Here is John teaching at a local church with Elizabeth (the Pastors wife) who translated for John.
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Here's Josiah and the newest member of our family: "Lilo". Josiah got Lilo for his birthday as an early birthday present. She's brought Josiah a lot of comfort and she's extremely smart. He loves her dearly.
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This is me and baby Mercy - isn't she beautiful? John snapped this shot while I was babysitting her while mom, dad, and sister (Asia) went to take care of their border run.
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This is our car! It's a 1988 or 1989 (it's still a mystery) Volvo. It's in good condition (besides the strange smell inside) and best of all it's an old car and made with strong metal - so we're completely safe when inside!!! Praise God for providing - read the blog below to find out how we were able to get this car!
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Earthquake - Needs Met - Praise Reports - Prayer Requests

Sawatdee ka!

I can't believe it's been so long!!! We have been without an internet card for a little bit now and also lacking the time to use the internet! It seems as though we've been so busy recently - Praise God! Ok...to answer most of the e-mails I've received:

We did not feel the earthquake although people who were down town did feel tremors. We were called by Pastor Stan in Sherman first....who let us know that an 8.2 earthquake had occurred in Jakarta and there is a strong possibility that there would be another tsunami. While on the phone with Pastor Stan we received a call from a Thai friend (our Thai teacher) Phon (sounds like phone with a rising tone to it - if you don't say the rising tone then your not saying her name! crazy huh?). She called to tell us that (this is about 12am I think) there were over 100 people dead at the hospital near her.

My heart started beating fast as I got off the phone (thank you for praying with/for us on the phone Pastor Stan) and made a bag of necessities. It's amazing how your mind thinks...I thought about everything that we have here (which isn't much) and I found that everything I needed and cherished could walk all by themselves and wouldn’t fit in a bag. :) So, I just grabbed our toothbrushes, passports, important papers and we were off. John was taking us over to Brian and MaryBeth's house so we could be near the news (they have cable) and he was on his way to the hospital.

I didn't know what was going to happen...I didn't know if we would feel tremors...or if there would be mass hysteria....or what. Brian went with John to the hospital while MaryBeth, Mercy (their newborn), Asia (their 2 year old), Josiah and I watched the news and prayed. Our prayers were really focused on the Pruitts who are in Baan Nam Khem and less than a mile from the ocean. No one was able to get a call through to them.

John and Brian returned with a report that shocked us all...there was no one in the hospital...I mean...there were no dead people or hurt people from an earthquake. We had been given false information because of a miscommunication. No one here in Hat Yai was hurt...people only felt the tremors from the earthquake...downtown. We continued to pray and watch as the news came in that there would most likely be no tsunami. Praise God! Although, we continue to pray for the people of Sumatra because from what I understand there have been more than 2,000 people lost...and the country is having a really hard time recovering so far.

We were able to get through to the Pruitts and they were fine - they had gone to the refugee camp (far enough away from the ocean) with all 4 kids. They are all fine. There was something that one of the anchor women said that kind of struck me funny....as I'm sure it did many others...that the last earthquake occured 1 day after Christmas and this earthquake was 1 day after Easter.

It's just like what the Bible says in Revelations about the end times!! There is much work to be done…OK…let me tell you about what has been going on…

God's blessings are so incredible! I feel so unworthy at times!!! John and I have been blessed with a motorbike! It is second-hand and in really good condition and we are very happy with it. John and I have been praying for a car because I’m starting work on April 1st and I am still completely unsuccessful at riding the motorbike. Josiah is supposed to be attending with me everyday so even if I had been successful with the motorbike – I am not comfortable or ok with driving him on the bike with me everyday because of all the close calls we have had (every time because of other drivers…people say Dallas drivers are bad….but I say Dallas drivers are angels compared to Thai drivers). John and I have had too many close calls on the road...on the scooter....because of other people. It's extremely scary to have your 2 year old sitting on the front seat on a scooter when a truck pulls out in front of you and you have to stop as fast and as hard as you can.
There is no enforced speed limit and most of the road signs are simply suggestions…

So, less than 4 days after getting the motorbike John ran across a man putting a car outside for sale. It is a Volvo - probably about a late 80 or early 90 model. It has only had one owner, which is unheard of in Thailand and it's in great condition. The guy wants $2,100 for the car. Cars hold value very very well in Thailand. It is a wonderful deal! For the same amount we would probably been able to buy a really really old, broken down "geo metro" like car...but I found out from my first car that they crumple like a tin can in a wreck. And in Thailand...it is really really really good to be in an old car that is made like a "tank" such as this Volvo. John told the guy to hold it for 3 days and we started praying...

