What would you do?

What if you, a Christian, lived peacefully in a town for many years with people of different religious backgrounds? What if outsiders came in and convinced your neighbors that Christians should not be allowed in your town any longer. What would you do if your neighbors persecuted you and your fellow Christian friends? When police and government officials arrived they supported those persecuting you and insisted you deny Christ and turn away from Christianity. What if you saw your Pastor repeatedly beaten near death and a loved Christian neighbor killed? Would you stand firm in your faith? Would you stay in the town or move to another?
One of the Pastors we spent time with here in Thailand experienced just this scenario. To read more about the amazing story CLICK HERE.

In Memory of Diane Rose

Our prayers go out to Tim's Family at the passing of his Aunt Diane. For the last year Diane fought a good fight against cancer that ended in the evening on Friday October 24th when she passed on. I only had a chance to get to know her over the last year, and in that time she won my heart, admiration, respect, and love. I miss her deeply as will all those who knew her. Please keep Bruce, Diane's husband, and the Rose and Salmonson family's in your prayers.

Women in the Market

Here is a video of a market we went to in Laos. This market starts early in the morning everyday and goes into early afternoon. People are selling everything from vegetables, to spices and bread, to meat, to handicrafts. In this video Tim and I were in the market and a bunch of Laos women came around him trying to get him to buy their handicrafts. At one point one of them came over to me. I showed her the camera and what I was filming and she started laughing and thought it was great. These women were very cute.

Hill Tribe People

Laos Akha Dancers

Loas Akha Tribe - Thanksgiving

After traveling for some time down a dusty, bumpy two-track we finally arrived at a very poor Akha village. It was late afternoon and despite the children running away from us (most of our pictures were taken without looking through the viewfinder)we were warmly invited to celebrate an Akha thanksgiving meal. We sat around a small round table, starting the meal by eating the first rice harvested this season. We were humbled by their hospitality and I was offered the very coveted chicken head.
What is the key to becoming a gracious guest? I think in my experience it's been letting my host know how much I deeply appreciate (if you can't outright enjoy) what you are offered. What would you do if you were offered the best of something that you might consider something disgusting?

Life in Thailand

3 weeks with Arthur... think he is sick of us yet??

hmmm...

AKHA Hill Tribe Villages

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Get your own

We had the amazing experience of going to Laos. Tim and I knew little to nothing about Laos, other than it being under communist rule, and we were not sure what to expect but we did not expect what we experienced. The landscape was breathtaking,the food was incredibly good, and the people were a delight. We did not see any material wealth, roads were horrible, it was dusty and accommodation's were rustic, but what lacked in creature comforts was made up in generosity, kindness, and hospitality. We also felt VERY safe and felt our persons and our belongings were secure the entire time we were in Laos. We found there were many tourists in Laos, which we also did not expect. We feel blessed to have gotten to experience the people and places of Laos.

Have you ever done something, gone somewhere, met someone and had preconceived notions of what to expect. In those situations did you react to your surroundings according to your expectations or did you suspend your judgment and let the situation reveal itself on its own accord?

Burmese Citiscape

IGN Blog Articles "In the bordertown of Masai, Thailand there is a lookout point with a tower alongside of a Buddhist Temple. This peak is just south of the Burmese border and gives you some spectacular views of the Burmese landscape. The scorpion is a sign of power and historically have been numerous in this part of the world.

Sompong's thoughts on Community

Jaing Jai Sai Church

One of the Pastors that Arthur supports is Joe. Joe has lived in the Jaing Jai Sai Village for the past year, the village itself is only 7 years old. There are 42 families in the village and 53 families that attend Joe's church. Some come from outside the village in neighboring areas. The church is small, too small to hold all of the people who want to attend and the church is also difficult to get to. The only way in is up a steep stone staircase in the side of the mountain. The elderly have a difficult time getting to the building. There is a piece of land in the village that they are going to use to build a bigger church and the community is looking forward to that. Joe also spends each night of the week training the teenagers of the church and village different skills. One night for music training, another to teach leadership of the children's ministry, another for bible studies. Joe even teaches a class in reading and writing of the AKHA language. AKHA has traditionally been only spoken but not so long ago a westerner introduced the alphabet to them and put their language into writing. Now more and more Pastors like Joe and Joesep from Paka Samatkri Village, are teaching the youth to read and write in AKHA. Over the last four months Joe has been training the youth and now he has begun releasing different responsibilities to them. Some lead the children's programs, others the music ministry, and other's lead bible studies. Joe is only 29 years old but he is respected in his community.

