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.

Bracing Ecumenical Spirit

In Pastor Khamphan (Daeng) we find a leader with a refreshing, bracing, ecumenical spirit—Daeng’s passion is to see the church grow and be expressed within Issaan culture. 

To see that happen, Daeng and the rest of the team are willing to work with anyone who loves Jesus.  Recently a Korean brother-missionary helped fund 2 new church buildings.  Another brother, a Dutch businessman and his Issaan wife, have given hours of time to grade and improve fish ponds on the church property.  As Ruthie and I began showing up at various events, we began to check each other out—“Were they the real thing?  Were we the real thing?”  The Korean brother wondered if I was a believer, he later told me.  We wondered what our Dutch brother was up to—he was going above and beyond, giving himself, and expressing love in actions— because he hardly speaks a word of Thai.    

This was an interesting situation to step into.  We started with a visiting team of Korean acupuncturists going with our Thai and Korean team mates to do acupuncture in new villages while also sharing the gospel.  At one point a Lao-American pastor, Soudinh Penkay, joined us.  Soundinh has been praying for several years about joining the Thai-Lao team–and had come out for an initial visit.  He was well-received in the first message he preached to the church in Roi Et—and when it came to the informal times of sharing the gospel meeting in village homes, he was right at home.

Coming in half-way to this developing scene has called for all the open-mindedness we can muster.  We’re just praying that God will do the work, we will be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and that through all of this the church will grow and God receive the glory. 

101 Reasons to Love Roi Et

Last time we wrote we were still smarting from our experiences with Lao and Thai immigration.  Since that time we have been bouncing around from one hotel to the next—first in the border town of Nongkhai, then down to Roi Et, Chiang Mai, and Chiang Rai--touching base with colleagues and friends, both Thai and expat, and seeking out God’s will for this next phase of life and ministry.

Our reception in the northeast city of Roi Et--and our inception into life and ministry with that Thai Covenant team has been at once gratifying and challenging.  

We nearly joined the team in Roi Et more than 20 years ago, fresh out of language school.  Or so we were reminded by Daeng and Thipawan, the Thailand Covenant Church president, and his wife.  But instead Daeng and Thip and two Covenant families—Doug & Carolyn Johnson, Paul & Gretchen DeNeui—pioneered the work.  

Today we find a church that is growing in many ways—both numerically and qualitatively.