And about 3 days later $2,200 was in our bank account!!! I couldn't believe it! We only had about $500 and that was to pay bills and rent...and we definitely don't have enough supporters for that money to just come in but someone decided that we needed that car and donated just enough money to buy the car. So that morning I checked our bank account and there was exactly $2,200…exactly what we needed for the car. I was so incredibly blessed and happy…I was praising God but then…my heart saddened a little bit. I had been saving up for living furniture ($200) and I thought I would be able to get it soon. I had really had my heart set on it...our living room has nothing in it at all. When the money appeared there was enough to buy the car and to eat for a while.

I just told God "Ok God...you know our needs...and you have perfect timing...if we need anything in our living room...you will provide it for us....in your timing." I felt really REALLY bad for even thinking about living room furniture when God had just provided for a car…I mean really really really bad!!!!!

So anyway.....about 3 hours later one of the missionaries here called and said "God just put it on my heart to buy you living room furniture!". I couldn't believe it! WOW! Another incredible thing God has been doing is that John was asked to come and pray for a woman who is in her 40's who is pregnant and the father just left her. She is in the hospital because of heavy bleeding and cramping...and they weren't for sure if the baby was ok or not because they hadn't felt the baby move in quite a while. So John laid hands on her and prayed and after he prayed the baby started kicking and moving around like crazy. The woman started crying and a little while afterward she gave her life to the Lord!!!

Mamm...and her husband (pictures on the blog) in Baan Nam Khem have also gotten saved!!!!! Praise GOD!!!!! God is doing incredible things! He is so worthy to be praised!!!

I also want to address an issue that some have brought to my attention regarding the zodiac signs that are on this website (I think in the profiles…not exactly sure where)…they are a part of the blog and as of yet I don’t know how to get them off. If anyone else knows…let me know…Also, please know that the list of people under “Contributors” are people who have signed up to be notified when the blog is changed…there is no correlation with the people who “contribute” to our ministry. I’m sorry for the confusion to some. I hope I have cleared that up.

I wanted to say thank you so much to those of you who have been faithful in your support to us – without your giving we can not do what we do. I also appreciate your support through e-mails also! I can’t tell you how great it feels to go to my inbox and receive news from home and how your lives are going! Please keep us in your prayers this month specifically because I will begin teaching April 1st (which is also my father-in-law’s birthday! – Happy Birthday CURRY!) and John is going to start going to a village down the road from our home. He has many ideas and plans and he will need much prayer backing him.

We also need your prayer in regards to our son. Josiah is doing great but at the same time we need wisdom in guiding our son and dealing with raising him in this country. There is no book (that I know of) that addresses the issues we are dealing with – such as Josiah starting to close out the Thai people in public because of how they clamor toward him and touch him all the time. It’s so bad that today while we were eating a lady came up to Josiah (he was fussing and crying at the time) and John shook his head at her as to say not to mess with him at this moment. She didn’t listen…he screamed more….she touched more….he cried and screamed more….and as she started to come toward him again John had to push her hand away (he had been telling her “mai…mai dai” Which means…no…can not…).

The Thai people just don’t understand that EVERYONE touches and prods our son. Please don’t get me wrong – he’s is still the same happy and playful kid as before – he is just having a hard time dealing with them touching him and we are having a hard time knowing how and when to intervene. He does wonderful one on one in our home….or in someone elses home…just not in public. Their culture is so different as well as their thought process. For instance, I was working on a drama for Easter for a local church here. I was going to teach some of the people in the church the drama and then they were going to do it for Easter Sunday.

