This one's short, I promise!

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Our first adventure (in Thailand that is)

Well, I was going to brag that the weather here has been delightful, about 80 consistantly, and when it gets hot, it is usually followed up by cooling rain. But then I found out that there are a lot of heat related deaths in California, so I'm truly sorry that you guys are having to tough out 3 digit temperatures.

On to Thailand! More pictures at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/20359761@N00/

Let’s start with Language tips:

If you’re a girl, you end sentences with ‘ka’ which has no English equivalent. It’s just the polite way of speaking. If you’re a boy, you end with ‘krop’

So...

Hello is ‘sa-wa-de (ka/krop)’ (Boys, that sounds like "so, what the crap?"

Thank you is ‘kop-koon (ka/krop)’

A little is ‘nit-noy’

Not spicy please is ‘my-pet (ka/krop)’

Toilet is ‘soo-am’

Generally most people speak at least some English but they really open up if you try to speak Thai. Jonathan has tried to order all of our meals in Thai, and it usually ends with both parties laughing.

And now general Thailand tips:

#6 Wear socks everywhere, even with sandals. They are protection against whatever invisible little critters may be crawling around the ground. In Thailand, it is expected that you will take off your shoes whenever you enter a home, so slip-ons or sandals are best. But if you’re in a remote children’s home (not Zoe, they’re clean and healthy) it would be best if you keep some socks on. It offers mental comfort if nothing else. The challenge comes with the fact that floors in Thailand are usually wet, especially in bathrooms, so soggy socks are a danger. Walk carefully to keep from sliding across wet tile.

#7 Always carry a poncho. No matter how sunny the day is.

Which brings me to our first real adventure here in Thailand.

So it was a beautiful, sunny day on Wednesday. We had traveled with the San Fernando Holiness Church team to the Golden Triangle, which is where three countries meet: Thailand, Laos, and Burma. After spending the morning doing touristy things, we drove to a children’s home to spend the afternoon and evening ministering. This home was up on a hill top, about a two mile drive from the village below. The road is new, meaning that it is a narrow dirt road. The old way of getting to the home was to simply hike it. Fortunately the hike takes a different route and is a lot shorter than the drive.

Jonathan writes:
Patty Colpepper is up near the border of Myanmar, way out in the sticks! We were expecting to have to hike up to her house because rains often make the road impassable. It was sunny when we arrived so we parked the vans in a safe spot and the drivers stretched out for a nap. The team was ferried up the muddy road in two trips each of a 4 wheel drive Toyota and Patty’s old Nissan. It didn’t take long to tour her hilltop. What a view! The town lay a mile off to the North West and the northeast was crops and wilderness. To the south was a grassy hill making a luxurious home for Patty’s pair of cows. Her cinderblock house is guarded by a leaking cistern at each corner. They catch rainwater and collect from her well. She recently built a pair of toilets, one western and one Thai style.
When the children came home from school we gave them Frisbees and ran 3-legged relays, played tug-o-war and steal the bacon. They enjoyed a rare feast of roasted chicken while the team ate PB&J sandwiches; (Another example of laudable priorities with limited funds). I’ll restate that I was not a part of this team, just an observing guest. After dinner the team helped them with some crafts and tried to get the Frisbees off the roof with ropes and bamboo. Corrugated aluminum roofs can’t support a man’s weight.
As night approached, the team presented a puppet show and bible lesson about using praise as a weapon against fear. When asked what they fear, the children answered “ghosts”. This is symptomatic of the spiritual bondage which is so prevalent in this part of the world. Animists and spirit worshippers believe that just about everything has some sort of spirit which must be kept satisfied. Shrines and offerings to long-dead ancestors are common. Nearly every property has a Spirit-House in one corner. We have heard that areas affected by the tsunami are reporting frequent ghost sightings. Please pray that God will break through and bring relief from demonic oppression.

Now back to Kelley in the studio:
The afternoon went wonderfully, we spent a lot of time just loving on those kids, playing games, jump roping, teaching them Frisbee, getting the Frisbees off the roof, it was fun. The team had discovered that the kid’s favorite meal was roast chicken, so they had provided a whole roast chicken for each child. When dinner came around, the children were surprised with their favorite meal, reminded that they didn’t have to eat the whole thing that night, and then ushered inside for the service. I think this group of kids were the most responsive of all the groups we’ve been to so far, except for the Zoe kids.

After service the team began working on crafts with the kids, and Jonathan and I were standing outside watching, helping if a need arose. But we were a little distracted by the heavy clouds and the darkening night. We had always expected to hike down the hill in the dark, but there was a new variable: lightning. A lot of it. We have learned that it usually gets windy right before it starts to rain here, so when the wind came we stuck our heads inside and let the team leaders know the rain was close.

