Leaving

We made it to Chiang Rai this morning without a problem. We enjoyed a wonderful tour around Bangkok, including the opprotunity to climb to the top of a Temple and see the gorgeous view and architechure! we have now made it through the rdiculus amounts of security at Bangkok Aairport and are waiting to board our flight. Vicky has also made it through andto her gate. We  have all enjoyed this opproutnity very much and look forward to sharing it with you when we get home. We loved Chiang Rai and were sad o leave; there were many tears last night. Thank you once again and we'll be sure to share pictures!

God bless, Mariah--Team Thailand

Last Day!

The beginning of the day was busy with preparation. We began cleaning the house and packing up our things. Since we will be leaving early in the morning for Bangkok, we thought it would be best to begin preparing for our leave now. In addition, Uncle Andy got the opportunity to take some inventory and Auntie Vicky helped clean up the dental supplies in preparation for the medical mission. AYDC has also recently received a year-long grant that provides dental care once a week for the students of the program. 

Hands down, the highlight of the day was the night dinner and performances. We had one last opportunity to bond with the students of AYDC, both students who live on the site as well as in the village – which totaled up to around 100 attendees. Our last dinner in Thailand included fried chicken, made by Stacy, Kevin, Kelley and Michele. After dinner, the FCBC mission team was surprised with several performances by the students. These ranged from our favorite singing song to traditional dances. The students were in full costume and many of the dances included music and instruments. Since the students prepared a surprise for us, we wanted to reciprocate. Sabrina and Courtney choreographed a dance to one of the students’ favorite songs. Our dance included strobe lights – thanks to the technical help of Auntie Patti, Auntie Vicky and Pastor Dennis. And was also recorded by film guru Uncle Andy – so if you would like to watch it, we have it on film. The kids really appreciated it and we can’t wait to share it with you!

The night ended with a blessing from AYDC. They showed us their gratitude and appreciation with tea gifts. As they sang a farewell song in Thai, the concept that we are leaving finally sunk in. They then closed the song with “Goodbye my friend, we’ll meet again.” This is when most of us began showing our emotions. The room soon filled with millions of tears as we said our last goodbyes and gave our last hugs. By the time we returned to the house, we were all exhausted from the sadness. It has now become clear to us the impact of this trip on our lives and others.

We thank you all for your love, support and prayers. It has been a great experience for each and every one of us. We can not wait to tell you more about what we have experienced here at AYDC and Thailand with the entire congregation. See you all soon!

Lindsey, Team Thailand 

Schools

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Schools

Today we visited schools. We saw 2 high schools, a technical college, and a university. At each school a student gave us a tour and we got to see what school was like for them. It was interesting to see the differences between a Thai school and American School, such as Thai students where uniforms and take off their shoes before entering the class room. I also enjoyed taking with the students and hear about their lives and education.  We ate lunch with a few of the university students and got where they came from and where they are going.

Tonight we are doing our last night of VBS. It has been awesome working with the kids, especially during games, which they all enjoy. We have over 50 kids who participate in some part of VBS.  The kids seem to enjoy the crafts and songs as well. The water games are the kids’ favorite and by the end of the game everyone is soaked.

We had a lot of fun riding the elephants, enjoying the scenery at King-Mother’s, and shopping. It was so cool to be that far off the ground on an elephant, and they were so funny when we tried to feed them.  The garden’s and place was gorgeous!

Tomorrow is our last full day in Chiang Rai. It has been awesome working with Luka, Ghan, and all of the students and staff here. I don’t know where the time has gone, but am thankful for this unique opportunity. Tomorrow the students are putting on a program for us, complete with a performance. We took are working on something for them.  Then Friday, is sightseeing in Bangkok and then back to the US.

God Bless, Mariah, Team Thailand

R & R

R&R - July 11, 2011

Today the team was privileged enough to get some R&R. We were all very excited to get the day off and explore a little bit more of Thailand. It was great to experience parts beyond the AYDC compound and the broader area of Northern Thailand.

