Learning Thai

Today was a big day for Claire. It was the last day of summer term AND she finally got enough stickers on her behavior chart to earn her new bike! For the last month she's been earning star stickers for doing her jobs without complaining, good work at school, obedience, getting along with Eliza, etc. (and losing a few stickers for the opposite thereof!) After all that hard work, we had a reward date this afternoon that included ice cream at Swenson's and Claire chose her bike (she outgrew her first one and we decided it was time to pass it on to Eliza).

With her reward chart. Oh the excitement with the 30th star went on today!

She thought she was quite the grown-up choosing coffee ice cream with extra chocolate chips!

As you can see, Eliza was pretty happy with her chocolate with sprinkles too.

Claire choosing the perfect bike at the bike shop.

Trying out her tricked out bike on our street...complete with a bell, a doll carrier and handle bar streamers. What more could you ask for? She's thrilled!

We're having a good week around here- finishing up school and getting in meetings and team odds and ends before Tom heads to the Burmese border again all next week. I promise, the next entry is Tom in skirts!
-Candice

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 05:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Today I'm extra thankful for a family that has served God down through generations leading up to me and my kids. I am tremendously blessed to have had grandparents that served and loved Him. Today is Grammy's funeral (my Dad's mom). I'm remembering a lot of times at her house- doing everything from helping make apple butter in a big pot outside to eating her famous pig stomach at Christmas (not sure if I actually ever tried any of that!). I'm missing my family and just wanting to give them all a hug today. If you see them, you can do it for me!

This is one of the parts of being away that just doesn't get any easier. It hurts to be apart when the family is welcoming a new baby or saying good-bye to a grandparent. Last week, my nephew Vincent (Martin and Sylvia's son) was born and I was happy and sad to be away during another big moment in my family's life. Time is going by too fast- I haven't even met his big brother Elliot yet!
Still, God is good and he's comforted me and known what I need. I'm also grateful for the team and support he's given us here.
Thanks for remembering my family, especially my dad in your prayers today.
-Candice

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Yesterday was Eliza's big day! Happy 3rd Birthday!

Eliza chose the Children's Museum for her day of fun.....She and Claire thought it was cool being inside a bubble in the science building.

Eliza tries out the simulated "womb" at the museum. She liked hearing the mother's heartbeat so much we could hardly get her to come out. She loved imagining what it's like to be her little brother right now.

After a pizza supper, we all enjoyed the turtle cake. Eliza for some reason could not blow out ANY of the candles and Daddy had to step in.

The chair was one of her favorite presents and today she's been having fun reading all her new books in it. Right now she's playing with her new leggo set from Grandma. Thanks to all the Grandparents for the wonderfully fun packages you sent- she's been busy playing all day with all the fun stuff you sent!

-Candice

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 04:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Our God is AWESOME! We had our monthly celebration meeting at our house last night, and it was so encouraging to see what he is doing among us and our friends. Since our meetings have a potluck style meal, and no "leader" for the meeting, we never know quite what the meeting will be like. Last night we had a great turnout of Thai friends and a potluck feast, followed by worship that was a mix of Thai, Spanish and English songs and Bible study and prayer. With 6 nationalities represented, we had a truly multi-cultural worship service. Praise God for the interest and open hearts of our Thai friends. Continue your prayers for them!

There were about 30 of us squeezed into our living room (and spilling over into the entryway) enjoying chicken, grilled pork, fried rice, papaya salad, sticky rice, mango sticky rice, fruit, etc.

The other half of the group.

Worshipping God in three languages. We're so excited to have three more new interns joining us from Nicaragua.....Nixon, Efrain, and Reina.

The children (Claire, Eliza, Tiger, Hope, and Itty) listen intently to the story of "Jesus Calms the Storm" read in English by Reacher Brittany and in Thai by my friend and neighbor Chaweewan.

Breaking out into groups according to language for the Bible study on prayer. Here is one of the Thai groups. We were so happy to have our landlords Urai and Seri attending (on the right, beside Tom). Seri had lots of questions and interest in the scripture and wants to meet again to study more! We are excited about what God has planned for him!

Brittany and Yupim. Brittany and Joelle live with Yupim here in Thippawan and help her with her ministry to slum kids. She is an amazing lady and we were happy to have her at our group for the first time, sharing her testimony with other Thai friends.

Eliza and her friend Dan.

In spite of it being one of the hottest times of the hot season, we had a really wonderful and encouraging meeting and were really blessed!

