Fun Factor Plus

 

"Bai teo" means 'out for fun', or a little getaway or outing. That was us yesterday.

With an early start, a stop along the way to pick up our lunch for later, and at least one bathroom stop, it took us the better part of the morning to get where we were going. Even before that, you can only imagine what it would be like to prep 17 kids and 7 adults for a day trip. And even before that, the girls had to get all dressed up. Best not-school-not-church clothes. Make up even.

When you're in such a big family, these times are rare. Better make the best of them.

But finally we were off on our rollercoaster adventure.

The word 'rollercoaster' probably conjures up something of an amusement park environment for most of us, at least it did for me when Yupa suggested this for our 'bai teo' this visit.

In actuality, we ended up riding more of a jungle coaster, with some fast turns yes, but more just coasting along the tracks that took every advantage of the gravitational pull down the side of the mountain. Appropriate amount of nervous laughing in the line. Pairing off of the smaller ones with an adult of one of the older girls. Happy screaming around the first fast corner, and big smiles coming up the track at the very end.

Next to lunch, where we found a restaurant willing to let us bring to the tables the chicken and sticky rice meal we had packed, while we ordered several plates of 'som tum', a spicy papaya salad that almost every Thai child will tell you is their favourite food.

From there off to the Queen's Botanical Garden for a magical 'canopy walk' under the tropical rain forest, some happy browsing through the greenhouses, and a visit to the display of tribal villages. Some of the children gave little cries of recognition at the familiar, jumping on the riding card, or climbing up into the huts. Beemai even 'played' at making a meal around the fire pit - just like how she remembers from her village.

Last stop was the Museum of Science, still on the grounds of the Royal Garden. But it was getting later in the day, we zipped through, truth be told. But I was still glad we could expose them to the excellent interactive learning stations, and even just enjoy the wonder of God's creation in the displays of flowers, forests and minerals.

So much fun. All of it. And so much more.

We talked about it at supper. The whole picture of the benefits of these kinds of trips. Fun, yes. And all by itself, that's worth it. To bring joy and lifted spirits and a sense of wonder at how great life can be to this family of gathered children...yes. Fun, yes.

And.

Think of everything else that happened.

More exposure to urban life for children who've never seen a city before coming to live with us. So important if we want to encourage them to become influencers in their own country.

Making good memories to hold on to, balancing out early childhood experiences that would not be so happy. And making them together with our family. Forging relationships that can last a lifetime.

Allowing them to observe various occupations along the way, allowing them to add to their repertoire of 'what I might want to be when I grow up'. As Karen pointed out, maybe some of them will be curious and want to study more science when they get the chance to choose. Or engineering, as in 'how do you get a coaster track to stay in place on the side of a very steep hill/' or 'how did that canopy walk bridge get built?' And so much more.



And the encouragement that they are loved and important. That their Sponsors would make sure they didn't just have the basics, but the fun extras as well. That God would have written this incredible story to connect us from the other side of the world.

You are seen. You are loved. You matter. Let's go have some fun. and then some.

Our thanks, our gratitude is enormous for this.
I know many of our beloved supporters might never be able to come in person. But yesterday - and every day of course - your presence was very much with us. Your love was tangible.

You were very much the PLUS factor for our day of Fun.

All the Moving Parts of All the Things

 

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him."
Romans 8:28

A cooler, clouded sky hangs over the morning, and it seems fitting somehow. We are welcoming this day with faith for God's leading in all that is presenting itself to us.

For one thing, it's a day of comings and goings. I've mentioned this before, I think, that a unique feature of our time together as a Team is that we haven't really spent the whole time together as a Team. Roger and Karen will return from Phuket this afternoon. Norma and Angela will return to Canada later this evening. Flight times and vehicle capacities make two trips necessary. There's a fair bit of packing, texting, and synchronizing of watches going on.

Of course, this means a time of goodbyes this evening. Bitter sweet in that we come here willing to give our hearts away, and end up leaving pieces of it behind. Every. Time. Angela and Norma are already expressing their feelings about it all. And truth be told, as we've said around the table, if something doesn't hurt about leaving maybe one shouldn't have come in the first place.

A harder thing. Yesterday we had the sad and difficult task of informing one of our girls that her father had passed away. She had already lost her mother three years ago, and had found the grieving difficult. This has hit her hard. We're only into day one of the mourning process, and she has stayed home from school today to regain her composure a bit, and just shadow Dtu in some every day chores, slowly, as she's able. The circumstances of the death were difficult enough that I will respect the privacy and not include the details here. But it is just an added layer to the weight of it all.

