to grow in their relationships to the Father.

It is with the above-mentioned company that I will get to work for the next five months doing some web design and other related projects. I will have the opportunity to travel back there a few more times and hope to have a site up and running by the time I head home in January. This will pair beautifully with my international business major and allow me to help a business that does much for the surrounding communities. Please talk to the Father about this company. Ask that He strengthens its workers and provides success for its programs. Please also lift up my involvement with them and that web design will go smoothly despite a lack of good internet here.

Right now, I am in Thailand on a visa run. This next one will last 70 days which gives us a lot more time to dig in and do work. Coupled with the visa run is an orientation/training for our program. It is a good time for us to rest up, use fast internet, and stock up on some amenities not available in our country. Please continue to lift up this entire journey- from our friends and family back home, to us here, our fellow workers, national friends, and those we are trying to share with. Ask for boldness, courage, and an abundance of opportunities for the Truth to be made known. 

Taking a boat to church!

The scenery at the lake was beautiful.

A typical home for the people on the water.

 

I wanted to make sure I shared a post about some recent events in country. Many of you may have read or seen on the news, a story or stories about bad flooding that has been happening here.

I want to assure you that all is well in the city and area of the country I live in. If any of you have been worried, please know that I am safe. The vast majority of bad flooding happened to the southwest and northwest of us in rural villages. It has been a rough rainy season and we got hit with the leftovers of a few tropical storms that brought some high winds and heavy rain. It is very hard to get accurate information here as the news sources are often not too reliable. A recent estimation is that 80 people have lost their lives and 300,000 misplaced or lost homes from the floods. All over the city groups of people are taking money and clothing donations to send to flood victims and a few NGOs are also working to provide aid. Please lift up the affected areas. Many have lost homes, livelihoods, and family members as a result of the floods. Speaking to the Father on their behalf is the best way for you to help. Ask that the suffering will push them to seek meaning and purpose in life and lift up local believers who have the opportunity to minister to their neighbors- providing support and sharing the truth.

Beginnings: Our First Two Weeks

Minglaba Friends,

Greetings from Southeast Asia (SEA for short)! Our first month in SEA was a whirlwind of activity. So many new people were met and new things learned. I wasn’t just learning about this country, its language and people, about how our new home worked, and how to live daily life here but also about myself, my partner-in-crime Leah, and most importantly about the Father.

I am finally breaking radio silence as it were and will now be posting more frequently. This one is about our first two weeks. Here are a few of our adventures and experiences as well as some things I am being taught.

As I mentioned in my last post we arrived late at night to a house with no power and some fresh fish swimming around in a bucket in our kitchen (note: these are not pet fish but rather for eating). Luckily the power came on just as we were in the middle of our tour so our first night wasn’t too dark. Power outages here are frequent, though they usually don’t last all that long. It can be an inconvenience but is just a part of living here. I find that thus far I don’t mind it too much.  The before mentioned fish belong to the first local person we met here, her name is Ginger*. She lives with us as a house helper and is also a like-minded sister. This has been another adjustment for us here. Ginger helps clean, do dishes, run our water pump, do laundry, and teaches us how to eat all the new and complicated fruit we bring home from the market. I know, I know- we are living like princesses it seems. House helpers are very common for foreign families that live here. We do feel very spoiled but are incredibly grateful for the friend we have found in Ginger. Since it is against the law for us to stay with locals, having Ginger around is serving as our required home stay for our school program. Did I mention she doesn’t speak any English? This is helpful for our language learning but has also led to some interesting pantomiming experiences.

Our next few days were filled with orientation information from our supervisors, visits to a local fellowship, and the famous pagoda that acts as the most holy Buddhist shrine in the whole country. We also had the privilege to eat dinner at the homes of all the fellow workers here in our city. Let me tell you folks- not only are our brothers and sisters who work here some of the most welcoming, faithful, and dedicated people you will ever meet- they are also pretty great cooks. I look forward to working and gaining insight from those who have already spent much time and effort seeking to share with the lost people they have come to love.

