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Why are you here?
It hits me like a wave bearing the force of the ocean behind it. The exhaustion The headache The overwhelming of my brain This is the daily grind of language school. It is a grind that is hard. It is a grind that has its many challenges, yet also has its benefits. I stare at […]
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Still bowing to spirit houses
One day, I was giving some of the new Christians a ride into town in our car. As I drove, I noticed that one of the elderly Christian ladies raised her hands and bowed as we passed a prominent spirit house that was located on the road into town. It had been set up near […]
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Changed by the gospel
After a long and painful battle with Asthma, Taa Soda was finally ushered into heaven. He, his wife and their granddaughter were the only believers in their family. And because all of their children were still not believers, they would often organize big Buddhist gatherings at their house, and we often wondered if they completely […]
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The Speed Limit Monk Statue
Thailand has 68 million people and 35 million cars on the road. Of those vehicles, 76% of them have a Buddhist image sitting on the dashboard for protection. Yet Thailand ranks #2 in the world as far as road fatalities (most for speeding). An enterprising and famous monk called Pra Prayom is promoting a new […]
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Khun’s story
On our recent Adventure camp there was one teenager that was always sitting outside the group and it was a struggle to get him to participate in any of the activities. Sadly towards the end of the camp he was warming up and starting to interact with some of the other campers. Camp was over […]
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Difference
It is the end of the afternoon. The sun goes slowly down and with that the temperature drops down as well. Time for the children to come out of their houses to play outside. Our children are now playing on the streets too. We see Puen, the 13-year-old girl from church, cycling towards our house. […]
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What is the cost?
*PING* It was 6:30am, and I forgot to silence my phone. I didn’t want to look, but curiosity got the better of me. I unlocked the phone and was surprised by what awaited me there. It was a cartoon picture of my friend riding an eagle with an American flag. Underneath this picture was a […]
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Treats and the gospel
Thai people love to eat and have even coined a phrase, “gin prumprua”. It is hard to translate, but basically means that the Thai love to snack throughout the day and center their social interaction around food. I recently read an article entitled, “A Surprising Reason Not to Ban Coffee and Donuts From the Sanctuary”. […]
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Puii’s story
Puii is a 38-year-old lady, who we met through other Christians. She has lived near us for a couple of months. Before that time, she lived in Bangkok. One day, as we talked with her and her husband about starting a cell group, she told us the following story from her life. When Puii was […]
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“Wai” or “Wai” not?
Our house in Phrom Khiri is near the district office, and recently they held an installation service for a new Buddha statue/idol placed in the front (it is the black statue in the photo). Caleb, our oldest son, was out playing soccer with the other Thai kids in the neighborhood that night, and they wandered […]
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A missed opportunity
“I am interested in Jesus. I will become a believer as soon as I am healed.” That was what she said to us the last time we visited her. She and her husband had come to our Sunday services for a couple of months. When we left their house that day, we were obviously disappointed […]
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Two god village
There is a peculiar village outside of Chiang Mai called “House of Two gods”. At first I wondered if there had been some kind of mythical battle in the past between two rival gods … a kind of Buddhist version of the “Battle of the Titans”. But it turns out there is a temple in […]
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A new creation
I have been involved with the process of building the new Lopburi Learning Center for the Thai field over the past two and a half years. In April, three months into the contract it was disappointing to encounter a mistake in the construction of some of the cantilever beams. In order to strengthen the beams, […]
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How much risk is too much? How much risk is too little?
One of the topics that comes up in conversation as we prepare for adventure ministry is “risk”. One of the goals of Adventure Camp is to get the kids to do activities that they perceive as risky. While we always strive to make these activities as safe as possible, we want the campers to feel […]
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At what cost?
During the last month I have had quite deep conversations with 2 different ladies who live in my area. Both of theses ladies are mums to young children and both have been considering working away from home. Maki, the mum of a 2 yr old little girl, shares with me that she is thinking of […]
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Waving hello
Thai culture is unique and wonderful, very different from my own warm South African upbringing. We first noticed this in 2014, when we first arrived in Thailand, and quickly learned about appropriate ways to behave in public using gestures which are considered acceptable and normal. However, after arriving from our first home assignment it felt […]
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Are we lone rangers?
