Epistle 1 – 2017

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

A happy Captain with his Grandpa

Where we are up to on the building

Malc laying blocks

Missive 2 – 2016

As always the pace changes a bit when Malcolm leaves.  It’s been amazing to see him, in his mid-seventies, clambering around on top of the building, hanging on with one arm while he welds trusses together, or climbing the ladders with the weight of enormous trusses on his shoulder.  After he goes some of the Thai workers go back to other jobs like gardening or working on the farm while the rest continue on the building site.  Malcolm’s wife Kay, and daughter Kathryn thoroughly enjoyed their first stay at Ban Meata and there were tears as they tore themselves away from the farewell hugs and drove away.

We didn’t quite get to where Malcolm was expecting.  He was hoping we would have the concrete planks making up the floor of the second storey in place, but we only got 20% of them in place and as at this moment still have some welding to do before the next section goes on.  I have been dividing my time between the office and measuring up for the posts which have to welded in place to hold the roof of the second storey, and having one of the trusses cut and re-welded into a position which fits over the old building better.

Now for those who are already bored with building, some other stuff.  Firstly, news of Cheewar who has lupus and has lost two toes on one of her feet.  Her hospitalisation coupled with inadequate care in her home village (resulting in the amputation) has left her walking on a frame and with “drop foot” on her good leg.  With son-in-law Rich’s help and advice we have devised a physio regime to overcome the problem.  I have gathered all the girls in the “big girls” house and shown them which muscles to massage, which muscles to stretch, and which exercises Cheewar must attempt to restore mobility.  They take it in turns to do it 3 times a day.  Cheewarseems to have brightened considerably since I have been here, despite the pain we are inflicting on her thrice daily!  Please continue to pray for her and her swift return to university.

I promised an update on Whun’s life and circumstances.  Over the last year she has had more ups and downs than a hotel lift but seems to be in a better place now.  She has a job as a trainee teacher at our school and despite having a “downer” late last year because of some criticism, and wanting to leave, is now much more settled.  Children begin school here at 3 or even younger (some still in nappies) and she is partnered with a teacher in a classroom of nearly 40 of these kids.  One of her jobs is to clean up the kids who have wet their pants, or worse, during their afternoon nap.  She is learning to serve!  I am delighted that she reads to them and has developed a dramatic reading style which captivates her audience.  This year she will commence weekend university study to get her formal teaching qualifications.

Underlying all this, and more importantly, is her encounter with God over recent months.  She has had an experience of the infilling of the Spirit and she speaks often of her desire to do as God wants of her.  I have been encouraging her in this, and teaching her about extending this into her love life.  A boyfriend with whom she has had a somewhat tumultuous relationship over the last couple of years posted on Facebook that he could do without her but not beer!  The status of the relationship is now “broken” as she puts it, and it was pleasing to see her make that decision.  Thank you to all those praying for her.  Don’t stop now!!

The Sunday before last Kay, Kathryn and I went for a drive with Stuart and Trish (long term volunteers here) into the mountains nearby.  We visited the Prince’s palace (the future king), drove past numerous holiday resorts and strawberry farms, and ended up at Pino Latte, a coffee place with stunning views over the Phetchabun valley between parallel mountain ranges, and over the new Buddhist temple, spectacularly decorated with literally millions of mosaic tiles.  At the coffee place we enjoyed drinks at Western prices and some cake and desserts that don’t even get close to being on a diabetic’s diet list.

Last weekend Why came over from KK again to say goodbye because she will be unable to do so over the next couple of weekends.  She, Whun and I had a wonderful Saturday together, going into Phetchabun and enjoying the delights of the Pizza Company, Swenson’s the ice-cream parlour, and shopping in Tescos.  (Those of you concerned about my sugar levels, rest assured they are very good, testament to the day by day diet and working in the sun.)  We played a few word games which brings out the competitive juices in Why, and confuses the daylights out of Whun, so we had a great deal of fun, reminiscent of the time they spent in Adelaide.  They are very keen to come again one day.

