Guest blog and a bit from me!

Three weeks ago our final guests came to stay with us ..... The parents!  

 It has been a lovely three weeks having them stay and seeing what life is like in Thailand. You can only explain so much on a skype conversation, and despite how much we explained how hot it is they still brought 7 jumpers between them ...... They have not worn them once!!  

We had a few days in Chiang Mai (Monday to Thursday) and it was a great break. Me and Mel loved the familiarity of the shopping malls, restaurants and being in a modern city.  

Me and Melissa had our anniversary on the 4th and June and the parents had theirs on the 6th .... So we had a surprise booked.

Thanks to Ian and Grace we went to the Elephant Nature Park. All the elephants are rescued and most are disabled or orphaned. You do not ride them but spend the day with them amongst 200 acres of fields, woodland and rivers watching them live a life as normal as possible. We washed them in the river as they ate their watermelon and feed them them throughout the day.

I did not know how elephants are tamed so they can be used for work or tourists etc, but they showed us a video on a process which is involves breaking the elephants spirit ...... It is the one of the cruelest things I have seen and involves beating the elephants for days until they give in ..... Explaining the video would not even come close to what we saw. 

One of the elephants worked on an illegal logging site, she was pregnant and because of being worked during this time gave birth on a hill to the baby elephant who roll down the hill and died. 

After this the elephant did not want to work but was forced to carry on by its owner. Eventually the elephant just stop and after being hit with sticks and spikes in sensitive areas was stabbed in the eye ....... This happened another time so they owner fired a slingshot into its eye .... She is now blind. The park rescued the elephant and now she is looked after by four other elephants. Whenever she gets scared the elephants surround her until she feels protected.

There are many others with stories like this, even elephants with drug addictions because they have been given amphetamines to make them work 24 hours a day. 

A man said to me on the ministry that we would be better doing something practical then just calling on people's doors ...... I can understand his viewpoint, BUT you realise with many of the problems you see in this world and despite all the charities that do great work, this world needs help greater help than humans can give. That is why we wait for the bibles promise of God stepping in to restore the earth back to its original condition and why we tell others about it. It's nice to see that at the convention there is even going to be a bit about living in harmony with the animals!!  

The ministry has been difficult the last few weeks. Many arrangements have had no one turn up leaving me and Melissa to find calls or write Emails etc, but there is only so much of that to do. To be honest we knew the congregation had a need but I don't think we realised how much. 

Before I took the group arrangement back home for granted sometimes, but now I realise how encouraging it is. There are many things I will not taking for granted anymore back home, understanding a meeting, talking to brothers on the ministry, Almondsburys great support for ministry .... so many things.  

Despite the tough bits we want to come back and the more we learn with the language it will get easier. It's amazing how even the things we have found hard in a strange way have also been encouraging, even though if at the time we couldn't see it. 

Another thing that is amazing and encouraging is our friends back home as they are providing us great examples whether it be doing more ministry, simplifying life, construction work or learning languages. 

Anyway I will pass the blog on to the parents.....

Can't wait to see everyone in 8 weeks!!!! 

Over to Dad ...

Our 3 weeks in Thailand experiencing the Thai lifestyle & associating
with the small congregation in Phayao has been very enjoyable. It has been a
fascinating insight to Si & Melissa’s life here. It has been well worth the
long journey & we plan to visit Phayao again.



Thailand is such a beautiful country. The contrast of the cities & rural
areas makes for a fascinating mix.



The nature of the Thai people has really left a lasting impression on us. They
are very warm & friendly towards visitors. Many have very little and work
very hard, but they seem content & mostly have a happy disposition.



While recognising the present political climate in Thailand, we can report that
there has not been a single occasion in 3 weeks where we felt any
resentment or negativity towards us as visitors. In fact, quite the
opposite. Many of the locals were curious to see us and smiled, waved
& said hello.



The Congregation was both warm & welcoming, although few in number. It is
not difficult to see why Si & Melissa were assigned here as their need
for help is obvious.

However, their assignment here is not without its challenges - 

oppressive heat & humidity (which saps energy), a very complicated language
with almost no Thai people understanding any English & irregular
support for ministry arrangements - to highlight just a few.





