Homebound

We are on our way home now after spending a couple days in Khao Lak. It's very touristy there, and the prices are much higher than in Ranong where we were paying a little more than a dollar a meal. But we managed to enjoy ourselves nonetheless. On Tuesday some of us stayed on the beach at Khao Lak while another group went on a snorkeling tour to the Similan Islands. The tour was well done, and the boat driver entertained us by making quick turns and wide circles in the bay. It took more than an hour to get to the islands. We didn't stop at all nine islands, but we spent more than an hour and a half snorkeling in two locations. The second was the best with beautiful blue-tipped coral, parrot fish and other multi-colored fish. Some of us even saw clown fish and squid. We stopped on an island for lunch. The beaches there were pure white, and the islands had bungalows and tents where people could stay.

The next day some of us went on an elephant tour. They sat two people on each elephant, and we had five females and one male. The male was 48 years old, and the driver said the elephants could live to be 100. The elephants were very laid back and let us pet their thick skin. We were amazed at their eyelashes and the wire-like hair on their massive heads. The little caravan stopped at a waterfall, where we spent a few minutes taking pictures. When we got back to the camp we fed the elephants bananas. Then we hit the beach in Khao Lak and enjoyed our last night out.

It's hard to pinpoint a favorite moment in our trip to Thailand, because everything was so unique and eye-opening. But I think I can safely say interacting with the Thai and Burmese was the best part of the trip. It's so uplifting to find that despite the language barrier, the culture differences and — the most obvious — the distinction between our physical features, we are all the same people underneath. We all need a guiding hand, because we often stumble. We all bleed, we all cry, we all need love. And it's so amazing to travel to the other side of the world and see a reflection of yourself in someone else.

God has touched our lives in an awesome way, and we pray he continues to open the hearts of the Thai and the Burmese and all those who are looking for something this world does not offer.

Grace and Peace to you, brothers and sisters.

At Kao Lak for R and R.

We are spending two days at Kao Lak for a little R and R. Before we left we took all the remaining medical supplies to the local hospital in Ranong. They see about 1000 patients a day there. Their administrator met us and took photos of the presentation. Ben and Brenda say this will hope a lot of doors for ministry there.

We rented a truck for our luggage. Had a flat on the way here but made it fine.
Please pray for our connections for flights. We have several who leave at different times so we all need to get from point A to point B. We spend a night in Taipei so that will be interesting. Getting 25 people around from place to place has been "interesting."

Randy Thompson had some problems with his foot. Pam Engle was bit by a dog so she has started the rabies shots. No fun for her, but it is all working out. Vern is doing just fine now.

We have some more photos we want to post but will probably do that when return. We arrive back in Anchorage at 7:50 a.m. on Friday the 9th.

We REALLY have sensed everyone's prayers. Lots to share on our return.

Sunday worship

Today we worshiped with the Thai and the Burmese. We arrived for the 10 a.m. Thai service, which lasted until noon. They sang a lot of upbeat songs and had really nice music equipment. We heard a few testimonies in Thai and the English and Thai pastors gave sermons.
It was hot and humid, so all the fans churning air inside the small church building didn’t help much. Everybody takes off his or her shoes before entering the building and places them in a large shoe rack just inside the door.
Because the services last so long, the children usually play outside in a fenced-in area. Today it was the job of the children’s ministry team to entertain them. Several of our members performed a skit for the kids about Peter and Thomas fishing without any luck. Then they see a man who looks like Jesus on the shore. The man tells them to throw the net on the other side of the boat, and when they do they catch more fish than they can pull in. Then one by one the fishermen jump overboard and swim to shore to see Jesus.
The kids enjoy that, as well as singing the silly songs. Then we had a craft of making necklaces and played some more games. When the adults got out, we all sat down to lunch. The Thai passed out plates and set big bowls of food on the table for us. They eat lunch together every Sunday.