Travel stress, grieving, health concerns. All coming together on this day. I have in mind a scene from a movie, I think it's from one of the Dr. Strange episodes, where all the buildings, the streets, everything is heaving and moving at odd and impossible angles, while the characters battle for their lives. At any moment the ground gives way and a new stance is needed to keep your balance and keep the danger at bay.

And while I don't want to portray any sense of real danger or inflate anyone's experience of disorientation - mostly we are staying calm and going with the flow as best we can - there's a certain theological picture in the movie reference that reminds me of something essential.

When so many moving parts are in play, and it seems rather confusing and disrupting to me, there's a God at the helm, controlling the levers, orchestrating everything according to His plans and purposes. And even as we face what we cannot control, we trust in the One who's in charge.

"All things" include, well all the things. And while Romans 8:28 has sometimes been given a bad rap for its glib recitation to people in pain, it's still true. Either I believe it or not. And I do believe it. With my whole being.

So, if you are so inclined, prayers are welcome.
For comfort for one young girl.
For travel safety for four Team members.
For wisdom in caring for and leading our family here through a time of support in mourning.
For all the comings and goings and moving parts of a day that hold so much potential to see what God will do.

Amen and amen.

"Only A Boy Named David" and Other Clips from the Highlight Reel

 

We’re all saying it today.  How have these first few days gone by so fast?

That weird sense of time is only made more ‘warpy’ because of a transition we’re experiencing as Roger, Karen and Norma head south to Phuket for a visit with Esther.  As well as being one of our own from Highview, and Norma’s niece to boot, Esther has been serving with For Freedom International in Thailand for over a year. 

It will be a fun excursion for them, and a perhaps quieter dynamic for Angela and I who will remain at Hot Springs, and it’s all good.  But it’s also a little sad because, well, we were all really enjoying each other’s company so much.

It has gone fast.  Days have been full.  A lot of hopes for how we’d spend our time here have already seen fruition.  Particularly for Roger and Karen whom we have dubbed our ‘camp activity directors.’  Jenga and Dutch Blitz, both with ‘some assembly required’ energy spent.   Sneaky math games with dice.  For all of us, the reading.  For all of us, the opportunities to simply get to know the kids better.

Tonight at supper we imagined our ‘highlight’ reel so far. Being part of the worship team on our first Sunday morning.  Moments of comprehension breakthroughs with certain kids in our reading groups.  Karen, Angela and Norma giving a rousing rendition of “Only A Boy Named David” one evening at worship time.  The joy and wonder on the kids’ faces when they’ve seen themselves in a book.  Little mishaps with a plate full of rice that shouldn’t be so funny but are.  Working together with Dtu and Anu in simple, everyday tasks.  Watching the delight on faces building the Jenga tower for the first time.  Yesterday’s outing to Doi Sutep and today’s to the Thursday morning market.  All the good food.

But what we keep coming back to is how well we are navigating this experience together.  How easy the conversations are.  How much we’re able to talk about what we’re learning and experiencing.  How safe is the emotional environment, and how that’s providing a good spiritual space to simply give and receive. 

This is so good.  So good.  It’s been a long, long time since a Team has come.  Almost four years.  And since it’s so important that we keep sharing this thing we do with as many people as possible, it’s so, so good to realize that it can still happen in such gentle and redemptive ways.

Photo by Roger Bowman

 We deeply appreciate the extra work and loving care we receive from our hosts.  Suradet and Yupa, Dtu and Anu are incredible.  The same warmth and hospitality and welcome the children experience in this household benefits us greatly.  Most people who come here say that it’s been a place of healing. 

Some Team Members have been helping to do a little bit of my job for me in these first days, sending home pictures and anecdotes to Sponsors of their specific children.  I am hoping to get to more of that myself in the coming days, now that jet lag and the initial adjustments have settled down some.

Meanwhile, here’s a few shots of our ‘highlight’ reel.

Thank you and thank you for all the love and support to get us to this space.

Books and Books and Books

 

No nap today!  That’s a hurrah on two counts.  One, it means jet lag is pretty much had its way with me by now, and I’m on the other side of it.  Yay for that.

But more importantly, and much more fun was that it made for a great afternoon of sorting and culling our Hot Springs English library.  By the end, we were left with six bins with a fairly equal assortment of books, based on reading levels, subject matter, and simple variety.  This means that later this afternoon when the kids get home, we can each take a bin for a more balanced reading experience. 

