Blog

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 […]

“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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

  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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Often, we find that people are wondering how they can be involved in mission. Probably one of the most important ways is in prayer. In addition to prayer, coming on a short-term trip is a good experience. By being involved in a short-term team, people find that they can taste a little bit of what […]

Last year, we had an outing to the nearby mountains with some of our Thai friends.  As we walked along through the forest, they continued to point to the many species of plants and flora that were edible.  It seemed to me as if nearly everything around us could have been eaten.  This is not […]

I was teaching a Bible class in the evenings in Phuket, South Thailand. I had extra time during the day and so would frequent a Roti shop run by a young Muslim man. This man impressed me because he had a large Koran set out prominently on the table. I told him I enjoyed telling […]

The past month has seen unusually heavy rains across South Thailand resulting in flooding across vast areas of the South of Thailand. One of the areas that flooded was the area we live in, including our home. The road in front of home turned into a fast flowing river and we had water over half […]

Mother Khong saw another turtle along the road. She wanted to pick it up, but she hesitated. She did not have to bring the turtle back to the turtle temple. A few months ago, she would have brought back lost turtles to the temple. In this temple, a turtle with a god inside is honored […]

I began sprinting toward the sky train, even as I realized it was a hopeless cause. Once those doors start sliding closed, they don’t open again until the next stop. To my astonishment, the doors stopped at mid-point and began re-opening, just as I reached the front car of the train. I sprang into the […]

For over 40 years Dr. Henry Breidenthal (52 years with OMF) has gone to a public park on Sunday afternoons to hand out gospel tracts. I had the privilege of watching Henry in this ministry at the Lumpini Park in Bangkok thirty years ago when I was a new faculty member of the Bible school […]

I have served in Thailand as a missionary for about ten years, of which the last four have been spent in Bangkok, teaching church history and missions at a seminary, assisting a Thai Christian book publisher, and helping lead a new church plant. Before that I was involved in small town church planting and evangelism […]

In February, we bought our banana tree. “When will it have bananas?” I asked the shop owner. “After about a year and a half;” she answered. At that point, I was noticing that it only had three leaves; with one of them turning brown already. Ewoud planted the tree in our garden and at first […]