Si & Melissa have been frustrated regarding their progress in
learning Thai, but as others visitors have highlighted, they have done so
well. We have been constantly amazed to hear their conversations with both
people in the territory & the bros & sis's. While their frustration regarding
the language is real, 

they have actually made excellent progress in just 6 months.





While the focus of their activity has been supporting meetings &
ministry, they have also arranged opportunities for regular association at
picnics, Mon eve football (in oppressive heat & humidity!)- all of
which has been well received & well supported. They have taken a
special interest in the young ones - arranging pre-study (which Si, after
much preparation, conducts in Thai). 

It is obvious to visitors that the bros & sis in Phayao have
become very fond of Si & Melissa & really appreciate their
efforts.



We have enjoyed working with the Congregation in ministry. The area of
territory is very large, with many rural villages. The people we have called
on have been friendly & generally pleased to see us - & tolerant of our
inept attempts at a brief Thai presentation. Si estimates that over 75% of Thai
people in the area have not heard of Jehovah! As the territory is so vast,
emphasis is put on the JW.org site as many here have access to internet.

So, we leave Phayao with fond memories of the brothers & sisters here.
However, the surprise to us has been the warmth of the Thai people in general.
To Si & Melissa - a big thank you for allowing us to share your life here
for a few weeks. Stay safe. Jehovah’s blessing.






 Monday night football, Dad proved to be the next Joe Hart!







Leaving for Chiang Mai





New tracts for JW.org





They do lovely iced coffees and green teas here so stopping on ministry.





At the local wat.









 Chaing Mai zoo





Feeding time! 20p to feed a whole bunch of bananas!







Elephant Nature Park!









I didnt think this through, it was so fishy!!





Anniversary dinner!





Bath time!







 Did study with a bible studies kids and got them to draw what they wanted life to be like in the paradise.  They drew us a house next to theirs which was nice!





 Ministry with Bro Pundrey and Bro Pratan









Finished product ... im aware hippos dont live in the sea (bottom left) but they wanted one!

Tough few weeks but happy days as parents arrive!

We had a great couple of weeks with Sue and Kez and really enjoyed seeing how much they enjoyed their time here.

Unfortunately I was ill the week before they came and got worse the first few days they arrived so stayed in bed ... I had done well to avoided sickness up until then!

The night before Kez and Sue left one of the Sisters in the congregation (Boo) thanked us for coming to the hall and all the friends that have visited.  This was funny because we were worried whether it might be a distraction meeting so many different people and changing every few weeks.  However the fact is many of the Brothers and Sisters haven't been abroad, some haven't even been to Bangkok, so when Brothers and Sisters choose to spend their money and time visiting their little congregation in Phayao they really appreciate it and love meeting Brothers and Sisters.  Whenever anyone has left someone says 'we will see you in the paradise'.

Something that made me laugh is the other week we had a thunder storm during the Sunday meeting and the hall just started to leak so Brothers were going up and down the hall onto the platform with buckets, towels and mops trying to catch the water!

Ministry has also been difficult as quite a few times we have turned up to ministry groups with no one else there!

At first we were a bit discouraged, but you remember that we came to the congregation to help so we know things were not going to be perfectly organised so we just get on with things.  If anything it has been good because it pushes us to try harder at return visits and calls ... these can be a struggle with the limited language we know but we have had some good conversations!

We are enjoying time with the congregation more and more.  They now love the Monday night picnic and football and even one of the oldest members in our hall came to watch with her zimmer frame and chair .... I asked if she wanted to play but she declined!!

One of the young studies in the hall was working in the market every night but one night was short of  staff so Mel and I offered to help him out.  So we put on the aprons and cooked these Japanese dough balls in the evening market.  You could tell all the locals were wondering what we were doing there!

Many people have asked us about the trouble in Thailand yet so far we have seen no trouble in Phayao.  We do have to live by the curfew and are back in our house at 22:00. (Easy for us early birds)  If you stay out then an army van patrols the streets with a big spot light.  There are a few soldiers around the lake and bus station but nothing to worry about.  In fact, I even asked for a picture with one young soldier and he was obliging.