That night we went in to Lomsak, our nearest town, to the night markets and to watch a dancing and music competition in a park there.  We took Cheewar in a wheelchair and she loved being included.  You couldn’t say Thailand is a “disabled friendly” place.  I had to push the wheelchair on the street because the footpaths are full of either stallholders or pipes and concrete bumps.  Some of the kids from our school were competing in the competitions and got some good results.  It seemed that only girls danced and the skimpy clothes and steaminess of the routines made me wonder about appropriateness for our kids – but, that’s Thailand!

Well, if you’ve lasted this far well done.  As much as I’m enjoying myself I’m missing home as well.  2 weeks to go.

God bless

Ron

 

Missive 1 - 2016

I have just sat down after returning to my “ban” (house) after a delightful meal with Mum Whun, Whun and Why, Jip and Sun (carers for the big boys) and some of the uni students.  Jip and Mum Whun went to the markets, bought some food and invited me to join them for the meal.  We had “larp” (mincemeat mixed with herbs and chilli), and a heap of squid which was cooked over a fire bucket and then cut into rings and dipped into a hot herb and chili sauce.  A few other dishes completed the menu – all made as we sat there.  It was so good to be sitting under the stars with my other family, sharing stories (some had to be retold to me), and simply enjoying each other’s company.  When I bid them goodnight and thanked them for their hospitality they said that I was like a local and one of them – a wonderful affirmation of friendship.

When Nook (once a child here and now with children of her own) saw me for the first time her first words were, “Welcome back!  I’m reading my Bible more because I know you will be telling us that’s what we should be doing.”  Pray for Nook – she has recently had a large lump removed from her breast (benign apparently) and has to go to the local clinic every day to have the dressing in the hole replaced.

All this is after a good flight over here and a night in a hotel in Bangkok before catching a bus to Phetchabun.  I had a bit of minor trouble with taxis.  The driver from the airport, although in a metered taxi, suggested I could pay 1000baht, and have a “Happy New Year”, and then on my refusal dropped it to 500.  I tapped the metre and suggested he turn it on.  Consequently the cost was only 270.  And the next morning I had a few taxis stop for me but when I said I wanted to go to the bus station they wound up their windows and drove on.  Eventually I had a very pleasant driver take me and the cost was a mere 100baht – obviously not enough for some of them.

Our job this year is to put a second storey on the big girls’ house (where Whun and Why used to live).  When I arrived the holes were dug around the house for the posts by a team from Brisbane/Nambour under the leadership of Russel Lee who has worked with us over the last few years.  A big team of Thais, several of them Ban Meata boys who have left school, were painting steel and taking the old roof off.  My first job was to knock a wall down and dig up a concrete path so I was reacquainted with my old friend Jack (Hammer) very quickly.  Later I, and a few Thai boys, put up the cement posts and welded the steel frames inside ready for the cement truck to come and fill them.

Malcolm has brought his wife Kay this year for the first time in 12 years, as well as his daughter Kathryn.  Both are enjoying their first experience at Ban Meata, amazed at the welcome and the “100 hugs a day”, and already at the school helping out with English teaching.  Last weekend we went to Khon Kaen where Malcolm was able to show off this amazing new orphanage which was just a rice paddy 4 years ago.  There is a new phase beginning at Khon Kaen with the introduction of new babies of which by next week there will be eight.  Three of them are only a few weeks old and a couple of them born to HIV+ teenage Mums.  Medication from birth and not allowing the Mums to breastfeed them is having good deal of success in the preventing of HIV+ status in babies.  I fell in love with one of these little tots because her name is Pam after the 10 year old that I had a lot of contact with a couple of years ago and who subsequently died after an infection.

We couldn’t go to Khon Kaen without taking Kay and Kathryn to the steak-house where we have been dining for the last 12 years when we go over there.  All those years ago we ate all we could for 89baht (then about $3) and now it is 189baht (nearly $8, shock, horror) but the food is the same – unlimited pork, beef and chicken steaks with numerous salads and vegetables, then dessert and icecream.  We also took them to one of the multi-storey shopping malls and also to an open air street market.  This latter was mainly for meat and fish, so we saw lots of pork laid out on tables, flanked by the heads of those poor individuals, and plenty of fish, eels, tortoises and frogs in plastic bowls either swimming, hopping or crawling around, or in a state much closer to the cooking pot.

