Ban Per Village

Last week I went with Chuck and Krissie and Robin to visit a small church where Chuck was preaching and I was translating into Thai. It was a great experience. I translate regularly from Thai to English at my own church in Udon, which is difficult, but I just have to recognize the Thai words and then I can put them into a coherent English sentence pretty easily. But it's much different to translate from English to Thai, tons harder! It's much harder to come up with the Thai word from somewhere hidden deeply in my brain than to merely recognize the word. Chuck told me he would keep his message simple, but I still told him that I needed the outline in advancce. So, when he gave it to me he had kept it pretty simple. But there were still a few challenging parts - like acronyms.  Chuck said, "Do you know what Grace is? It's God's Riches at Christ's Expense". Well, needless to say that is not the definition in Thai, and at my 7th grade Thai level I had to dumb it down quite a bit. What I said was more like "Grace means that Christ died for us so that we can have a relationship with God". Not bad...you can get the basic idea! I joked with Chuck afterwards when everyone thanked him for his great message that although he thought he was preaching, I just said whatever I wanted to, especially when I didn't know how to translate what he said! Well, that's only partially true....

Here's a picture of Chuck and his wife Chrissy, along with the local pastor.

After church we had lunch at the church and the food was amazing! I love this about church in Thailand. First of all, every church service starts at 10:30 am. So, first of all I get to sleep in a bit on Sunday mornings, but also, when I go to visit different churches, I never have to struggle to remember when the service starts. Just show up at 10:30! The second great thing about Thai churches (at least rural churches) is that we have lunch together afterwards, every week! People just take turn cooking or bringing food. It's really an essential part of the church experience, it would so insulting or strange to the church if you didn't stay to eat. It's the relational aspect of Thai culture.

Here's the kitchen where the women cooked for us.

Robin and I helped out too, making "som tam" - which is papaya salad, made from unripe papaya, lemon juice, garlic, chili peppers and (here's the hard part) rotten fish. It's a staple food in NE Thailand - eaten with sticky rice.

Here I am mashing it up with a large mortar and pestal:

Here we are sampling the hot peppers that we put in:

 Well, it was a really fun day. It was nice to meet this pastor - she has a real passion for her work. Her story is quite sad too. Originally her husband and her were both pastors of the church, and they'd been there for a couple of years when he died. She has continued to pastor the church by herself for the past few years. An amazing woman. She's from central Bangkok too...so she had to learn NE Thai language.

Chocolate Pudding Recipe

Well, I'm always looking for ways to make good, fattening American type foods here in Thailand for a relatively reasonable price. It seems like the things I like the most - good chocolate, cheese, bread, olive oil....are the expensive things! But, courtesy of good ol' Betty Crocker - this recipe meets my chocolate needs!

1/3 - 1/2 cup sugar (depending how sweet you want it)
1/3 - 1/2 cocoa powder (more for dark chocolate taste)
2 TBSP (tablespoon) cornstarch
1/8 tsp (teaspoon) salt
2 cups milk (or soy milk)
2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
2 tsp. vanilla

Mix sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, salt. Gradually stir in milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir 1/2 of hot mixture into egg yolks. Stir into hot mixture in saucepan. Boil and stir 1 minute, remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Pour into 4 dessert dishes. Cover and refrigerate until chilled - about 2 hours.

I made mine with less sugar and more cocoa and it was like dark chocolate!!

A Great Day!

I feel like it's sometimes rare to be able to say that....to have a day where I am just able to celebrate what God is doing without noticing all the apparent gaps or holes. Without focusing on what would have made it an even better day....

But Friday was a great day! We were able to walk through the transition from 7 years in prison to a new of freedom with Mo Lor, a quiet, sweet, faithful, consistent member of our women's group in the Nong Khai Prison. For the past couple of months she has known that October 9 would be her day to get out, and she has been reminding me and asking me to come and see her on that day. The 8th was our normal day to teach in the prison, and the women's group there put on a great celebration with food and soda and lots of singing to bless Mo Lor and send her off to start her new life. Women who had stopped coming to the group for various reasons, either they were working or had lost interest in studying with us, came back to the group for this special day. Mo Lor was smiling the whole time and it was a real joy to be able to affirm her and bless her for all the great things that we see in her, and to wish her well and pray for her as she heads back to her village.

She will return to live with her 6 children, in various stages of early adulthood and adulthood. Her husband has died, but I hope and pray for Mo Lor a life of rest, joy, and love with her children and grandchildren.

On the 9th we weren't quite sure where to find her, we knew that she would transition from the prison into the holding cell at the local police station before entering into immigration and being transported back to her country. But, Louisa and I found the station easily and as soon as we walked in the door the guard was able to take us right to Mo Lor. She apparantly had been expecting us earlier and had continually asked the guards to check if her "farang" (western) friends had arrived yet and were wandering around outside lost and looking for her. I'm sure they were glad when we finally arrived!!

