Learning Thai

Today Claire went to school again and I went along for my weekly round of English classes. I spend half an hour teaching in six different class rooms. So, in three hours I teach the same lesson to nearly 200 3-5 year olds. It's definitely not something that I'd want to make a full-time job of, but it is fun to spend some time with those kids. They are almost all enthusiastic about the class and love to shake hands with the foreign teacher (they have to wai their Thai teachers). I have a lot of admiration for the teachers who do work there full-time. I never know quite what to expect. Today I came into a room just after a kid had thrown up on the floor, I saw a boy coming out of the bathroom wearing only a shirt - his shorts and underwear were nowhere in sight, and during my first lesson a mother brought in her screaming child and left him for the teachers to deal with.

Claire is continuing to enjoy her new level (kindergarten 2). It's more advanced and she spends more time writing letters (both English and Thai). Here's a page that caught my eye in her Thai reading/culture book.

The first page says "We have a wat [temple] and a school near our house. We go to the wat to make merit." On the opposing page it says "There is a church near the school. People who believe in Christianity go to the church. The church is the place to make merit for Christians." I'm not sure what nationality the priest in this picture is supposed to be, but he doesn't look Thai. I think this is a good representation of how Christianity is viewed here - there's not animosity or disapproval, just the assumption that it is foreign whereas Buddhism is the natural Thai religion.

Every morning the kids line up to sing the national anthem while they raise the flag and then they often do some other chanting followed by some dancing exercise. Claire was a bit taken aback by the wild dancing at first, but now seems to enjoy joining in. Here's a video of the student's boisterous rendition of the anthem.

This one day at the school is basically the only teaching that I'm doing right now. There are some possibilities coming up and I'm trying to be more selective in choosing my students. This is leaving me with more time for other activities and I'm excited about the good possibility of beginning Bible studies with two different people in the next week. Our landlord, Seri, is coming over tomorrow and another guy in our neighborhood wants to start something soon. This is what we've been hoping and praying for so we're praising God for His work and anticipating that He will glorify Himself through the study of His word. We're grateful for your ongoing prayers as well!

-Tom

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 04:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Introducing our new and improved team! (also including our "India branch"- Lowell, Amy and kids). For those interested in who's who (r is for reach)......Back row: Anita, Amy, Reina, Nixson, Candice, Beth (r), Aida, Dan, Raul, Eder. Front Row: Colleen (r), Ashley (r), Nora Grace, Lowell, Sam, Miriam, Deanna (r), Claire, Eliza, Tom, Sharon, Joelle (r), Brittany (r), and Efrain.

Just for the purpose of comparison...this was our entire team 8 months ago in September at our last team retreat! Wow, look what God has done!

Our team won't stay this big for long as Lowell and Amy head back to India after the birth of their baby and the Reacher's leave us in August. Plus Sharon and Raul's terms as interns also end this summer. So, we're enjoying our numbers while it lasts. The time in Chiang Mai was really good for us in spending more time together and learning more about each other since we are spread out in our living locations and doing a wide variety of work.

The time was really refreshing. Dan lead us in studying examples in the Bible of incarnational ministry. It is such a challenge to think of all the new areas that God could be leading us into...but really exciting too!! You can pray for Tom this week as he begins meeting with two friends for Bible study here in Thippawan.

It was a big blessing for the girls too. They had the chance to have a "bible study"/craft time with a Reacher during our sessions and really enjoyed that. One night we had an evening Bible study and Eliza cried and cried that she had to go to bed because she wanted another Bible study. :) They also enjoyed running in the grass and playing with the Stoltzfus kids as well as daily times in the pool. Claire learned to swim underwater so that was a big deal for her!

Now we're happy to be back home settling into our normal routine. Claire is back to school today. She will be going to Thai school Tues-Thurs and having home school Mon and Fri. Tom is teaching English at her school on Thursdays.

-Candice

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 08:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

On Monday our team made a visit to Ayutthaya (the former capital of Thailand). Here is our first team picture with all 17 of us (plus Claire and Eliza).

Please pray for our team as we meet together over the next 4 days. I think we're all looking forward to a chance to rest in beautiful Chiang Mai, to get to know each other better as a team (since we have 5 new team members) and have time to think and pray about what God has in mind for our team here. We'll be traveling by overnight train tonight (Wednesday) and returning Sunday night.

On an unrelated side note, we were watching some CNN election coverage this morning and Eliza and I had the following conversation during Obama's speech:

E: I like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama (Hilly Inton and Rak Obama)!
C: Who do you think should win?
E: Hilly Inton
C: Why? Because she's a lady?
E: Ladies should always win, not boys.

Just one pundit's opinion.

-Candice

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 10:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tom turned 33 last Thursday. We all had a lot of fun helping him celebrate......

One of his favorites, sushi, for lunch.

His birthday present, a lovebird (which is actually a small parrot), yet unnamed. He is a little nervous with us still so we are letting him live in the house for awhile and get used to us. Tom has great plans for his taming and training. The girls gave him a triangular Thai pillow for one of his favorite activities, laying on the floor to watch soccer.

Tom and his girls and birthday banana cake (recipe courtesy of Mom Mast- it turned out great!).
In birthday celebration part II ( I had to teach my final English class the night of his birthday), Tom and I went out for a fun date on Friday (courtesy of Reach babysitters) for BBQ, browsing a bookstore, Starbucks and a movie.

