The adventures of the journey to Ban Meata paled into insignificance when we were met with the latest news on Rob Dunk’s condition. When we arrived Pawinee said that Jean wanted to ring us at 7.30pm that evening to update the situation. I think I shared with most of you that Rob and Jean had gone to England and then to Edinburgh where one of their sons lives. Their other son, a doctor in London, Sharon, their daughter in Thailand, and their other daughter from Canberra, had all gathered with their families to share Christmas together. After Christmas Rob had a bad bleed from the cancer in his ear – a daily occurrence, but he was hospitalised.
The report from Jean indicated that the cancer had progressed to the bones of his face, and untreated would give him between 6 and 12 months. Rob, as the man of faith that we know him to be, was, and still is, waiting for a miracle of healing so that with full strength he can continue his work in Thailand. Untreated though, he is not allowed to fly out of Edinburgh, so he will undergo radiation therapy to shrink the tumour and stop the bleeding. Hopefully he will then be able to fly back to Australia, stopping off in Bangkok, for what will be, barring the miracle we are all praying for, palliative care. Rob, again the man of faith, is OK with that and says that he is ready to go when God calls him home.
On Saturday night we again set up a phone link, this time to talk to Rob. We spoke a little to him (thankfully lucid after a regime of morphine) but he was quite emotional and struggled a bit. It was good to hear his voice though and we were able to tell him about the prayer support from all those at Ban Meata. It is sad to think, that without the miracle, he will be unable to return to Ban Meata. Pawinee gave me the keys to his car to use while I am here, so I am enjoying that little luxury which he may not do again. His thoughts though are that none of this compares with the glory of taking his place in heaven! But then ……. What about the miracle!
After all that, back to my travelling adventures. Uneventful, except that I had to get my skates on in Singapore to catch my flight to Bangkok. The skates were entirely ineffective in Suvarnabhumi Airport though and I missed my connecting flight to Khon Kaen by a fair bit (memo to self for next time – one hour is not enough!). I then had to try and transfer to the next flight but unfortunately it was full – except for a seat in first class which could be mine for an additional 2200baht (about $90) when the economy seat was only 1800baht! It’s an ill wind that blows no good however and I was able to go into the Thai Airways lounge to wait the 2 hours and enjoy unlimited Coke Zero and eats. And on the plane I had a napkin with my meal which compared pretty well with sandwich you get in economy. It’s only a 45 minute flight so they barely had time to serve it before they whisked it away again.
I was picked up by Phet, the KK manager and what a delight it was to see Why who came with her despite the late hour. She was so pleased to see me she held my hand all the way back to Ban Meata. Malcolm and Kay were already in KK staying in a hotel with friends they had invited from Broome. The next day we hired a minibus and travelled to PhetchabunBan Meata. Why decided to come with us to spend a week here before her return to university.
What a welcome we always get at Phetchabun. Everyone turns out and everyone needs a hug. It is so good to see our friends and always a surprise to see the kids who were pre-schoolers when we first came and now young men and women. The best reunion of all though was with our Whunand of course our little Captain. He is such a good baby and I am so proud of Whun who is such a good Mum. Captain has a huge family. He must be the most cuddled, cossetted, coddled, and carried baby in Thailand, all of which he accepts in the best of humour and with the most delightful smiles for everyone. Mum Whun, who now calls herself Grandma Whun, just can’t get enough of him.
The building team is of course into action. Malcolm and Kay’s friends from Broome gave us a couple of days before moving on to the rest of their holiday in Thailand. Richard Wray brought the Brackenridge Baptist team – Steve (a tradie) and his wife Gail, and Ninan (a bloke of Indian background who has recently retired from Deputy Principal at a Brisbane College). Chris Stolte of course always commits his time to the team when we are here. Dave and Sherie Ang with their 2 children arrived a couple of days ago, and Dave will be on site for a few days. Colleen and I met Sherie and Dave here a few years ago. They were having trouble conceiving and Sherie was particularly upset about it. Colleen spent some time talking with her and prayed with her, and a short time later she shared the happy news that she was pregnant. Not sure if Colleen has a ministry in this area!! They still say of their son, “Made in Thailand”!
The building team is working on the second storey of the Bill McMartin house. It has to be said that Malcolm was bitterly disappointed with standard of work done on the building throughout the year. Walls were not tied in, were poorly built, and sometimes in the wrong place. He spent several days putting some things in place to make the building safe. It’s not entirely surprising though because the Thai workers are just young boys and they haven’t really had sufficient guidance. We are on a roll now though and walls are being topped, concrete beams going around the building and overthe windows. My job over the first 5 days was chasing in the electricity and water. There are 8 rooms each with a bathroom, and a common room, and each with 6 power points, 2 light switches, water to the shower, basin and toilet. This is done with an angle grinder which creates an amazing amount of dust. I wear a hat, glasses, dust mask and ear muffs which makes it even hotter. It’s a filthy job and I think worthy of a place on Tony Robinson’s show about history’s dirtiest jobs!! Over the last couple of days I have worked with Malclaying blocks and although we both end up exhausted at the end of the day, at least there is no dust.
Continue to pray for safety for us. The equipment often does not meet Aussie standards. Malcolm had a plank of steel he was walking on break one of its welds, dumping him on the floor. Shaken but not stirred he was able to get up there again. No huge damage but at 75 years old you don’t bounce like you used to and he has been a bit stiff and sore. I had my brush with safety slipping off a stool I was working on. The distance down was minor, but the stool barked my shins, then it turned upside down and I fell on one of the upturned legs which punched me in the ribs. I have a 50mm square tattoo on my ribs which is currently rainbow coloured. It’s getting better – I can bend down now pretty well although it’s still painful to cough or sneeze. That evening I discovered I had also sprained my ankle – it had paled into insignificance compared to the other things!
As has become common in recent years I have a fairly full preaching load over the coming weeks, but this time I have been given a theme. “Setting Goals” is the topic and I have a few weeks to develop it. Last Sunday I spoke on “Seek first the Kingdom of God …”, using a wheelbarrow to illustrate (you’ve got to use it the right way round to make it work properly). God used it wonderfully and afterwards one of our long-time relief carers came forward to give her life to Jesus.
Pawinee also is starting a Sunday night session of worship, and teaching about worship, over at her house for the older kids. She asked if I would do the teaching part so a bit more preparation was needed on Sunday afternoon. It went well and she wants to continue this over the weeks I am here. She is very much missing Rob who would have normally done this sort of thing, so I am somewhat humbled and want to support her where I can.
This is developing into a record length Missive, caused because I haven’t had the internet in my house and it is therefore late.
So, that’s it for now.
God bless
Ron
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