Although she's not showing it in this picture, Mo Lor smiled from ear to ear the whole time we were there. We had to leave her as she waited to go to immigration and hopefully has made it all the way back to her village by now. It'll be a little sad to go to the prison this week and not to meet Mo Lor, her quiet leadership has really held the group together, she has become a "mother" to many of the younger women and her peaceful spirit is very calming.

As she restarts her life....I pray that God will do above and beyond what we could hope for Mo Lor. Yes, Friday was a really, really, really great day!

New Office Manager

Note to self: Buy more post its!

Mosaics

When I lived in Philly- doing Mosaic artwork was my favorite (only) artistic past time. I brought some of my basic tools to Thailand and have been hunting for good mosaic supplies ever since...I've been able to find a lot of great plates and tiles here, but have not been able to find translucent glass. Here's some projects I've done recently with small amounts of glass I brought from the states and have been rationing...




This one is a work in progress, still needs to be grouted but I made it for my coworker Louisa for her birthday this weekend.





I tried something new this past week....painting my own glass to be used in mosaics....I found the idea and the directions on this blogsite : http://abrokenart.blogspot.com/2009/06/hand-painted-glass-tutorial_5066.html

I went to a frame shop on Sunday to find a piece of regular cut glass, but the glass cutter wasn't in. Since I really, really wanted to do it that day, I ended up buying a large piece of glass and cutting it myself in my house ( I think next time I'll be more patient!). The painting technique involves making 3 different applications of paint, using 3 different colors - all applied in different squiggles and designs using your fingers....




The pictures aren't great, but I think you get the idea. I was disappointed that I couldn't make the glass translucent, no matter how light I applied the paint, unless I left gaps. So, not sure if I"ll be able to use this glass for candleholders or not, I'll keep experimenting! I wanted to use waterbased paint, since I'm using my fingers to apply it....and I haven't been able to find any interesting paints yet, like metallic, which I think would add depth and texture.

At first I didn't really like it, but I think it looks much more interesting when it's cut up. I'm trying to decide what colors to use to make this cross.

Kid's Club

One thing I really miss about my old life in Philadelphia was just being involved in the everyday lives of the kids on the block. I haven't been able to establish the same kinds of relationships here in my own neighborhoods and it seems like most of my work is farther away. But recently I've been able to help out a bit with the Kid's Club that's run in the neighborhood of my church. There seem to be tons of kids just hanging out on the street, and Friday nights and Saturday mornings are opportunities for them to have a safe, loving place to hang out. They can study English, Bible, do arts and crafts, cook and play musical instruments (or bang on them really!)

It's kind of funny, but lately I've been teaching guitar. I'm sure some of you are saying, "Wow, I didn't know Deb played the guitar!" Well, I don't really, I'm barely a few steps ahead of these kids, and they are gaining fast!

Here's our class picture (Is, the boy on the left is way to cool to smile with the rest of us!). Even though these kids can only play once a week, or every couple of weeks, (because they don't have their own guitars, but borrow from the English Center) they are actually doing pretty well. They are always eager to play.....



Sometimes I wonder where to spend my time, it's so easy to get involved in a lot of different activities. But I realized how important it is to these kids after I taught them guitar just one night. We had a great time, but then I was traveling and out of town and didn't see them for almost one month. One Sunday evening as I was leaving church 2 of the girls ran up to me and asked, "Teacher Deb, will you teach us guitar this week?" I figured that if they were still so eager after one month (I was surprised they even remembered my name!) that it was a pretty good activity for me to be involved in. Sort of one of the basic principles of community development "start with what people are excited about doing - that's the open door to seeing lasting change and growth!"

But I think I'll find that as I spend time with these kids....I'm the one being changed the most along with way...

Welcome Wobbles....

Well, in order to help alleviate my sadness at losing my amazing housemate Stacy, I decided to get a cat. There's a great organization in Bangkok called "SCAD" (Soi cats and dogs) who take in strays and help them find good homes. So, I went there and immediately like Wobbles (so named because one of her back legs is completely paralyzed, she kind of drags herself around on her front legs). They found Wobbles stuck in a drainage grate outside the center, and thought that maybe she had been previously hit by a car. So, with a story like that, how could I resist?

Anyway, she's no longer a city cat, but now a country girl. She's only been here a week and is still pretty nervous, she hides most of the day and comes out more at night. But she'll get there....



Daytime Hideout:


Nighttime - she owns the bed!

Goodbye Trip with Stacy to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Our hotel was part of an old train station....beautiful, but we were a bit scared of the elevator, since the building was built in 1910.

We had a great few days in Malaysia, with a good mix of Malaysian cultural things....