We brought Why back with us from Khon Kaen because she had a few days’ break from Uni so this may be a good time to report on how she and Whun are getting on.  I spent a wonderful hour or so with Why one night with conversation ranging over uni results, her ambitions, her spiritual life and her history, of which she has an awakening interest.  Her results this semester have been a little better although she still finds the work very difficult.  When I raised the issue of finding a tutor she said it is very difficult to find a tutor at this level.  She has 3 semesters to go to complete her degree and she will then teach in a school for a year to get her teacher’s certificate.  She has asked us to pray for her decisions after that – whether she continues to teach in a school or go back for a Masters and teach in a university.  She insists that she wants to do what God wants for her, and not just choose for herself.  She is involved in a local church at KK, playing the keyboard and getting a lot out of the preaching there.  She heads back to KK tomorrow but perhaps I’ll see her again in the next few weeks.

Whun is going well after a very challenging year.  She has some decisions to make soon about a study regime and the best way to achieve her ambition of being a teacher.  I will tell more of her story in the next Missive.

At the time of finishing this Missive we have put up all the posts around the old building on the building site today and by the next Missive hope to be able to report the beams around and across the building being in place.  Malcolm leaves next Friday so we are going flat strap to get as much done as possible, and hope that he gets time to write down the next steps so we can continue the good work.  The top storey is going to be enormous (bigger than the dining room) and will tower over the quadrangle at Ban Meata.  The old building had concrete trusses so rather than build the next storey on the walls, it will be over the roof level.  The floor on the new storey will be between 4 and 5 metres above the ground.  I have suggested to Malc that we put in oxygen outlets for assisted breathing at that height.

Till next time, continue to pray for us.  I think of you often and am experiencing “song jai” which I think I explained last time.

God bless

Ron

Missive 4 – 2015

Life changes a bit when the building team go home – Malcolm, Peter and the Brisbane people all left over a week ago now.  I was left with a fistful of notes from Malcolm about what to do next.  I was left as the expert on where to put the purlins and how to put the valleys in the roof – fortunately Malcolm explained it all clearly and the Thai boys have pretty good idea of what to do, although I had to ask Deo to do one of the valleys again.  We had another church team from Brisbane turn up and one bloke in particular is keen to pitch in with the building so he has helped me set up the boxing to build a retaining wall on which we will pour the verandah.

We poured the concrete for the retaining walls and the verandah support posts late last week.  I was saved an embarrassing mistake that day when I calculated the amount of concrete.  I measured all the holes and boxing, and one 6 metre length of the walls was 300m wide and 300mm deep.  On my scrap of paper I wrote down .3 x .3 = .9 (I wouldn’t be happy if my Year 6 Maths kids made that mistake!).  That made 5.5 cubic metres of concrete rather than about .5 – a truckful!  When we were nearing the end of the second truck load and the job was nearly finished, I was starting to panic and wonder what we would do with all that concrete (about $300 worth).  We were fortunately able to cancel the third truck and avoid an expensive disaster. I couldn’t work out how my estimate could be so far out and a couple of days later I found the scrap of paper - and the mistake.

I need to introduce you to some international members of the building tam.  For a number of years a group of Dutch peoplehave joined us.  They are usually reasonably elderly but that is no reflection on their doggedness in working out in the sun and doing some of the less glamorous building jobs like washing and painting the steel, weaving the mesh for the floor, painting the welds and so on.  This year there were only two, Adelbert Hesseling and Annette Doorn.  Adelbert had had a pacemaker put in last year so he wasn’t in peak condition but he did a great job.  They have raised large amounts of euro in the Netherlands by doing all sorts of fundraising activities including cracking the ice off the river in their town and being sponsored for going swimming (I would have thought that would do the job of a pacemaker!).  They left a couple of days ago and they went away with the challenge of raising 20,000 or so euros to renovate the big girls’ house and put on a second storey.  That may be our job in 2016 – book your holidays now!