I was working with MaryBeth on the rest of the drama and I said “Ok..and here we’ll have this person hug Jesus”. And she was like… “No…you can’t do that.”
Brian was going to play Jesus and the rest of the people in the play were going to be mostly women. She went on to tell me that it would be to controversial to have Jesus hug anyone because he is a man and the other players are women. I called the pastor’s wife (of that church) and confirmed this with her and she said…maybe we could get all men (and then we came to the quick realization that most of the church is 97% women and there were no men available).

An all women drama was quiet out of the question because Jesus as a woman would be controversial too even in our culture in some churches. I just couldn’t believe it. How were we supposed to show the love of Jesus if the women could not touch Jesus…I racked my brain trying to think of some way to change this drama…to reflect the love of God and the power of Jesus’ touch….I had to cancel the drama because I would have had to come up with a completely new drama and the practice was that night. Not enough time.

They said that it could not be done because the Thai people would be so awestruck and distracted by the fact that “Oh my goodness, Brian is hugging Pii Thak” that they would be unable to get anything from the drama. I was amazed. I was like can’t we just talk to them about this….can’t we just explain to them that this is the way Jesus really is…he’s not untouchable and unloving….he’s not some distant God to be wai’d to (what the Thai’s do to Buddah).

In the end every knee will bow but also we are to understand that we are to have a loving relationship with our God and that Jesus loves us…and he would and will embrace us. In the end I realized that I just had my first lesson in cultural diversity. It was hard to swallow because one of my loves is drama…and cutting out any physical touch between Jesus and those he interacts with seems like lying…

I realized that God will give me usable dramas that will not distract from the message and they will share the true love of God. So…back to prayer requests…

Steph starting work
John going into the village/open doors/hearts
Guidance with Josiah

And number 4 is prayer for finances. We have been blessed this month by one individual (to whom we are deeply grateful) and through that one family we were able to get a motorbike and a car exactly when we needed it. Our thoughts on finances and donations is that we do not ever want to come across as another ministry that is begging for money. We believe that God will provide what we need and he really has but we do believe that prayer for finances is important. We ask that you pray that God would put it on the hearts that he wills to give whatever he wants them to give…according to the needs of the ministry here.

Finances
My nephew BRADEN BUNGER

My beautiful nephew Braden Bunger needs prayer. I just went to their blog and I can not help but to weep. I can’t say how proud I am of my brother and Annie for being so strong. Braden is a doll and you can tell from all he’s been through already that he’s inherited the strength of his parents. PLEASE – pray for my nephew Braden…We are too far away to go and lay hands on him but we’ve been praying so hard as have many other people. The doctors have diagnosed him with chronic lung disease but I do not accept that…I do not believe that that is God’s will for Braden.

Please stand in agreement with us that Braden will be completely restored! Here is their blog once again – my nephew is 1 month old now and 2 pounds 5 ounces…

www.bradenbunger.blogspot.com

I know this post has been long…I’m proud of you if you’ve made your way all the way through it in one sitting. I’m working on our 2nd newsletter and will be sending it out shortly. If you are one of our financial contributors please send me an e-mail with your mailing address (we’re sending you a gift from Thailand). The reason I’m putting this on here…is because we have 2 that are completely anonymous and – anonymous – whoever you are…please let us send you this simple gift from our hearts – we need your address to do this…so please send it.

John’s father, mother and 2 sisters and my other nephew are coming to visit in 3 weeks – we are SOO excited. We will be sending the envelopes back with them to be sent off so that it won’t cost an arm and a leg to send…and it won’t take 3-4 weeks to get there. So, anyway, I’m going to wrap this up and I just want to say thank you again for all of your thoughts and prayers!!!!

I miss you Mom and Bubba – you too Terry! Lisa!...I miss you so much! You know what…I shouldn’t have started…there a ton of people I could just sit here and list…..I miss you all bunches! I’ll write again soon.

Steph

Ok…one more thing….for some reason when I post now…it doesn’t come up on the first page you go to when you type in www.theblakesthailand.blogspot.com. Sometimes you have to click on the most recent month at the bottom right hand corner to get the most recent posts. Sorry for the inconvenience…don’t know how to fix it yet. Toodles!

