A Bunch of Burts

Move in, unpack and get busy!

That was clearly our theme for this last month.

Our new village, Don Haang, is a river culture. We have rivers on two sides of us. One small one runs through the village, and the main area river, the Nan River is just almost visible out the back of the rice fields behind us.

This time of year is boat racing time.

Our village team has been practicing nearly every day for a couple of months now. It is so important to the village that at the village meeting only a couple of days after we arrived, it was voted that participation is mandatory for men up to age 55. You either row or pay money to support the rowers.

Greg even had a chance to try out his skill at rowing. He is in the yellow shirt and in the big straw hat.

So far we have been to three races. These are multi-day events, sometimes with over 100 boats competing.

Our boat is the closest to the shore in the top left. The guys are wearing blue and red shirts and orange headbands. Go Don Haang!

It has been a great way to become part of the community, to show our identification with the people of Don Haang.

Even though I could barely recognize any of the rowers, and if I had to pick them out of a line up and say if they were from our village or not, it was hard not to get into the cheering spirit when our boat went by.

That’s us in the lead!! Faster boys, faster!
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A wonderful gift from a gracious God, giving us this perfect opportunity to work towards ‘becoming’ Thai Lue and a member of Don Haang

The words on our shirts are the names of the two boats. Petjambii and siisoontaun You can certainly see us a ways off in these shirts. And no, it was NOT cool enough to need long sleeves.

We have lots to share with you!

If the last few weeks are any indication of the future, we will be busy indeed! The next year and a half before we head back to the States on furlough will indeed speed by.

After Greg got home from his trip he went right into some other adventures, a men’s retreat with a group of guys from our church, and then out to Maesariang to spend a day with his friends out there who were graduating from the Bible School program we began with them last May.

While he was out there, a young man from our church happened to be getting married in a village near by. OK, and hour and half away, but that is fairly nearby.
The kids and I had really wanted to attend as the village is one that many of our friends from church are from, but we could not sneak away during the week. So Greg went to represent all of us.
This village is way up in the hills, water actually freezes there in cold season!

This is the wedding procession up to the church. Many in this village are Christians. This people group is one of the first ones that NTM began working with more than 30 years ago. The man at the back in the suit is the pastor of our church and friend, Boontip.

Yo and his new wife.

The next week, I took my own trip back out to Maesaring. I had been invited to attend the annual Lawa ladies gathering that takes place out at the Bible School campus.

No, I do not speak Lawa, but some of the teaching and meeting times were conducted in Thai.

For the other times, sometimes my friend Philene translated for me, and sometimes I stole away to visit with my friend Beth whose family serves at the Bible School. Leah went with me and enjoyed an extended weekend with her friend Jane, Beth’s daughter. Leah tried something for the first time that weekend. Can you guess what it was?
I will put the picture at the end of the post.
No peeking!!
But definitely a sign of things to come in our family.

Can you find me in the picture? hint: I am dressed like a Lawa lady >

Here’s a close up of me in my outfit and my friend Gaysawn. Does that help?

The ladies meeting was a very good experience, even though I understood absolutely no Lawa. It was encouraging to see this group come together, to hear the Word, to encourage each other with what the Lord is doing in their lives, and to see the representatives and leadership from several churches that are the direct fruit of the lives of previous missionaries and their diligent work in discipleship and teaching and translation. One day, I hope to be granted the privilege of seeing such a gathering of Thai Lue men and women gathering to worship the living God and study His Word together in a similar way!

The next week, our co-workers called and told us that a big Thai Lue gathering/celebration was happening up in their village. Of course we jumped at the chance to get a sort of sneak peek. One of the events was a wedding ceremony at one of the oldest houses in the village. As we checked the house out ahead of time, one of the organizers asked Greg if he would like to get married again as well. He wisely answered that one wife is enough!

The ceremony was very interesting and I have lots of questions and took many pictures which I hope to be able to use later when we actually live among the Lue. They will be a good tool for us to ask questions about the culture and gain language and vocabulary.

There were two couples getting married. The one in the pink headscarves is the dress of the village that wedding took place in, and the other is from somewhere else. The piece of embroidered cloth is a sort of wedding certificate.

Whew! Enough for now?
The next post will be more manly. And include things like gunpowder and explosions. Seriously.

OK, did you guess yet what Leah did for the first time?

She can get her license when she turns 15 this year. But definitely needs more practice before then. Mom too. I can’t let Leah get her motorcycle license before me!

Last week saw a flurry of activity for us.

Greg headed off to the South of Thailand for a survey trip with one of our co-workers. The kids and I took part of that time away to go up to Chiang Kham to visit his wife and kids while our husbands were gallivanting around Phuket.

Ok, so they weren’t exactly gallivanting, but they were down in the beautiful Andaman Sea area, with clean air and lovely beaches.

