A New Year is coming!

We are hoping that everyone had a wonderful Christmas day, that you worshiped the Lord on His Day and enjoyed family and good food.   Christmas is another day to reflect on health and blessings from above.  For many of you, the cold weather made it a challenge to enjoy the day as you usually do on this holiday.  We hope everyone survived by staying warm enough and not having frozen pipes.    From my friends' pages on Facebook, it looks as everyone had a great time.    With no traditions for this holiday in Thailand, we only saw decorations at the mall.   

We took TG with us to a grille restaurant in the mall for all of our holiday treat.   She took pictures that I will post later but here are some that I took with my camera.   

We had a delicious meal with TG.   We enjoyed spending time with TG that was not working time.   She has worked tirelessly for two months to help renovate the safe house and see to our every need.  She deserved the lunch treat and much more.

This is the picture of the small church here. 

It was taken on Sunday, the last day of the gospel meeting.   They estimated that there were about 100 present but many had left to return home to remote areas of Thailand and Laos to be home for worship on that day.    

We did not attend this day as the service was entirely in Thai.    We worship at the condo on-line with our sponsoring congregation.

We plan to move to the new safe house this week and avoid paying for another month's condo rent.  It has been cheap at about $250 U.S. per month (and that includes utilities) but for the next several months while we are here, we can save about $1,000 in rent by living at the safe house.   They are placing furniture in the house now, setting up the bunk beds and the house mother's room.   Since all of the girls' rooms are upstairs, we will have to occupy the house mother's room the rest of our time here.  The stairs are straight up and we can't risk a fall.    

I will post pictures once we move in so you can really see the change in the house.   It is going to be very nice.

Wishing all of my readers a very blessed NEW YEAR!

New pictures to show progress at the Udon Safe House

The renovation of the house for girls began a little over a month ago.  What a difference we see from the hard work of the workers.  They have worked seven days a week since they began.  Cleaning began first to prepare the outside carport and walls for painting.  Then a primer coat was put on after repairs were made to any rotten wood.    A second coat of paint gave a wonderful fresh look to the house. 

Then work began inside with a primer coat downstairs and then a 2nd coat and trim work 

Although the pictures make walls appear to be pink, it is the lighting that changed the actual beige color to look pink.  The floor tile in the house mother's bedroom is a rose color and in the living room, it is more of a brown and beige design. 

  

This is the detail trim work being completed in the living room.

The wrought iron bars were left off of these windows in the upstairs foyer to serve as an alternate fire escape in the event the stairway is blocked.    The tin roof across this area is over the kitchen and not very steep, nor it is far from the ground at one side.     Girls could easily climb out the windows and get to the backyard.   TG will put a fire escape ladder on that side if the tin roof is hot from a fire in the kitchen.  Smoke alarms will be installed and there will be fire drills to train the girls what to do in case of a fire.  They will be taught how to use fire extinguishers too.  Most fires begin in the kitchen so I'm sure there will be fire extinguishers there. 

Now the upstairs bedrooms for girls have had the 2nd coat applied.    

Tiles floors will be thoroughly cleaned soon  

A sink has to be added to the house mother's bathroom.  There is a faucet but there is no sink. 

The drain for the sink will have to be connected to the shower drain which is nearby.   

 The drainage ditch has been dug and concrete poured in the bottom of this french drain.  The grille work is being placed now.  Ron is pleased that they got the pitch close to being perfect and it is coming along so well.  

It was very hard work to dig this by hand, but we have a very hard-working man that can do almost any kind of work.   He completed all of the outside painting, installed the drop ceiling in the kitchen and did many other repairs.  

Another worker has removed the drainage pipe on the other side of the house which was broken in places and completely stopped up.  It was not put in at an angle for water to drain properly so it had to be removed and replaced.  There is a drain at the end of the wall near the street for both sides to drain into.  This system should eliminate the risk of the house flooding when the rainy season arrives. It will take a couple more weeks to complete the drains.  

Today, the electrician began rewiring the house   The government still has not run the 3-phase line to this area, but the electrician thinks it will be done soon and then he can tie the new wiring into the system.  He predicts his work will take two weeks.  

By early January, the furnishings for the entire house will be purchased and delivered.  When everything is in place, we will leave the condo and move to the house.  

The inside of the house should be in very good shape by the end of January.   

The concrete block wall around the property is black streaked from weathering.    I think they plan to paint the wall grey.  Most walls around property are white, but they begin to look dirty and streaked in a very short time.  I would probably paint it black to match the trim on the house if it was my choice.    