Our first stop was elephant rides! As we paired up, we hesitantly got onto the elephants. However, once we started going, we all adjusted very well to the bumpiness and rockiness of the elephants’ trot. Our favorite part was feeding the elephants sugar cane and bananas. Our next stop was at King’s Mother Project. This visit was very special because we got to experience the country’s appreciation for the King’s mother and the King’s mother love of the people of Thailand. Her work included phasing out the opium trade and introducing new agriculture. We also were able to see the King’s Mother’s breathtaking garden and house. This trip also included going to a ceramic factory and a weaving factory. Us shopping queens requested to find another market for some last minute shopping. Uncle Luka suggested we go to Maasai, which is on the border of Thailand and Burma. By the time we finished at the market, it was time for dinner – PAD THAI! Finally!

Lindsay Lowe- Team Thailand

Painting, Round 3

Monday, July 11, 2011

Another family arrived today from Maryland. They have two young children who are absolutely adorable. Because of their arrival, we spent the morning cleaning the house. They arrived right before lunch and had lunch with all of us in the dining hall.

After lunch we went to paint the rice barn that we had built last week. We used oil based stain and so by the end of the project many of us were all covered in the paint and had to use thinner to take it off. The building was painted in one afternoon and we were all pleased with the result.

After dinner, we went to the night market in Chiang Rai. The market was so cool and big. I got many great souvenirs and gifts. PD is super.  We found some of the puzzles that were the ones that Luka had shown us and some us got some. Uncle Andy spent a good part of the night working on one that PD got.

Some of the food is quite spicy for us.  One night we had chili sauce that was extremely hot. Sabrina, upon eating it, exclaimed that it felt like she was crying on the inside.

Tomorrow we go to the elephants and King-Mother Gardens.

God bless, Mariah, Team Thailand

Souper Pasta Day!

It’s Sunday and Souper Pasta Day! Since today wasn’t a workday, we had an extra hour to sleep in, eat ramen noodles and rejuvenate from our hard (half) week of work. We started our day off with Sunday service, all looking our Sunday best. We were blessed to have Mariah and Michele share their testimonies with the students, as well as a great sermon from Pastor Dennis. Auntie Ghan and Uncle Luka helped to translate for the congregation. The students also shared songs with us during the service. We all really like the “alleluia” song and the motions that go with it. 

After service and a rice noodle soup lunch, some of us ate shaved ice (approved by Uncle Luka) that is made on the compound frequently. They were beyond refreshing on such a hot day. We are making shaved ice part of our daily meals from now on.

We also visited the Ahka tribe village, where Uncle Luka grew up and where the medical team serves, to deliver care packages. The care packages included ramen, sardines, toothpaste and soap for the families. The families were so grateful – some of the children started eating the ramen right away! At the village, we truly got to see and understand how the people of the Ahka tribe survive and live. We were privileged to understand the different structures of the traditional Ahka houses and the modern houses. The people began to discontinue building  their houses with grass because the government and military wanted to scare the Akha tribe from moving back to Burma. 

At one of the houses, we met a man who builds bird catchers. Some people wanted the toy - most of them were the chaperones. Although, Pastor Dennis continues to claim it is NOT a toy. At the end of our visit, Uncle Andy said he has not been able to experience this on a medical mission. I guess Uncle Luka likes us better - maybe next time, medical mission team. 

Today was also Wee’s, Uncle Luka and Auntie Ghan’s third youngest, 10^th birthday! We were all lucky enough to get invited to her birthday party. The meal of Wee’s choice was spaghetti, garlic bread, coconut ice cream and brownies. There was great entertainment by all of the four daughters – it was nice to see them all together, and we were happy to spend time with the whole family.

Well, we are all noodled out, so that is all for now (please don’t send noodles J ).

 Lindsey, Team Thailand

Playing

Saturday, Jul y 9, 2011

Hi Everyone!

I’m posting this a little bit later than usual because by the time we got back from the night market yesterday it was too late to fight with the internet connection. So I am posting before breakfast.