After lunch the Burmese pastor and his congregation came to worship. Their service lasted about three hours. The ministry team entertained the kids during that time as well. We did the same skit, read them a story, and told the meaning of the candy cane (the shape of the shepherd’s staff, the white color for Jesus pure heart, the three small red stripes for the lashes he received, and the large red stripe for the blood he shed on the cross to save us).

Then the Burmese kids decorated crosses and played games. The Burmese worship service was similar to the Thai service, but their music equipment was very old. Yet, they were very good musicians.

After what seemed like a long, hot day, we came back to the hotel for some down time before dinner. On Sundays during certain times of the year, the Thai block off a street to set up a large market. People sell food, used clothes, jewelry, figurines, clocks and lots of other neat stuff. We ate dinner at the market. We tasted fruit, shakes with gummy candy in the bottom, sticky rice, chicken on a stick, fish balls on a stick, sushi, corn, fried things, mini donuts and tons of other Thai dishes. There were children coloring with chalk on the sidewalk and musicians playing for change.

Yesterday we learned some interesting things on the way back from seeing a beautiful waterfall. The Thai are a superstitious people, and when a child died at a construction site years ago, they thought the place was cursed and didn’t touch it after that. It still looks like an unfinished, abandoned building site – and it will remain that way forever.

Then we also learned some unpleasant things. Apparently the police here are very corrupt. On the way back to the hotel, the police had set up this kind of check point in the middle of the street and were pulling everyone over. Brenda was driving, and when they stopped us, she spoke English to them and pretended she didn’t know any Thai. After a minute, they let us go and Brenda explained the police were looking for bribes. They were pulling everyone over – even if they hadn’t done anything wrong – and were coming up with any excuse to give them a ticket. The cops would discreetly hold up one or two fingers to show how many hundred baht they wanted. There’s not much Thai drivers can really do to get out of it, but the Police don’t know English that well so they don’t mess with the ferang (foreigners) so much. Brenda said sometimes they have days when they don’t like Thailand when things like this happen. But they wake up the next morning and love Thailand!

Tomorrow we travel back to Kao Lak for some rest, relaxation and typical tourist stuff. The beaches are better at Kao Lak than Ranong.

Water Team on Saturday

The H20 Team went to two locations on Saturday. First they did a demonstration of the water purification system at one island and then went to a second location. The second location was a Muslim village. The people of the village were very interested in what was going on and fed the team a wonderful lunch. The system worked just like planned so hopefully this will create healthy water for the village. Before the team left, Ben said a prayer of blessing over the equipment.

More pictures

Some of us visited a nearby waterfall where many Thai were swimming and enjoying the New Year holiday.

Burmese students decorate crosses with stickers.

Dianne helps some Burmese students put stickers on their crosses.

A young boy on the island of the sea gypsies we visited Wednesday looks at his bag of goodies.

Mmmm ... Thai food!

Thai students learned the Gospel story through these Salvation Bracelets.

Burmese immigrants enjoying our New Year's Day picnic together at a park.

The Buddhist temple in Myanmar, where the medical team went today.

Myanmar, and more on the medical clinic

Today about eight members of the ministry team left the country. We traveled to Myanmar, which is only about 30 minutes away by boat. The boat was fairly small, and the motor roared loudly.

Some of us were a little nervous. Myanmar is a closed country, and it's illegal to minister or pass out Christian literature — which was why we went. But for the short two hours we were there none of us were arrested, and we passed out all the Burmese tracks. We also passed out little suvenirs — stickers, balloons, candy and kazoos — that were a big hit with not only the kids but the adults as well.

Our tour guides tooks us to two little shops where we spent the majority of our time. I overheard a conversation between one of the ferang (foreigner) and a guide. He said he had four wives, and I think he said they worked to support him. He looked like he was about 18, but it seems many of the Burmese and Thai are older than they look.