An open air market

Our home for 6 months and our new bike!

A large holy sight for the Buddhists in our country

Some of our best friends and partners here in country are Eldon* and Erin*. Eldon runs a college dedicated to teaching its students how to study, teach, and share the Good Book. The school is run from his family’s home here in our city. Erin is his younger sister and a real gem. They both have deep faith that has sustained them through much. Leah and I are teaching English at the school so you will hear much more about these two friends and their students. 

On of the biggest challenges we have faced is language learning. It takes up much of our time and has proven to be a point of frustration at some points. The language we are learning is tonal- meaning that a word or even letter of the alphabet when said at a different pitch or with different emphasis can mean an entirely different thing. For instance, they have a letter that can mean “to dance,” “to cover,” or “car” depending on how you say it. Now that you understand a little more about the language perhaps you will understand also why we must dedicate so much time to learning it. Leah and I go to class twice a week for 2 hours and spend hours outside of class making flashcards, listening to tapes, and getting out and practicing what we have learned. It is a fun and frustrating challenge but well worth it when we can communicate even the smallest bit with our people.

One of the funniest moments from the first two weeks was going bowling with our supervisor’s family for their daughter’s 15^th birthday. Bowling here is…similar to bowling in America but much more…rustic. We drove to this bowling alley down a small road that most American teens would deem “sketchy.” We walked in, got shoes, and went to a lane. We were in luck that the power was on and the computer system actually up and running. However, some of us did realize quickly that we had feet too big for even their largest sized shoes (Asians have small feet to match their small bodies!). I ended up bowling with one foot in a sock so that I could still drag my toe when I bowled and the other bare so that I wouldn’t slip and fall. The balls were new and perfectly round with the normal three holes for your fingers at some point but this condition was no longer the case. The lanes were also new, level, and well waxed perhaps many years ago but alas this too could no longer be said about the lanes. When the automatic pinsetters broke, which was often, they had young people crawling around setting them up and fixing them just like the old days. The whole experience was one for the books, or blog I should say, and loads of fun. I was reminded once again of my great privilege in having experienced so much in such a short amount of time.  

Like my new bowling shoes?

In ending, I must come to a time of confession. The first two weeks here were hard- much harder than I ever imagined they would be. I felt about 3 million different emotions a day, missed home, cried more than once, and definitely thought about throwing in the towel and calling it a day. I don’t say this to gain sympathy or worry. Instead I tell you this to make a point. You see, I had been too blind to see it at first, but so much of what I was struggling with was spiritual warfare. The powers of darkness had my mind in a death grip and the Evil one was raining his fiery darts of doubt and fear down on me. He had convinced me that I could never make it here for six months, that I missed home too much, and that I didn’t love this place and its people as much as I should have. It felt like since I didn't feel instantaneously at home then I never would.  As soon as I became alerted to the problem and asked the Father to protect my mind from all that assailed me, I felt a huge weight lift off my shoulders. The doubts instantly ceased and I began to feel excitement for that that could be done in our short time here. I was amazed and humbled at the Father’s faithfulness to protect me when I called on Him in desperation. He is already opening my eyes to how self-reliant I often am. In my pride and independence I expected to waltz in here, love every bit of it, and take part in some work the Father had for us here. How silly I was! I can now see that if I depend upon anything or anyone but the Father to protect, sustain, or guide me through these next months then the Evil one will be proven right- I won’t make it. However, I have full confidence in the great faithfulness of the Father that I can thrive here in ways I never could on my own.

Thank you for your thoughts, encouragements, and petitions to the Father on my behalf. Sometimes just knowing that all of you at home are lifting up all that is occurring is enough to simultaneously bring me to tears and boost my energy. Please continue to talk to the Father for us. Lift up language learning, protection from the enemy, and always, those here who are lost. 

*Names have been changed for security purposes