Ah yes, the old talcum powder game!

At each of the Christmas parties, Noom and Peace and Gai and Sumi would lead games for the kids. The biggest hit each time was a race. We lined up two sets of chairs. The kids ran to the first chair, where there was a paper plate with a mound of talcum powder. They had to blow all the powder off their plate, then run to the second chair where a soft drink and piece of cake awaited. They had to drink the soda and eat the cup cake, then race to the end and sit on a balloon and pop it. The kids cheered like CRAZY for this thing. It even went over huge with the preschool we visited. (While there, we got to share with the teachers, as well.)

Futball in Khao Lak !

Kids in Thailand all play lots of soccer. It's a great way to build relationships with local youth. Over the past week, the team played soccer with several groups. Ah Jan Phet has a real desire to see a ministry with her church that reaches out to local youth, using soccer.

One day, we went to a local military base, where the boys on base play soccer almost every day. Phet has already been reaching out to them, so they were welcoming when we showed up and three down the challenge.

We meet the local team and challenge them to a match.
Notice the big fella playing goalie. Actually, we played three fifteen minute periods and finally scored our first goal in that last period. These kids were good!

After the game, we sat together and talked with the kids.

Each of us shared a brief testimony. Here, Noom tells his story to the guys.

The guys were really interested in what we shared.

And guess who showed up for the Christmas party at Zion Christian Center that evening!

Khaow Kho Koh Island

On Saturday, the team took a ferry to Khao Kho Koh Island, just off the coast from Khao Lak. We held a Christmas celebration for kids on the island. About ninety kids showed up for games and songs and a message about God's love.

Ah Jan Phet and I deck the halls!

The kids scramble for a seat in one of the games.

In the holiday spirit!

Traditional dancers from the island.

This is Not. I had noticed that he was hanging ion the edges of the crowd and not getting involved in anything we were doing. My Thai is not real great, and the folks here speak in a southern dialect, so I could not speak to him, but I was able to motion for him to come to me and showed him how my digital camera works. He caught on fast, and I made him my official photographer for the day. He took dozens of really good photos (most of the ones you see here) and had a great time.

Christmas at Zion - Khao Lak

One of our primary goals in making this trip to Khao Lak was to work alongside Ah Jan Phetmony (I am guessing on the spelling here) of Zion Khao Lak Christian Church in visiting people in the community and holding Christmas celebrations in various locations. Ah Jan Phet has a goal to see her church grow and thrive, although she now only has three or four adult regular attenders who contribute their time and energy to the church. I admire her greatly.

Over the past five days, the team has slept on the floors of Zion church and 'done life,' alongside this remarkable lady.

Ah Jan Phet, preparing Christmas presents for the children of one of the places we will visit during the week.

Na is someone very special. She became a Christian not long ago and her zeal for the Lord is contagious. She is so eager to see others find what she has. Her English skills are quite strong, so she translated for Greg Brown and I when we spoke. Here, she is translating for Greg as he preached at the Sunday morning church service.

Sunday evening was Khao Lak's community Christmas party. (Zion is a small store-front church along the main road on town.) Ah Jan Phet and her people prayed and planned for a hundred people and went around the community inviting folks. Here, the first people are arriving. So far, so good.

Oh my. When all was said and done, I lost count at a hundred ninety, so I can safely say there were over two hundred people who showed up. There were games for the kids and songs and food. A good time had by all.

I was asked to speak that evening, so I shared my own story with the crowd. (That's me up on the porch.) If only three or four of the adults in this group are reached, that could double the size of the church here! Ah Jan Phet was greatly encouraged, as she should be.

What kind of Christmas would it be without little girls dancing with coconut bikini tops?

The Ladies on the Team

Last week, I put the spotlight on some of the young men who are future leaders of the church. This week, the ladies get equal billing.


Rin and Mhuwey. Thanee and Vee's wives, and so key in all we do at Bearing. Rin oversees the 'curriculum,' and Mhuwey coordinates it all. These two families sacrifice so much for the Kingdom!

My hero, Nok. She goes with Vee and me as often as she can and when she does, she is my translator. What a wonderful young woman!

Sumit is a missionary from Japan who has come for several months. She works with the slum team, she teaches Japanese class with the Baptist Student Center, and works with an orphanage. Just a wonderful young lady.

Sunnit. She leads worship at the 8:00 a.m. service at Immanuel. She also helps lead singing in the slums. She has a wonderful servant heart and a great personality.