These are the kinds of boats they were island hopping in.

I will try hard not to mention that Greg in not wearing his lifejacket. Those who know me know that sort of stresses me out. Good thing he is an adult already.

Greg joined Rob for a week as he looked into a southern people group to see what sort of Gospel witness and access exists among that people group. It involved quite a bit of driving and island hopping, visiting multiple villages and meeting with village headmen and other local churches.

One of the villages with the tide in. It is easy to see why this people group was hit so hard by the tsunami a few years back.

A similar village at low(er) tide

The Lord clearly was paving the way for them though with contacts and timing, and the time was very profitable.

This time of survey, was not for us to see if we would be working with this people group, but for the leadership of Thailand to be able to think about future works with NTM Thailand.

We are still eagerly anticipating moving up to the north and joining the Thai Lue team.

For my part, the drive up to our co-workers’ village was smooth and uneventful. Just what I want in a road trip. ha.
We enjoyed several days with our friends, and Zach and Calvin played and played and played, only stopping to crash for the nights. We girls brought up a special project, fabric for making aprons. This was Leah and Ema’s first time using a sewing machine, and they thought it was great and are ready for their next project.
(I know, shame on me for not teaching my girls to sew earlier. I am shaking my finger at myself.)

sorry, no pictures, Greg had the camera with him. But I would much rather have the pictures he took anyway!

Greg arrived back last Thursday around 2:00pm, and by 6:00 the next morning, he was off again!
His men’s group at church had an overnight outing at a local dam for a time of fellowship and fishing. There are a couple of kinds of fishing here, the kind with poles, the kind with nets, and with guns. Nail guns. Greg has his own fishing nail gun, courtesy of a friend, and he shot his first fish with it last weekend!

We are sort of getting back into a schedule around our house, but of course there are some ‘extra’ events. What would a week be without those?
The group we attended the Thai Bible school with last year are graduating this week, and there is a wedding out the same direction of one of the young men who attends our church. Greg would really like to see the group of guys from Bible school one more time before they all scatter to go back home to their own villages and churches and is planning on heading up to the village where the wedding will be.

So, he left again this morning, but this will be a quick trip with him only gone for two days.

I mean really, he HAS to be back for our anniversary on Friday!
We are sending to kids a friend’s house, and we are off for a date!
Whoo-hoo! It has been waaaaay too long since we had a night out. Come on Friday!

Greg has now been at CDM (Church Development and Mission School) for two weeks.
He is definitely getting a good workout in Thai every day. He is in class each morning at 7:30 and the day ends at 9:30. Of course there are some breaks for lunch, dinner, work detail and free time, but it is a very full day.

Classes are challenging to keep up with, but from his reports, he is doing OK. His reading assignments are a bit behind, but I am so proud of him for sticking it out every day. It is not easy to be the only one who does not get the jokes and falls behind in the discussions and reading. But God is faithful and gives him His Grace each day, and supplies His strength. Of course some day are more frustrating than others, but praise God, His Merices truly are new every morning.

Some of the extra-curricular lessons Greg has been learning are also interesting.

lizard trapping
shellfish gathering
banana plant maintenance (did you know they are filled with water?)
intense soccer
wild plant gathering
making animal traps from logs and string

Wish we had two camera to have sent with him, but then I guess he would not have any way to get the pictures to me anyway. We will just have to wait until the kids and I get out there.

We both sure do appreciate all who are praying for us. Not only for Greg as he is immersed in Thai and various other languages, but for the both of us while we are separated and miss being together as a family. Sure has made me appreciate the blessing Greg is to us and causes me stop and thank God often for him.

I am a bit concerned for our arrival out there though. It seems rainy season has begun early and that always bring a great deal of bugs. He has commented nearly every night on the vast array of insects and their size. Some unnamed members of our family do not, shall we say, deal well with bugs.
For those of you who are familiar with the Great Spider Incident know just what I am talking about.

Another matter for prayer I am sure.

Today, I have been married to my sweet husband for 15 years. That sounds like a long time, and yet, it does not seem that long ago that we began our life together.

No, he did not shove the cake in my face

We have been through many many things, some so wonderful, and others so painful. But for all of them, Greg, I am so glad you have been by my side.
I thank God for you, for the man you are now, and for the man He is making you into.
Thank you for loving me each day, even when I am not so loveable. You are my love and my favorite companion. I am blessed to be able to work with you every day and share our whole lives together in ways I had not thought possible or practical.

Life has been an adventure in common and uncommon ways and I so look forward to the next chapter of our lives. You are deeply loved by me!
I pray that our girls would find husbands like you, a man who loves the Lord, his wife and his family, who makes them laugh and holds them when they cry.
Thank you Lord for this man you have given me!