OceanicThai

We came home late from dropping my dad off at the airport and going grocery shopping (and getting Froot Loop our poodle dyed purple.) I went upstairs (our stairs are on the outside) and on the porch by the door there was a strange Thai man lying down. I yelped, turned on the porch light, and told Ken what was going on. I told him the man he couldn't do this, and he told me he knew the house owner. So I called the house owner and she talked to him on my cell-phone. She told him to leave. I wanted to call the police, but I'm not sure it would've done any good. The house-owner called his boss, he had previously worked on our house as a laborer. Kennedy talked to him and he admitted he had slept here before...not a comforting thought. I wonder if that is why things have been disappearing lately at our house? It was very disconcerting and we are still wondering what to think about it. Strange life we live here...

Buk Luk Purple 007 Originally uploaded by oceanicthai .

Buk Luk Purple 003 Originally uploaded by oceanicthai . Our cute purple puppy! Poppy worked and saved up her money to get him dyed purple at the Dog Spa in Phuket. We watched him get groomed and trimmed and they were gentle & careful with him. He got doggy treats, too. He's our littlest sweetie!

They hopped on a bus to Surat Thani, to get their train to Bangkok. I think one of the biggest blessings of their time here was at Kho Khaw Island. They seemed to really have made a neat connection with the pastor and the believers there, and were able to make a financial contribution from their church to the church/center there. It is a blessing for us, too, because Kennedy was able to spend time getting to know the pastor and his wife better, and our goals are essentially the same. This pastor is someone we are very interested in working with. The group also spent a few more hours at the orphanage on Sunday, doing another craft with the kids and having fun. The group also left me a craft project to do with the kids in my Sunday School class, so that will be great.

Poor kid, he is going to be okay, but he had diarrhea & was vomiting for hours. Thankfully he stopped & he's drinking rehydration liquids & keeping them down now. They think it was some oysters he ate. I'm so glad it wasn't one of the horrible bacterial infections that have been floating around Chiang Mai this cool season. We have heard story after story of entire conferences being the worst ever because most everyone got seriously ill. (It sure made our conference miserable.) The Chiang Mai hospitals have just been loaded for 3 months or so with people getting these highly contagious infections. Many people ended up being hospitalized for days for dehydration or pneumonia . As for the Manteca Boy, he's going to be just fine, and probably no one else will get it. Whew!

He got mad at his sister for locking him out of the room and kicked the door. Unfortunately the door was made out of glass panels and he kicked his foot through, slicing the bottom of it. At first there was just the sound of breaking glass, then nothing, then crying that started softly and built up to a frantic sobbing. Gee and I ran outside to investigate and Kennedy was carrying him down our outside stairs from the 2nd story, small blood puddles on the floor from the glass door to the stair landing. We had given the truck to the Manteca Team to drive themselves to the island so Kennedy could work on his Sunday sermon, so we had no transportation. Kennedy ran over to the house Dean is renting for Marcus and they graciously allowed us to use their vehicle. I didn't go with them to the hospital, I knew it wasn't going to be fun. Kennedy told me later how much he screamed and cried when they gave him a painkilling shot and cleaned the wound. He has 3 little black stiches and he h...

loading bodies in the trailers Originally uploaded by oceanicthai .

bodies by the trailers Originally uploaded by oceanicthai .

working with the bodies Originally uploaded by oceanicthai .

poster of dead Originally uploaded by oceanicthai .

Today I gave Gee the money Fashionphile sent to me for the sale of the Louis Vuittion bag on E-bay. Fashionphile was gracious to take 15% of the consignment cost instead of 30%. The bag sold for $525 total, after fees for PayPal, E-bay, and the 15%, the check was for $415. So I converted that into Thai Baht and gave it to her today. She was radiant, thrilled that it really did happen. I told her to remember this was an answer to her prayers to God, and to remember God's love for her every time she thinks of this money. It is a large amount for her. I told her to take it to the bank and open an account in her name with it. Her boyfriend's aunt's boyfriend is already asking for a loan. (After he had told her a few weeks ago we were just scamming her.) I am happy for her. I need to send Fashionphile a thank you.