Joe is using skills, talents and training he has to impact the lives of those in his community. In what ways can you use your skills to contribute to your community.

Pictures from Arthurs Village

Arthur's Village has been around for 45 years and is far more established that many of the villages we have been in. When building a home from bamboo the structure will only last for so many years. Every 3 years the roofs on the bamboo homes must be replaced. Since Tim was in Arthur's village last, which was 4 years ago, the bamboo homes have started to be replaced with cement buildings. Cement costs more up front but in the long run money is saved from not having to replace the roof every 3 years and repair the main structure. Being a more established community they have found ways to bring some steady income into the community. Many bring in income by selling AKHA handicrafts along the road of their AKHA village, selling souvenirs outside the nearby Queens palace and the gardens, or just cutting costs by growing their own vegetables, fruit, and raising their own animals for meat. I asked Arthur if his family grew everything or if they went to the grocery store for some things. He said everything was either grown, hand made, or traded from neighbors. What a different life from our own.

IGN Thoughts on Giving and Receiving

Child Hostel

Today on our way back to Chiang Rai we made a stop on the way to meet a friend of Arthur's and one of the people Arthur supports in his minsitry. His friend is the Chairman of the village he lives in so he represents his village at the government meetings. During the meetings he noticed that when discussing those least educated the AKHA were of the highest percent, when talking about those with drup problems again the AKHA were most involved, even those most at risk for falling prey to the sex trade were also the AKHA. This bothered the Chairman very much. He is also from the AKHA tribe and his heart went out to his people and he was determined to help them however he could. He had some land, and a little money so he started a Child Hotel. He built 2 dorms made out of bamboo, one for girls and one for boys. 48 kids live here. They are kids without parents to care for them and kids at risk to be sold into the sex trade. Here they come and live, receive meals, attend the nearby school, and while there the Chairman also teaches them a vocation. Fishing, raising pigs, cows, ducks and other animals are among the skills he trains them in. His hope is that by giving them a good start, an education through high school and some skills, perhaps these children can begin to break the trends and give the AKHA new hope and better futures. The need is great and space and money are limited. The Chairman wants to build 2 more dorms on his land, another for boys and another for girls. He asked for prayers for the needed resources to build the dorms and run the program.

I am struck how this ordinary man saw something in his daily life that he thought was unjust. He did not just say what a shame someone should do something about that. Instead he took the initiative and did something about it himself. Not only that but he did it with what he had. The dorms sit directly next to his house. He shares everything he has with these kids and he wants to do more. How many times have you thought something was wrong or unfair or should be changed. How often did you point to other people and say they should do something about that. In what ways can you act to make the situation better?

Paka Samatkri Hosts

Northern Thailand Travels

Giving and Receiving gifts

While here in Thailand people have been so kind and generous. We recently visited the AKHA Hill Tribe Village of Paka Samatkri. We were welcomed into Pastor Joesep’s home with welcome arms. The house is attached to the church and there are also two interns, both in their first year of bible college, that work with the youth at the church and live in a room at the back of the house. The interns also prepare the meals and clean up. They have been so hospitable and a joy to be around. Pastor Joesep gave his bed to Tim to sleep in and Pastor Arthur, Pastor Joesep, and Pastor Morpokoo who are all with us here too are sleeping on the floor in the living space of the house. In the back room the 2 young intern girls were sleeping in one small bed. They also gave up their bed and offered it to me while they sleep on the floor in the room. They are so giving and are doing everything they can to make us feel welcome and comfortable. I often struggle with being served the way we are by them, and others. I feel so blessed to have all I have and want to serve them, and feel like I should not be served by them. Then I need to be reminded that just as I feel joy when serving others, so do others feel joy in serving me. To not allow them to serve me would be selfish and depriving them of the joy they have in serving. Also it would be an insult to them. They are offering me what they have to give and for me not to accept it would be rude and hurtful. It is important to both serve and let others serve you. How do you serve others? How do others serve you? Can you both give and receive gifts of service with others? Blessings, Cindie

