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! 

Guest bloggers Sue and Steve

Well We have just had Sue and Steve come to visit us in sunny and ridiculously hot Phayao!!

From start to finish the two weeks were brilliant and great company.

For a change I thought I would get our visitors to write a blog about their time here, so ladies and gentlemen please relax and enjoy the blog from Sue and Steve ...

Me and Steve all set and ready to go on our Thailand experience :) Steve said  'i hope it's hot, could do with losing some weight' !  

After 17 hrs of travelling we got to our hotel in Chiang Mai. This is the view from our balcony where we crashed out for three days!

Close to our hotel was a venue that did entertainment and food, known locally as a Khontoke. Basically sit on some cushions and watch a show whilst having a meal.

The bowl in the middle was raw meat.... mmmmm yummy.... it  looked like slimy worms. Yuk! An authentic Northern Thailand dish...

In Phayao now... And enjoying the ministry. The Thai people are very hospitable and more often than not have a refreshing cold drink of water to give us....

An informal ministry day out to the mountain tribal people.. What a view!

A group of women and children sitting in their meeting place that overlooks the view above... Beautiful... we all descended on them. This was the first practice of my Thai presentation in front of the 'experts'...  So nervous.  The Thai women were very kind and accommodating......thankfully.

Here they are looking and listening to one of the DVD's  'Why Study the Bible' that can be viewed on the  jw.org website.

One the young brothers from Phayoa congregation is called Picchakorn (20 years old).

Steve was very impressed with his compassion towards this elderly man.  Such a lovely quality in our young men.

I met this lovely lady, who struggled out of her hammock (had a bandaged leg) to join her family, Sister Boo and myself on the wooden meeting deck. She wanted to hear what we were talking about.  She was very animated about the message we were bringing.  She made my day!

As we were leaving, I turned back for one last look............ and quickly captured this shot :)

This is some Army men who were laying a new entrance into this property. Steve was working with Brother Chom.

Another picture of the Thai meeting places. They are dotted around all over the villages through Phayao. They just gather here for their little chats of the day. I have taken several pictures of the different designs I've seen over the two week visit.... This is just one of them..... I just think its a lovely idea..

Almondsbury congregation generously bought a pile of shirts and ministry bags for certain ones in Phayao congregation who have minimal income.  Many buy their shirts secondhand, even then they often have old stains on them or are frayed at the seams.  This is a picture of  a single mothers son... Yen.  She has 3 other young children and is studying the bible.... As you can see from the picture Yen  LOVES his shirt!!!

Simon has now accepted Steve as a friend cos he likes Lionel Richie music!!!

(sorry, Steve wanted to add this)

 Lovely Mel n Simon.. They introduced us to their life in Northern Thailand and to listen to them speaking thai with the locals was a delight..... they are making such an impact on the locals but most importantly within Phayoa congregation!!  Its been a real treat to see the progress they have made here, though they admit it has had its challenges.  The Thai language is extremely challenging with next to no English spoken here!

 Its so very obvious to see how fond the congregation are of Simon & Mel as they have taken the young ones under their wings and arrange events so the young and older ones associate together outside of meetings. It  is difficult for the association due to vast distances some have to travel  to get to meetings. They now enjoy picnics by the lake, football sessions on Monday evenings & swimming

............ All this in only 4 months... Jehovah is certainly blessing their efforts.

Sue and Steve

It has been a good two weeks and was so amazing to see how much Sue and Steve loved it here.  A real boost for me and Mel.

As we said they could have treated themselves and gone anywhere for a relaxing break but they decided to come to Phayao and help for two weeks.

The Brothers in Sisters in the hall are enjoying meeting everyone and get a real boost from it and, as you can probably tell, so do the visitors.

We and Mel have now done our second visa extension and have a border crossing next month.  The guy behind the desk is quite scary but now we speak a bit of Thai he was ALOT nicer and even tried to crack a few jokes.

There are a few more things we did, including visiting a beautiful national park (pictures are below)

The CO's gone and Songkran has started

Well today Songkran (the traditional new year) has started in Thailand.  Being a new year celebration were not celebrating it HOWEVER that does not mean were not going to get drenched in the next few days of the celebration.  Pick up trucks drive round with barrels of water to throw, they set up pipes with jets all along the lake to soak the cars and people line the streets to throw water at drivers and scooters, and kids the last week have been buying water guns none stop!