By the end, I was also left with no small sense of realization as to just how beautifully our library has grown these past several years.  When we started the reading initiative here, all we had were some library discards from various and sundry sources I really know nothing about.  It was better than nothing, but in another sense, enough were in such rough shape that it sent a vastly different message than “Books are our friends,” or “Reading is fun!”

Over the years, and through the generosity of friends and Sponsors from within and outside of Highview, we have gathered quality reading material that is not only a joy to interact with but communicates a better level of respect for both reading and, quite frankly, our kids. 

Side note:  Getting something new is a ‘thing’ here. 

This trip, however, we’ve been able to up the ante one more level.  Through the generosity and expertise of Cheryl Wilton (retired English Learning Intervention consultant) and her associate Pat Harrison (of Blueberry Hill Books), we have added some first class early readers written and designed by people who really know how children learn to read.   The books donated by Cheryl and Pat were added to the bins today, and will be show-cased in this afternoon’s reading time.

But that’s not even the best of it.

Cheryl has created for us no less than four books that were written and designed to depict the life of our family here!  No kidding!  The pictures and the story lines are all about us!

Four books all about us!  And each of the nights at evening worship when I’ve pulled them out and called the kids forward to gather around, their wonder and delight at seeing themselves in the books is written on their faces just as clearly as the text on the pages. 

“Everything we need for life and godliness….”  It’s a phrase from 2 Peter 1:3 I quote often, claiming that promise for each step of the way as we raise up these sensational human beings.  And here’s just one more example.  I did not go out and seek this professional assistance for our English learning initiative at Hot Springs.  It came to us. 

So a huge thank you to Cheryl Wilton, who is our primary contact and enthusiastic source of learning materials.  And also to Pat Harrison and Blueberry Hill Books, which you can check out for yourselves at this link.

We’ll be hearing more about all of this as the days go by, for sure.

Especially since we just found out today that the younger kids won’t be going to school tomorrow (something about a sports tournament happening on their campus that they are not involved in), so we’ll have the whole day with them.

Yay and yay!

 

 

A More Settled Saturday

 

As a whole the Team agrees that our jet lag is lessening day by day.  Personally, I have had the best sleep yet last night, and wake to the happy joy that is any Saturday morning anywhere.  We have no plans but to invite the children to the table in the guest house and begin the creative work that will be a little something-something for our Sponsors this Christmas. 

A pink sky covers the early morning chores of the children.  Yes, they are singing.  Yes, they are laughing.  And we comment on this as we stand together down on the driveway to welcome the day. 

At breakfast plans are only slightly altered to add a quick visit to the new property, and to excuse Roger from the card making so he and Suradet and visit a hardware store for supplies that will aid in a little building project they have in mind.  Roger is disappointed to miss the card making, but never mind.

A few pictures here for now, because the trip to the new property is a thing unto itself, to be highlighted in its own posting over the next few days.  But wow!  So much work has been done, and it looks great!

Back to Hot Springs and the happy chaos of pulling out all the paper, scissors, and glue, along with special card-making cutters courtesy of Norma.  It’s messy and sparkly and imaginative.  More singing.  More laughing.  And, wow, do we ever have some good creations to bring home with us!

I still need a nap, and it’s lovely.  We won’t read to the children on Saturdays and Sundays.  It’s okay for everyone to have a little break, even as we want to encourage the eager start we’ve had.

Soon will be supper.  Then our evening time of worship and continuing our learnings about David.  Got a good video lined up about a dog waiting for the signal to gulp down the treat perched on his nose.  Waiting is hard.  David knows this.  We can learn from this.

It would be easy to forget the significance of this particular November 11^th.  There is no historical involvement in Thailand with the World Wars that inform our Remembrance Day.  No one is wearing a poppy, no 11 a.m. moments of silence, no gathering around a memorial to hear a bugle played.

Still, for of our freedoms to come and go, because as Canadians we have a global presence and the means to travel, we are grateful.   

May peace prevail in all the places of the earth where war still ravages humanity.  

And Praise to the Father who has gathered this precious ones together in such a safe place.

Still Unpacking

 

For me it’s Friday morning and with the delay in the arrival of our luggage we are still not fully unpacked.

This is messing with the ‘what day is it’ deal even more than usual.  Last Sunday in Ontario we lost an hour.  But I’m sort of feeling like I’ve misplaced a couple of days.  Friday?  How can the week have already gone by and our stuff is still in such disarray?

With a Team of five, it meant we could bring more.  So, when I say ‘our stuff’ it’s not just our clothes and personal items, but five large suitcases full of teaching supplies for Bible lessons, prizes for our English reading program, and an array of crafts for both some fun and also a little special something for our Sponsors (shhhh).