It’s this time of the year when I usually pack away my building clothes, resort to shorts and a t-shirt and work in the office on some admin stuff.  That’s not going to happen completely although I have some things I am doing for Rob that I am fitting in between building jobs.  He is being awarded an honorary degree from Phetchabun University for his contribution to Thailand and this province in particular.  I have been putting together an acceptance speech supported by photographs of his and House of Mercy’s impact on the area.  And the Rotary Club at Khon Kaen is keen to support us to develop a TAFE-like skills training centre here and at KK so another job will be helping to prepare a proposal to present to the Rotary Club in a couple of weeks.

On top of that I have preached at worship here for the last 2 weeks so a bit of time has gone into preparing for that.  I usually try to use something visual and today I talked about branding cattle in Australia to show ownership.  I had Boonsilit weld me a branding iron with JC on it to illustrate, and then I explained that Jesus doesn’t use a branding iron but we have the “mark of a Christian” on us to show that we belong to Jesus – fruits of the Spirit, loving one another (John 5:34, 35) and loving our enemies (Matt 5:44).  After that I conducted communion and that was a special time.

Last week I was invited to a meal at Mum Whun’s grandma’s house.  Grandma is 84 and hasn’t been well for a while so that day she had been to the doctor.  She had a few tablets and was told to drink and eat more.  Probably good advice as she is such a tiny sparrow of a lady.  I have shared in past missives of the rather idyllic, quintessentially Thai backdrop at her house.  When we got there and Whun went off to help with the meal, I was assigned to talk to Grandma who firstly wanted to know where Colleen was.  We then conversed for a while, her in fluent Thai and me in fluent English but I think we agreed on most things.  Whun’s Dad eventually came home from work on his all-purpose tractor/cultivator/pump/family transport and set about preparing the meal along with Whun’s brother (a truck driver).  A few aunties turned up as well to make a goodly number for the meal.  We had laap, finely chopped meat with herbs and spices, sticky rice and a plate of herbs and weeds on the side.  The meat was pig intestines and pig liver.  The sticky rice was cooked outside in a well-used basket over a boiling pot of water on a fire.  A couple of chicks, appreciating the extra warmth (not sure why, it was pretty warm any way) were snuggling in a hole under the stones holding the fire.  We ate of course on the floor (there are no chairs in the house) and I was rather ashamed of my inability to sit crosslegged through the meal and then be able to stand straight up afterwards.  The meal was delicious although there was plenty of pizzaz from the chili.

We acquired two more children tonight in rather heartrending circumstances.  The father of 3 of our children by a variety of wives had a Cambodian lady as his next wife.  She has twin boys about 4 years old.  The father died in a motorcycle accident last year and the Cambodian wife is not wanted by the rest of the family and has no citizenship papers.  She brought the twins to us tonight and she will either return to Cambodia (with a consequent problem for the children) or get “lost” in Thailand to try and survive (with the consequent problem of looking after the children).  It was heartwrenchingto see her hand them over, she was in tears and remained in that state while Mum Whun drove her back to her village.  One of the boys is particularly upset and I could hear him crying inconsolably in his house later this evening.  Your prayers for these two kids would be appreciated.

Speaking of accidents we have had stories of some near misses in recent days.  There seems to be no requisite for a brain when they give out licences to drive a tuk-tuk here. On the weekend Rob and Jean drove around a blind corner to find a tuk-tuk parked in the middle of the road.  A four wheel lock up stop had them finishing centimetres from the vehicle.  Last week Glom narrowly missed an unlit tuk-tuk at night on the nearby Ban Klang road.  It too was stopped in the middle of the road.  A 20 year old uni student returning home was not so lucky.  Blinded by oncoming headlights he ran into it and was killed.  The funeral procession passed Ban Meata yesterday on the way to the burning house at the local temple.

Less than two weeks to go and plenty still to do.  Your ongoing prayers are really much appreciated.  Please pray for Colleen too who has to endure these long stays of mine and is struggling with considerable back pain at the moment.