Today we saw two girls fall off their scooter as a bucket of water hit them .... luckily everyone was OK but I think the scooter had a big scratch!

The week before last we had the CO and his wife visit are hall.  It was very encouraging because when he gave the talks he also gave us the outline in English so we actually understood something!!! WOOHOO!!

The CO is from Thailand and speaks really good English (they have to learn as the MTS school is in Australia).  He is 36 and has been on the circuit for 9 years!!!  He was telling us about all the different congregations he visits including one which is on the border of Myamar (Burma).  It is in a refugee camp that holds 50000 people from Myanmar and they cannot leave it to come into Thailand or back into Myanmar.  They have no running water and rely on a river for there water.  He showed us pictures of his visit on his phone and the hall was packed with people stood around the sides and on the stairs ... you can tell he was encouraged.

During the visit we were invited on so many meals at peoples home or in restaurants, once again people were very generous!  One couple are in their 80's and cooked and bought in lunch for about 15 of us.

We also now get the Almondsbury meeting sent to us!!!  This has been a massive boost and it is so nice to understand a whole meeting.  We also enjoyed hearing everyone's voice from back home ... right now I'm listening to last weeks watchtower .... lovely reading Mark!

We also had a text from a couple (Ian and Grace Rotherham) who are serving in Bangkok, that our friends know, and they asked if they could come and stay for a few nights to see what the north of Thailand is like.  They have a blog to which is www.iangracethailand.wordpress.com.

They arrived Monday and stayed till Thursday.  They were great company and it was so nice to speak to people that are in Thailand for the first time and have similar experiences.

Back home they are in the only Thai group in England which is in Manchester.  Their Thai was very good.

We all wanted to do lots of ministry while we could all support each other.  The first few months you cannot do as much ministry as you want, because your reliant on other people to assist with the language.

Anyway now I have personal territory so we did a lot of that and went out with the group a few times.

We all plucked up the courage to walk into a Wat (temple) and talk to some monks and give them truth tracts and memorial invitations (pics below).  We were pretty nervous and we thought it was only a group of 5 or six ..... however there were monks everywhere but they were friendly and took the leaflets, even posed for a photo.

Melissa and Grace went to talk to a different group of monks but followed the rules in place and did not hand the literature directly to the monks but placed it on the floor for them to pick up (a lady is not allowed to directly pass something or touch a monk).

We also worked a morning market and gave all the vendors invitations to which the majority said yes.  It quite loud so not always easy but people are interested in what a couple of "FARANGS" are doing talking to everyone.

They also have some amazing examples in there hall of people who were once before ladyboys and spiritualists but now pioneers and elders ... great example.

I have just been given my second bible reading and Mel has her first talk BUT its when my parents are here so that will be nice for them .... I think!

Me and Melissa are so excited that so many people back home are changing things to do more in the truth and even some planning on coming to Thailand!!  It was because of our friends back home being so enthusiastic about their trips that made us start asking questions and making plans.  Jehovah is noticeably speeding up the work and it seems everyone is doing as much as they can ... very exciting.  There are ups and down to being away from home and its not at all like being on a constant holiday, however it is amazing ....... if we can do it anyone can!!!

I have quite a few pictures to post as that is what people are mostly interested in.

 Lunch time during the CO visit.

 Working local territory and the start of the steps to the Wat.

 Invitations in the market.

 Ian checking out the local property for when they move to Phayao next year ... to be continued.

 Memorial campaign in the market.

 This is a house! 

Ministry in the Wat.   

 Mel did ministry while I bought pork scratchings from the householder

 Me and Mel out on our own, but rewarded with a good call who speaks English as his first language.

 Picnic at the lake.

 These are spirit houses.  The Thai people believe that when they build a house they upset the spirits that live on that ground so every house has one of these houses.  They place food, drink and incense there every morning to keep the spirits happy.

 Another lunch time stop ... the CO is in the middle.

 This is next to wear the monks live (we also spoke to the older monks there).  Once the tree is wrapped and blessed by a monk it cannot be cut down or you will be cursed.  You see this is many places.  They also wrap the same type of tree that Buddha sat under to find enlightenment as its sacred to them.

 Congragation picnic ... we played football afterwards ... turns out the girls in the hall are good at it, they came in full Barcelona and Man United kits.

 Yet another puppy but one of the friendliest.