And what about those wheels?

We were able to buy a pair of wheels!... But they're not totally paid for yet!  Several of you responded with large gifts.  And yes, we were able to buy a Honda Mobilio.  I'm not sure what it's called in the States--but it has a 1500 cc engine (same as a Honda Jazz or Honda Fitt) but an extra set of seats.  Thank you!  We're still hoping for a bit more funding to complete the purchase, so....

 

 

The Covenant makes it easy to give online. Please choose "Thailand Vehicle Fund" from the drop-down box--and write "Dutton Vehicle Project" in the memo field.  Give to Dutton Vehicle Project  

What else are we finding to do?

Friday night fun...Friday nights are game nights for the teens and 20 something's at our home.   We've introduced several games:  Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride (Asia of course), Blockus and others.  So far it's met with great enthusiasm. 

 

Sunday storying...Peter has enjoyed helping to organize "Storying" in a couple of the local churches.  While Thailand has a very high literacy rate, many people are still oral learners.  To meet the needs of the believers a small passage is read through twice, then we break into small groups so that each person has a chance to retell the story the best they can remember it.  After that the groups gathers back together for discussion time, with simple questions.

Financial and management systems....Ruthie continues to laugh whole heartedly that she continues to be called on to set up financial systems, but she is at it again.  She once offered to be secretary for life if she was never asked to do the work of the treasurer.    She's delighted working with two young people who are quick learners.  One of them was ready to leave so that he could go learn Quickbooks, but Ruthie has been able to teach him that as they get financial systems set up.

Preparing for Planting Season

So, here are some of the things we have been able to do with the $140K we received from the sale of Mekong Valley Foods Co:  

New electrical system for the farm.  We installed new electrical poles with 3-phase electricity everywhere.  New airconditioning in the main office building and flood lights for the two soccer fields.

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Remodeled the old office building--with airconditioning--so that the Foundation and the Farm now have separate offices.

Finished off the dining room building.  This was begun with previous funds--but we finished off the kitchen, installed floor tile everywhere, completed the roof, put AC in one of the meeting rooms, water and power and lighting everywhere.

Bought and began installation of a new soccer field.  

Work is still on-going, but soil has been removed from several of the fish ponds--and used to raise a road and building area.  This new soccer field should be ready for use next dry season.  Related to this, we buried a large drainage pipe from the soccer field to the one of the fish ponds. 

 

New water system.  New water tower and tanks are being installed on a tower near the front of the property.  From that a new water main pipe is being installed leading to all parts of the property.  

So, do we have enough to do?

We arrived here in Roi Et with a bit of apprehension.  What would we do? Could we, with our community-development and agriculture-orientation,  be re-tooled to support and encourage growing church and camping ministries?

Fortunately, the language and culture we are working in is only marginally different from Laos.  And it has become rapidly apparent that there is no lack of work to do.

Ruthie is continuing her spiritual direction via Skype with directees in many countries. Our internet connection here is better than in Laos.  That helps.  She is also leading a Bible study for women in the farm and camp as well as helping organize the financial systems on the farm and foundation/camp.  

I am working alongside the farm manager to help improve administrative and financial systems.  As well, I have been asked to help develop a leadership training program for about 40 leaders from our churches.  That is supposed to start next month, but I doubt we're going to be ready in time... All of this is pretty fun, fulfilling work--and yes, there is more than enough to do.    

 

With Siang, the farm & camp manager...next to the piece of land we just bought...

Remember Mekong Valley Foods? An update...

Many of you will remember our friend and colleague, Wessel Huisjes, and the company we started in Chiang Khong .  Well, Mekong Valley Foods Co. continues, under Wessel's leadership, to produce blended flour products for the Burmese refugee camps.  

Wessel Huisjes...new owner & Director of Mekong Valley Foods Co.

Mekong Valley Foods Co. in Chiang Rai, Thailand

In fact, about a month ago we decided that it made more sense for Wessel to continue that work as owner of the company rather than as Manager.  So, we have now transferred ownership of the company to Wessel and 2 other Dutch friends who are committed to running it with the same determination to produce quality products and help disadvantaged communities.  