This late afternoon and early evening I am going to drive the team around to see the temple/morgue where we worked after the tsunami, then to see some of the containers that still have bodies in them (now mostly bones) and to what is probably the last resort here in Thailand to have been left basically untouched since the tsunami 2 years ago. It still has decorations up from Christmas, moulding books all over the floor, sand and debris all over the floor, and vines taking over the place. It looks like something out of a horror movie, but it will give them a sense of how things were, just no bodies. After that we'll probably have dinner and plan the day tomorrow.

Gee's younger sister is 21 and works in Bangkok. She is here visiting Gee for a while and has come to work with her every day this week. Today is Wednesday. She is very cute, with big eyes, skinny, long dyed-reddish hair in a Thai-style shag. She looks bored, poor thing. Tomorrow we might all go out to the Thai beach restaurant. It is cheap to go out to eat at Thai restaurants, between 50 cents and $2.00 for lunch. So Thais (and ex-pats like us) go out to eat a lot. The restaurants are often just kind of like shacks or garages with metal tables and plastic chairs, but the food is good and the price is right! Eating is one of the Thai national pastimes, there is food everywhere at every hour of the day and night. One reason living in Thailand is so fun sometimes is that there is always a food stand open somewhere. Here in the South the food is more expensive than the East, but I've noticed I don't get ill nearly as often. Usually flies aren't crawling all ove...

The Manteca team is going to the orphanage tonight for dinner, as they arranged during their visit Monday. Today Samruam called to make sure I was going. I told him my Dad & I were going to stay home, because the truck would be too packed if we went. He said he wanted us to go, and he'd come pick us up if need be. So we are all going to go. There will be about 44 or so people they are planning on having tonight, so it will be pretty big. Samruam told me the cost will be about 4,000 Baht, or about $111 or so. I will tell the Manteca team tonight because they said they wanted to cover it. It will be special for everyone, I think. The Manteca team also has a craft project they have prepared to do with the children, so that should be fun, too. On Monday the Manteca team ladies bought a bunch of their skirts and baskets, so Samruam & Guy were really happy about that. I wouldn't mind buying another cotton skirt, they are really comfortable and "polite" bec...

Today was another day of working on White Neck Island. Kennedy came home exhausted and covered with cement. I didn't see the folks from Manteca, but I'm sure they are just the same, exhausted and covered with cement! By now I'm sure they are showered and feeling a little better. I wonder if they just went to bed. Tomorrow they are going to do a half day and get one more cement floor done. Then they will go up to the orphanage for time with the kids and dinner. Should be a lovely time.

The team from Manteca is doing cement work on White Neck Island. It is great to see Pastor Pricha's Center get finished off. He is a Thai man from a neighboring province that has come to facilitate church planting and leadership for Thai Christians. Kennedy went with them today and he feels great getting some excercise. Dad and I homeschooled the kids. Sunday they went to the Southern Thailand Orphanage and said they had a great time. They bought a bunch of their products for sale, skirts, purses, necklaces, so I'm sure that was a great encouragement for Pastor Samruam and Guy his wife. Wednesday they are going back and will have dinner together. Sounds great. Today the group accidently locked their key in the rental house they are using, so the owners came to bring them an extra key. They had just came back from doing cement work all day and were filthy, so I heard. The owners were shocked and asked what happened, and when it was explained to them what they had done a...

Our volunteer/vacationing team from Manteca Calvary Church is in Bankgok right now, getting ready for their all-night train trip to here, Southern Thailand. They will arrive at the train station at Surat Thani and then take a bus to Takua Paa, where they will call us & we'll go pick them up. Sunday I will take them to the Nam Chem OMF church I've been teaching Sunday School for kids at, and there will be a baptism for new Thai believers after the service. Somehow I'd like to incorporate them into my Sunday School lesson, maybe one of them could give their testimony....that would be so terrific. I also asked the group to bring a craft to do with children, so we can do the craft after that. That would be fun.

I couldn't find it, I had switched to the new version and had this new Google account, plus a Yahoo! account for my FLICKR page, what a mess. I finally found my blog, after many pages of password verifications and confusion. Maybe I should just have stayed with the old version???