Like visiting the national forest reserve in the middle of the city. Louisa came with us too, she recently moved to Udon and joined our team. It's great to have her!!


And eating authentic Indian food with our hands, on huge banana leaves instead of plates. It felt so authentic and no one spoke English except the manager, who came over about halfway through our meal (unfortunately too late to help us order!) Wanting to be cultural to the end, we asked if he had any Indian coffee or tea that we could try. He hesitated, so we asked what everyone around us was drinking....he smiled and said "Nescafe! This is an international restaurant!!"


Feeling a bit like part of the Lord of the Rings cast, but dressed culturally appropriate to visit the National Mosque...


We went to see the Petronis Towers (the tallest twin buildings in the world). We waited in line for free tickets but all 1800 were given out before we got there at 8:30am


Since KL is such an international city, we also enjoyed some western treats, like dinner at Chili's, English bookstores, a trip to IKEA, an English movie.....and of course breakfast at Starbucks!!



.

Learning the Local Craft

Orathai taught Stacy and I how to weave reeds into a placemat or a large bowl shaped cover to go over food so that the flies don't get into it.



Here's a picture - to prove I really did it!

Now here's Orathai fixing all my mistakes.....


The finished products!



And best of all - we were all still friends at the end of the day....

Wandering around Nakhon Phanom

Stacy and I went out to Nakhon Phanom together one last time before she moved back to America. There are many lives that she has impacted deeply out in NP and it was good for her to say her goodbyes...we had some great food together! That's the best way to say goodbye in Thailand.
We visited Khun Ulai, who is raising pigs with Insom's help, can you tell that the pic below are pig snouts??





Eating on the Mekong River with one of the pastors and his family - beautiful kids!!

Water buffalo - hanging out and keeping cool!

Annual Field Forum

Once a year we get together with workers from all over the country for our annual meetings and retreat time. We had a great speaker and it was fun to catch up with each other, many of us only see each other once a year!

Trip to Cambodia

After a year of trying to plan a trip to Cambodia to visit CAMA's work, I finally made it! There are a couple of great projects I was able to learn from - above is a Moringa tree, which the leaves are dried and crushed into a powder that has lots of vitamins and is really helpful for those with HIV/AIDS or those with nutritional needs. The powder is being used by many in conjunction with the HIV/AIDS and community health ministry and people are very pleased with the results (google Moringa, it may be the latest natural health craze in the US!!).



This pastor has her own business roasting and seasoning soy beans, peanuts, etc. to support her work as a pastor.


This little guy wanted me to take his picture as he proudly posed in front of his elementary school! His parents died of AIDS but he's living with antoher relative. I was really impressed with the Church Based HIV/AIDS ministry that the CAMA staff is working with there. They are really working with the church to have ownership of the program and to lead and direct it in the future.

Forgive the Silence....

Here's a "photo - athon" to catch you up on the past 6 months:

In August I moved to Bangkok to study for intense Thai exam - 4 hours a day in language school and lots of reading and writing. Here's the view from the apartment I stayed at for those months:



In September my Bangkok housemate Amy got married at a beautiful wedding at the Marriot Hotel by the river. Here we are: Amy, James and I. It was fun to reconnect with old friends from ECB church and the food was amazing.





In October I went back to Udon for the weekend to "meet" Stacy, my new housemate who was staying in my Udon Thani house while I lived in Bangkok. I also visited my church, and was happy that on that afternoon a group from an area village was teaching us how to weave baskets.




In November I went to Udon again (yes, I was missing my home! I apologize for the lack of pictures of Bangkok, but, well, I just didn't do much except study and go to English speaking movies and out for Lebanese food... that's not true actually. I have some really good friends in Bangkok and enjoyed spending time with them, it was relaxing and refreshing. I also visited many churches in Bangkok and was able to connect with a lot of new people. )

But, back to Udon in November. Here's pictures from the baptism service my church held at an a pond outside the pastor's house. It was a beautiful service, although I was wondering if there were snakes in the pond...



In December I took my "big language test" - and passed! Yeah! The end of formal language school! So, I went to the US to celebrate for Christmas! (Actually, the trip was planned first and I had to wait until January to find out my score, but I still felt good about the test and celebrated anyway).

December in the US was great - I spent time in Vermont, Philadelphia, D.C and caught up with friends and family and even relaxed a bit.

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Let it Rain.....

Well, rainy season has finally hit, and at just the right time. It rained 3 days in a row, day and night and the farmers are now out in full force, well, as full as the force of farmers can get out here....Some said that if it didn't rain this week, many farmers would have lost their crop for the whole year. It takes 3 months for the rice to grow, which has it has to be harvested in November, when the rains have ended and the cool season is beginning.


Rice seedlings are planted in small groups of 3-4 plants, and ideally are planted in standing water.

This woman invited me back to help her harvest in a few months....