Just two days before the CHIC delegation, our son, Kevin, and his wife, Ramona arrived in Bangkok. Before their marriage, almost three years ago, they had promised each other they would set aside a period of time in short-term mission. And so they saved for this day and have paid their way out here to help in ministry in any way they can—as well as to seek out God’s will for their lives. For our first several days together, they were a great addition to the CHIC team as they, too got to see our work in a nutshell.
Already they have begun teaching English to some of our staff and are studying Thai with a tutor. In the afternoons Kevin is working at our factory/mill with our Thai-Hmong staff as we pour concrete, build buildings, and install equipment. Later they’ll be joining Karen Groot at ALC in Bangkok and may seek to work with other ministries here in Thailand .
Prior to our Bangkok trip to meet Kevin and Ramona, we said goodbye to Alan and Janet Bemo, who have been living with us for several months. Between trips to Laos and China, Alan finished almost half of the factory installation, while training our new Thai staff in metal fabrication and welding. Janet began our English-training program, laying a good foundation on which Kevin and Ramona can build. God has blessed us with a wonderful large home and He’s making sure it’s not empty or idle very often.
How many experiences can you pack in to sixty-three hours for a group of visiting high-school students? Is it possible for kids to step off a plane from the States, gain an understanding of cross-cultural mission work, and then take something significant back to share with 5000 other teenagers at CHIC? This was the expectation and hope—but we have to admit we were more than a little apprehensive, even doubtful.
What we found, however, was that God can do amazing things with willing hearts, spirits and minds. While the advance planning took time, in the end, the blessing was ours! The three students, MJ Pacheco, Rachael Lindsay, and Kerric Stevens, had been selected from more than sixty applicants. We found them flexible, engaging, and interested in all the experiences we threw at them. Their adult guides, Cue (Stephen Curtis Jn. Marie , a pastor with New Song Covenant Church in SoCal) and Karen Hallberg (from Covenant World Mission) were a great complement.
Starting at six in the morning, over two days, we showed them the beautiful area we live in, visited two villages, took a ride down the Mekong, crawled around in grain bins and explained our plans to use a food mill to bless farmers in Thailand and Laos. The students experienced life in a village and took a short course on how to plant upland rice. In between all these activities we asked them to share their stories; many on our team also related how God has undone our lives and re-ordered our priorities.
What did the take away from this experience? We have received many reports from friends who were at CHIC for the live feeds from Bangkok—and their words as they walked on stage at the end of the gathering. They said: They realized they can have a part living out their faith. That being a missionary these days can mean a variety of activities and ways of working. That while different, they share much in common with northern Thai or Lao villagers: difficulties, triumphs, fun, work and worship. Not bad. Ruthie and I can live with that.
Meanwhile, things are really coming together at our food mill/factory. All the main pieces of machinery are now in place, freshly painted and re-furbished. Those sent out for re-tooling in Bangkok and elsewhere are back. And those pieces we duplicated (in order to increase the capacity) are also finished. What remains? All of the electrical wiring and a few of the connecting augers and bucket lifts going from one piece of machinery to the next. More photos are available at our photo albums link to the right
God has given us a large house just outside the little town of Chiang Khong. Located just 500 meters from our factory site, it is a beautiful country setting—mountains in the background, an irrigation canal running nearby, and a monstrous yard full of lychee trees (which are in fruit!). We feel truly blessed.
The house itself has hardwood floors made from large rose-wood planks that, no doubt, floated across the Mekong in wilder, less-regulated days. Our 3 bedrooms are full. We are blessed to have Alan and Janet Bemo living with us for a few months; Wessel Huisjes may stay a bit longer as he works on getting permission from the Lao government to marry Ut who pops across from Laos a couple of times a week to study English with Janet (and see Wessel!)
