Travels in Thailand

October 15, 2010

Do your travel plans always work out the way you expect them to? I suppose that would be a miracle in this day and age, right? Our travels are working out far differently — but better — than we expected. Julie and I had expected to go from Bangkok to Chiang Mai by train. It […]

The book with the truth

October 13, 2010

The Red Karen used to have a book with all the truth. It was written on animal skins. And when it got wet one day, the man who was responsible for it laid it across some bushes to dry, so it would not get moldy. When he came back from working in his field, the […]

It was all downhill after that …

October 13, 2010

Mountain driving can be dangerous. Have you ever been coming around a blind curve, in the wrong lane, and suddenly seen a car coming your way? I have, but it wasn’t my fault. Really. It was the mahout’s fault. He should have had the elephant in its own lane, which in Thailand is on the […]

Red Karen rice harvest ritual

October 13, 2010

In the beginning there was just one Red Karen, and he was only a head. He lived in a house with his grandmother, and one day when his grandmother was outside the house, the house began to take him up to Heaven. His grandmother grabbed a corner post to hold the house down, but she […]

How to start an outreach

October 12, 2010

Relationships and respect are very important to the Red Karen people. Peter and Ochie Bangcong and the believers from their village could not simply walk into another village and begin teaching God’s Word. They needed to demonstrate that they cared, and that they respected the village leaders. So they asked the village headman, Khun Siah, […]

Red Karen outreach

October 11, 2010

Last night Julie and I had the opportunity to join NTM missionaries Peter and Ochie Bangcong, and some of the believers from the Red Karen village where they work, in an outreach to another Red Karen village. The Red Karen believers did most of the teaching, as well leading the singing and the children’s program. […]

More from Chiang Mai

October 10, 2010

When I ordered a salad for lunch today, I never imagined it would be the spiciest thing I’ve eaten since I got here. I’m just glad I had some rice available. As promised, we’ve posted more pictures from Chiang Mai >>

Night in Chiang Mai

October 8, 2010

Julie and I are in Chiang Mai now, Thailand’s second-largest city and a good place from which to visit several tribal villages, which we will do starting next week. I was planning to go out and get some photos this afternoon … and then it rained. And rained. And rained. So instead, I took a […]

Arrived in Thailand

October 5, 2010

Julie and I made it safely into Thailand just before midnight Tuesday local time, and got settled into our hotel by 1:30 a.m. Wednesday. Boy, was it ever nice to be able to sleep lying down. Today we’re trying to acclimate to local time (11 hours ahead of Florida) by getting up and going at […]

Your prayers are key to our trip

September 23, 2010

Can you believe that Julie and I leave for Thailand the first week of October? I’m not sure I can. Julie told me it seems unreal to her as well. That may change when we make checklists and start packing. As our unreality shifts into nervous excitement, we’d appreciate your prayers. Thank God for providing […]