Josiah on our new bike!!! Yes! Praise God! We were able to get a bike about 2 weeks ago!!!!! It's second hand and in great condition!!! God is soo good! We were never without a bike because of the goodness of God and the gracious hearts of the missionaries that are here who let us borrow their bike when we needed it (they have cars they could use while we borrowed their bike)....:)
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OK....so, I truely understand that this looks really scary...but Josiah is very safe...and John's legs prevent him from falling...he wears a helment and so does John. I don't have one yet but I will soon!
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Looks like something off of an alien movie huh? You should see the bottom of it...it's got this slugg like look...but you can see something pulsing inside of it...from the top of it to the bottom of it.....AAHH!!
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This is a strange and unusual new neighbor....we find these often right outside our door - I know the picture is fuzzy...but it looks just like a long rock....or a piece of...well, pooopoo....I've stepped on one twice...feels a bit like pooopoo too!!! YUCK!
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Pushed by an Elephant - Praise Report

Yeah…that’s right…pushed by an elephant! I was at the market yesterday evening and there was a momma elephant and her baby was attached to her by some rope. There were people feeding the elephants sugar cane and my friend (Tanah) and I were watching. I was standing there innocently when the baby elephant (which is still HUGE) came toward me and just rammed me with his huge head. To clarify….it wasn’t a really hard ram but it was hard enough to knock me onto the steps behind me. I scattered backward because the baby was acting unruly.

Then it hit me that this baby is not trained whatsoever…and knows no boundaries like the mother does…so needless to say – I kept my distance after that. For the record – I am not counting that as the fourth time I’ve fallen in Thailand….yeah…definitely doesn’t count….hehehe

Another incredible praise report: the day before yesterday some women came to John and asked him to go to the hospital to pray for a woman in her 40’s who just got pregnant and the father left her. She has been bleeding and having severe cramps and hadn’t felt the baby move in a long time. So yesterday John went up to the hospital and prayed for her and after he prayed the baby started kicking – the baby was moving so much he could see the baby moving through the stomach. Then they started sharing the good news with her and she started crying and accepted Jesus into her heart. WAHOO! Praise God!

We’re going to be helping her as much as we can. Something awesome happened about two days ago. I was at the FIRE house waiting for John to pick us up and there were about 5 children just hanging out there. Pii Thak (thai Christian woman who lives in the Fire House) said that they come there and hang out all the time and they are just desperate for attention. I started playing with them and it was just amazing how they opened up…for about an hour we played HARD! I was sweating horribly!!! I taught them “Simon says” and “Red light, Green light” – Pii Thak translated. Anyway, the awesome thing is that I talked to John and we’re going to try to setup something at the FIRE house for those kids once a week. Just come there and spend time with them…and tell them stories of Jesus and the love of God.

So if anyone has any awesome children’s fun…resources…please let me know about them. I want to make it like a continuous Vacation Bible School. Every week have an activity, story and fun time. Any help would be appreciated!!! I’ve only worked with teens and adults and teen games just don’t do it for these energy filled little guys.

I’m going to get some pictures of them up soon. We’ve been kept really busy recently with our Thai lessons – we have them 4 times a week and its tough stuff!!! We have to study hard! It’s such a difficult language. If you would like to hear what it sounds like here is a link where you can learn and hear a little bit of Thai yourself.

http://www.learningthai.com/useful_phrases.html

I have to make this post short unfortunately because I am heading off to prepare for helping out at a local church here. I’ll write more soon! Talk to you soon!

Praise Report - Scooter Accident!!!

Sawatdee ka!

We just got an internet card again! I don’t have long to post right now because I’m heading off to the FIRE house to prepare for tonight. I just wanted to get this praise report up before I left! Oh…by the way thank you to all of those who put a comment on my last post!!! I really appreciate it! Ok…let me share what God did so that all the glory can go to Him!

About 3 nights ago John and I got home really late and the vendors were already closed so he went out to find food. While he was gone this is what happened in his words:

“I just prayed for a dead man…he’s not dead any more. He got hit on his scooter;
he was laid out on the ground with a puddle of blood around his head. There was
a lot of people there. I was at the back of the red light when it happened. He
was not breathing and completely limp. I walked up and grabbed his arm and
prayed. It was very chaotic, people yelling and crying no cops where there yet.
He laid there and I tried to help carry him but two guys picked him up and put
him on a scooter with them to take him to the hospital.

