Learning Thai

Bangkok is becoming more and more flooded. So far, the water has not reached our area, but they keep telling us it's coming and we keep waiting. The kids' schools have been canceled for two weeks even though our area remains dry. We are trying to be prepared without taking drastic measures. We have water stocked up as well as some non-perishable food and flashlights. We have no idea what this weekend will hold! (but we've been warned and have been waiting for the last two weeks as well). Please pray for all the displaced people. There are some food shortages as people are stockpiling for the worst case scenario.
Bangkok Post link for current information.

Here are some of the shelves during my last trip to the grocery stores. I haven't seen a lot of foods for weeks: tuna is completely out of stock as well as toilet paper. I lucked into the last dozen eggs! Everything is sold way down- it's a strange feeling to see so many empty shelves.

The former egg aisle. Even the tiny quail eggs and the salted eggs are gone!

This aisle used to have a whole variety of canned foods- now it has one brand of canned mackeral arranged to make the shelves look full. :)

Here is a brief video which explains some of the situation simply. Since this time, the waters have come further into the city.

Thanks for your prayers for the city!

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last week felt like a fantastic time to escape our water-logged city and head out of town to a team retreat. We put our file cabinet drawers, computer and tv on the second floor, just in case of flooding and then loaded up in a van with our team and got away to Dolphin Bay, a few hours drive. It felt so good to relax on the beach in the mornings and to spend time together as a team in the afternoons and evenings .We loved the fresh air, the coconut loaded palm trees, the sand/ocean/pine tree views, and time together. The kids were in love with the playroom, the desserts at mealtimes and lots of lots of pool and ocean swimming. We are so thankful to have had this time together after a stressful few months. We did a lot of praying for each other, Bible Study, and praying for the Thai small groups of believers. It was encouraging, refreshing and gave us new perspective for moving forward. We thought of Efrain many times and prayed for him- he was very missed as he should have been on this retreat with us if he hadn't returned to Nicaragua for treatment.

One thing we really enjoyed on the retreat is learning new Ranchero style worship songs from Nixon. Even the kids are beginning to catch onto some of the Spanish lyrics. It was so much fun to sing together and to hear Dan and Nixon sing songs from "the old days."

From our studies in Samuel, we were encouraged that God has chosen special Thais (and Laotians) to lead their people to Him. We are praying for those we think could be leaders and asking God to show us more Thais that he wants to call and use. We are humbled and grateful for the people who are already seeking him and growing in their faith. What a blessing it is to see this happening!

In the upcoming months, we are excited to have a new family join our team! The Troyers will be arriving mid-November and we're really looking forward to that!! Tom is also planning a trip to Laos for Visa purposes and to spend time with Pon and Dan will be headed to Bangladesh to encourage the workers there. We are looking forward to the next few months and all the new things that God will do!

- C

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 11:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We loved hearing all about Tom's trip to Indonesia. He brought us wonderful fresh oranges straight from the tree and some other more "peculiar' snacks.

This one had to be the strangest, especially if you're expecting a sweet snack like we were. It was like condensed cream of chicken soup in a stick. A chicken soup hot dog? Not our fave.

We also ate Indonesian style one night. We didn't actually make authentic Indonesian food but ate Thai food, Indonesian style. The kids thought it was really funny to eat white rice (not sticky rice) with our hands. It did seem funny to dig right into a bowl of curry with our fingers!

Silas didn't want to touch anything at first but then got into it and we had a little bit of a hard time getting him to stop using his hands during future meals! :) Of course they all liked splashing in the finger bowls.

We're really happy Tom got to make the trip and it was fun learning about Indonesia when he returned. We also added several new friends/brothers from Kenya and Eratrea to our prayer list and have learned more about persecuted believers. It's so easy to forget to pray for them!

-C

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 10:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As you may have heard Thailand has been suffering from its worst flooding in decades. The past few months have been very hard on the northern and northeastern provinces. Many rice fields have been destroyed and more than 300 people have died as a result of the flooding caused by heavy rainfall and overflowing dams. Now the waters have reached Bangkok and the government has been scrambling to protect the city. In order to do that they've been diverting water farther upstream causing even worse flooding there. As you can imagine, not everyone is happy about that arrangement. But yesterday the prime minister announced that they will open the floodgates in Bangkok in an attempt to get the water out to sea faster. The northern parts of the city were already flooded and now the eastern areas are in danger. This caused a fresh round of panic and people flocked to the stores to stock up on necessities. (Here that means bottled water, instant noodles, and canned fish.) People also started driving their cars onto the safety of the elevated expressways, parking them, and walking away. (Notice the car on the right in the picture below that's even got a cover on!)