Village Life

Post by Tim Salmonson...
When we arrived in Paka Samatkri we had no idea that there would be two funerals, a water buffalo sacrifice, a village celebration (which included eating the buffalo) and yet another Akha tradition - AwooBaloo (or something along those lines) which intailed a mostly naked man marching around the village trying to touch people with a large phalic object. (You could pacify him with a small charitable donation). Women were said to get pregnant and men would be cursed if touched by the... uhh, well, were touched. A great evening of entertainment.

It was the Shaman's mother who died (of natural causes) so there was quite a lot of pomp and circumstance around the whole event. The mourners went to the hospital to retrieve the body, brought it back to the village (many kilometers away) only to realize that they brought home the wrong body. Oops, it was back to the hospital to bring home the queen mother. Friday morning, the village water buffalo was sacrificed (that was something else - maybe another blog) and Friday afternoon it was a giant barbeque. Saturday we marched down to the cemetary, paid our respects while the poor villagers had to undergo a great feat of engineering to get the body down the steep embankment and into the ground. It was all quite incredible.

Chiangmai Christian Fellowship

Tim Dunham is a man doing great things here in Thailand for God. Chiangmai Christian Fellowship is the name of the church Tim is Head Pastor of and "The Family Connection Foundation" was started as the churches arm to reach out to help their neighbors here in Thailand. Among the programs in the foundation is the Ban San Rak Children's Home. This is no ordinary orphanage. With Ban San Rak only 6 to 8 children are placed in each home and every home has at least 3 caregivers. The congregation of the church also provides needed community support including acting in the role of big brothers/sisters and Aunts/Uncles. Many of the children being helped through the program are from state institutions where there are 50 kids to every one caregiver, and many others are high risk kids for human trafficking. This is just one of the programs that the church foundation is getting involved and making a difference in the lives the people in there community. For more information on Chiangmai Christian Fellowship and The Family Connection Foundation you can check out their websites. This is a church truly doing their part to be the hands and feet of God here in Thailand.

Does your church have programs that extend a hand of support into your community? If so how are you assisting the effort? If not, is their anything you can do to help start programs or rally your neighbors to assist those in need around you?

CHE in Thailand

Where to begin... Tim and I have met so many incredible people over the last few days each doing wonderful things for God in Thailand. Last night Tim, Arthur, and I met up with David and Debbie Crist. They are a couple here in Chaing Mai working as Area Coordinators for LifeWind and sharing the CHE strategy of wholistic community development with the people of Thailand. David invited us to attend a CHE training class that was taking place today. There we met many more incredible people, both Nationals and Expats, all working towards doing wholistic ministry. Among them were Stefan who Tim wrote about earlier, Joshua who is a national of the Lahu tribe that is making sure the Lahu receive scripture and other Christian lessons in their own language. We also met Thirapong Wandee also a Thai national that is working as a CHE Facilitator and helping the Thai people learn to identify, process, and solve their own issues instead of looking to others to do it for them, and we met Tim Dunham who is a pastor of a church here in Chaing Mai called Chaing Mai Christian Fellowship. Tim shared that when he was first asked to start the church he said "only if it is a full functioning church that is taking action in the community." Everyone agreed and the Chaing Mai Christian Fellowship started and from the church a foundation was started to do ministry, with accountability, in Thailand. The church is truly a church of action and life change is evident. CHE has become a big part of how they are working in the communities. I am posting a video of one of the women, Sompong Sriwichai, who now works for the church's foundation. She was sooooo excited about the work they are doing and the CHE process. Hear what she has to say in her own words... check out the video.