They left and I went back to my bike. I went to the ER at 4 different hospitals none had any scooter accidents except for one. It looked like the same guy but I could not
tell for sure but this guy was talking and coherent!! I can’t say for sure if it
was him but that was the only guy who had come in at any hospitals in Hatyai
from a scooter accident. The one guy I found was about 30 and from a scooter
wreck. There was no one else with that description and the guy had a gash in his
head on the side that was touching the ground and his knees where cut up like
the guy I prayed for. But this guy was breathing and talking! Praise God!"

John also told me that he had made a decision to go a different way that night and if he hadn’t decided to go that way he would not have been there. God is good! OK…I have lots to write and I will try to get on tomorrow. We have started our Thai lessons and it is extremely challenging!!! I’ll write again soon!

Steph

A request to everyone reading...

My curiousity is up! I'm wondering just how many people are reading this blog!?! We have had some e-mails from all over the place regarding this blog and so I am requesting a favor...please...

If you are reading this blog - will you please press the comment button at the bottom of this post and put your name and where you're from (it can be your nickname if you don't want people knowing your whole name of course)...

I would really appreciate it if you would do this for me! Thank you ever so much!!

Steph

Happenings in Baan Nam Khem - John's B-Day - and More

Hello Everyone! Pictures below!

It’s been way too long since I’ve written! We got back from Baan Nam Khem about 4 days ago. Right after we got back we had to go and do our border run. For those of you who don’t know what a border run is – we are on a 30 day tourist visa, so every 30 days we have to cross the border and come back across to get our passports stamped and a new 30 day tourist visa. We go to Malaysia about an hour away and come back across. The trip takes us about 3 hours total because the border is always busy.

The last trip to Baan Nam Khem was my first. Pictures do no justice to the devastation. There are so many people who need help and so many opportunities for ministry it can be truly overwhelming. I thank God for people who can focus on the chapters regardless of how big the book is. What I mean by that is…when I first started really reading books when I was younger…I would look at a book and think – “That book is TOO BIG! I’ll never be able to read a book that big!” And for a long time I would put off reading anything over 30 pages long.

Then one day I thought if I just focus on each chapter instead of the whole book I’ll finish the book in no time and enjoy each chapter. As soon as I started approaching books in this way I was able to read whatever book I wanted to. It’s the same way with ministry. When you look at the whole “book”/picture of what has happened with the tsunami and all the people who desperately need help it is very very overwhelming and one would think – “What could I possibly do? How could 1 person make a dent in such massive devastation?”

But when you look at the chapters/the individuals and think “How can I help this person TODAY? How can we get this 1 house built? How can I show this group of people the love of God RIGHT NOW?” The end result is finishing the book – touching a nation – one day at a time. John is going to be going to Baan Nam Khem about 2 weeks out of a month to work with Todd Pruitt and his family. While we were there last time John, Todd and a group of men worked on Whelee’s (picture is on our blog) boat. Through donations that Todd has received for the tsunami he was able to purchase enough wood to fix Whelee’s boat although there are still a lot more things needed before his boat will be sea worthy. Whelee is a fisherman by trade and currently lives in the refugee camp with his wife and son. He is also working in one of the work groups that Todd has established.

John will be working with Todd and the workgroups he establishes while in Baan Nam Khem. Each member of a work group works for the equivalent of $5 dollars a day. The work that they’ll be doing is basically building houses and working on damaged houses. While they’re rebuilding homes they’re also making enough money to feed their families. Another thing is that these men are incredibly board because they are used to working hard as fisherman and now their days are filled with meaningful work. Some of them refuse payment because they are just happy to be working again.

God has brought forth some incredible Thai men who have skills and are very trustworthy to work and head up the teams with Todd and John. There are many men who are seeing the love of God through the work that is being done…one in particular has been touched by the love for the Thai people that Todd and John have shown and though he has not accepted Jesus as his savior he has was brought to tears when he was completely overwhelmed that someone would care so much for people who are not their own.