It came a lot sooner than anyone expected. Within minutes it was pouring. The team scrambled, gathering stuff and shoving it our truck. (Kurt, to his everlasting credit, stuck with the kids and helped them finish the craft.) One of the full time Zoe missionaries had come with us on this trip and brought her 6 month old baby Nathaniel with her on his first outreach. Our first priority was getting the baby and the truck down the hill before the road became too muddy to drive. The Toyota was loaded with key people, including the baby, an LA Sherriff, and the 2 oldest boys from the home. They left and we prayed.

Patty advised us to wait until the rain eased up a little so the children sang worship songs in Thai. It was a memory that I will always cherish, those little kids, singing their hearts out while it crashed and roared outside, reminding us of the message we had just taught them: don’t be afraid, God is with you.

The rain kept pouring down and we just waited, hoping it would lighten and preparing for the hike down. Ponchos were exchanged, men giving theirs to the women. Suddenly, Dave the Sherriff and his children’s home ‘guide’ appeared out of the darkness, completely drenched. He had driven the truck safely down and hiked up to get us. He said the hike wasn’t that bad at all, and we could easily make it. He told us that Carol Hart (one of the founders of Zoe) made it halfway up the hill without any problem. We all jumped up and made the final arrangements for the trip down, but were surprised a second time when Carol stepped out from behind the building, soaked to the bone, panting but still full of contagious energy. She panted out “Ok, it’s just water, folks. And if I can make it up that hill in ten minutes, you can make it down!”

So down we went. Dave and his guide leading, myself and Jonathan bringing up the rear with the two Thai boys. Just as we began down the hillside, another surprise met us: Tom, our dear guide. He has accompanied the team everywhere because he is in charge of the rental vans we use. He was out there in the downpour, up the hill to make sure we all made it down ok. With an umbrella! He was diligently holding it up to help keep us dry, but we all motioned for him to put it down. He looked confused for a minute or two until one of our interpreters told him about the dangers of lightning and umbrellas. It seemed like there was four of him on that hike, he was running back and forth, helping here, pointing out a hole there. He must have hiked that hill three times with all the running up and down he did.

For those of you who have been on night hikes in the rain with us, this trip really wasn’t that eventful. And I thank God for that. It was a pretty straight shot down the hill. The part that freaked me out was that the first half was through a field, under power lines with lightning all around us. And it wasn’t lightning like we know it, with a good one every five minutes or so. It was a good one every minute or so. But everyone made it down just fine. God had mercy on us and made the rain lighten up as soon as we started down. There wasn’t one twisted ankle or scraped knee. A few slips in the mud and a surprised water buffalo (he just appeared out of the darkness in a flash of lightening, this massive, black, horned animal. Thankfully he just stared dumbly at us, wondering what these stupid foreigners were doing in the rain.) All and all, it was a blast, from our perspective. A little adrenaline is good, and in a way this adventure completed the SFV’s mission trip. It’s easy to say that God is protecting you, but after going through something like that night, it builds one’s faith to have experienced His protection.

I want to thank each member of the SFV team; you guys are awesome and I have much to learn from your humility, your joy, your servant's attitudes and willingness to do whatever is needed. Thank you again for allowing the McFarlands to enjoy this trip with you. I pray you have a safe journey home and I hope that you will remember our time together as fondly as I do.

Pictures!!!

This is us at a hill tribe church in the middle of the jungle.

Let me start off with some more Thailand Tips:

#2: try everything offered to you. Our best meal so far was the one the missionaries warned us not to eat. It was sooo good! (Just remember to pray really hard after eating tribal food. We haven't been sick yet, praise God.)

#3: Use a clean toilet when you find on, even if you don't have to go that bad. The squatty potties are not as bad as they seem. And they're only in remote/removed areas. Hotels, shops and resturants in Chiang Mai, and Zoe houses have real toilets. Cherish them.

#4: Bring ear plugs on Team overnighters. Communial sleeping rooms aren't always fun, or very quiet in the middle of the night.

#5: If you get motion sickness, come prepaired. These roads through the jungle made the Sierra roads seem like freeways. But getting there is half the fun, or at least that's what someone who'd never been car sick said.

Well, I have so much to say I don't even know where to start. The zoo was fun, mostly because we could have reached out and touched the animals they were so close. (Yes, we did a few times. I pet a deer fawn the size of a cat, and Jonathan fed a giraffe.) Thankfully, the dangerous critters were further away.

Except for the giant spiders. Those guys surprise you. We would be walking along, looking at a bird or tiger, look up and see a huge spider hanging above the walkway. (A reminder for everyone reading this: we look for stuff like that. Most people won't ever see this part of Thailand. We do because we're on the look out for it.) So, here's a video of one of the spiders. The brown thing is Jonathan's hat. I'm grateful he wasn't touching this one with his hand.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxbttNFeqSQ

Now onto the spiritual stuff. We have recieved our 'list' which outlines the stuff Zoe would like us to accomplish while we're here. I'm very happy to say that it's our S.H.A.P.E. exactly. They pegged us pretty well. This past week we've been doing a lot of observing and learning. Part of our purpose for this trip was to check out what a short term team looks like. And it looks pretty good. Zoe really looks after the needs of their guests, short or long term. What our Sanctuary trip will look like depends a lot on who goes and how adventureous they are.

