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!