We, in turn, are using the funds from this transfer of ownership to invest in Covenant ministries here in Roi Et and in Chiang Mai.  We recently gave a large gift to the camp in Chiang Mai.  Here in Roi Et, the funds are enabling the leadership team to extend electricity service into the camp, drill a new well, and help buy a piece of land that will become a full-sized soccer field.

 

Harvest

Beginning last year, we witnessed and participated in several significant outreach efforts into villages surrounding our little collection of 8 churches.    

First, a 5-day funeral on the Mekong River inBeungkan--a funeral for the mother of Khamphan Sudcha, our Thailand Covenant church president.  Starting in the mornings and lasting well into the nights, the story of this remarkable woman was told by her many children. The gospel was preached by me and many others.  Churches from the entire area participated.  

Pastor Soudinh Penkhay, a Lao-American pastor who is in the process of coming to join the work, preached and helped with funeral ceremonies...Both he and I provided a lot of entertainment with our "pure" Lao--as opposed to the Issaan Lao spoken in Thailand ("Lao like my grandmother spoke" said one).  The funeral ended with a huge gathering in the middle of a rubber orchard for the cremation of this much-loved lady.  

Then there were Christmas celebrations in many places.  Following that,  the dedication of two new church buildings--one up on the river in Beungkan and one here Roi Et.

The second of 2 new church buildings in Lao Klang, Roi Et. This was the first church planted in the area back in the early 90's.

Putting the finishing touches on the new church building @ Chaiyaphon--up on the Mekong River in Beungkan Province

Finally, this past Valentine's Day, our team took advantage of Thai fascination with this day, to organize a big event called "The Miracle of Love."  This happened because "Mother Lum Yai" said she wanted to come visit--and could the team organize something?  The church in the village of Yang Cher exists today because this Thai grandmother living in Savannah, Georgia, USA was concerned that her relatives here in Thailand had not heard the gospel.  Over several years she shared her faith.  When she read about the Covenant on the Thailand website she contacted Pastor Daeng and Thipawan who patiently visited and led many of her family members to new life in Christ.  

And so "Mother Lum Yai" came, along with a team of about 10, including the pastor of her Baptist Church in Savannah.  A day-long event was staged with games and prizes for kids.  Over 1000 people came.  And when the gospel was preached that night, more than 100 people came to faith!  Ruthie and I and Kristi Byford followed the event from afar since we were at a meeting in southern Thailand, a 3-yearly gathering of Covenanters in Asia.

Harvest Time in Issaan

It's harvest time in Issaan!  Not rice harvest--that was back in November and December. But this is the time, we are feeling, for God to bring a harvest that has been a long time in coming.

Ruthie and I feel privileged to be here at this time.  Since we returned from our brief trip to the States in December, we have hardly stopped moving, jumping into the many events and issues that are the ebb and flow of the work here.  More about those below...   

Still, we're at peace.  We are well-settled in our house, happy to have a smaller place in the neighborhood where many of our Thai friends and church leaders live.  We have had wheels, borrowed from other Covenant missionaries.  And we have been welcomed into the team like long-lost friend.

Quite a week

It's the end of one of those weeks....Ruthie and I went in two different directions--she to Chiang Mai, I to Udon and then Roi Et, northeast Thailand.

In Udon I took two of the staff from our fish hatchery / nursery to the Issaan Aquatics Farm to learn more about the process of collecting, incubating, and then reverse-sexing baby tilapia fish.  I spent most of one morning in the ponds learning, again, how to differentiate male/female tilapia (something I learned, what--almost 20 years ago).

 It was strange and poignant to spend the night in Udon again--the place has changed incredibly!  It is a booming city with all kinds of factories and businesses operating there.  Twenty years ago it had the feel of a ghost town, just recovering from the Vietnam war--shuttered bars and wide, empty streets.  No longer!

It has been great to spend more time with the staff there and with Jim Gustaftson in my last couple of trips there.  We are grateful for their help in this new phase of our lives and ministry in Laos.