Thais love to worship!!! The few (4 I think) services we've seen have all been filled with worshipers. I've put a few videos of worship from different places.

Zoe Children's Home Worship
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MC48N_OLx_k
Corin Children's Home Worship
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vbVBpunvKY
Corin Church Worship
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rbW8hvfqAw
And fun with kazoos that the SFV team gave to the kids.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJSoSmbtC9I


You may be wondering about the language issue. Well, we're just quick studies and we're can communicate perfectly.... Ok, not really. Chiang Mai is the second largest city in Thailand (population = Santa Clarita), and a major tourist destination. Because of that, most Thais in Chiang Mai speak at least some English. The Zoe teens have been learning English for years, and a few are actually conversant. They all help each other and there's lots of laughter, creative hand motions and sound effects. All said, it hasn't been a huge frustration. If you can though, learn as much Thai as you can before you come. It will help greatly and they love that westerners care about them enough to learn some of their language.

Now what you've been waiting for... pictures!! Unfortunantly, I'm going to redirect you to another site that's specifically for pictures. I have so many that I didn't want to bog this one down. Please remember when viewing, that we like gross things so that's why there are so many bugs. Most people won't see these guys. (Unfortunantly, I only have 6 up so far, many more to come though!! Please be patient, thanks!)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/20359761@N00/

We love you all!

Just a quickie.

Thailand Tip #1

In rainy season, do not wear pants that touch the ground. They will soak water up to your knees.

Ok, I have to tell you the cool/gross story first. Yesterday we visited a Hill tribe village and were able to wander around for a few minutes while the SFV church ministered to another children’s home. (This one was not affiliated with ZOE, just friends of ZOE) While we were exploring, it started to rain and we ducked into a half built house to wait out the rain. I was just looking around when I saw this grayish thing on the ground and realized it was a bug. A bug nearly the side of my hand. I motioned for Jonathan to come over and we got closer. It looked like a giant fly. Jonathan thinks it was a moth, but it’s wings were perfectly clear. It’s belly was about an inch in diameter, and it’s body was 4” or so long, with the wings extending further. Of course he touched it. Of course he tried to pick it up. And of course, the Thais eat those suckers and wanted to know where we found it. Apparently Greg, one of the missionaries has eaten one, but hadn’t ever seen one so big. Yes Pastor Marty, we’ll bring you one.

Needless to say, we are having a blast. But I guess it would be good to say that Thailand isn’t really a gross country. We were looking for gross stuff, because that’s just what we do. The people are sooo nice here, everyone smiles. Oh, I gotta go, my ride just pulled up. I’ll try to add more later. Today is our Anniversary, so we’re going to the Zoo and doing touristy things. May God comfort all you people who wish you were here.

Oh wait, I’ve uploaded a video of the super fly on YouTube.com

Here's a link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSEL-je6g5M

And if that doesn’t work, our user name is mcthai06, hopefully that will help you find us. I'll try to put up more stuff later. Love ya lots!!!

Thailand!!

Hello all!

For starters, ignore that date thing at the top, the time really is 6pm, Wednesday. 16 hours ahead of you guys. It will be fun when we try to call.

We are safely here, after having discovered that the Pacific is really big. I know that sounds obvious, but you gain a different perspective after seeing nothing but ocean for 12 hours.

This was bizarre: our plane left LA at 2 am Monday morning, was in the air for 12 hours, and arrived at DAWN in Taiwan. Dawn on Tuesday. How's that for science confusing things?

Well, Thailand is beautiful. The weather isn't too bad, not very hot but sticky. The country reminds us of Belize or Tropical Mexico; lots of poverty right next to wealth. The main difference between those places and here is the visible presence of Buddhism everywhere. There are temples on every corner it seems and little spirit houses (shrines) on nearly every property.

ZOE is taking very good care of us, we have just confirmed that we will be staying in a detached room at the Boy's Home (which is a 10 minute drive from the Girl's home) and we will be buying a motorcycle for our transportation, then selling it or leaving it for ZOE when we go home.

I'm trying to post pictures, but it isn't working at the moment, so maybe we'll get a few up on the next try.

Tomorrow we will be joining a short term team from a San Fernando Valley church as they go minister to a Hill tribe. We hope to send another update soon!! Much love to all!

Hello to all!

So here's my first post on our Thailand Blog. Today, I send in our Visa Application. Exciting. Ok, not really, but it was a very important step in the process.

Here's the lowdown. We leave on Monday the 17th, at 1am. That won't be fun. After the 17 hour or so flight, we will arrive in Bangkok, then take another hour and a half flight to Chiang Mai, where we will be staying.

Please pray for a safe trip there and for God's mercy in getting everything finished before we go.

My next post will be from Thailand!