What's Brady Bunch???

David and I started volunteering a couple months ago to teach the 5th-6th grade Sunday school class at church. It's just once a month while the adult service is going on. It's been a long time since either of us have formally taught this age group. We're reminded that it's that age where the boys are more challenging to engage. It's been nice to get to know the children at this church a bit.

The morning begins with us getting together with our group, which can be anywhere from 12-18 kids. Being that it's a church of missionaries, there's a high turnover, so half the children are different every time we meet. Next, we join with the rest of the elementary students (1st-6th) for the main praise and teaching time. Unfortunately, we don't have enough praise leaders to lead praise time every week, so we watch children's praise videos on tv and try to sing along.

Here are some of the kids during the joint teaching time:

Then we break up into our grade-level groups again. It's been interesting getting to know the children's backgrounds. Most of them have lived in various countries throughout their lives. One girl told me she lived in Africa for 10 years and has been in Thailand for less than a year. Several were born in Thailand. Others come from all over the world. And when you ask them how they liked living in those other countries, many say they loved it. What an amazing opportunity for Ian to meet and interact with children who've grown up with a broad worldview.

Many of the kids are homeschooled or attend private Christian schools. David's still getting a feel for what cultural references they're familiar with. I'm sure you're not surprised that he still references kung fu, Bruce Lee, and Michael Jackson. He recently mentioned "Brady Bunch," and the kids had no idea what he was talking about.

Here he is teaching through a lesson:

With the baby coming in April and then our visit back to the States during the summer, we'll only be teaching two more times. Hope that our times will be profitable.

Children's Hunger Fund at ZOE

Children's Hunger Fund sent a team here last week to deliver food to ZOE Children's Homes and to the hill tribes, where many of the orphans are from. They also did a pastoral training for the hill tribe pastors. Our senior pastor Nam from IBC, our sending church, was originally supposed to be on this team to do the trainings, but he couldn't make it out this time due to coming down with pneumonia right before their departure. =( We're sad that we couldn't see him on this visit, but thankful that he is recovering at home, as this would've been a rough trip for him with the long plane ride and poor air quality at this time of year here in Chiang Mai. (We're currently in transition from cold to hot season, which is also the season when farmers being to slash and burn their agriculture. Click on the link to read more about what that is.)

It's through CHF that our family first heard about ZOE and were able to make our first visit to ZOE with them in November 2010. CHF has a wonderful relationship with ZOE, providing the food and supplies that ZOE distributes to the local hill tribe communities through the hill tribe pastors. Once David starts working full time in a few months, one of his responsibilities will be to work with some of these local pastors.

Here's CHF's photo album from their time here. So thankful for wonderful organizations like CHF that meet the physical and spiritual needs of children and their families.

A Tribute...

Our last week before we moved to Thailand was a whirlwind. When moving, you always end up with more stuff than you thought you had. We were no exception. Thankfully, we knew the person who was going to take over our apartment lease, a church member Danny and his roommates. It was a huge relief, but also a big mess that we left for them. How crazy is it that I had a load of laundry in the dryer that wasn't done before we drove to the airport! We are so thankful for Danny, as well as Swan, Charles, and Paul who've had to deal with the disaster we left behind.

Our old bible study group met at our old place and emailed us some pictures...

Aww, we miss you guys!

And here's the gift we left for Danny & his roommates before we moved out:

On a side note, during our early months here, Ian's Sunday school teacher had him make a prayer box he could hang on the door:

 He had to color drawings of family members he would pray for...I think that's brother, grandma, sister, parents (clockwise):

 When we got home, I asked if he wanted to make some new drawings of others he wanted to keep in prayer, so he drew (from left to right)...one of Swan's girls (can't remember which), cousins Justin & Jakey (the combover look are hats worn sideways), (can't remember who the next drawing is) & pet fish Coral that we left with friends:

 Then there was this...he said he's praying for our home & guess who that is:

Uncle Danny! Looks just like him, no?

ZOE Rescue Walk

Consider participating in the ZOE Rescue Walk to raise funds and awareness about ZOE Children's Homes, caring for orphans, and rescuing children from human trafficking. You can register to walk, be a team captain, donate to a participant, donate to walk, donate an auction item, or bid on an auction item.

Here are the details:

DATE: November 12, 2012
TIME: 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
LOCATION: Newhall Park (24923 Newhall Ave. Newhall, CA 91321)

And here's a great video about the walk:

2 Texas Missionaries Found Slain in North Mexico

Praying for those who put their lives at risk every day for the gospel.

2 Texas Missionaries Found Slain in North Mexico

BBQ Time at ZOE

Because the priority for David right now is language study and because of our season of life with young children, our opportunities to participate in activities and ministry at ZOE are limited right now. We look forward to getting more involved in the middle of the year.