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Roi Et!  I always get a boost from the team in this lower Issaan region.  They are all self-supporting, bi-vocational ministers,  carrying on the work of church planting, leadership training, and church enablement.  The fish farm is going great guns under the management of one of their key members, Siang.  He rents the ponds, thus contributing to the overall budget, while carrying on a successful business.  He chose the following as his logo for his company and took 3 tries to get it passed by local authorities.  Note what's in the fish!

I also had time with Kristi Byford who is finishing up her Thai language studies in a few months and has decided to join the Thai team in Roi Et to enhance their ministries and outreach into the communities.  Below she shares her decision with the team there.

Cheryl Santello, a newly-arrived short-termer from Alpine Camp in SoCal, also shared her vision to assist in developing both the facilities and the programs of the two Covenant camps in Thailand.  She brings more than 15 years experience in camping to the task, along with a lot of energy and enthusiasm.  Here, Dr. Paul DeNeui (who served in Roi Et for more than 10 years and is currently teaching at the Covenant Seminary in Chicago) translates for her.  Paul also taught one of his favorite subjects--"Who Are We, in the Covenant?", affirming the priesthood of the believers and passing the mike to many in the audience...

Finally, Ruthie and I met at the airport in Udon and returned to Vientiane.  I was anxious to get out to the fish farm to see the progress.  Indeed, it really is taking shape!  The large building behind me will house many fish tanks in which we hope to do our spawning.

On the road again

Anyone who has lived or worked in Laos will understand when we talk about the love-hate relationship we feel with the roads here.  Since we started working here in the early 90's there has been tremendous improvement.  But getting out to villages in remote areas--and even some major roads to province capitals--still present major challenges.

The picture at the top of this page represents 3 hours of fun!  The Lao call it, "kin khao ling"--that is, "eating with the monkeys", an involuntary sojourn in the jungle when its impossible to do anything else.  So, in true Lao fashion... just turn it into a picnic or a party!  

Two large cement trucks, transporting dry powder to one Laos' many dam projects, had totally blocked the road, bogged down in 60 centimeters of red goo.  So, as we waited for a tractor to clear an alternative path around them--and then hook onto each normal vehicle to pull it through the much--we had a party.  Great entertainment.  Tires spinning and sending up smoke.  People pushing and slipping and falling in the mud.  Cheers and shouts of encouragement.  Music coming from somebody's fancy sound system.

Rivers swollen with rain, roads full of mud

Ruthie pointed out a spiritual lesson I could have learned from the incident (she's pretty good at that):  "When you hit a landslide in life, do you fuss and fume, or turn on the music and share the misery with your fellow travelers?"  

I said, "I was mostly thinking about how I could use the empty seats in my van to help out a few stranded travelers."  (Confession time:  I told them they would need to help by getting down in the mud to hook on the cable while I manned the wheel).

Then... the roads in Vientiane!  Once a quaint little town with only bicycles, Vientiane is beginning to look like Bangkok during rush hour.  In some respects, anyway.  Ruthie has confessed to acting like the Romans in Rome.  She has taken to driving her motorbike the wrong way down one-way roads.  She uses the sidewalk, nicely paved with bricks from a UNESCO project, as a bike lane and parking space.

Then, when we cross the bridge into Thailand, Ruthie observes:  "Hey, the roads are much more developed!  We sail along.  We love divided highways and speed.  But we seldom look outside.  We are intent on our destination and accomplishing our goals.  Do we really see what's around us?"

Not all the roads in our life are bad

Of course, driving our Lao van, the steering wheel is now on the WRONG SIDE.  A co-pilot becomes essential if we want to pass anybody.  Ruthie asks, "Do we remember that in life it's good to have a companion to help us navigate new situations?  Do we realize that while we're driving on the left, our car is still a right hand vehicle?  Our perspective isn't the same as a car made for Thailand.  We need to humbly ask for help, we need to realize our understanding, as guest-workers, will always be different..."

Pretty good stuff, Ruthie....  Now, am I clear to pass? 