My parents arrived to Phayao on Sunday which is brilliant and we were both very happy to see them.  They are already loving their time here.  Were all going to Chaing Mai for a few days next week which will be really nice.

Sorry it is a bit of a scatty blog but its hard to remember everything that has happened and I just type as it comes into my mind.

Sue and Kez (and 2 rabbits)

So we had a brilliant trip over. It was a long flight but we loved it…especially Sue because she could go and make friends with the cabin crew. Each time she came back with armfuls of food. Brilliant!

We arrived in Chiang Mai and went straight out to a street food market…thrown in at the deep end! We had a great time in the city. There is such a relaxed atmosphere and everything was so easy it’s unreal! While there we visited the zoo which was amazing….. 

We also visited Tiger Kingdom which was the most incredible experience… 

We had an earthquake while we were in the city that was a magnitude 6 which was pretty scary. We were in a big old building shopping when the walls started shaking and people started screaming and grabbed us and pulled us out onto the street. We then had tremors all through the night and we could feel the whole building moving. Was a bit worrying but we survived! 

Then it was down to Phayao to meet Mel and Simon. The drive was beautiful all through the hills and countryside. It made me fall in love with Thailand more and more. Phayao is not what either of us expected, it is a lot bigger and more civilized! The lake is beautiful and the people are lovely, although being white we were quite a novelty.

Going on the ministry has been brilliant…so much better than in England! All the people are so hospitable and want to listen to you…even if they don’t understand you. We both tried to speak to people in Thai which I think people appreciated and it was nice for us to feel involved.  

We spent one day working around some paddy fields talking to the workers there. 

The congregation are lovely! Most of them don’t speak any English, yet they still want to come and say hello and make an effort with us which is really sweet. The young ones are a great example as they have really worked had in the truth, often without the support of family. We can learn a lot from their determination and zeal. 

The meetings have been an experience. We don’t understand anything but it is obvious there is a real need here. With only 3 elders and 2 ministerial servants, one brother could have 3 different parts on the meeting as well as being on platform duty. One meeting there was a talk about how different ones came to be a witness. As all the congregation knew each other so well, the brother thought it would be nice to get a different story so asked Sue to do the interview. It was lovely that they asked her and she enjoyed being part of it. Picchakorn translated it and Mel read it out. She did really well and everyone understood it. 

The only issue we have had is that the pavements are a little uneven meaning Sue has fallen over 3 times…poor thing! The scenery here is incredible; I love to see the mountains and the greenery. One of the best bits is seeing the sunset over the lake. It’s been 2 weeks but I’m still not tired of that view! The heat is a bit of a struggle but we have managed. We tend to stay in when it gets too hot and go out later when it is cooler. Oh and the food!! It is all so amazing, and so cheap! It is quite incredible to be able to go out for a delicious meal and only pay £1 or £2. I am going to go home such a cheapskate.  

I love the markets too. Some of the food markets are a bit gross, but the craft and clothes markets are great. I bought lots of presents for people back home just to have an excuse to buy all these amazing things! We have had plenty of new experiences, riding on tuk-tuks, motorbikes and side cars as well as trying new fruits and vegetables left right and centre! 

One of the most exciting moments was when we rescued 2 baby rabbits from a lady selling them at the side of the road. They were so small and skinny, we couldn’t just leave them there so bought them home in a box. They have become a major part of our little lives with much time spend feeding and fussing them. Fortunately they are thriving with the TLC they are getting and are looking much better. We didn’t think they would survive the first night but they are doing so well, it is looking good for their little future. Simon is like a proud dad constantly making adjustments to their living quarters, and Mel still can’t get over their cuteness…they are like proud parents! 

I have completely fallen for the way of life here. Everyone is so easy going, there is no stress and I think we have heard only one siren in 3 weeks which is impressive. I can see why Mel and Simon love it here. There are doing so well with the language, it sounds really impressive to us!  

It is sad that we have to leave just when we are starting to settle into the routine of life here but it has been such an amazing experience, I will remember it forever. I definitely want to come back to visit for longer. For now though, we have a couple of days left in Chiang Mai where we are staying in an elephant camp which will be a lovely end to a great holiday!