Work will still need to be done on the lawn to prepare for landscaping and gardens.   Ron plans to have raised beds for various sections of vegetables to be grown in the back yard.  The land is rough with many holes in the backyard so it will need to be cleaned, leveled and topsoil brought in.   This work will probably take a month to complete.   

As progress continues, I will keep my readers well-informed about what is happening in Udon Thani, Thailand and the new girls' safe house.   The other houses on this street have not been maintained very well.  This safe house is going to be very clean and neat.  It will be a wonderful home for some very poor girls who have never had the luxury of living in a nice house.  I hope they will be welcomed by the neighbors and our work will be respected in this city.   

TG has put her heart into the renovation of this house and taking care of Ron and me.  We are so very thankful for her kind heart and ability to take charge of this house as if it was her own property.   If she accepts the job of the house mother, I think she will enjoy living here with pride in the way the property is turning out to be so lovely.   

Winter clothing and gospel meeting in Rajiaya, Nepal

Recently, a donation was received from the Westbury church of Christ in Houston, TX to purchase clothing for the girls in Nepal.    Each year, Carole Booker, teacher from Westbury Christian has spearheaded this project to give winter clothing to our girls.   Many received sweaters and long-sleeved sweatshirts.  

Blankets were also distributed.    These gifts brought much joy to our girls.   It was a lot of work purchasing the many things and delivering them to the various 13 safe houses where we care for girls.  

A gospel meeting was held in one region this weekend and it was reported that 285 were in attendance.  I could not find this exact region to check the temperatures but nights in Katmandu are in the 40's now.  More mountainous areas will be much colder.    

How many of you reading this blog would attend a gospel meeting and sit on the ground or on the floor as these people are doing?   Speakers don't just speak for a little while but for hours at a time; perhaps days passed before this meeting ended with people coming from many other cities or villages to attend.  Where has our zeal gone when our members in the U.S. will not attend their own congregation's gospel meetings for one hour at a time in a heated building on padded seats and then go home to the comfort of their beautiful homes until the next evening?  Perhaps, you only attend one time and don't feel it is important to attend lectures that don't really add much to your busy life?  Many of these people were too far from home to go back after one session and they were eager to hear all of the gospel speakers and messages.  They didn't have ballgames to watch on TV or to attend.

Where did these people sleep?   I imagine many are used to sleeping on the ground with just a blanket to cover and this occasion was no different than being at home.  

How were they all fed?    These pictures made me think of the crowds following Christ and having no food.  Jesus was not here physically to provide loafs and fishes to feed the people.   Instead, they had to roast a pig and cut it up for people to have food.    

Most churches in Thailand have plain, wooden benches and no one brings a pillow (except Ron and me for our old backs).   Churches in the villages along the Mekong River in Laos sit on the floor.   Even in some villages where they live in shacks that look as if they fall down with a whiff of wind, they will have tile floor (or mats) in one room to be used for people to sit on the floor to worship God.   

Most of us old people say to ourselves before we sit on the floor, "How am I going to get up?" or "What else can I do while I am down here?"   When Ron has been in these situations, they give him a small stool to sit on and he says it is not any easier to get up from it sitting there.

Our worker in Nepal told me last week that our safe house girls attending this meeting have been preparing for a Bible quiz contest.  I don't have any information on how well they did but I do have these pictures of two girls being baptized at this meeting.    Can you imagine being baptized when it is about like ice water?   That alone would keep most American from accepting the invitation to come to Christ.   

Ron taught a friend of ours when she was a very young woman and when they got to the church building for her baptism, the heater in the baptistry was not working.    No heat was in the building, and it was in February.   Ruth chose to be baptized rather than wait for a "more convenient time as a certain ruler in the Bible" said he would do when he heard the good news of Christ.  Ruth always reminds Ron of how cold that water was when she was baptized.  That cold water surely made that event more memorable.    Maybe this cold water in Nepal will have the same impact on these two young girls.         

I don't think many people know much about Nepal.   You may have heard of Katmandu and Mt. Everest, but nothing else may stick out in your mind when you think of Nepal.    For those of you who have been supporting one or more of our girls in Nepal, I am sure you have learned a lot about this beautiful country.  I enjoy watching YouTube videos about Nepal to see how the people live and their cooking style in the mountainous regions.  I thought we could find anything on Google, but the name of this city/region did not come up with my search.    I think our safe houses are primarily in the center of Nepal.   I am sure many people do not know that Nepal borders China on the side of Mt. Everest and India on the opposite border.   A map is below and some facts about Nepal.   