Mulberries & Livelihoods

We spoke last newsletter about how our relationship with a Lao friend, "Aunt Lydia", has led us to partner with her organization to promote organic agriculture in a district of Xieng Khouang Province.  

That effort is well-underway.  Numerous trips and village meetings have begun to lay the foundation for a long-term project we hope will be an example of community development done well.  

Our project's goals?  To generate income for rural families, begin value-adding to those products, link farmers to markets, and preserve traditional knowledge and skills.

So, we are asking families if they want to join a co-op to begin planting organic mulberry, soy bean, and other crops.  Our goal for this year was  to find 75 families.  After our last round of village meetings we had well over 100 families asking to join us!  But...we will see how that all shakes out as we go through a process of visiting each of their fields, talking in more detail, checking to see if they understand what they are getting into.  

Woman signing up to plant soy bean and mulberry

We have told farmers they can expect several income streams:  Selling soybean, mulberry leaves for tea, silk cocoons from raising silk worms with the rest of their mulberry leaves, and silk cloth, if they choose to weave their own.

 

Lots of women and children in village meetings

This is an exciting time for us!  It's a pleasure to work with a woman and her organization with more than 30 years experience and a passion to really help people.  It's a pleasure to share experiences and values with Lao co-workers.  It's fun to be building again (I love building!)--a combination harvest--silk--mulberry--agro-eco-tourism center.  

Of course, we have only a little money to begin.  But we are believing it's going to come in! We'll keep you informed.    

The Ninety and Nine

The Ninety and Nine

 

While Peter dreams big, my calling is for the one lost on the hillside-or stuck in a lonely prison cell.  I have been coming alongside two women--a Lao and American-who faithfully visit prisoners of many nationalities in Vientiane's infamous Phontong Prison.  Visiting time is limited to 15 minutes per prisoner, one visit a month.  We talk and provide food and medicine. Initially it was overwhelming.  But to see the joy on prisoners' faces and to know that many are coming to know Jesus...  This is a good reminder that even when we make poor choices, God's grace is there.

Besides this, I have been privileged to see spiritual depth and growth in a number of people I have been seeing as a spiritual director or mentor.  Some of these are "Skype" relationships.  Others live nearby, both expat and Lao, whose search for wholeness and balance have brought us together.  I have been humbled and stimulated by the many books I have been reading for my certificate program in Spiritual Direction, a program I will complete in July.  The quote below says much about how I feel.

  

"...Spiritual formation does not occur by direct human effort, but through a relational process whereby we receive from God the power or ability to do what we cannot do by our own efforts. We do not produce the outcome. That is God's business. "

 Life with God, Richard Foster

Roi Et Rop Muang Center

Khamphan (Daeng) Sudcha, the Thailand Covenant Church President, has dreamed and strategized for years about the need to have a larger, more urban, church and training center in the lower Issaan area. While the Covenant in Roi Et has a "center" of sorts in the camp ground that has been established and is being regularly used, that camp is located 20 km outside the city of Roi Et. At one point the leadership rented a house in the city to serve as a church. It was filled with people, a younger demographic than is typical in rural villages. But the landlord raised the rent. It was too crowded. So, they discontinued renting.

President Sudcha's vision is to build a church/training center on the growing edge of Roi Et city. A piece of land will be purchased or rented. Educational programs focused on the community will be anchored, it is hoped, by Covenant expat personnel. A short-term, intensive, model of training, perhaps in concert with the North Park Center for World Christian Studies, will be used to supplement Biblical training acquired elsewhere by a new generation of Covenant leaders.

That's the vision.  It has been Peter's joy to work with Pastor Daeng to brainstorm, clarify, and finally write a project to see this vision get off the ground. Please pray that it will become a reality and our churches in Issaan will be strengthened to carry the vision forward.

Organic Farming, Mulberries & Livelihoods

The first relationship we followed was with "Aunt Lydia". We have known this woman from afar for many years. But when a friend asked if we would be willing to work along side her, we knew what the answer should be. Since that time we have made numerous trips to an area 5 hours north of Vientiane, made recently accessible by a new road.  