As an added bonus we’ve also been able to bring along significant material to teach both reading and writing skills, courtesy of some generous hearts with professional expertise who will be named, but later.  I have yet to fully unpack all of it, as I said.  And their contribution is worthy of a separate posting complete with pictures of the children interacting with what they’ve sent.  So, stay tuned.

Today we should have the space and perhaps even less-spinny heads to sort and organize.  Yesterday we headed to Chiang Mai to exchange our Canadian dollars into Thai baht, and visit Yupa’s Mom in hospital.  Our timing was perfect as we got to pray with her just before her surgery.  To respect her privacy, I’ll just say that this is a welcome outcome after several months of health issues, and she is expected to be home and on the mend very soon. 

Also of note, is that this was at McCormick Hospital which I referenced in last Sunday’s (was that just last Sunday?) online sermon at Highview on Daniel McGilvary.   It was an additional bit of historical interest for the Team, and another moment of respect and awe for me towards this truly inspirational pioneer missionary to Northern Thailand.

Later in the day we got to do our first reading time with the kids.  Honestly, there’s something pretty rewarding when they asked already for us to do this on Wednesday, our first day.  And when we asked for another day to recover from the trip, they were understanding but clearly disappointed.  So when we finally did bring out the books and the little ones came running, well…  It’s one of those pictures I keep in my heart to remind me why we do this.

It's not lost on me, as we sit and work out the difference between “chick” and “chuck”, or “goat” and “toad”, that these two eager young lads in front of me are not lethargic from hunger.  They were when they got here.  In fact, one of them had to be lovingly coached not to overeat to the point of vomiting, a response sometimes seen in children who still don’t trust that there will be enough to eat tomorrow.

Our jet lag has settled down into mostly being just about not sleeping through the night.  And it’s hot, so there’s that to add to the late afternoon sense of hitting a wall.  But we remain in good spirits, taking care of each other, curious to seek what God’s got in mind for our time here.

Have I mentioned how great this Team is?  Have I mentioned it’s not the same without Megan?

I think I promised more pictures in yesterday’s posting.  Let’s see if we can do better today.

 

First Days Daze

 

 

Jet lag and travel recovery become the priority every time.  But this time, with my own health issues being a thing in the final week of preparation, then a last minute cancellation by one of our Team members due to COVID, a delay in Toronto right at the start of our trip, a consequential Hollywood-style sprint through the airport to catch our connecting flight, and then not having our bags arrive with us, these first 48 hours in Thailand have been just a tad more disorienting than usual for me.

Except, while I’m certainly feeling the physicality of it, what’s been lovely is how quickly we’ve been enfolded into the gentleness of this place, and how that’s helped everyone be so chill about it all. 

 This is a good Team.

 And we miss Megan so I’ll mention that here, and probably a few times over the next little bit.  For those who don’t know, Megan had been preparing with us for months to join in this adventure.  But she got in on a ‘sharing’ of COVID that happened amongst our community of faith just before we were set to go.

Timing is everything, as they say.  So, we miss her, and continue to wish her a speedy recovery.

Yesterday we laid low.  Took a little walking tour of the garden and animal pens.  Named a baby pig.  Visited Hot Springs Park where we had lunch.  Slept in the afternoon.  Greeted the kids when they got home from school.  Prepared the little gift bags to be ready for evening worship.

Here’s a fun thing.  Only one out of ten of our checked bags arrived in Chiang Mai when we did.  And just to give some background, five of our checked bags were dedicated to gifts and books and reading incentives etc.  The rest were our own person clothing and such.  The one bag that came with?  It was the one that held the arrival gift bags and goodies we had hoped to be able to give out the first night we were here.  So, we were able to do that!  So happy we were able to do that!

Evening worship was lovely.  Happy dancing moments.  Glad words of welcome and greeting.  Introducing everyone to everyone.  A few words about missing Megan and trusting God’s goodness.  Then handing out the bags.  Then being done but not done with getting-to-know-you conversations happening for Sponsors meeting their special kids for the first time, and generally trying to remember names.

Around the table afterwards we just simply talked about the goodness of this day.  And just after that – out bags arrived!

So, for today we’ll be ready to keep going with the flow, only feeling a tad fresher I should think.

Thinking about heading into Chiang Mai to exchange our money at the banks at Big C.  But we’ll see where the day takes.

Hopefully more pictures. 

For everyone who’s supported us in any way whatsoever, our grateful thanks over and over again.