God bless

Ron

Missive 3 – 2015

I don’t want to rub it in, but the weather here has been magnificent for the last three weeks. While Adelaide sweltered in an over 40 degree heatwave we enjoyed days of sub-30 degrees and nights that were down in the teens. The mornings have been so cold that the Thais are getting around in parkas and coming up for hugs just to keep warm. To fill you with envy let me describe morning tea on the building site. Two of the Thai women come to the site bearing plates of watermelon, sliced pineapple so sweet you eat it last so all the other stuff tastes OK by comparison, cubes of papaya and refreshing pomelo. Jugs of cordial and iced water complete the table. As the girls appear the cry of “smoko!” goes up across the site and we all sit under the trees, enjoying the refreshments and the cool breeze which has prevailed during our stay. This is then repeated in the middle of the afternoon. At 12 noon “khin khow” is shouted (lunch, or literally, “eat rice”) and we all troop off to the dining room where we sit down to a beautiful range of Thai food each day, deliberately “mai phet” (not spicy) to suit the tastes of the “ferengues” (foreigners). Now that should make our building team bigger in 2016!! The work is going ahead quickly and well. As I begin to write this we have topped the walls around the outside and the trusses go up this week. Over 3,500 blocks have been laid in this time. After 7 days of block-laying I have lost the fingerprints on my left hand (I’ve taken to wearing a glove on my right) and the cement dries out the skin to the point of cracking. I asked Ben (see Missive 2) jokingly if he knew anything about safe-cracking that he could teach me now I didn’t have fingerprints. He said that would be no problem, he’d done a few in his time!! Isn’t the grace of God good?!! And now to introduce another couple of team members. Marty Kuhlevein comes from Queensland and owns a large fleet of school buses, a fleet of skip collecting trucks, and a fleet of liquid waste trucks. He is a bit over 30, became a Christian a few short years ago, celebrated by having “RIGHTEOUS” tattooed across his chest, and has taken up boxing in the middleweight division to keep fit. Becoming a Christian didn’t go down well with his second wife and he is praying for a restoration in that relationship. David Hill is an older bloke from Maleny in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. He came out of the army as an alcoholic and with two broken marriages behind him. Becoming a Christian healed him of his addiction and he is rejoicing in what God has done in his life, including meeting his third wife at church. He is an electrician and has been put to good use preparing for the wiring through the house and this week will install switchboards and wiring. He has worked mainly with Ben and it has been great to see the mentoring that is happening. He offered Ben 1000baht if he didn’t swear for a whole day – and then said if you can choose to do it for one day, you can do it for the rest of your life. I spent some time with Ben today explaining the freedom that comes from choosing righteousness. It’s great to see God’s grace at work! Whun rang the other night to say she has bought her motorbike and had quite an adventure on the first day she rode it into work. She leaves Ban Meata about 8am and has to ride about 25km into the city of Phrae. She doesn’t finish work until about 7pm so she has to ride home in the dark. On that first day she found that her headlight wasn’t working so with some ingenuity she put the light on her mobile phone at the front and rode home very slowly. Sharon and John (Managers at Ban Meata Phrae) told her where to get it fixed the next day so she duly took it in for repair. To her great embarrassment she discovered that it works perfectly but she hadn’t turned it on!! A couple of Sundays ago a few of us went up into the mountains near Ban Meata to a place called Khao Kho where there is a new Buddhist temple with the most amazing and extravagant mosaic decorations and where their signature statues of Buddha are made up of five Buddhas sitting in decreasing size in front of another. The complex, including its surrounding gardens is spectacular so we went to visit. It was the coldest day we have experienced in Thailand and the mountain on which the temple sits was in dense cloud – we were able to see the mosaics but couldn’t see the top of the temple and couldn’t see the 40 metre high Buddhas. A bit disappointing for those who hadn’t seen it and fits into the “next time” category. All of this is to a god made of stone and I was reminded of the asherah poles and the Baal worship on the high places in Israel mentioned so often in Kings and Chronicles. And reminded also that South Australia is now the proud owner of a Buddhist temple on one of the high places south of Adelaide, with a giant Buddha due to be constructed! As I write there are 3 days of work before the building team leaves – the trusses are up on top of the walls (much heavy lifting), the ceiling joists are being welded underneath the trusses (more heavy lifting because they are welded into 24 metre lengths) and I am currently laying the last row of blocks so the walls reach the ceiling. That’s it for this week – until next time ……….. God bless Ron