However, when we do have a chance, we try to make it out to different events. Various short-term missions teams and financial supporters of ZOE come to serve throughout the year. Recently, we had a team from The Sanctuary Church in Santa Clarita. During one of the evenings, there was a BBQ. We had the blessing of fellowshipping with ZOE staff, children, missionaries, and Sanctuary team members.

Here are the boys during the prep:

Staff preparing some food:

Here's a blog post about the amazing ZOE staff who can create something out of nothing.

Missionaries & sisters Lynne & Carol (co-founder) getting the skewers ready:

Vegetable skewers...yummy:

Mats & BBQs for each family:

One of the unique things about ZOE Children's Homes is that the children are placed in small family units. ZOE hires staff to care for these children as their fathers and mothers. Some of these house parents have children of their own as well. Here's a great post from one of the other missionary families about the ZOE house parents. You can only imagine the difficult ministry that these parents have in caring for these children who've come from unimaginable hardship and suffering. Praise God that He sustains them each day.

Ian, excited for the BBQ:

Eli with Auntie Kaylee, who came out about a month before us:

Ian with one of the teenage missionary children Elli:

Waiting for the BBQ to begin:

Ian with Daddy:

The boys goofing off with Daddy:

All the families enjoying their meal:

Love grilled veggies:

P. Rin (in the photo below) graduated from ZOE's bible school & is now working as an intern:

We love getting to know the staff and hearing how they came to ZOE. The other staff we got to eat with was P. Rit who also graduated from the bible school & now serves in media for ZOE. He shared that his family was the only Christian family in his village. His parents came to know Christ through missionaries. Now most of his village are professing Christians.

And here's a video of the praise time before the BBQ:

What a blessed time! ZOE had Sanctuary team members rotate mats every 5-10 minutes to meet and fellowship with different families. Loved it. As you can see, Ian had a blast too.

Happy New Year!!!

Been wanting to post more often, but it's hard to find an uninterrupted chunk of time to complete a post. I will try to post shorter posts so they can be more frequent...or rather, post more frequently so they can be shorter.

The month of December has been quite busy. We can't believe we've been here more than 3 months already! Our hearts are full of THANKFULNESS as we reflect on these past months of adjustment:

• Even with many health concerns, particularly for the boys, we're thankful that they haven't been more serious these early months. We've made it through bronchitis treated with antibiotics for both boys; 4 stitches for Eli treated with antibiotics; 3 rounds of impetigo for Ian treated with 2 rounds of antibiotics, antibiotic cream, and now steroid cream; stomach virus for Eli treated with a shot to the tush to help him keep fluids down; general respiratory issues off & on the entire time we've been here. We're now on the mend.
• Having the prayer and financial support of so many back home and even abroad in Japan, Canada, the UK, and Korea brings much encouragement and strength as we adjust to life here in Thailand. Your generous support enables us to focus this time on learning Thai, learn about ZOE, and adapt to our new life here. So thank you!!!
• Although our involvement with a local church body has been limited, we're thankful that we've been able to worship and receive solid teaching at Chiang Mai Christian Fellowship Church and attend alongside some of our ZOE missionaries. We've volunteered to co-lead a 5th-6th grade Sunday small group in the coming year. We pray that this will be an opportunity to minister to our local body and get more connected with our church.
• We're so thankful for the wonderful ZOE family. We continue to learn from, be encouraged and challenged by, and enjoy fellowship and accountability with each of them. We hope to be able to spend more time with everyone and serve more at the children's home in the coming year. David has met with the leadership to specify his job description and I've volunteered any help I can give with my limited availability from home. We meet weekly or biweekly with fellow missionaries for accountability.
• God has provided another wonderful source of accountability, support, and encouragement through the small Korean American Christian community in our neighborhood. We have grown close to our duplex neighbors, Reverend Chang and his wife who minister to local Thai communities, and Pastor Danny and his family who run elijahfoundation.org. David meets with Danny for accountability twice a month. Additionally, there is also Reverend JJ and his Thai wife Junya who run jasperkids.org and have been a great resource and source of fellowship for us as well.
• Apart from their health, the boys have been adjusting so well here in Thailand. They love school and are doing really well there. We really couldn't ask for more in regards to this area. Although Ian misses America and expresses this with daily comments about Disneyland, his cousins, our church, and old friends, he's doing great and maturing in many ways. We're especially thankful that God has given us the patience to work daily (or hourly) with Eli on his difficult behavior upon our arrival. God is gracious and helped him to settle down and given us tools to communicate with him during this stage of his development. He's not the craziest kid in public anymore. =P
• My pregnancy continues to progress normally and all measurements appear to be healthy. What was one of our greatest concerns coming out here has turned out to be the least of our concerns. I'm now entering my 3rd trimester! Whoa!
• God has blessed us with wonderful families (parents, siblings, nephews, and nieces), and we're so thankful for their full support in coming out here, as well as just loving us as we've been adjusting out here. We're able to communicate via Skype and email with them, and they help us out a great deal with our day-to-day affairs in the States. Thank you family!
• We're immensely thankful for the wonderful resources God has provided through all of you...our home, food, appliances, car, furniture, the list goes on. We have more than enough and thank God every day for providing for our needs.
• The Lord continues to uphold and strengthen our marriage as we experience this new season in our lives. We're utterly dependent on Him to help us love and support each other. We started reading through Tying the Knot Tighter together as a way to dialogue and check in with each other about the most important things. We're only on Ch. 3, but hey, it's a start. =)
• Jesus! We're thankful for Jesus. He is our hope, our strength, our joy, our reason for being here, our reason for living. He continues to be our source for anything and everything each day. We're thankful for the Lord's grace in our lives, manifested in all the ways mentioned above and in abundantly more ways.