Capital: Kathmandu.
Area: 56,956 sq mi (147,516 sq km).
Population: ~ 28,100,000.
Largest Cities: Kathmandu, Pokhara, Lalitpur, Bharatpur, Birgunj, Biratnagar, Janakpur, Ghorahi, Hetauda, Dhangadhi, Tulsipur, Itahari, Nepalgunj, Butwal, Dharan, Kalaiya, Jitpursimara, Mechinagar, Budhanilkantha, Gokarneshwar.
Official language: Nepali     Religion:    Hindu 

Currency: Nepalese rupee (Rs, रू) (NPR).

Gospel revival at the church in Udon Thani this weekend

TG picked us up Friday night about 5 p.m. and went by the bus station to pick up a couple coming in from Vientiane, Laos.   Their bus was late, so we didn't arrive at the church building until after 7 p.m. and the building was full of people.   We sat outside the door in plastic chairs and enjoyed the evening cool with a full moon overhead.  

Piles of shoes were between us and the door as people in Asia take their shoes off before entering a building.   I whispered to Ron to see if he saw a pair that he liked better than his own. From the packed building and the pile of shoes outside the main door, I think there were about 150 in attendance.   With a membership of only about 20 on Sunday, this was a large crowd to support this meeting. 

The speaker spoke Thai, so we didn't understand anything but when it was over about 9 p.m. we got to see two of our safe house fathers from Laos.  One came all the way from Luang Prabang in northern Laos.   We met some members of the church that came with them.   Then we got to see our friends from Ft. Smith, AR and meet the people who came with them.   After a short fellowship time, we all disbursed to our respective places for the evening.

TG came at 8:15 to pick us up Saturday morning.  While we waited for her outside our condo, I took these pictures down the street.  

The building was not as full as it was Friday night.  There may have been 75 in the building.  Most of those attending the lectures Saturday morning were young men.  Perhaps this group of lectures were intended to encourage and promote these young men to preach the gospel.   I know a number of Bible school students came on the 8-hour drive from Bangkok. 

I think one reason there were fewer people was because they were behind the building preparing the food for lunch.   I'm sure there were at least 25 men and women working in various jobs around the building.   

This lady owns a small restaurant in Bangkok, so she came to help with the food preparation.   

The planning and preparations were done well. They had enough tables and chairs for everyone.  

We got some information about how to soak sticky rice for 3 hours before steaming and a plant boiled in water produces a blue color that turns the sticky rice blue.   There are medicinal benefits from the blue water of the plant.  Many leaves from plants ae used in cooking or eating raw.   Meg thought these girls were pulling leaves from a mint plant.   

TG helped make the shelters.   She got on a ladder and put the roofs on.    

Jerry Canfield spoke at 10:30 a.m.   Patinya, the minister from a church in Bangkok, was his translator.  Once he finished, they sang a few songs and then we were dismissed for lunch.   

Meg Canfield told me the Americans were going to the mall for lunch and they would like for us to come with them.   We were all concerned about the food they were preparing, either because it would be too spicy, or we might get sick from bacteria.    People from outside of Asia do not have stomachs equipped to handle certain bacteria that Asian people consume daily.   Plants washed or food cooked in unsterilized water will give us Montezuma's Revenge in a few hours.   

Two drivers took our American group to the mall, and we had a fabulous meal and fellowship with them.   We ate at the same good seafood restaurant where Ron and I went for our Thanksgiving lunch.  Being Saturday, it was packed with people, and we got the last table available.   It was excellent food and service, so everyone was pleased.  We parted after lunch as they were getting Uber transportation back to their hotel and we were returning to our condo.   

The meeting was continuing until late tonight and through the morning service on Sunday.    We will not attend again with all lectures in Thai.   I think the gospel meeting was a success from everyone's viewpoint and they really seemed to enjoy the fellowship.   I wondered where everyone stayed overnight and then upon arrival Saturday morning, I saw the many tents all over the rice field adjoining the church property.   

With nights about 68 degrees, I hope they brought blankets.  Everyone looked as fresh and clean as if they had just come from luxury hotel room showers.    

The weather is very pleasant at this time of the year with warm afternoons in the 80's and low humidity.  It was a perfect time to hold this event 

Events such as this are very popular in Asia to encourage Christians to keep on with the good work.    

They had a big meeting in Nepal this weekend also.   I will post a segment about it with some pictures they sent me.   

Progress is slow

The painting of the house will be completed this week.   The outside was finished at the end of last week and the work inside continues.   There are many windows in the house.   

This is great for wind flow to keep it cool but time-consuming to paint the windows and the trim, in addition to the metal ironwork.  It is beautiful so we have left it on all the windows even though it is not really needed for security.    