For the past six or so years, adventure camps have been a core part of the OMF South Thailand ministry. My first one was as a short-termer 5 ½ years ago, with Jeff, and another short-termer and 4 or 5 Thai guys. It was exciting to come back as a long-termer last year and see […]
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Blood Sacrifice and Strawberry Fanta
I just read a fascinating article called, “In Thailand, blood sacrifice is out, Strawberry Fanta is in. (https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-04-06/thailand-blood-sacrifice-out-strawberry-fanta) Most all Thai homes have a “spirit house” in which resident ghosts reside in order to protect a person’s property and in exchange for this service are served a variety of fruits, sweet meats, rice, coconuts, but especially […]
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On Being (and Loving) Sojourners and Foreigners
God told the Israelites, “Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt” (Exodus 23:9). In the same spirit, Jesus tells us, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:39). Speaking for Western Christians, I don’t think most of us fully grasp the implications of […]
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Taste and see
The opportunity came out of the blue… Our local community was going to celebrate the “Khaochi- Festival”. For that reason they invited us to join in and produce a Swiss style Khaochi. Khaochi is made with sticky rice, which is the basic food for the Isaan people. The sticky rice is put around a stick, […]
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Neighboorhood connections
In trying to get back into Thai language learning, I sought out the help of Ms. Noy, who is a neighbor of ours and also a former Thailand championship takraw player. Ms. Noy has made her earnings (and even built her house) from prize money received from winning championships. She has traveled to many […]
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Funeral
When we moved to Isaan a few years ago, we had some contacts, who seemed genuinely interested in the gospel. But after some months, most of them were gone. Later, we realized that they were afraid of their community, because there were people who told them that if they became Christians they would not be […]
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7 Dangerous Days and 7 Passionate Days
It seems that every year during the Songkran Festival in Thailand a new record is broken. If it was a new record for the most water throwing revelers in the same place it would be acceptable, but instead it represents the high number of deaths and injuries on the highways and byways of Thailand during […]
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Why we teach English
Recently I started teaching English at our local Anubaan (kindergarten). I volunteer and teach there every Friday for a few hours. Partly, I am doing this because I miss teaching in a classroom setting and it is a lovely feeling to be back in a classroom, this truly is my happy place. But more importantly, […]
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Nampu Fountain ministry
Mrs. Pat nicknamed her new baby boy “First”, although he was her fourth and last child. When she initially discovered that she was pregnant with First, she was not ready to have another child, because of the economic strain on the family. However, a Christian neighbor encouraged her to continue the pregnancy. This neighbor showed […]
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Amazing Thailand
The main motto promoted by the Thai tourism department is “Amazing Thailand”. The year 2016 was indeed amazing for our country, but none so surprising, especially in the area of sports, than the first place finish of Leicester City in the Premier Football League. The previous year Leicester had finished in 14th place and the […]
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Where are you doing mission?
This photo reflects the reality of cross-cultural mission today. Included in this photo are local Christians, a Thai evangelist working with our missionary teams, members of a Korean-American short-term mission team and long-term missionaries. (See if you can pick who is who!) It’s so amazing how God brings people from all over the world to […]
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There’s always something good
The missionary life can be a bit of a rollercoaster at times, of hopeful opportunities followed by disappointments. But God always gives us some kind of encouragement when we need it! Our team was a little disappointed after hope of getting a churchplant off the ground right away seemed premature. But again, God came through […]
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Nothing is left to coincidence in Thailand
Nothing is left to coincidence in Thailand. Today while reading a book I learned that even a house plan in Isaan has a deeper thought behind it. It has to do with auspiciousness. The four wind directions have different meanings in Buddhism. ‘’East is auspicious, represents life, is sacred (the Buddha shelf of the house […]
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Ask, seek and knock
Recently, we were able to host a short-term team of 8 people from our home church back in the U.S. Part of the trip involved having the team help us with a 2-day English Camp at a local school in Phrom Khiri. Since the agreement with the school and the emphasis for the 2 days […]
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