The Burmese wear long wrap-around skirts (the men, too) and decorate their faces with this yellow powder-paste. Many in Burma (Myanmar) spoke some English, but Brenda explained that many of the Burmese immigrants in Thailand usually only finish third grade. They remain poor and illiterate. That's why so many of Brenda and Ben's ministry focuses on the Burmese immigrants.

A lot of Burmese took advantage of the three-day medical clinic our team set up at the Ranong church. Thais can access local health care for about a $0.75 copay, but Burmese must pay higher fees that most cannot afford. Friday was the last day of the clinic. The clinic treated about 300 people total. It was most rewarding to see a very young girl who had a high fever on Dec. 31 and was treated, come back with her mother today looking happy and healthy again. Most of the patient complaints were gastrointestinal disorders, skin issues, and joint pain issues. The ANHC team felt right at home serving the underserved in Ranong. The team supplemented a 30 day supply of HIV medication for a woman who had relocated to Ranong from Phuket who was not yet able to acqure her medication through the public health system. Not only did the team provide physical care, but each patient received spiritual guidance and prayer and received a gift bag of goodies as well as vitamins.

The water purification team completed one project today! The village on this island was much bigger than the first one we served on Wednesday. The team got the system set up in two or three hours, but it took a long time to get back to Thailand. Their small boat traveled against the wind, splashing them quite a bit.

Children swimming in Ranong channel

Cliff diving

Thursday we celebrated the New Year with some Burmese at a park. We drove along a curvy road to our destination, which was nestled in the mountains. The sky looked ominous for the first time on our trip, and it sprinkled a bit on the way there.

When we jumped out of the vans, children greeted us by selling bags of fish food for 10 baht (about 30 cents). We walked over a lawn to a green lake, no doubt reflecting the wealth of green trees surrounding us. There were masses of small carp waiting to be fed, and they would come very close to the bank to gobble the little brown pellets. If you walked down some lake-side trails, you could catch glimpses of catfish in the deeper water.

The park had a few small trails around the lake, which we immediately began to explore. After a little while the Burmese church arrived, and we sat down on some mats on the ground. We were careful to watch out for oversized fire ants, which got ahold of a few of us and really taught us a lesson.

We sang some silly songs together, then quieted down for worship songs. Corey Jones played the guitar while Matt Anderson led the singing of As the Deer, Breathe, and How Great Is Our God. Then the Burmese pastor borrowed Corey's guitar and led a few songs for the Burmese. Several of the tunes were recognizeable praise songs. We prayed together, and Jeff Anderson discussed a verse from Romans about belief in the heart and confession with the mouth. It rained — or rather sprinkled — a few times, but it didn't stop us. Then we shared a meal of fried rice and played some games like bean bag toss, football toss, and hula hoop.

After we wrapped things up, we discovered that the lake was deep enough to do a little cliff diving. Ryan, Matt Corey and Chris all jumped off a 30-foot cliff overlooking the lake. Then Melissa and Hayley took a dive, too. Thai and Burmese vacationing at the lake were cheering for all the divers.

That night we ate at a seafood restaurant overlooking the docks. They had to set up a special table for our party of 25. And then they gave us one menu to share. Needless to say, it took a long time to order and an even longer time to get our food. But it was worth it. We had steamed crab, fried soft-shell crab, calimari, fried prawn (that were fried whole), and steamed fish. But for some reason, Dianne ordered chicken.

New Years Day with the Burmese

Yesterday we went to a park near Ranong and spent the afternoon with the folks from the Burmese Church. We had a time of worship, ate lunch, then played lots of games. They really enjoyed the day and lots of others from the park joined us. We gave out all kinds of gifts and literature to those who attended. Weather began to get a little bad so we broke it up about 2 in the afternoon. Afterwards some swam in the lake and jumped off the cliffs. Yes, the diver is Chris!

That evening we all (about 30) went out for dinner. One menu in English! That was interesting. But eventually we all got fed. The food was great.

Just a few more pics