Learning Thai

* Claire learning the backstroke in the Gulf of Thailand with Uncle Philip
* Long talks about church and family
* Eating Thai seafood while watching Asian music videos
* Going to the British library and reading in the bean bags
* First time Thai massages
* Meeting my English students at the mall
* Riding songtaew trucks, skytrain, wooden floored bus
* Sidewalk roti (pancakes with condensed milk)
* Reading to the kids and playing Poly Pocket and ponies
* Listening to Philip play guitar and sing
* The fire show at the beach and eating by latern-light right by the ocean
* Ferry ride and seeing the colorful fishing boats
* Team church at the park and meeting our team and friends
* Shopping for souvenirs at MBK
* Eating duck and noodles at a hole in the wall
* Shrimp feast
* Eliza collecting rocks with Uncle Philip

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 04:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A visit from family is always delightful but feels extra special and needed at this point. Philip and Betsy arrived this Wednesday night and we've been having a lovely time of relaxing, catching up with each other, showing them around and tasting lots of Thai foods. For a great description of our first few days, see the last three entries on Run Honey Run.

Visit to the Grand Palace. It was so fun to show P and B around because they were so appreciative of Thai art and culture!

Abundance from grandparents, aunts, uncles and on-line shopping. We're so blessed!!! (thank you notes to follow!)

Bonding

Sharing our first sticky rice supper.

Tuk tuk ride.

Now we're enjoying a lazy Saturday morning- Silas is enjoying chasing and being scared by Uncle PhiLLLLup. The girls are playing ponies with Aunt Betsy. We're so happy for aunt and uncle time!!

-C

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 11:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Over the past few weeks I’ve been spending a lot of time reading and thinking about the book of Proverbs. My goal is to put together a series of Bible studies that I hope will be helpful to people from a Thai Buddhist background who want to learn more about God. This idea was sparked by some conversations with Lung Seri (our landlord). We had studied a section of Proverbs 3 at one of our worship services and he really liked it. He took the printed-out passage home with him, read it again and later told me how much he appreciated its clarity, simplicity, and truth. He has studied other parts of the Bible with us and has found some passages to be either too complex or too disconnected from his life.

Thai Buddhism also uses a lot of proverbs and the focus on the distinction between wisdom and folly is one that makes sense in this culture. And, as Seri told me, the way that Proverbs succinctly presents deep truths is “classic.” In Proverbs we can easily see the problems that face all humans. We see that “the evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him” (5:22), that “reckless words pierce like a sword” (12:18), and that “an anxious heart weighs a man down” (12:25). These and many other truths are great points of connection between God’s word and our experience.

Proverbs is also very clear about the source of this wisdom that is so desirable and useful in life: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom” (1:7), “the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding” (2:6). And throughout the book we see the promises and warnings about what will happen if we follow the LORD’s way or our own way.

From what I know about Lung Seri and our other Thai friends who like to study the Bible, I think that all of these concepts will be well-received and easy to discuss. The challenge that I’m coming up against is how to point out the gospel message in Proverbs. What do you think? Where do we see the work of Jesus – and the need for the work of Jesus – in this book? I’ve got some ideas, but I’d really like to hear from you. I’m excited about the possibilities that Proverbs offers for talking about righteousness, sin, and trusting in God with all your heart. And I’m anxious to hear from some of you. So leave a comment or send me an email. Let’s do this together!

-Tom

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 05:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mr. Silas Rhodes Mast is two years old! A few pics of our celebrations yesterday....

He started off his day with some fun skype calls with Rhodes and Mast grandparents. He was delighted with the birthday songs and with the tow truck!

Then it was off to the crocodile farm (one of the two tourist attractions in our province :)). We got a grilling in Thai to determine whether we had to pay the foreigner price or the Thai price. Thai price! Yesssss!
These little crocodiles laid so still they didn't even look real.

Up close and personal with the hippos.

Checking out the monkeys. His reactions all day were a mix of amazement and apprehension. It is kind of scary how you close you can get to animals. For example, we threw apples directly into hippos mouths (just feet away). A huge snake was in a cage and you could have easily touched it. We fed bananas to boars and dropped crackers down to bears. Don't ask us how they regulate the animals diet when they get fed by zoo visitors! :)

There are an amazing number of crocodiles at this farm. They hold the record for largest captive crocodile for one over 19 feet long that weighed 2,400 pounds. Some of the ones we saw were truly massive (and we walked over them on a wooden bridge! Eek!).

We ALL help blow out the candles.

Choo, choo!

Two of Silas's honorary uncles, Mr. Dan and Lung Seri, came over to help us eat cake and pray a blessing for Silas.

And the day ended with Silas staying up way past his bed time and scooting his new trike (he calls it a bike though of course) around the house in circles.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes- it was a happy day!
-Candice

P.S. We realize that we have been on a bit of a Silas streak here on our blog and will remedy that with other types of info soon. :)

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 11:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The main street running through our neighborhood is currently under construction as a huge new storm drain is installed and the street is raised to alleviate the chronic flooding problem. For most of us this is an inconvenience - bad traffic jams and a lot of dust. But the activity has fascinated Silas. He loves to go watch the digger and the trucks. And luckily for him, Thailand construction zones are very viewer-friendly. We can get as close to the action as we want; and we found out yesterday that if you are young and cute like Silas, you can even sit on the equipment. He had a great time, making driving noises and pointing out the buses going past. When I'd ask him if he was ready to get out he would hold up his hands and say "Mai ao!" (Thai for "I don't want to!")

-Tom

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 06:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Recently we've gotten to know Oat, a young man who has shown serious interest in our group meetings. He lives and works on the other side of Bangkok, so coming this far shows some serious dedication! I was going into the city to teach yesterday so I made plans to meet up with him before my class. He works as a nurse at the oldest hospital in Bangkok, on the banks of the Chao Phraya River. The hospital has been the home of Thailand's King for most of the last year. He has been in poor health and is receiving ongoing treatment there.

View of the hospital from the ferry boat.

Oat preparing to pay respect to the statue of the King's father. He studied medicine at Harvard, then returned to Thailand and was an influential figure in the history of the hospital.

Since the King was hospitalized the hospital has received a steady stream of well-wishers who come to sign their names in books as a way of demonstrating their concern for His Majesty. These tables were set up for special visitors. For us common folk, there were rows of tables with books and a uniformed attendant at each book. Now my name is recorded there among the millions of others.

Oat also took me to see a couple of museums on the hospital grounds. Apparently this is the month for strange museum visits (see our post about Kanchanaburi). The anatomy museum was particularly fascinating/horrifying. They prohibit photography so you're spared the images. I'll just say that I never care to see so many mummified killers and deformed babies in formaldehyde again!

On my way home from teaching I got caught in one of Bangkok's infamous rain-induced traffic jams. The storm was so bad that the street flooded and rain was leaking into the bus through the air conditioning vents in the ceiling.

-Tom

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 06:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We've noticed that whenever we walk anywhere with Silas around our neighborhood, we tend to come home with loot. Walking home after a haircut the other morning he stopped to chat with many people and as a reward for his charms, he got a bag of peanuts and some chicken livers on a stick.
It's hard to believe our big boy is going to be two on Monday!
-C

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 12:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)