ALH Playground, Angsila, Chon Buri, Thailand

Our whole goal for this trip was to complete a playground for the orphanage, making it the only one in an eight-mile radius.  Even though Thailand is in its winter season, it is stinkin' hot there! In fact, I had never, ever experienced heat on this level. The insane thing was it was only in the nineties, but with the humidity, I am sure the heat index was in the one hundred twenties. I GOOGLED it, but never could locate this info. Anyway, that being said, we would sweat through our shirts dozens of times a day; it literally poured off us in buckets!
The first couple of days were overcast, and it actually rained on Monday, so we got a lot done. Our foremen, Rick and Paul, thought we would finish on Wednesday...then came the heat wave. No clouds, no rain, fifty more holes to dig, piles of gravel to move to get to the level dirt where we needed to dig, plus a relocation of our sleeping arrangements, and lastly, our foreman, Rick getting food poisoning, made things look pretty bleak. We had to take more frequent breaks to prevent heat exhaustion AND drink even more water. We ran through it so fast, it kept running out.
Those gravel piles loomed around us like Goliath, with our shovels as the slingshots.So I asked about a Bobcat to move the gravel, and Karen got right on it. When the tractor got there Thursday afternoon, I cried as I heard a cheer rise up all around me, and we all did a happy dance. God showed His love to us all with the most simple answer to prayer that day, when I asked him to send a Bobcat. We got a Kubota, for Thursday AND Friday, and the playground was finished on schedule, at 9 AM! Praise Him! He is truly a personal and most kind and awesome, loving Father.

Vacation Bible School Thai Style

For four days, we did a VBS at the Angsila slums. Two of the sweet widows, whom Ricky and Karen have helped, loaned us their patio areas, so the kids would have a place to sit down and tables to do crafts and coloring on.  Our stories were of Jesus and how much He loves them.  They were as follows, chronologically:  "Jesus Calling the Disciples to be Fishers of Men, "The Good Samaritan," "Jesus Washing the Disciples' Feet," and "The Cross and Resurrection."  Each day we did color pages about the story, along with fun crafts, from bookmarks, foam sticker visors, and beaded cross necklaces.  The kids loved all the games too. They "fished for men" with magnet fishing poles, jumped rope, played soccer, blew bubbles, hit beach balls, hula hooped, threw bouncy balls, and just had fun being kids.  The songs were a blast as well, and by the second day, the kids were doing all the motions and singing a lot of the words.  We ended each day with a healthy drink and snack for these beautiful children who live in such dire straits.  The living conditions are the worst I have ever seen, although I have been told it was not so bad here, compared to third world countries. On the last day of VBS, the children were coming up to the translator and asking how they could receive Jesus as their Savior.  So we sat them in a group, and she reviewed the Thai salvation tract with them.  The most amazing experience of my trip was standing in the middle of nearly thirty Thai children listening to them all pray aloud at the same time and ask Jesus to forgive their sins and save them.  Thank you, Jesus!

Thai Longtail Boats

<p>Ever been on a longtail boat? It is quite the experience! Actually, we got to go sightseeing in Bangkok with Ricky Sanchez yesterday, He and his wife, Karen, are our host missionaries. Anyway, Ricky took us on a power tour. We saw the Grand Palace, which is the King's home and the most famous Thai temple (with one of the oldest jade Buddhas in Asia on display), did the longboat ride, then hit the Siam Paragon Mall (one of Bangkok's largest), and we even got to all experience the "squatty potty"a couple of times (just 3 baht and 2 extra for toilet paper)! What is great is that we achieved this by way of six forms of transportation, in this order...truck, van, taxi, longboat, train, and bus (not to mention our feet). Ricky said he was sorry he didn't have time to squeeze in a scooter and a tuk tuk, which is another story. You should only be so lucky to have such a caring, congenial, and totally refreshing host. Whodda thunk a missionary would ever be part of Raider Nation? GOOOOOOOO Broncos!!! Sorry, Ricky. Horses, are after all, practically royalty!!!

Bangkok, Thailand

<p>Nearly fifteen million people all searching for the truth make up this city of old. For those of you who have ever enjoyed the movie, The King and I, Thailand used to be called Siam. The storylines depicted on the outer walls of the Grand Palace are truly amazing works of art, and the giant guardians called Yai, in front of the palace temples are fearsome. It all ends in Nirvana, which, sadly, is impossible for the common man to attain. Thank you Jesus that no matter the likes or differences of cities (I found that Bangkok has many similarities to LA and Chicago and New York.), or the beliefs or unbeliefs or the agreements or disagreements of mankind, Your truth is everlasting, your love is unfailing, your gift of salvation is free to anyone who chooses to accept it. I love you, Lord.

Our Transportation for the Week.

This truck is our transport for wherever we need to go. Michelle and Wicus got lucky and have a scooter they get to use for the next eight days! Tons of fun, folks!

First Church Service at Chonburi, Thailand

<p>Ricky and Karen Sanchez, the missionaries we are partnering with, have been instrumental in planting several churches here in this coastal town. Today, we had the privilege to worship with one of these churches, and participate in their baptismal service. Two of our own, Jess and Andy, were baptized in the Gulf of Thailand, with other fellow Christians. Karen told the audience that they had been praying for six baptisms, and with God moving on the two men from our group, it brought the total up to seven.  When these beautiful Thai  people make a decision to be baptizyed, they are cut off from their families, who are Buddhist. This is a huge decision and sacrifice for these dear brothers and sisters in Christ.  We ended the service by laying hands on the ones being baptized, and asking God to honor and bless their step of faith. Thank you Lord for saving us and loving us, Dear Jesus. Your gift of salvation is the ultimate and absolute everything!

We Made it to LAX!

ENTER:  Much juggling of suitcases and people; Pastor Jeff then saw us off from the Bridge with a prayer asking God to use us for His glory, AND to bring souls into His Kingdom. After following Lawrence on a wild goose chase down the "To stay alive, stay off the 5," and walkie-talking some lame jokes between the van and truck, we FINALLY stopped to eat a masterfully made burger at the airport In-n-Out Burger. Checked 31 bags filled with stuff for the orphanage , waited an hour in line at the ticket counter and the security checkpoint, and, POW! We were at the gate with nearly thirty minutes to spare. Our adventure begins, God.  :)

Q & A Day

Well, we are down to the wire. Our team flies out at 2330 hours on the evening of Nov. 8, 2012. We fly to Taiwan, and then on to Thailand, for a total of thirteen hours on two different planes.  God, go before us and pave the way, so that Jesus will save many souls to someday be ushered into the Kingdom of Heaven.  Thank you for saving us and giving us this privilege to spread the Good News!