Yesterday we took a break from hard labor and spent the day playing with the students. In the morning we helped them with their chores. The students seemed happy that we were helping them and the jobs got done pretty fast. After chores were done we spent time interacting with the students. Many of the girls are excellent at doing hair so some of our team members got their hair done in beautiful and intricate braids. Lindsay taught many of the students some dances and Jordan and Jason did acrobatics for them. Courtney also did a cartwheel which earned her many fans. We ate lunch with the students and then did VBS with them. I think that everyone’s favorite part of VBS is the games. Yesterday we played the game where one person lies on the ground with a cup on their head and teams race to fill the cup with water. This of course resulted in a water fight in which everyone got wet!

We are in charge of the church service today, so Pastor Dennis is giving the sermon. Michele and I are also giving testimonies and everyone is involved in worship. Please pray that God will bless those speaking and that the service will go off well.

Yesterday evening we took the students to the Night Market.  It was awesome to see how excited they were to go. We also got some cool souvenirs and saw people performing in the street.  They had tons of booths with clothes and awesome smelling foods. They also had booths with woven and crotched bracelets/crafts, pop culture and other crafts. We saw choirs singing, bands playing, and my personal favorite, people line dancing. It was unlike anything we have in the valley.

The last two days it has rained on and off. The rain is a warm rain so we don’t mind being out in it. It also lowers the temperature a bit and raises the humidity exponentially. We were supposed to go to villages yesterday but because of the rain we were unable to go. Thus we are hoping it doesn’t rain today so we can go to both the villages and the waterfall.

The internet access is uneven here. Sometimes we can get internet no problem from our house, sometimes we have to go to Luka’s and sometimes we cannot get at all. I apologize of the extreme tardiness of this post but we have been unable to connect to the internet until now. Thus there might be some days where we will not be able to post, due to lack of internet access.

DAY 3 – Hammering, Weeding, Painting, Swimming, VBSing

Hammering: Today we started work on the rice barn. We were all really excited, knowing all that FCBC has done with the rice farm. When we got to the building site, the men got straight to work hammering and doing other manly things. The rest of us helped transport wood from a nearby shed. We were getting pretty efficient, with our assembly line and all, when Jessica said, “Ok, there’s a snake” and calmly backed away from the shed. Needless to say, Kevin was excited. Chaos ensued as one of the staffers went after the snake. He was victorious and we celebrated with snake meat- it tasted pretty good. After all the excitement, Uncle Andy, Pastor Dennis, Jordan, and Kevin stayed to work on the walls, but due to lack of tools and experience, the rest of us were assigned to weeding.

At the beginning of the day, the rice barn was just foundation and a roof. But after just one day’s work, our hard-working men with the help of a few local contractors were able to complete 3 ½ walls and a door! We are amazed at what they accomplished and so appreciative of all their hard work.

Weeding: Some of us started our mornings with some weeding in the tea plant field. After a few minutes of hard labor, we began to realize that short sleeves and shorts were not sufficient for this type of work. A few of us got some scratches and cuts, but came out feeling that we had helped. 

Painting: In the afternoon, we took on a new paint job- the high school boys’ dormitory. Fortunately, it wasn’t as big a job as the tea room and we finished the job with some free time and lots of energy.

Swimming: Since we finished early, one of our new friends Ying invited us to go swimming. We drove down to a lake nearby and were able to cool off in the water. The lake was refreshing, but also a little slippery. Almost all of us slipped – a few of us completely ate it.  We tossed around a ball and splashed each other, but our favorite part of the excursion was sliding on a downhill water “slide.”

Vacation Bible School: Today was the first day of VBS. We got to teach the students two new songs. They responded with cheerful singing and joyful applauses. Their “THANK YOU GOD!” was the loudest we’ve ever heard! Even with a language barrier, we felt that they were able to understand the message. This was a great opportunity for us to really bond with the kids – they are starting to remember our names!

That is all for now!

Lindsey, Team Thailand

P.S. We asked everyone if they had anything to add to the blog and all I got were food requests. You know what to do.

Day 2-- Painting

Hello!

We began our work today by painting the Tea Factory Building. Everyone worked really hard and we were able to finish the entire structure before 5. The students were a big help and supplied us with excellent music, both Thai and American to listen to; including Justin Beber for the Lowe Sisters. The outside of the building was coffee brown and the inside a bright mint green. I even managed to paint with both the brush and a roller without making too much of a mess and in a semi-straight line! We are now all splattered with white, brown, and green paint, but are excited to be done with our first assignment. Thanks to all those who kept our water bottles filled- we all appreciated it and thanks to the guys who did so much of the heavy work!

