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Saturday, August 14, 2010

What are we up to????

Sawasdee!!! We have been BUUUUUUsy!!!! But we find ourselves now in Malaysia. Which we'll explain in our next blog. With a kindly reminder from JoAnn, we wanted to update everyone. We left off in Lao returning to Thailand. Had our Special Day Assembly, did some preaching up in Phuket, CO visit, Theocratic School Assignments: the first one from a deaf Bible student and Melissa's first assignment in Sign Language.

Preaching in Phuket again was exciting. Searching for the Deaf is difficult though. But this time we had a bigger group and a total of 7 deaf at the SAD. Good news: the brothers have started interpreting meetings in Thai Sign for the first time in Phuket, with 2 Deaf coming regularly. Isn't it great to be part of something so important in these last days. Besides that, we had Tia, an Australian sister we met in Chiang Mai, come down and visit us. She was awesome. We took her with us to Phuket, she actually fit in our backpack, she's tiny. We all decided to check out some of the other beautiful islands here in Thailand...talk about some hard and tough times.

I wonder why they call it Chicken Island...





It's amazing the stuff that washes into the shore

Now CO visit: He's a young MTS grad from the east side of Thailand. What a busy week that was, in the ministry and with the congregation. One of the things he encourged us to do is to practice singing the new songs...we must have been that bad...just kidding. So we had a dinner Sunday evening at the KH and practiced. Now we practice after our meetings. It really unifies the congregation.



Afterwards, we had a pleasure of hearing the CO serenade us with one of his favorites.


During the visit, we each had assignments. I had a Bible Reading in Thai, this is my 3rd, this time the brothers said they actually understood 80%, humm... I wonder how much they understood before. Melissa had her first assignment but not in Thai...yet...it was actually in Thai Sign Language with one of our Deaf Bible students, her name is Jem, and a Thai sister interpreting....took 3 days to get it right. But this wasn't Jem's first assignment, she had one a few weeks prior. It's exciting to see her progress and how our hearing brothers are accepting us as part of the family in the congregation.

But listen to this....Melissa and I were heading to the meeting on our moto. We stopped at a red light...along side us was a young Thai man. Thais have the habit of just staring...and not a quick stare, it's a serious long gazing stare...like if you have 3 heads or something...anyways, I go ahead and say: "Hey Papito, how ya doin'?" thinking the man doesn't speak English. He responds: "I'm good..and you. Where are you going?" It caught us by surprise. We told him we were on our way to a meeting. He asks: "what kind of meeting?" So I explained. The guy actually followed us to the KH because he wanted to see where it was. He didn't stay though but we gave him a Bible Teach book and the latest mags. It's rare to find a Thai in Krabi who speaks English, the reason he does is because he works at a hotel in Phuket but lives in Krabi. Isn't that awesome...isn't it!!!! Didn't think a little Bronx attitude and a small question would lead to such a good experience. What an undeserved way of Jehovah using us.

By the way...does anyone out there, who knows Nepalese and Hindi, like to come to Thailand? There are soooooooo many Nepalese and Indians here in Krabi. Most of them work as tailors. They're great people to talk to but there is no one here who speaks their language. They can speak Thai and English but can't read it. Think about it!!!Pray about it!!! And remember...there's always a place to stay with us.

Now, unfortunately, we must go...why you may ask...because guess what time it is kids....Visa Run Time... off to Malaysia....till next time!!!


Backpack Witnessing, 2 DC's...one accidental one, trip to Brunei during Ramadan....interesting!!!! By the way, thanks everyone for your comments and to those who plan to...hint hint...it's very encouraging!!!

Sarah...thanks for your words of encouragement. We're also encouraged to see that you're working hard in the Italian field. Going to Italy...how cool is that! Congrats on graduating from the Kichwa Language Course....Chad and Michelle! Indo Tom...congrats on being accepted to MTS. So many good things!!!!!

Note: There was someone who left a very encouraging message a few blogs ago asking about backpack witnessing. Please contact us again so we can give you some info.

9 comments:

Chad and Michele said...

WOW!! My head spins every time you post a blog! I don't know how you remember what city you are in or what language you are speaking!!! haha LOVED the "Hey papito!"...that was awesome! You never do know...I can just imagine that man being interviewed at a convention about how he found the truth! Keep up the good work and the good blogging! We miss you guys...

AJ and Jordanne said...

Wonderful adventures in Jehovah's service, always!! How exciting ~ thank you for sharing! Your blog is so encouraging for us all to keep reaching out for more goals!!!

Aggidio - JoAnn said...

I'm with Michele - I don't know how you can keep up with where you are and what you are speaking but I am totally impressed!! Learning one language is enough to exhaust my little brain. Awesome experiences and videos, and as usual an incredibly encouraging post!!! Jehovah is obviously taking good care of you!

Anonymous said...

Hey guys ! I already missed Thailand tons now i miss it tons more lol. bro prom pan was awesome when we had him visit us. I was so excited to hear about Phuket TSL trying form. love you guys keep staying busy.
Tashi

Damaris said...

Looks like you guys are up to lots of fun and staying really busy! O....the foreigner stare can be so hard on a bad day but COOL that something good came of it. Good reminder to try to use it to my advantage next time :)

Anonymous said...

Hey guys, My wife and I are coming to Thailand in a few days, and wanted to visit a KH in Krabi (staying on Railay Beach) or Chiang Mai.
I ran across your blog on my search.
Would you by chance be able to help me find one?

You can email me at dcbaumann AT hotmail DOT com

Thanks!
Dave & Wendy

Alanna and Terry said...

Hi you two, we love reading your blog!! You guys are awesome!!!! Hope we can come down and visit you soon. Hope to see you at the convention in Bangkok next week (for more homesickness tips!!)
Keep up the good work, Melissa - your talk looked amazing! You are so clever!!
Alanna & Terry

sweet older sister said...

Your blog is very encouraging, to see how Jehovah blesses those who put him first is a constant reminder of how powerful and Loving Jehovah is.
Here in the states we are wondering how our brothers are faring after the tsuami oct 2010. Our thoughts and prayers are with you all.

sweet older sister said...

I have been very upbuilt by your blog. But since the tsusami in Oct 2010 I have been concerned. May Jehovah continue to bless you in your assignment. You are in my thoughts and my prayers.

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