The electrician says the rewiring will be completed by the end of December    That will almost complete the work inside the house.   There is still much to be done outside with the drainage ditches, yard and garden work.   

Yesterday, we went to the VISA office to extend our VISAs for another 45 days.   After January 15th, we have to leave Thailand and return to start another tenure here.   Ron's passport is out of pages, so he had to send it to the U.S. Embassy today in Bangkok with an application to request a new passport.  The embassies used to add pages, but they said they will not do that any longer but promise to issue a new passport within 30 days.  We are surely hoping that is true and Ron will receive his back before January 15th. 

The VISA offices are racking up a lot of money as they renew passports for the "grandfathers."   That is what we call the old men who come here and take up with Thai women.  They are like a swinging door going in and out of the VISA offices to renew their VISAs for another 45 days.    We call them grandfathers as they are usually twice as old as the women.   This is almost as bad as trafficking even though these women willingly accept the offer to take care of an old man in desperation for a better life.   I think they are expecting these men to die soon and leave them a fortune, but I seriously doubt that will ever happen.  They are using the women as slaves/prostitutes.

Ron and TG bought a lot of things for the house today   Ron said it bothers him that people may consider him one of the "grandfathers" on these buying sprees.   They probably think he is building a house just for TG.   She is 36 and about the age an old man of 85 would choose for his companion.  The problem for me to go with them is the long hours of waiting and walking in the stores without anywhere to sit.   After about 4-6 hours of trailing along behind them as they purchase things, my back is killing me.

They have purchased bunk beds and the mattress pads for the beds (not really mattresses as we know them), lockers for them to use for their clothing and personal items for privacy.   The girls will have a plastic bin underneath their bed to store their underclothes and t-shirts.    Today, Ron purchased a washing machine.   Girls will still handwash their underclothing and small items, but they will use the washer for heavy clothing, sheets, towels, and blankets.  

Speaking of blankets, yes, they are needed before morning at this season of the year.   It is winter here!  It was 68 this morning and the next week's forecast had one morning in the 50's.   The afternoon temperatures are in the 80's.   I'm not sure how long this cooler weather will last.   The Thai people wear jackets and sweaters but many of them ride motorbikes and it is chilly weather to them.

Some friends are coming in on Friday from Ft. Smith, AR, traveling with some of their friends.  They have done mission work at this small church for more than 20 years.  They have a revival scheduled this weekend.  The meeting will start Friday night, continue all day on Saturday and end on Sunday.   

TG told us the minister from Bangkok is bringing some from his Bible school students to do the cooking.   This small church is in the middle of a rice field and very primitive, so they have no kitchen.  They have a shed where they wash the dishes after a fellowship.  I imagine they will bring grilles to do the cooking.  TG said they will serve breakfast about 7:30 a.m. on Saturday.   She said they will prepare non-spicy food for the American visitors.    I am more concerned about the food not being refrigerated during the day on Saturday.  Ron and I may take our own lunch since we don't want to end up with an upset stomach.

The building has only wooden seats so we will have to take our pillows as our old backs can't take the hard seats for hours at a time.   It will be a long day to sit on hard benches when you don't understand anything being said.  Speakers will be Thai-speaking except for the time when Jerry Canfield from Ft Smith speaks.   Ron and I may have to take Uber back to the condo before the activities for the day are finished.

I will take pictures of this revival and post next week.   Thanks for following our progress.  

What is life like in Udon Thani?

At first, we only had internet on the hot spot from Ron's phone.   When I stayed at the condo and he went to the safe house, the bank or to purchase supplies for the renovation of the house, I did not have a phone or internet service.   He and TG tried to get internet through the condo and Ron tried to get it through TRUE, the internet phone company.   

TG's mother went to the U.S. the 2nd week of November.   Her son is married to an American girl, and they live in Lubbock, TX.   I thought she just went for a visit but in about a week, TG said we could buy a sim card for her mother's phone, and I could use it while we are here so I could call her or Ron and use the hotspot for internet.    I asked her how long her mother would be away, and she said she got a green card and had gone there to live.    That solved one problem very nicely.    TG added her number and Ron's phone number and showed me how to use the phone. 

Remember, everything is in the Thai language so you can't assume you can figure anything out easily without help.   