It has been a privilege to meet with villagers and brainstorm a new project into existence. Lydia was asked by local authorities to promote organic agriculture tied with cottage industry in this area where many new families are being re-settled and starting over from scratch. It has also been a tremendous learning experience to work alongside Lydia, her team, and extended family. She has a real passion to see rural poverty alleviated in Laos. She is experienced and knows how to get things done in Laos' unique environment. We'll be writing a lot more about this project, you can be sure.

Daniel Agro-Enterprises

Daniel bought the farm when our company was voted off the island back in 2008.  While we took a sabbatical, he caught a vision for agricultural business and ministry.  For two years he strove to carry on the work he felt was so important.  But finally he sold the fish ponds, buildings, and infrastructure to the government, paying us money that we re-invested in Mekong Valley Foods, Chiang Rai.  All the corn-handling equipment & grain bins he moved to Vientiane and set up another company about 40 minutes out of town.

His vision now couldn't be broader.  Three harvest centers--each bigger and with more capacity than our old company--have been set up, with more to follow.  Construction of a 250-sow piglet producing facility is well under way.  80 hectares of corn are being planted.  A cattle-raising project aims to make beef once more affordable in Vientiane (prices have shot through the roof in past months).

 

And finally, Peter is working to make Daniel Aquatics a reality.  Recently he has been digging fishponds, raising dikes, and putting in pipes and culverts to fill and drain the ponds.  He is working with a capable Lao manager that he and Daniel hired. They hope to bring in "mother and father fish" (as we say in Lao) early next month.  Two or three other workers are going for training next week with the talented team at SDRF's Issaan Aquatics Farm.  This renewed connection with our friends across the Mekong has been a real blessing.

Friendships Flowering

Peter and I were away for a few days.  On our return, the tree in our front yard that had been bare was suddenly a riot of leaves and flower!

    

As we have thought back over these past several months, this tree has come to symbolize our return to Laos.  We spoke in our last letter of how we felt God nudging us to just "follow the friendships"-not to worry too much where they were leading, but to obediently put one foot in front of the other.  Suddenly, it seems, those relationships have blossomed into some beautiful trees and ministries.

Visitors Bearing Gifts

Another of the new realities we're excited about is this--the increasing frequency of short-term teams and "vision trips".  The world has shrunk and Thailand is no longer that far away. 

In October we hosted, at Mekong Valley Foods,  a group of visitors from Crossroads Covenant in Loveland, CO.  They came.  We gave our shpiel.  We showed them our work, we told them our story...then it was time to turn the tables.  We grilled them a bit.  And we told them about the needs--and that we're looking for quality, dedicated people.   

This was a group of seasoned, mature leaders with a heart to serve.  By the time our friends left, we were fairly certain we were going to see some of them back in Thailand at some time not too far in the future.  They came bearing gifts--and the gifts were these:   themselves and a big dose of encouragement!

We make them wear goofy hairnets not only because its company policy, but so if they never show up again, we can bring these out and blackmail them.  Pam & Larry Moeser.  Jane Peterson.

Back to Issaan

Here's some good news.  Ruthie and I have been very encouraged by growth--both in numbers and maturity of some of Thai Covenant friends and churches in the Roi Et area.   

In September we joined a moving ceremony requested by Pho Souw--"Father Souw"--one of the early evangelists and church leaders in the Udon area.  At somewhere near 92 years old (or "possibly 101", he said--"I can't really remember") he wanted to hold a ceremony to admonish all his grandchildren and relatives to "stand up for Jesus".  And so he did.  And he fed us a big meal afterwards.  Many of the Udon church leaders were there and celebrated with him, including Acharn (Pastor) Tongpan and many others.   

Father Souw and A. Inchai at his valedictory

New life in Roi Et--Siang has a new car too

From there we went to Roi Et for a board meeting of the Life Foundation (Lower Issaan Foundation for Enablement) and we heard and saw how all the fish ponds are operating back at capacity and the camp is holding sports events and the work of church planting and enablement is moving forward.  And here's the real encouraging part--this is all happening without support funds and significant input from outside.