Pictures from CHE Training Class Chaing Mai

Meet Stefan

Today we were invited to join a CHE (Community Health Evangelism) training. We met some amazing people; Stefan was one of them. Cindie and I were transfixed by his story as he asked us for prayer because his life was being threatened. Recently, he discovered that the children of one of the families he was visiting were being prostituted by other family members. We were horrified, but he assured us that this is not an uncommon practice. Poverty and desperation lead many parents to escape to drugs, alcohol, prostitution or even commit atrocities that most of us cannot even imagine. Please pray for Stefan and his wife Tina as they are in a fight for justice and even their lives. To learn more about their work in Thailand go to http://www.khamsiri.org/

Had to do it

I know I am in Thailand and I should be posting things on Thailand, but I was going through my pictures and saw these and just had to post them. My nephew Cameron was at Nana's house a few weeks back and there was this watermelon that we had fruit salad in. Cameron was just starring at the empty hollow watermelon when my sister, his mom, noticed the mischievous look on his face and said "Don't even think of putting that on your head". Needless to say the night ended with a watermelon hat, with the encouragement Tim. I HAD to share!!

Chiang Mai Night Bazaar

Chaing Mai Markets

While here in Chaing Mai we have seen serveral exensive Markets. One is there all the time and it is geared more towards the tourists. It is called the "Night Market" and they start setting it before noon and then it runs to about 10:00 at night. There is another market called the "Sunday Market". We went last night and were surprised at the sheer number of people there, mostly Thai. They had everything from clothing items, to home decorations, to paintings, to jewelry all hand made. Here are a few pictures:

Chaing Mai

Tim and I have successfully met up with Arthur here in Chaing Mai. We will attend church together tonight with Arthur. Tuesday we will head out to Chaing Rai and stay with Arthur's brother before heading out to a few of the Akha Hill Tribes outside Chaing Rai. Sorry no pictures yet, so far we have just been running around and have not had much opportunity to get any photo's.

Today at lunch Arthur, Tim and I bumped into 3 people that are here in Chaing Mai volunteering at a nearby orphanage that houses children from the hill tribes. They were commenting on how many of the children in the orphanage were sent there because there parents could not afford to take care of them. These kids can only stay in the orphanage until they are 18 and then for most, unless educated, it means a life on the street, prostitution, drugs, and no real opportunity for a future. If you ask them what they want most they say education. For them education means a chance for a better life. When we shared with them that Arthur was one of those hill tribe kids who's parents could not afford to care for him, and how Arthur not only graduated college but also attends graduate school, they were encouraged. They invited Arthur to speak to the children to encourage them and give them hope. Most of the children feel there is not a lot of hope and Arthur is a living example of the hope that comes from Jesus Christ, and against all odds succeeding and living a life of purpose and provision. Today Arthur lives his life to serve God and to help the people of his Akha tribe. Is there anyone who could be encouraged by your story? What obstacles have you overcome that could help someone else to succeed in an area that appears to be a no win situation?

Welcome to Thailand

It was not so long ago I was writing to you all from the Dominican Republic. How quickly time passes and now I am writing from Thailand. I reflect on the days proceeding our departure for Thailand as my niece Mackenzie watched Tim and my every move wanting to do what we did, eat what we ate, be like us. Saying goodbye was tough, but Kenzie knew where we were going and why. We were going to Thailand to help people who are in need. I think about the kind of influence my actions have on Kenzie, how a 5 year old is learning from watching those around her. Influence is a powerful thing. I think of this trip to Thailand, how we will be working with Pastors and facilitating to help them create sustainable opportunities so they can change the course of their entire village. How coming along side these leaders can influence many many lives. Who in your life do you influence? What kinds of choices will you make today that may influence a choice another makes?
Blessings, Cindie