After finishing painting we played basketball and volleyball with the students.  It was awesome to see the kids’ faces as we played with them and many were quite good.

Last night we were able to meet the students at the center and partook in some songs with them. It was amazing to hear hymns being sung in both Thai and English, especially one of my favorites “I’ll Fly Away”.  While introducing ourselves, I was informed that my name, Mariah, is similar to the Thai word for polite which I guess is apt.

We have been treated to wonderful meals by Ghan and I have yet to try something that I haven’t liked. And yes, my portion size was bigger than a teaspoon! While taking our lunch break today, Luka kept us thinking by showing us some tricky puzzles. Much props to all who figured them out! I know the ball one stumped me.

Kevin’s Crazy Critter Collection is growing as we encounter lizards, spiders, and various other bugs. The zoom on my new camera is being put to good use documenting all of the discoveries, including the ones that get dipped in paint, loose a tail or some other limb. My favorite is the lizards as they are interesting to watch.

We are recovering well from the jetlag and are not too tired, although we were all grateful to sleep in a bed last night as opposed to an airplane.

We have enjoyed reading the comments that have been posted on the blog and are planning on sharing them at our nightly meetings. We are all doing well and the scenery here is so beautiful. I know that I love it here in Chiang Rai!

I have attached some pictures from our day.

God bless, Mariah Patton, Team Thailand

Day 1 - Our Arrival

Sawadeeka! We have all arrived safely in Chiang Rai and are now settled in at Luka's guest house. We are about to get ready to go to bed and rest up for our first day of work tomorrow. Some of us are still jet lagged and need our beauty rest. Expect a more thorough update soon, but for now here are some highlights:

1. A generous amount of support was shown for our send-off. We were so blessed to have you all there!

2. Kevin's five pound bag of gummy worms has come in handy as we try and fight jet lag.

3. While playing Taboo, Auntie Patti screamed the word "terrorist!" in the middle of the airport, followed by "bomb!" by Jessica.

4. Some of us were privileged to an extra seat on Thai Airlines, where we were able to create a miniature bed.

5. The buddy system was implemented - Jason, where are you?

6. Our first meal in Thailand: Kentucky Fried Chicken!

7. Jordan and Kelley got the privilege of riding on the back of the truck "Richard Bruce" style!

8. Vicky C. satisfied her desire for durian! But now none of us will go within 20 feet of her because of the smell.

9. We were blessed to eat a home-cooked meal with Luka, Ghan, their family and their dogs. We have stumbled upon a new dog every five minutes. Our favorite is Pepsi.

10. We met all the kids at the Akha Youth Development. We can't wait for the many exciting activities and excursions with them!

Thank you for all your prayers on our travels. We can't wait to get started!

- Lindsey, Team Thailand

Day 1- Bangkok

We landed in Bangkak a few minutes ago flowing a long butuneventful flight. We did incounter some trubulance but we all got some sleep! The view coming into Bangkok was beautiful. Everyone made through customs and had fun exploring the airport for awhile. We are now waiting for our connecting flight to Chiang Rai and are all looking forward to what God has instore for us.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers and  we will update again soon!

If there are mistakes in this excuse them because I'm writing this on an airport computer with keys that are really hard to use and the buttons are all in Thai!

God Bless, Team Thailand

Prayer Requests

Hi, everyone!

                We leave for Thailand in a little over a week. I know that the entire team, including myself, is extremely excited. As we prepare to leave we ask that you keep our team in your prayers. Here are some prayer requests:

·         That our hearts would be right with God

·         We’d have great love for the Thai people

·         We would be strong and healthy physically

·         We’d be growing spiritually, reading God’s Word, praying, and obeying

·         God would bless us as a team so we can bless the people in Thailand

·         Please pray for our team members: Pastor Dennis, Patti, Vicky, Andy, Kevin, Michele, Stacy, Vicky, Jason, Jessica, Jordan, Courtney, Kelley, Lindsey, Mariah, and Sabrina

Thank you!