Most all of us have been wearing masks for over a year and have heard lots of discussion on the relative benefits of mask-wearing as well as the differences in cloth, paper, N-95 and surgical [...]

In May of 2002 my wife Paula was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma cancer and our family of six had to vacate our large house in Chiang Mai Thailand within only three days and get on a plane for [...]

Our first Christmas in Thailand fell on a Sunday, and it was baptism by fire. “Christmas is a great time for outreach,” our team leaders had told us. But nothing had prepared me for the moment [...]

In Luke 13, Jesus used two contemporary catastrophes (the massacre at the temple mount and fall of the Tower of Siloam where 18 died) to draw attention to man’s need to repent. In other words, [...]

With the outbreak of Covid-19, writers have been revisiting similar pandemics from the past, especially the Spanish flu of 1918-20 which infected 500 million people. Early missionaries to [...]

Three women. A British woman, formerly an architect. Now a church planter in Thailand. Her violin sings. A young Singaporean lady who recently spent 12 months working in after-school programs [...]

There is a small, dime-sized hole just above our kitchen sink. A couple weeks ago, Julie noticed a roach peering out from the hole, and so she grabbed the roach spray and put it to good use. What [...]

A few years ago, a group of women on a short-term mission trip from the states came to a Thai temple and to the horror of their host began to hug some of the child novices! They explained, “We [...]

There are some sights in Thailand I could live without – for example, a red-legged centipede racing across my kitchen floor. (It was months before my toes didn’t curl every time I walked into the [...]

My wife and I were sitting in a Sala (pavilion) at a temple for a funeral.  The younger brother of a good friend, and father of one daughter, was tragically killed in a road accident. While we [...]

There it was, a large white sign with the words “NO FOREIGNERS ALLOWED” painted in a very decisive shade of orange, and beyond it, a view of one of the most beautiful beaches I had ever seen in [...]

A Father to the fatherless In the village where we have our church, the population consists mostly of grandparents and their grandchildren. The parents go to find work in bigger cities. Most of [...]

More than a few mission supporters overestimate the spirituality of the missionaries they support. In the minds of some, missionaries are the super-elite frontline troops in the advance of the [...]

If you ride a motorcycle often, you get used to this question: “Have you ever had to ‘lay it down’”? Invariably the seasoned biker has had at least one occassion where he or she has had to [...]

Yesterday afternoon I wearily set off to visit Yow, a friend of mine who has cancer and has been diagnosed as terminal. She has been in hospital for over a month, she is in a fair amount of pain [...]

You know it’s hot season in Thailand when … 1. You are happy to go to immigration because it means a morning of sitting in air conditioning. 2. An hour after being washed, laundry is dry — [...]

How do you tell the dentist that one of your molars hurts? How do you say you would rather order 1 kilogram of chicken than 2? How do you ask where the bathroom is? These are all relatively [...]

  I sat talking with Auntie Baht, whom our family has known for 6 years now. “Yesterday I saw Teacher Is,” Auntie Baht told me. “She asked how you and the family are doing. I told her how [...]

Lots of people have heard about culture shock.  Its that feeling of disorientation, confusion, or frustration when you are suddenly surrounded by a foreign culture and a foreign language, and are [...]

Our plane hit the tarmac on the first over-90-degree day that Thailand had seen for weeks. What a welcome back, I couldn’t help but think. Good-bye, lovely fall weather of Illinois. Hello, [...]

“You’re about to leave for Thailand again. Are you excited?” asked more than one person as the day for our departure drew near. At first I found myself tongue-tied, stammering out a vague answer, [...]

‘Look who’s there’ our daughter shouts out. Grandfather Ohd and grandmother Dam have come and as always they also brought a snack for the kids. This time some sticky rice and sausages. For the [...]

Throughout the city of Lopburi there are several ancient ruins (all refurbished and maintained). The oldest is called Prang Khaek, see the photo above. It dates from the 11th century (before [...]

  After a day of hard work, we finally were able to pull out two trees besides the church. The church members had been talking about it for a while, but the concrete around the trees [...]

… sometimes I just don’t get it. Some things just remain strange. But what do you want, if you were born on the other side of the world and now only five months are immersed in a completely [...]

This week we are reminded of the all that we don’t like about rainy season in South Thailand, namely mould, endless days of rain and the potential of flooding. This is our second year in South [...]

Two weeks ago I started my early morning exercise routine, which is basically jogging a few laps around our neighbourhood block and getting a good start to the day. I had always wanted to do this [...]

While we were trying to sort out our visa problems in Bangkok earlier this month, I remember going for a walk with C1 and C2 to look for some food for dinner. We came across a lady selling sticky [...]

One strange observation I’ve made during my time in Thailand is the number of missionaries who sport a distinct “tattoo” half way up the calf of their leg. The mystery was solved for me after I [...]

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 [...]