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 12:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

This past weekend I had the chance to spend several days in northwestern Thailand, along the border with Myanmar. I went to visit my friend Manat, the Thai man who taught English at the first school Claire attended. He is now spending some of his time in this border region, working among the Karen people (many of them refugees from Myanmar). This was a part of Thailand I'd never seen before and I'm grateful that I had the chance.

Manat and his team are working in a number of small villages in that region and it was encouraging to see their perseverance and dedication in the midst of such difficult circumstances.

I'm still processing a lot of what I saw and learned and wondering how we should or can assist in this work. For starters, I'll be taking the REACH team back in a couple of weeks so that they can do an English camp and some work projects.

Here are a few pictures and some more comments...

These are Karen kids. Many of them (and their parents) are not living in Thailand legally. This prevents them from receiving adequate education. Manat is working with a small church to build a very simple school building/pavilion that will serve part of this undocumented population.

We visited the Mae La refugee camp. This is managed by the United Nations and houses 60,000 people. Some of them have been there for years, others are transferred on to a third country. People move to the camp to escape the persecution and unrest that continues across the river in Myanmar.

On Sunday we worshiped with a group of kids in one of the villages. From what I could observe, many of these families are living on next to nothing. The parents and kids can sometimes find work picking corn for $2-$3 per day, but even that is very inconsistent.

One of the traditional Karen handicrafts is woven cloth. I bought a couple of nifty man-skirts while I was there. Candice think that they should be the subject of a future photo-shoot and blog.

And, on a lighter note, this is me making a very brief and unofficial visit to Myanmar. Since one of the villages that we visited was right on the Moei River that divides the two countries we stripped down to our boxers and went for a swim. So, even though my passport won't confirm it, I can now claim to have visited Myanmar (in my underwear, no less).

-Tom

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 08:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I'm leaving tonight for Mae Sot - a town on the Thai-Myanmar (Burma) border. I'll be meeting Manat, the man that I taught with at Claire's first school. He's going to be showing me the work that he's involved in there. I think that we'll be visiting a refugee camp and hopefully some villages as well. We're considering taking the REACH team there for a week-long visit (they would probably do an English camp) so I'm going ahead of time to check it out. I plan to return early Monday morning.

If you think about us please pray for safety for me and for good connections. Also, please pray for Candice and the girls as they stay at home - that they would be safe and that Candice would have the patience and energy to be a single mom for a few days.

I'll post some pictures from the trip when I get back.

-Tom

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 06:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The party continues! Yesterday we hosted the first annual Team Songkran Party at our house. Here are some pictures. Of course Claire and Eliza felt that a party involving getting drenched and drenching grownups and then eating hotdogs and brownies was the best party ever.....

Brittney takes down Raul, gangster style.

Raul takes some (i'm sure well deserved) revenge on Colleen.

Claire and Eliza spent a lot of the night sumberged in a tub...they hardly noticed when they got a little wetter.

Pausing in the water madness for a picnic of American food including grilled hot dogs and chicken skewers, baked beans, potato salad, and Colleen's yummy Tres Leches cake.

After supper, everyone got pretty much soaked. Claire came up with the smart idea of hiding under an umbrella.

Tom and Eder plan a sneak attack.

Those of us with waterguns were at a bit of a disadvantage to the buckets, especially the buckets of ice water!

The whole, soaking bunch.
After a change of clothes for everyone, there was a card game and some incredibly loud firecrackers to end the night.
Happy Songkran!

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 12:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Songkran holiday is in full swing now and we're enjoying the relaxed schedule, festive atmosphere, and of course, the water fights. (In Thai, it's referred to as len naam, which translates as "water play" - a much better description than "fighting.")

This morning our neighborhood had a traditional Songkran celebration so Eliza and I went to check it out. It was very interesting and instructive to see the religious and community orientation that's at the heart of this holiday.

Before we got there the monks had performed a religious ceremony (and I assume were also fed a meal). Then the people lined up to pour water over the hands of the monks.

After that, the elderly people from the community sat in a row and the younger people poured water over their hands (and on their shoulders). This is a show of respect and the older people would then splash water on the younger people and bless them - wishing a happy and prosperous new year. I suppose that all of the other "water play" that's such a fun and visible part of the holiday has its origins here - in pouring water as a way of blessing and paying respect. This is a great example of the way that Thai culture can incorporate fun and a little mishcieviousness into a meaningful ceremony.

Eliza wanted to join in. Here she's pouring water on the hands of our landlady, Urai (while someone else pours water down the back of her neck).

Then she went down the row; showing her respect for her elders.

We were also "blessed" numerous times and went home soaking wet and plastered with powder and flower petals.

