CRAZY OLYMPICS

It's the 'ODD' year crazy olympics. After the torch run, the opening ceremonies included the 'lighting of the pot'. Quite impressive! That was followed by the competition of 3 teams in six events.
After making their own airplanes, the distance competition began. Accuracy with the airplanes was measured by throwing their planes through the olympic rings. That was followed by distance and accuracy with the 'snowballs' (shower puffs). The competition was fierce.

Other events included the javelin throw (drinking straws), the broad jump (smiling competitively) and the shooting sports (spinning wheel guns). Competitors were highly involved. The Gold medals went to the Red team although the results were very close.

After thinking about the Apostle Paul's challenge of preparing for the games, all were ready for the sports healthy snacks of fruit and cheese and peanut butter crackers to follow up the races. The fruit in Thailand is great by the way.

BREAD MAKING

Our Chinese readers asked to learn how to make our "delicious" rolls that they had tasted at a previous gathering. Bread is not a staple in Asian diets like it is in the States. Saturday afternoon we had a bread making class for our readers. 13 readers and about 20 church members came to make, bake and taste. We made regular rolls.


And we made cinnamon rolls.
And we played games while they rose and baked. As each of the 6 pans came out of the oven, the rolls were devoured. This four hour event was a hit.

As part of our project, we have a weekly party. There are several purposes for meeting in this way. One of the reasons is that we would like our readers to get to know the local congregation in order to feel that they belong after we are gone. It is also a good time for our readers to practice their English in a different setting. In addition, the relaxed atmosphere helps to build relationships.
This week's party was a celebration of Valen"thais" Day. Ten of our readers joined about 35 area Christians and 26 high schoolers from Ft. Worth, Texas in an evening of music and games.

It was interesting and encouraging to see the interaction between the American high school students and the Chinese College Students who are attending Payap University.

We felt fortunate that the Thai Christians invited us and our readers to join them in the Valentine Party that has become a tradition for them. They made provisions for a catered meal, prizes and games and we supplemented the party with a game, conversation hearts and materials to make Valentine's Cards. Our readers seemed to enjoy the festivities.

Future Looks Bright

Worship services at the Payap Christian Zone are uplifting and an indication of the future of this congregation. We usually hear the lesson through an interpreter. The song service is almost all in Thai written phonetically on the power point for the english speakers. We do our best to sing along. It is amazing how uplifting the singing can be even though we often don't know exactly what we are saying.

This morning was expecially encouraging. Communion services are conducted with the members encircling the communion table. Today the young man who presided at the table, Branson, was the son of our host. He is in his early teens and this was the first time he had performed this service. As a mother, I know how special these "firsts" are in your heart. He spoke in English first and then also in Thai, so he had double duty. He seemed very comforable being with the group and leading our thoughts. Great job!

Immediately following the communion, our speaker, James, went to the podium and announced this was his first time to give a sermon. The congregation is just beginning a study of the parables and he spoke on forgiveness from Mathew 18, The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant. He spoke in English and there was a young Thai man (Berm) who translated for him. His lesson was very meaningful and well done.

As I observed these 3 men leading the service I was grateful for the leadership that is being developed at this place. It speaks well of what the future holds for the congregation.

Weekend Service Project

Last Sunday, Feb. 6, we went with the Payap church along with 26 high school students from Ft. Worth, Texas to a home for Handicapped children. When we arrived, we found about 100 children in wheelchairs and using walkers and crutches. Many of them had deformities in their bodies, but their spirits were joyous. They ran or rolled out to meet us as quickly as they could. They greeted us with hugs and smiles.
We sang songs with them, had a skit about Jesus calming the waters, played games and helped each one make a pinwheel to remind them of how Jesus has control over the storm. Even though they did not speak the same language, love was communicated in the name of Jesus Christ. At the end, the Thai speakers lead groups of children in prayer.

THE ENCOURAGERS BECOME THE ENCOURAGED

Words cannot express the feelings I have when I look at this picture. I would like to try to share with you what this meeting means to me:

As we were traveling to the mountain village to teach English, Robert (our host) told us we would stop at the home of one of the elders of the church. He explained that this man was very ill and had only a short time left on this earth.