He was with Todd and John when they found a village near Baan Nam Khem that is in a horrible situation. That’s when he was brought to tears (it’s very rare for a Thai to cry) There are only 40 families left in the whole village and they have no boats (all were fishermen) and no homes. The village was located directly on the shore of the sea. The beach where the village was located is beautiful and has been sought after by a resort that wants to buy it out. It turns out that the government is not going to help this village rebuild their homes because the government would prefer a resort to go up there. So this village is desperate to rebuild their homes because if they can rebuild their homes then a resort can not go up there.

It truly sounds like something off of a movie – doesn’t it? Welp, the deal is that it would only take $150,000 to build 40 fully functional homes (running water and some sort of plumbing for toilets and such). I know….I know…I said “only”. $150,000 is a lot of money for one individual but it’s not a lot of money if the right person or organization knew about it. So, John and I want to start a website for this village alone and send out an e-mail about them and maybe the right person will find out about it. John really feels like he’s supposed to work primarily with this village as much as he can when he’s there. So we’ll keep everyone updated. We will pray…

John is out right now looking for a motorbike to buy. On the 10th of this month Todd Pruitt and his family are moving to Baan Nam Khem and he’ll be taking the motorbike that he’s been letting us borrow so we won’t have a vehicle. So we are looking for a good second hand bike to buy for really cheap. It will cost about $800 for a good used motorbike and maybe less. John will know more after he’s looked today with a friend of ours.

The 9th is John’s Birthday!!! He’ll be 25! I’m really excited about it. I can’t believe I’m only 24 and he’s going to be 25! I just really feel so much older I suppose. We don’t know how we’re going to celebrate – we’ve got our first Thai lesson on his birthday for an hour and a half that day. It will be weird not being around family on his birthday. I was hoping to get out of the house to find him a small present today but I don’t think I’ll be able to. That’s ok – he’ll like us going together to look for something.

Josiah’s birthday is coming up too! It’s on April 16th! He’ll be a whapping 3! We got his hair cut yesterday at a barber shop here. He did NOT want to get his hair cut at all! So I was sitting there and an ice cream bribe just wasn’t working…so then it hit me…one last thing to try: “Josiah – let’s get your hair cut so we can show Asia how handsome you look!” I felt really silly for trying that…and then he said “ummm….hai cut…sho Shasha?” (Translation – ummmm…get a hair cut then we’ll show Asia?) I said “Yes, we’ll go show Asia” And he said: “ummm….ok. hair cut for Asia”.

I couldn’t believe it! My son really really cares for this cutie pie named Asia. She’s a doll. A couple of weeks ago he was laying in bed with John and he said “oh man…pretty…oh man…ShaSha pretty Daddy!” When John told me that I couldn’t believe it…he was just laying there before going to bed (before he goes to sleep he gets really talkative and drowsy and he just starts to say anything that comes to his little mind) and out popped this rather non toddlerish thought!

So after we got the hair cut we took him over to see Asia and they played for a while as we visited with Brian (Asia’s dad). This last Sunday I was able to lead worship with Tanah at a local church here and it went really well. We were told that they opened up and worshiped more than they had ever before (I really didn’t know if they did or not…because I had my eyes closed most of the time).

OHOHOH! MAJOR PRAISE REPORT! The guy that John prayed for that had been hit over the head with a wooden stick and was in a vegetative state…well, after John went and prayed for him the second time he started improving even more rapidly and now he is out of the hospital, walking and talking! They said this guy didn’t have much of a chance to live and if he did he would most like be in a vegetative state for the rest of his life (because part of his brain had to be removed) but God healed him! Praise God!

God is soo good! His love for us is truly amazing! You know what…yesterday I sat down and wrote a huge post and it had practically none of the stuff I’ve written in this post…and I hit publish and everything was gone! I couldn’t believe it. I had written about the love of God and the Thai people and their way of thinking about God and church. I just couldn’t believe it. I had typed and worked on it for over 3 hours! Maybe I’ll write about it later. I’ve already written 3 pages here…and I have a lot of pictures to put up too!