By the way, Claire has finally recovered from her "bug" (fever, intestinal problems) and is back to normal praise God! You can be praying we all stay healthy and safe for a busy upcoming week with the team. On Monday, we plan to go on a group trip to Ayutthaya (the old capital) because it's a Thai holiday and to celebrate our leader, Dan's birthday. On Wednesday we leave for our 4 day team retreat in Chiang Mai.
-Candice

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 10:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

We are very happy to be back together after our week apart....although I can' t say that Eliza and Claire haven't been fighting their fair share too. We were very happy to see each other early Sunday morning (they came home on the overnight bus) and it was a great Mother's day for me! Here are some pictures of us back together....

Claire brought home these matching guitars from Burma and she and Eliza both love them. This morning Eliza was strumming and singing "Prajow pben kwaam rak" (God is love). I love the dreamy look (see pic) that she gets on her face when she plays. :)

Feeling very lucky to be mommy to Claire, Eliza and Nong (little brother/sister). Tom and the girls gave me a really nice day with homemade cards, earrings, roses, and lunch at a fancy Italian restaurant. We also got a chance to talk to our Moms that day. We love and miss you!!

Eliza shows off her artwork. She and I had a lot of fun painting together and making a little art gallery while Tom and Claire were gone.

This is the promised "Tom in skirt" picture. I'm sorry, he wasn't a very cooperative subject, so this is all I've got. He actually has three of these, called "paa kow maa" (the one he's wearing is from Burma and called a lognyi- everyone there wears them). The paa kow maa is basically a long piece of fabric that wraps around and can be tied or rolled at the top. This morning he was doing some "daddy nesting"- practicing making a baby sling from one. :) He actually wears them quite a bit and brags on their coolness and versatility (he took one for a towel/sheet/blanket on the trip).
Today we're enjoying a rainy day and are so happy the rainy season is finally here!!
-Candice

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 12:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Last week Claire and I went with the REACHers and Raul back to the Dtaak province in northwestern Thailand. We'd been invited to come put on an English camp at a local church and to spend some time visiting surrounding villages with Manat and Blue, two men who are working to start churches in that area. It was a very full and tiring week, but it was also exciting and fulfilling. The REACH team did a great job - both with the camp and with the other less structured times of interacting with children in various settings. Claire also did a good job and it was fun to have her along. I think that it was eye-opening for her and she is still talking about her impressions of what she saw. We visited a refugee camp and also saw a lot of kids living in very poor conditions in the villages we visited. I'm grateful that she has opportunities like this to broaden her horizons and shape her perceptions of what is "normal."

As a team, we are still trying to figure out how we can or should be involved in an ongoing basis with Manat and Blue. Our goal is still to live and work in Samut Prakan, but we also cannot ignore the fact that close to two million Burmese are in Thailand - including many in this province. We want to be aware of their presence as well as their unique challenges and struggles. You can pray for wisdom as we continue discussing what our response should be.

There is a lot more that I could say about the week - and maybe I'll do some more blogging later on. But, for now, here are some pictures and captions that will hopefully give you at least a glimpse into the trip.

Around 50 kids participated in the three-day camp. The REACH'ers did all of the organization and teaching. I helped out here and there and did some translation.

We played a lot of games in several different villages. Some of the kids didn't speak Thai, so we picked up a few Burmese/Karian phrases and did a lot of miming and gesturing.

Claire spent a lot of time playing with the kids. She enjoyed all of the games and interacting with the younger kids but got a little tired of the attention from the older girls. On one of the last days she told me "I wish that I wasn't so new to them. Then maybe they wouldn't try to smell me."

And here are a few more random pictures of some of the cute kids and my cute kid at the edge of the Moei River.

-Tom

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 04:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I've been hearing from some of you wondering about how/if the cyclone in Myanmar/Burma has affected Tom and the team who are traveling. I just wanted to let you all know that the team is safe and not in any danger. The cyclone happened in the south of Myanmar along the coast (Rangoon/Yangon). The team is located in Mae Sot, still in Thailand but near the border with Myanmar to the North in a mountainous region. There was a little rain before they arrived but it's been nothing but sunny since they've been there. Please remember all the people in Myanmar who have lost homes and family members- as I'm sure many of you have read, CNN is reporting the death toll at 22,000 with 41,000 still missing, so it's a huge tragedy.

The English camp is going well. The team is working with about 40 kids at the camp with a wide variety of ages and English ability. Pray for lots of energy for them and for creativity as they plan lessons, games, music and skits. Claire is really enjoying the time too- she loves it that she gets to play a part in the skits and is having fun playing with the kids.
Thanks for your prayers and continue to pray for safety as they will be doing some more traveling to visit Thai/Karen villages and a refugee camp later in the week. They return by overnight bus on Saturday.
-Candice

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 11:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Claire and I are leaving this evening for a return trip to Mae Sot. (I talked about my first trip in this earlier post.) We're going along to help introduce the REACH team to the area. They will be putting on an English camp at one of the churches and we're also planning to help out at a new school in the little Karen settlement pictured above.

Claire is excited about this adventure and has her backpack packed and ready to go. We'll return early next Sunday morning. We'd appreciate your prayers over the next week - both for Claire and I as we go and for Candice and Eliza as they stay home.

-Tom

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 06:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)