Missive 2 – 2015

The building work continues apace.  We are working on the walls and hoped to have them nearly topped by the time this is posted.  I have turned my hand to block laying and am finding it a satisfying job.  We are building in hebel blocks which are fairly light and of uniform shape even though they are 600mm x 200mm x 75mm.  We use a cement based glue rather than mortar.  I was doing really well up to a certain height and then my skills and dodgy spirit level let me down.  Malcolm checked one of my walls and it was 20mm off vertical at the top, so he pulled it down – much mirth about strong winds overnight and I set about rebuilding.  It took about half a day to get back to where I was the night before but now it’s a great wall – professional standard!!

Let me introduce some of our team.  After Malcolm there is Peter Lawrie, his brother, who is also a friend of ours from Lucindale days.  Then there is Richard Wray, from Bracken Ridge Baptist in Brisbane, who has been on the team for several years now.  He brought with him a young man, Ben, who was converted at his church several weeks ago.  His is an amazing testimony.  He comes from a family of alcoholics which at times was abusive and he learned to use violence as a solution to a problem.  He was also seriously misusing drugs and alcohol.  He had a son from a relationship with a girl who shared his drug and alcohol problem.  A couple of years ago his ex-girlfriend had an accident while drunk and the little boy was killed.  Ben went around to her place and in his own drunken rage beat up and severely injured her boyfriend.  He spent some time in gaol over that incident.  Armed robbery put him in there again and aggravated violence a third time.  Anyway, the saving grace of Jesus has turned his life around.  Richard practically demanded that he come to Thailand and Ben says it’s been the best thing for him.  Pray for him as the Spirit makes changes to his temper and his addictions and other aspects of his life that need to come under the Lordship of Christ. 

Whun and Why have both returned to Phrae and Khon Kaenrespectively.  Whun has started her new job in the city of Phrae and is still resolved to do it for 2 months.  She was encouraged back at the orphanage by the children she was teaching saying that they wanted her back.  Keep praying for her – in fact redouble prayer for her!  The day she went back she was on the back of a motor-bike driven by her friend Waen who didn’t heed warnings to slow down so off they came.  Whun hopped off at the last minute but Waen lost a fair bit of skin on hands, arms and leg.  Then on Saturday she was going in to her job  in Phrae on the back of a bike which another friend, Far, was driving.  A tuk-tuk turned unexpectedly in front of them and off they came.  This time Far was unhurt but Whun hurt her knee and hand, thankfully not seriously.  She rang me with this news and said that she will drive from now on because she drives slower and more carefully.  Pray that this is so!

STOP PRESS: Whun rang to say that a relative of the lady in the office there has a motor-bike for sale and Whun is very keen to buy it.  It is 10,000baht (about $400).  A mixed blessing!

FINAL BUILDING REPORT for this missive – most of the walls are up to the tops of the windows and we have begun to put up the concrete lintels.  We have made the lintels on-site and they weigh about 200kgs each.  We winch them up with an endless chain suspended from 6m ladders.

Apologies for the lack of photos but I can’t upload them onto my email website and I haven’t got Outlook working yet.

 