Then we picked up Claire and went out to the end of our street to join some other kids in spraying water at passing buses, cars, motorcycles, and bicycles.

-Tom

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 02:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Happy Songkran, everybody! Songkran is the traditional Thai new year and is a big holiday here. Many people go back to their home provinces so the city gets a little emptier. You may remember from our pictures last year, that it's also an excuse for a big, country-wide water fight! The girls got to celebrate Songkran at their school on the last day before a week off for the holiday. Here are some pictures of the giant water fight at their school.....

Many people also wear special clothes for Songkran- mostly bright, floral "Hawaiian-type" shirts. The girls are wearing special Songkran outfits.

Tom says we're lucky our camera survived the mayhem as he repeatedly got soaked while taking pictures!

Going back to the buckets for a refill.

Watch out for this one!

This guy looks like he's just about outweighed by his gun!

The girls with some teachers. The one on the right is Claire's teacher, Khruu Fon. Eliza is crying because she just got squirted in the eye.

We are enjoying a quiet weekend as a family around the house and Sharon is also staying with us, recuperating after getting out of the hospital. It's actually raining right now, so that's pretty exciting too! We're really looking forward to the rainy season around here! On Monday we have a team Songkran party planned at our house, so we'll post pictures of that soon.
-Candice

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She's got her ticket and her frequent flier card and she's ready to travel.

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 11:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I try not to post about too many potentially boring news stories from Thailand but I couldn't resist this one from today's paper.

"People Power Party member Karun Hosakul kung-fu kicked Democrat Somkiart Pongpaiboon yesterday while he was dining." Read more here.

-Tom

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 07:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Aida and Eder waiting to take their first trip on the Skytrain.

We're excited about the arrival of two new interns - this time from Ecuador. Eder and Aida arrived yesterday afternoon and since then we've been helping to orient them to life in Thailand. Raul (the Costa Rican intern who has been here for about 8 months) is doing a lot of the work. Eder will live with him and Aida will be living with another intern from Nicaragua once she (and two more guys) arrive in a week or so.

Whenever a new intern comes I'm reminded of how overwhelming this move to Thailand is - and amazed at how quickly all of us have made the progression from helpless beginners to at-least-somewhat-competent veterans. Raul, who eight months ago, knew practically nothing about Thailand or the langauge is now helping Eder and Aida purchase health insurance, enroll in a language school, and learn to navigate Bangkok's complicated transportation network. I spent most of today with the three of them - communicating in a confusing mixture of English, Spanish, and Thai.

Eder and Aida both have great attitudes and we're very glad to have them here. Our team's diversity creates some communication challenges, but it also enriches our experience and our witness here. We'll soon have people from four countries working together in a fifth country - it makes for a great learning environment!

-Tom

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 07:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Today was Claire's first day back at school for the summer term. The Thai summer vacation starts sometime around the end of February and ends in May, but many schools offer a summer term as well. At the kindergarten level this is part day care and part preparation for the upcoming school year. We've decided to leave Claire in the same class that she was in last year. She really liked her teachers and we thought it was more important for her to stay with them than for her to try to keep up with her age group (especially considering that she was only with them for about a month). So, today she was in a class with a whole new group of kids - and many of them were having a hard time letting their parents go. When we arrived several kids were already crying at full volume and as more kids were dropped off the chaos increased. At one point one of Claire's teachers was holding four sobbing kids. That whole scene made Claire feel better about her ability to handle school!

The principal had told me earlier that we'd be welcome to bring Eliza along as well - there's a "pre-kindergarten" class for her age group. I thought that I would just introduce her this morning and let her see the room, but she jumped right into playing with toys and drinking milk and I ended up leaving her there for the morning. The teachers said that she did well so I guess that we'll take her at least a couple mornings per week. She was very pleased with herself when I came to pick her up.

Candice spent most of the day in Bangkok - visiting Sharon and attending language school (for an update on Sharon you can read her blog).

I met with Manat (the English teacher that I worked with at the first school Claire attended). We discussed the possibility of a trip to the Thai/Burmese border to help out with a school and church there - I hope that can work out. After that I stopped at my new favorite snack stand in Thipawan to buy a banana smoothie and ended up having a really interesting conversation with the guy who works there. We started talking about Christianity and he had a lot of questions and was much more open to talking about it than anyone else that I've met here so far. He's obviously thought a lot about his beliefs and I think that he sincerely wants to know the truth. He knows a little bit about the Bible and would like to read more. Please pray that I would be able to stay in touch with him and that God would continue to attract him.

-Tom

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 04:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)