One more thing before I go – yesterday John, Josiah and I got to do something was sooo cool! We got to talk to our church family back in the states through their PA system and people could come up and talk to us and ask questions on the microphone and they could hear us through the speakers! It was sooo awesome to talk to them and hear their voices! I miss so many of them sooo much. It was so encouraging to hear them and know that we are not far from their hearts and prayers. I never thought of doing something like that before! Oh…also – we are on MSN Messenger frequently so if you use MSN Messenger my handle is: stephydove@hotmail.com John’s is: thailandforchrist@hotmail.com We’d love to hear from you! And! We have a webcam so you could see us too!

I love technology! Ok…I’m going to wrap this up. Oh wait…one more thing. My nephew Braden…from what I understand he’s doing better. They’ve told my brother that his recovery will take about 3 months…but I don’t want to accept that time frame. I’m praying that Braden will bring glory to God in that he will recover and be ready to go home much sooner than that! Please pray with me for my beautiful nephew Braden. Here is there blog: www.bradenbunger.blogspot.com

Ok…for real this time. I’ll write again soon! God bless you!

This is us on our borrowed bike. And yes that is a guitar on my back. After going to Baan Nam Khem - God really laid it on my heart to learn how to play guitar. Tanah and a guy name Isaac had an incredible impact on the refugee camp when they were there and it was mostly by worship and the guitar...Poor Josiah looks a bit smooshed but we make due just fine on the bike...although I have to say I pray just about everytime we get on.
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John, Josiah and I just before riding a ferry over to the village where the wedding took place...John has since gotten rid of these glasses because he insists they make him look mad...I don't think so though...
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This is hilarious to me. Josiah had to go poopoo and we were in the middle of no where...so here we are...Josish's first poopy outside of many to come, I'm sure. Now I know how my mother felt when we were in Haiti when I was young...I remember having to go potty outside all the time! He's really proud of this moment. He always say "I poopoo in the outside huh mommy?"
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Here's a couple...
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This is us by some monkey's that you can't see...
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Mammm cooking with her new cooking utensils...
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We can't get Josiah to stop bitting his nails!!!!!!
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Josiah and I getting ready to go give Josiah a bath in Mamms bucket.
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Josiah after a hard day at play in the refugee camp...
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Josiah hard at play with a new friend in the refugee camp...
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This is Simon, Renee(Todd's wife), 2 Thai women that I do not know and John in one of the refugee camps...
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This is "Mammms" place in the refugee camp. Mamm was very well off before the tsunami and now her and her family have nothing and no work. The money Todd has been given for tsunami relief went to buy her kitchen utensils and she now has her own restaurant infront of her "house/room" in the refugee camp. She is doing very well and is very appreciative. She say's she is just so happy to be able to do something during the day. She cooks every day and sells them to the people of the refugee camp for 10 baht when a dish like that could usually go for 20 or 30 baht. Her husband works with Todd on the work teams.
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Farther down the road more cages have been made from the net that Simon brought for this village...That's Pastor Simon - he's not Thai...he's Chinese...
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These are fishcages that these people where able to make because Simon bought them net.
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A man walking in from catching a couple of fish for his family...the tsunami took his boat so all he can do is wade in the water to catch what he can.
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One of the many boats on the shore that are being repaired as they can afford it...
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Some people John and Simon prayed for that were working on their boats that have been destroyed by the tsunami.
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John and some people we met that were heading off to their home on a near by island. They have to come to where we were to get food because they receive no help from the government or other people on their island.
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This is a guy John prayed for at the wedding who has asthma so bad that he can not work anymore...we do not have an update yet on how he is doing...
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This is the food we were served at the wedding party! I ate some of the second bowl above the pork fat stuff. I couldn't eat the pork fat stuff...Could you eat it?
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We delievered rice, vitamins and medicine to the community center. We have already had reports back saying that the medicine for children has already helped a little boy have a bowl movement that got a worm out of his body that was over a foot long!
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A young boy who was run over by a motorbike that John and I prayed for. He is Josiah's age.
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John unloading the rice to the community center...
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After the wedding we delivered the rice and medicine that we had brought with us.
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Traditional Thai music being played at the wedding...
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We went to Baan Nam Khem this last time with Pastor Simon to help with a wedding. Here is the couple and Pastor Simon praying with the couple.
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