The title above has a link to a blog-site for Christian Missionary Blogs http://www.missionary-blogs.com/200701.html#e105 Here's another article on my blog.

http://www.missionary-blogs.com/200611.html#e100 Somehow they thought I did the ArtscapesofThailand blog, too. That's Kennedy's.

New Years 016 Originally uploaded by oceanicthai . My Dad took out all the bigger kids along with the orphanage director, Samruam & his wife. Pastor Samruam picked the restaurant & we had a good time. We all had chicken steaks with french fries, soft drinks and ice-cream for dessert. (As per what the kids wanted!)

Gays picture 002 Originally uploaded by oceanicthai . This is Gee. She is Southern Thai, born and raised about 4 hours away from here. She is super excited about the Louis Vuittion bag.

I contacted "Fashionphile" about the bag and they said they would sell it for Gee, I was so excited for her! I was concerned it wasn't in good enough condition to be sold on their e-bay site. They are just about done auctioning it off, and right now it is a bit over $500. I am so happy for her. She told me she was praying about it every day, and that she's never had $500 (20,000 Baht) in her hand before. When I told her that "Fashionphile" agreed to sell it, and even mentioned they would be willing to reconsider the 30% fee, she could hardly believe it. Her uncle had told her just the other day that she had been scammed by the farang (westerner.) Click the title and you can see the bag and the auction on it.

We know the authorities are blaming ousted Prime Minister Taksin, but time will tell, at this point no one knows who did it. This is a nightmare for the government. Although they don't believe Southern Thai Muslim Insurgents did this, it does end the hope that the bombing will be contained to the Southernmost regions of the country. There is also a lot of concern for the tourist industry, which is still recovering from the tsunami, murder at Samui Island, and the government coupe. This is just another reason for vacationers to go somewhere else, and the country can ill-afford another blow to its economy. Security had been stepped up in this part of the region, the heaviest tourist traffic area of the Southern regions, especially Phuket. Bangkok's bombing took everyone by surprise.

New Years 034 Originally uploaded by oceanicthai . The monks chanted here across the street from the beach, and the villagers came to worship and chant with them. After they were done everyone went down to where the stage was set up for the New Year's show at Bang Sak. Except the monks, of course, since they're not supposed to drink liquor or be involved with worldly things that excite desire. They probably had another appointment at another village party. I saw Auntie Nit worshipping and chanting with them. I was surprised because she had said she was a Christian now. Auntie Roon said she wasn't going to worship with the monks, though, because she is a Christian now. We saw lots of people we knew and it was interesting to watch them interact with one another in a completely (Theraveda) Buddhist setting as a group.

New Years 040 Originally uploaded by oceanicthai . Here is my dad at Bang Sak's New Year's Eve party talking with one of the volunteers from the tsunami housing project that came back to visit. We were the only westerners there that night. I was happy that the villagers of Bang Sak could see & meet my dad. I think the incredibly loud speaker system just about blew his eardrums out, though. You're a good sport, Pop! Poppy & Jasper had fun running around and drinking soda.

New Years 037 Originally uploaded by oceanicthai . This is 10 year old May all dressed up to go on stage and do her dance with her classmates. I took video of her dance, very cute. This was our final party, today we just did as little as possible!

New Years 059 Originally uploaded by oceanicthai . Here are Jasper & Poppy under the tree with Buk Luk, (or Froot Loop) our dog.

New Years 028 Originally uploaded by oceanicthai . This is the boat the villagers prepared to take their fingernails and hair out to sea, and they believe that their sins for 2006 will also go out to sea with the boat so they can start afresh in 2007.

Nam Kem Christmas party 2006 025 Originally uploaded by oceanicthai . This party was Saturday December 23rd, 2006. It was at the Nam Chem church I teach Sunday School at.

New Years 025 Originally uploaded by oceanicthai . This was the party/gospel presentation we took the 16 kids from Southern Thailand Orphanage to. They had a fun time, but I think my Dad was a little overwhelmed by the chaos, loud speakers, and jet-lag. You were a good sport, Pop! We saw a bunch of friends including our former househelper, Eew, it was great to see her and everyone else.