We traveled in a truck to the village with 6 of us riding in the back of the truck and 5 in the front. When we arrived at the home, we were each met with a warm hug. This was a surprise because Thai people are not big on hugging. They "wai", which I find is a very warm greeting. (Wai is putting your hands in front of you as if in prayer and tipping the head. The higher the hands are held the more respect you have for the person. If the hands are near the nose they receive much respect.) The woman who met us treated us with great respect, but also there was a feeling of closeness and appreciation for our presence.

As we entered the house, Robert told us that this house is also the church building for this village. One room had a podium, song books, etc for that purpose. It was a large house by Tai standards, but probably not so big by our standards. Even so, there was a special place for the worship of the church. Robert also explained that this couple had three boys and 1 girl-all grown. The boys are all preachers and the girl is married to a preacher. Every one faithful to the Lord. We also learned that this man had once chosen to be a Buddhist monk, but instead dedicated his life to serving the Lord God.

When we saw this gentleman, he was covered to the neck with a blanket and was wearing gloves since the mornig was chilly for Nebraskans, cold for Thais, and the house has no heat. There was a tank of oxygen by his bed and he had difficulty talking because he was quite weak. Robert interpreted for us as the man talked. As we entered, he asked that God bless us and bless the work that we are doing.

We sang 5-6 songs-some that he requested, some his wife requested and some we chose. Many of them were about the promise we have for a special place in God's presence when this life is over. After the singing we were led in prayer by Bon (who prayed in Thai) and then Tom (one of our team members who prayed in English).

Before we left, Robert asked if he wanted to tell us anything. (This is the part that is difficult for me to report because I was so overwhelmed with the way that this 'uneducated' man spoke and my words do not do his justice.) His words were full of grace and wisdom. His speaking made me think of the fishermen that Jesus asked to "follow me". He talked about the foreigners and Thai who had come together in that place because of the love that God has for all of us. He told us that we must continue to teach the world about the good news that is so important for everyone to know. He encouraged us to remain faithful until death to the one who had suffered so much for us.

I have summed up what he said in my own words and they are very inadequate compared to his. His love and his wife's love for us-people they had never met before-were so very evident. Their faith in Christ Jesus was so strong. I will remember this couple as an example of Godly people the rest of my live. I would never have expected to find such eloquence and encouragement in a small village in the mountains of Thailand, but I am very grateful that I had the opportunity to meet this very special brother and sister.

Sheila

A Day in a Mountain Village

On the first day of February we went to the village of BawGaew to teach English lessons for the school there. One the teachers there is a member of the church. She asked Robert Reagan, the director of the Christian Zone and our host, to provide some activities for an English Day Camp. Our main goal was to help the students become excited about learning English. Robert told us that sometimes in the villages far from the city it is difficult for the students to see a good reason to learn English. This turned out to be a great week for us to take a day off from our normal schedual since many of our readers are Chinese students at Payap University and they were taking the week off to prepare for a celebration of the Chinese New Year.

Sheila prepared a lesson on shapes and colors. After they had learned (or for some of them reviewed) the vocabulary they played a game with the words . The students are drawing a set of letters out of Sheila's cup so they can race to spell their new vocabulary.

Michele had a lesson on the parts of the body. The lesson opened with the song, Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes. After increasing the vocabulary a bit the students played Simon Says but no one got "out".

Helen played a game with scrabble tiles. The students practiced making English words with random tiles.

Tom's lesson was on animals and foods. After vocabulary and spelling practice with flash cards, they sang Old McDonald, and Tom learned the sounds that animals make in Thailand. These can be quite different from what we are familiar with in America, for example here a dog says, "hong."

We had a very good day. It was good for us to see more of Thailand and by the end of the day we could see that the students were very excited about English. By helping that teacher provide this experience for her students we were witnessing to the loving kindness of our God to the administrators and students of that school as well as the students' families.