On Fridays I usually meet with a friend who is studying English. But last night he told me he couldn't make it and sent this picture as evidence...he's rowing this boat through his house.

We really don't know what to expect here in our neighborhood. Some people are using sandbags to protect their property and I just noticed that the neighbors across the street are adding blocks to the top of a cement wall that they built around their house to keep out the last flood. (That one never arrived.) There are a lot of conflicting reports, so we'll just wait and see. It sounds like tomorrow could be a critical day as more floodwater from the north enters the city.

More pictures of the flooding can be found here

-Tom.

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 06:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I spent the last week in Medan, Indonesia, at the International Mission Association meeting. It was a gathering of roughly 50 people from Anabaptist missions organizations around the world. We were joined by members of the Indonesian Mennonite congregations for times of teaching, worship, and ministry trips. This was my first exposure to IMA and I came away feeling very blessed. We were hosted in homes the entire time and that was a great time of bonding with our Indonesian brothers and sisters. The sessions - focusing on Hebrews 11 - were good, but what impressed me the most was the prayer times and the informal interaction with believes from so many different cultures. I had the privilege of traveling with a Kenyan bishop and two Indonesian mission workers to a very remote part of North Sumatra. We rode in a Jeep and bounced along the bumpiest road I've ever seen for about an hour and a half to reach one village. There we were welcomed by about 30 Christians who meet in one of their homes. We worshiped and shared with them one evening and again the following morning before we left for another location. On Sunday morning we gathered with believers from 9 different congregations as they held a commissioning service for two pastors. Our small team bonded very quickly in spite of the cultural differences and I think that we all learned a lot from each other.

I also thoroughly enjoyed the Indonesian culture and food (except for the goat skin and buffalo intestines!) If you've been reading this blog you know that the past month has not been very easy. These meetings helped to re-energize me and give me a broader perspective.

Here are a few pictures that I borrowed from Bishop Joseph.

I was very encouraged by our two meetings with this group in a remote village. We sang with them, listened to some of their testimonies, shared from the Bible, and prayed for them.

Many villagers grow oranges. I've never seen such fruitful orange trees. And I've never eaten fresher oranges! Here Joseph and I pose with one of the church leaders who owns this orchard.

On the second evening of our trip we met with another small house fellowship. We had a special time of prayer for John, a 7 year old who wants to be a missionary to America!

Sunday-morning gathering at a large public pavilion.

After the service we all ate together. The local custom is to eat without any silverware - so we followed suit and tried not to make too much of a mess!

-Tom

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 10:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Tom is leaving today for seven days in Indonesia. He will be attending the Holy Spirit in Missions Conference followed by ministry trips (they will form teams which will visit local churches). Click here to learn more. Tom will be living with a host family in Sumatra during his stay. We're not sure how much contact we will have. Pray that he will have safe travels, be challenged and refreshed, and learn more about what God is doing in other parts of Asia. Pray for us as we stay home- the kids are on school holiday so it will be nice to have a more laid back schedule and not worry about school while he is gone.

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 11:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Saturday we met with our church group at the foundation office for worship and communion. We've learned that the best approach to meeting together is to poll everyone via phone and then plan the service based on what suits the most people. In this case, we mostly planned around Lan who is a security guard and has a really tough schedule. It was a nice, relaxed time together, with only serious believers and seekers attending. After our meal together, we read the scriptures from John about communion and foot washing. Because bread is a foreign food and not a staple in Thailand, we use rice, which is eaten daily to symbolize the life that Jesus gives. After the footwashing passage, Tom asked the group how they would like to express servanthood to each other. He explained a few ways that it's been done in the church in the past. After discussing it briefly, the believers decided that they would like to wash feet as well. We got some buckets ready and they shyly washed each other's feet. Feet hold a different significance in Thailand; they are considered unclean, it's not polite to point them at someone or to call attention to feet. So washing someone's feet has an especially humbling connotation. Lan noted that he couldn't remember having his feet washed by anyone. Afterwards, they described their feelings about footwashing saying they felt "delighted" and that they "couldn't explain" the good feeling they had.

Claire and Faa

Tiger and Silas serve water for the meal.

Geat and Dtao

Lan, Por, Tom, Silas

Rice and juice

Lan washing Por's feet. Por wais his hands as a way to receive the blessing and to show respect in return.

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