Now for some pictures...

We continue to deal with all kinds of critters on a daily basis. This is the 3rd dead centipede we've found in our yard. The ants love them. The insecticide around our home must be killing them. Phew:

ZOE fellowship activity...we had to draw what we're thankful for:

Teamwork activity:

Eli after school in his uniform:

Common Thai dish for a little over $1:

My attempt at cooking the same dish...it's cheaper to buy it:

Another visit to the Night Safari:

I spend a lot of time each day trying to manage our ant problem:

However, this is nothing compared to one of the other missionary family's encounters with giant ants in their home. Click on this link and scroll to the video at the bottom:

ZOE women's fellowship activity: 

Playdate at the Nakamuras:

David & Eli Skyping with Gary & Nam:

Our baby girl:

At the Hug You sheep farm with Reverend JJ's organization:

Dry sledding after the sheep farm:

Getting ready to eat:

One of the missionary children, Garrett, getting baptized at church. Awesome!: 

Ian's first round of impetigo:

Thanksgiving with ZOE missionaries...look at Ian sitting by himself (by choice) on the other side of the table:

Prayer before the meal:

Generous donors donated the turkeys b/c they are expensive in Thailand. The missionary families potlucked the side dishes:

We bought Ian a bike with training wheels & a special seat for Eli to ride on our bike. During the month of November, David carpooled to Thai classes in the mornings and had to use the car 2-3 times/week, so I had to bike Eli to and from school 2-3 times/week, while Ian would ride his bike home alongside us on those days. Now that David switched to a new Thai school with classes in the afternoon, I can use the car:  

Father's Day at Eli's school:

At one of my favorite places to eat, Hideaway, where I can buy cheese products & American & Mexican food:

Random skin irritations...this one's on his ear:

Sweet sticky rice inside bamboo:

Really yummy snack:

How I do the dishes b/c most Thai kitchens don't have hot water. We tried to install a water heater, but it's too powerful for our kitchen. We got this quick boil to get hot water after Ian kept getting the impetigo & I couldn't wash his dishes in hot water: 

Mrs. Chang next door often brings over extra food she makes. This is nonspicy jjamphong. Reverend Chang doesn't eat spicy food like David, so their food is to our taste:

Snack time after school:

With a week off from Thai school, David was able to go into ZOE for a few days. Here he is after his 2nd day on the job:

Our wonderful church family sent us things from the States that are hard or expensive to come by here in Thailand...thank you Homs for the sweats:

Thank you Pawleys for the Ziploc freezer bags & Jason Park for the bonito flakes:

Thank you Christina Lau for the J. Lo & children's towels:

We haven't received the other 3 boxes yet because the post office makes us come and pick them up, and every time we go, the post office is closed.

Volunteering at Ian's school for their Christmas activities: 

 At another favorite Thai restaurant across the street:

Christmas activities at one of the missionary's homes, the Nakamuras. Nancy planned a great day of cookie decorating, storytime & a movie about Christmas:

Christmas dinner with the ZOE missionaries:

Christmas day:

Night Safari with Grandpa & Grandma:

Eli loves to pose:

Happy birthday grandma:

We didn't celebrate on her actual birthday (Jan. 1st) because of traffic and the busy-ness of the holidays, but we got to go out a few days later, along with our new good friends Reverend Chang's and Pastor Danny's families:

New Year's with ZOE...Eli posing with Auntie Jessica and Ian's buddy Nathanael:

And for those who didn't see it yet, here's our holiday message to all of you because we didn't get a chance to send cards or updates this year:


And here's a holiday message from ZOE Children's Homes:

You can keep up with ZOE Children's Homes on their blog!