Shopping can be a challenge as there will be a few words in English, but the majority of the products will have only Thai.   You would be shocked to see the variety of food available in the supermarkets.  They are very big on snacks and there are packages of everything...crisp dried fruit chips, salmon skin chips, pork skins, cookies that are probably made from egg whites, or thin noodle like snacks that Ron refers to as salted air.  Ron can't read the ingredients to complain about too much sugar or fat.  And, 90% of the snack packages are unidentifiable to us.   Yet, we have seen very few overweight people.  Meats are very expensive but most everything else is cheap.   Fruits, vegetables and flowers are very fresh and beautiful.

There is heavy traffic early morning and late afternoon.   Driving is on the left side of the road but there are no horns blowing or rudeness by any of the drivers.   They are very calm and courteous as there are few traffic lights and many streets coming together at a roundabout where tires are piled up in the center.   There is a steady flow of late model cars and motorbikes, and the motorbikes are traveling the fastest.   We have not seen any accidents.

We continue to use Grab (Uber) drivers as Ron has an account set up on his phone.   When calling for a ride, he types in where we want to go (i.e. Central Plaza, Lotus supermarket) so the driver knows where to take us, and he can tell our location from the phone call.   We do not pay as it is charged to our credit card set up on the account.   This makes it easy not having to have the right change.   Rides are also cheap and fair.  They have nice, late model cars and drivers are always courteous.   We are told the tag number and kind of car that is on its way and how long it will be before the car arrives.   There are no restrictions here about using phones in the car.   Drivers use it for their GPS system and sometimes use it to ask questions and to translate.  Most of the drivers do not know much English but most workers in the mall are very fluent in English.  

Another convenience that we have not seen in the U.S. is the method of paying at a store or restaurant.  Ron can pull up an app on the phone and photo the (QR Code) matrix bar code on the clerk's phone and it will transfer funds directly from our bank to their bank.  The transaction comes up on the phone to register the transaction and you can verify the amount is correct.  This code system was designed by the Japanese in 1994.   No cash is needed, nor a credit card.    It is like using a debit card in the U.S. 

There will not be many vendors at the open fresh market across the street until after 5 p.m. each day. But stores are along every street with no grouping of the same types of things.  A restaurant may be in the center of businesses selling other kinds of things.    

People seem to spend their evenings shopping and eating.   The streets are so busy with cars and motorbikes, we can hardly get across the street.  Motorbikes are parked along the sidewalks and there's little space to walk.   Private businesses set up tables, chairs and racks of things to sell along the sidewalks and many are actually cooking food and selling it as people walk by.   It is very cheap to eat street food and it appears many Thai people get off work and eat along these places before they go home for the evenings.    They are used to the bacterial level of the water and contaminated foods that may have been out in the sun for hours, but we would be sick within a few hours of eating street food   It smells and looks delicious.

When we were in China, at the congregation in Beijing, an American girl attending a university there, was always sick from eating street food.   One Sunday, she told us that was why she missed services so often.   We asked why she continued to eat street food and she admitted that it was cheap and delicious.

Copied from the internet:   The Tung Sri Muang Festival is one of the biggest annual festivals in Udon Thani and one of the most important ones for the Thai people.   There is no religious significance to it.  The main objective of the festival is to honor the King, hence it begins a few days prior to the King's birthday.   It begins on December 1 each year and runs through about the 12th.   It is an opportunity for citizens of Udon Thani and the rest of Thailand to support and encourage the expression of the local culture and Chinese mixed culture blended together.

As this festival is underway, we see a section of the streets set up with everything imaginable for sale by vendors.  A large amount of wooden furniture can be seen and there will be clothing and food.   Crowds will stream through the vendors every night with festivities going on for hours.   

We will not go and expose ourselves to Covid-19.   We do not know the number of cases here, but everyone is wearing a mask; even on a motorbike or driving alone in a car, people will still have a mask on.  

There are Christmas decorations in the mall but nowhere else that we have noticed.   Hotels and places where tourists are located will have wreaths, trees and other Christmas decorations.   It is not an official holiday since Buddhist is the official "religion" in Thailand.   Life goes on as usual but Thai people still enjoy a party and a family dinner on December 25th.  They don't have the usual turkey and ham but often have roasted chicken and other special dishes.  Children have Santa visits at schools to bring sweets and small gifts.   

We do not see as many Buddhist temples or monks here in Udon Thani as in Bangkok or most cities in Laos.  I am sure there are some beautiful and famous temples for tourists, but I have only seen a few as we are driving by.  

I will take pictures again soon and post them in later blogs.   This segment is just for those who have time and interest to read more about life in Thailand.

God bless you all!   I appreciate our family and friends who follow up on this blog and on Facebook.

Pictures taken by TG of the progress of the painting

 Here are additional pictures of before and after of the house   There is a significant difference!