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.