Missive 1 - 2015

Missive 1 – 2015 We’ve been doing this every year since 2005 (bit different last year because of health issues) but it never seems to get old. The same enthusiastic welcome, the same hundred hugs a day, the same gratefulness for what we come to do. Our flights went well and our plan for the parts of the team from Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth to meet at a preordained spot at Suvarabhumi airport nearly went well. Eric, an older bloke (87 – doesn’t do any work on the jackhammer but has been very generous to House of Mercy) from Perth got his wires crossed and after searching all three levels of the airport amongst about a million people we finally found him waiting outside. We had a mini-bus waiting for us and set off on the 5 hour journey to Phetchabun with just a couple of comfort stops and to stock up on Coke and other health foods. We arrived at 2.30am and that’s where a minor problem began for me. Our house, creatively called “Ron’s Place”, is used spasmodically when Colleen and I aren’t here so we suggested it might be a good to use it for girls who are attending university and need to develop independence by not living under the direct control of one of the “Mums”. To make this possible and still be available for our use they have been working hard for a couple of months modifying the house with an extra room and making the bathroom facilities suitable for joint use. I knew all this, but not what the modifications looked like. We received a text message the evening before saying which rooms the other blokes were sleeping in in the guest house, and that my door would be left unlocked. So I dragged my luggage down to “Ron’s Place” (gravel path), tried the door and found it locked, and noted that there were girls’ shoes on the front verandah. Unperturbed I took out the key which I carry with me and went in. Presuming our room was still our room I went in and turned the light on – two of the girls were sleeping there! More cautious this time, I looked into our second bedroom and found the third girl sleeping there. So I went out the back and found a new room, finally found the door – and it was locked! So I dragged all my luggage back to the guest house, found a bed a grabbed a few hours’ sleep. I was let in the next morning and the room really is lovely with a new bathroom independent of the rest of the house. All credit to Chris Stolte, an old building team member who is now married to one of the Thai girls. Our body clocks had us up reasonably early and although the plan for day one was to take it easy we were on site, and I was on the jackhammer, by 10am. Our task this year is to build another accommodation building on a slab that has been unused for 12-15 years because of a mistake that made one end 200mm higher than the other. In the ensuing days we have jackhammered through the concrete to put in the plumbing, completed the plumbing, boxed up around the slab 250mm out, barrowed in 20 cubic metres of sand to save concrete on one end, dug a trench 80m long and 600mm deep for the power, woven 10m by 10m squares of mesh for reinforcing the floor, and washed and painted the steel for the trusses and door frames. It is the New Year school break at the moment so Glom (manager) has been very keen to have the kids come out and help us. For some of the above jobs that has been very helpful. I had a group of the older girls and some of the boys to do the weaving. We lay out 10m lengths of 6mm steel rod 200mm apart, then weave other 10m lengths through it – much coordination and teamwork required. We then shift the resultant square of mesh onto the slab – a great sight with about 40 kids and workers holding it above their heads carrying it to the slab. On New Year’s Eve we had a big party on the quadrangle with each house set up with their bucket barbecues and a supply of charcoal. We were just about to get started when we got a phone call from Why who had bussed across from Khon Kaen. I went into Lomsak to get her and to enjoy a warm reunion. When we were driving out of the bus station Why received a call from an upset Whun who had gone into the Phrae bus station to try and get down to see me but all the buses were full. She had to get back to Ban Meata (Phrae) and try again the next day – this time she was successful and another great reunion occurred the next evening. It was so good to see her again. Why is doing much better at her studies this year although I want to talk to her about good study habits before she goes back after the New Year break. Please keep praying for her, that her dedication will see her begin to excel again. Whun is not in a good place. She is finding it very hard doing the teaching that is required of her as well as the other duties that go along with teaching 3 year olds as well as some 2 year olds – this includes changing nappies and toilet training. “Why can’t they sit and listen like they do in Gemma’s class?” she asked. When in Australia she spent a day observing a JP class at St Michael’s where our grandchildren go. I have spent some hours with her talking through a few problems and re-setting some goals. She has become so disenchanted she has gotten a job in Phrae (25kms away) selling phones. The road in and out is notorious for drug deals by the roadside so please pray for her protection and for her future. She has agreed to do this job for 2 months and then go back for a fresh start and enrol at Uni for some study. As expected Glom asked if I could preach on the first Sunday we were here. Thanks to Ps Mark Schulz for his idea of wrapped gifts to explain the gifts that come with Christmas – love (a heart), the Cross (a Cross!) and new life (egg). It was well received in Thailand as well as at Glenunga UC! A final building update – the slab has been repoured, the boxing has come off, the walls have been marked out on the slab, the corner blocks have been laid, and half the door frames are standing in place. More news next week.