Fourth Epistle

G'day Everybody
We seem to be flat out like a lizard drinking here and my blogs are getting later and later. We have had a bit of an extra load because they are short handed here at the moment with the work growing rapidly and the office girl who handles the finance being off to have a baby. Rob and Pawinee have had to do the office work and they are already overloaded so this has meant a couple of days off for some of us at various times but more of that later.

So what is happening at the building site. Seeing it come up out of the ground was quite spectacular, but the changes are a bit slower now. Chris, Murray and Gordon have spent a lot of time preparing for the first pour of the concrete floor. Malcolm has dictated extra underground beams and piers and lots of steel reinforcement because it is built on imported dirt which may compact later. At the moment the whole district could wash away but this building will still be standing there. I have spent several days with the Thai welders putting up rafters and purlins and clambering around (carefully I might add) several metres off the ground. Gordon has joined me in the last couple of days and has ventured up to the rarified air on several occasions.

Half the floor was poured last Monday and the rest will be poured next Monday so we have been furiously digging trenches for more of those strengthening beams. Fortunately the weather has been very kind to us and I would think it is not much over 30 degrees most days and on occasions cooler. Tomorrow we start putting up the trusses on top of the building - it's a long way up and we are wondering whether to wear oxygen tanks!!

Malc hopes to get a start on our second building project next week - quarters for Colleen and I when we come for an extended time in June. As usual, plans change quickly and we are now building a 2 storey place. Mercy wants more accommodation for long term volunteers and there is a possibility that friends of ours may come this year and take up residence in the top storey. There is little money available to build these units so if anyone feels led to further the work in Thailand in this way, contributions would be greatly appreciated.

Gordon and I had a bit of an unexpected adventure last week when a bloke from Queensland, looking to see what mission projects his new company might support, arrived here to have a look at the orphanage. Terry is a builder and has started a company to raise funds from the corporate sector for missions. He enjoyed his time with us and spent many hours talking building with Malcolm. He had a friend, Sunni, a Filipino doctor living in Bangkok with his wife and family who delighted us with his sense of humour and stories. We very much enjoyed the company of both of them.

Because there were no spare people to show them other Ban Meata sites I took them to Khon Kaen and Gordon came along as well. We spent a couple of hours with Wendy looking at the redevelopment plans for Khon Kaen and then Terry wanted to go further towards the Cambodian border where he knew of a little orphanage. Towards evening we arrived and were met by a Thai pastor and his wife who took us to their orphanage. They, Hannah and Neehami, were a delightful couple and she spoke very good English and the joy of the Lord just shone from her face. Their orphanage has just 12 children and they have 2 buildings and a church on their property. Serendipitously, or more likely a God-incident, a young Australian was working with them for a couple of weeks and it turned out that I had met him a couple of years ago at my brother's place in Melbourne when we spoke of Thailand and orphanages.

That night Hannah had booked us into a motel/resort - a series of separate buildings - nearby. We had 2 units, Gordon and I in one and Terry and Sunni in the other. The first surprise was that they just had double beds! We all looked at one another and decided that wasn't on so we demanded extra mattresses to sleep on the floor. My mattress was pretty thin and I think I could feel the grout between the tiles. Gordon slept on the bed and had his first experience of Thai hotel beds. Typically you could have used it for road surface so he woke up less rested than he expected. Otherwise the units were excellent - very clean, the shower was hot (at least ours was) and they ordered in breakfast of a hot dog and 2 fried eggs for us from a local restaurant for breakfast.

We made our way back to Phetchabun the following day under Sunni's expert navigation. He seems to have a great memory for maps and just calls out which way to go even though he's never been there before. At one large town he decided to take us around the town rather than through the main street, and the streets became smaller and smaller until we found ourselves bouncing along a dirt track through someone's backyard. We emerged on the main highway however so his reputation as an infallible navigator remained intact.

While this was happening Murray and Chris went with Rob and Pawinee on a visa run to the Laos border so Rob could get his visa stamped. Murray and Chris only had single entry visas so they had to stay in Thailand while Rob and Pawinee shopped in the markets of a Laos border town at one of the Friendship bridges (engineered and built by Australians over, I think, the Mekong River).

Malcolm had his adventure yesterday when another baby and a 2 year old turned up and had to be taken to Phrae for Sharon to look after. Again there was nobody spare to take them, and Malcolm has been nursing a strained knee, so he went. He had only ever travelled to Phrae in the back of the ute so I drew him a map of which turns to take and off he set with big Whun (as distinct from Colleen's and my Whun) and another carer looking after the kids. Whun is apparently not good with directions and she had him turn south down a highway that he should have gone north on. He didn't think it was right but thought he had better trust the locals. 60km down that road Whun made a phone call to check and was most embarrassed to have led Malc astray. They duly delivered the kids, albeit a little later than expected and then headed back "home", arriving about 8.30pm.

This weekend we all head off to Khon Kaen where we stay in a hotel (which we already know has good beds!) and some of the blokes are hanging out to do some serious shopping. More news of that in the next blog.

Today is Valentine's Day and is it ever big in Thailand. Sand, one of the carers, marched her kids on their way to school past the visitors' house while we were having breakfast, and gave us all chocolates and a big hug. All the kids we came across had sheets of little stickers and they put them on our shirts. Walking past the school buildings I had several kids (not from the orphanage) call out in their best English, "Happy Valentines Day - I love you"! If I had gone any further I could have had proposals of marriage!! The newspapers are full of government warnings about some of the more illicit forms of love on Valentine's Day.

I must apologise for the continuing lack of pictures. I tried tonight but they would not upload onto the blog for some reason and my deep and intimate knowledge of all things technological couldn't cope.

Our health is very good except for Malcolm's knee which nearly prevents him from climbing ladders and stuff. Keep praying for us that we will achieve what we plan to do and enjoy continued good health. For those interested (could be up to 3) my glucometer readings for diabetes have never been lower since being diagnosed. Even the fruits of Valentine's Day didn't make much difference!

Well, as always, till next time....

God bless
Ron