Dr. Nui and Ja. Dr. Nui is a pharmacist who teaches at a local university. She met Christ while studying at the University of Tennessee. Ja is the spark plug of our group. Always smiling and laughing and full of energy. She is an artist by trade, working in ceramics. I'll be bringing some of her work back to the States with me. You'll be impressed!

Bearing Christmas Part 2

Thanee was our master of ceremonies again. He is a natural at it.

Oat getting ready to help with the music for the day.

We planned for a hundred fifty kids. Late in the day, I did a count as best I could and I think we were within five or ten of that number. A huge crowd for our relatively small space. For all intents and purposes, we were meeting on the street and often had to stop and move to let a car or truck go by. (If you double click on this - or any other- photo, it should make it full screen and you will get a much better sense of the crowd as we saw it today.)
The team put on a play and the kids totally loved it. A hundred fifty kids silent for almost fifteen minutes, except for cheering or ooohing and aaahing in the right places.


And they all lived happily ever after. Actually, the play had a great message of the power of love.
Ah Jan Vee (and his little helper) shares the true meaning of Christmas. With the adults, some two hundred folks heard this message, many for the first time.

Bearing Christmas Part 1

Today was the Christmas Party at Bearing, the second of the two slum areas we work at each Sunday. Bearing is a far different community than Ja Rurat, where we were last week. It is more spread out and there is a mixture of bare shacks and fairly nice homes. Make no mistake, though, Bearing is a poor community and the kids here don't have much.


For a long time, we called this community Sukhumvit Soi 107, after the closest somewhat major street. Recently, though, the team has taken to calling the area Bearing, after the name of the side street where we hold English classes each week and where we had today's party.

Thanee and Ah Jan Vee setting up.

The evenings in Bangkok have been pretty cool recently, but today was a scorcher under a cloudless sky. Ting got creative to deal with the sun... So did Son. I told him he looked like Yasser Arafat.

The kids start to arrive.

More from Sunday

Vee sent a few photos he took Sunday.

Preparing to share the Christmas story.

I had the honor of presenting the community leader with money from the church to refill the fire extinguishers used to put out Saturday night's fire. Without this money, it would have been assessed against the family in the slum and they certainly can not afford it. The team wanted me to present the money in order to get the the farang (foreigner) in front of the adults who had not been that aware of our work there every weekend. For some reason, the presence of a farang adds credibility to the team

Ja Rurat Christmas Part 2

The whole Christmas party was a huge hit. These kids are a whole different group from the ones at Sukhumvit 107 where we'll have our party next week. The 107 kids are much better behaved and orderly. These kids are pretty hard to keep under control, but for a crowd this size, things went great.

You'll notice no photos here of myself or of Ah Jan Vee. In my case, I did get up in front of the kids and Nok translated as I told the Christmas story. Just forgot to have someone take pictures. The neat thing here was that, in addition to the kids, there was a big crowd of adults around listening and I am sure that many of them had never heard the true story of Christmas. As for Vee, I am not sure how he did it, but he managed to stay off the stage all day.



The boys in the band. Ting, Son, and Eddie, lead us in some songs to kick things off.

Sunit and Faun in a play put on by the team. The kids really seemed to enjoy it.

Ting share his story with the group.

I sat during this with tears in my eyes. Not only was this a big breakthrough day for the work in Ja Rurat, but it was incredible to watch the guys and gals on the team stepping up in front of a crowd and being stretched. As a church, we are to be about equipping saints for works of ministry (Ephesians 4:12). I watched as these young leaders took big steps forward today in their own walks. It was amazing and beautiful to watch.

Getting your gift bags. I could not believe how calm and orderly this part was. Thanee called folks up ten at a time and each waited their turn patiently. I think we had something like a hundred eighty five gift bags and fifty new blankets for the adults and we gave every one away, and there was one old lady who showed up late and didn't get here, but I know her and I will get her a blanket next time we go out there.

The gift bags were simple. A tee shirt, colored pencils, pens, eraser, pencil box, water bottle, and a small notebook for drawing in. Not much, but most of these kids have gotten nothing in the past, so they were happy. And the adults were genuinely pleased with their new blankets.

And as you leave, pick up a hot meal, too.

What a wonderful experience, to share the story of Jesus' birth and to reflect a bit of his love to a group of people who really have no hope outside of Him. Can you imagine a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon?

Ja Rurat Christmas Part 1

We planned for about two hundred. By the time all was said and done, we had right around that number of kids, and probably fifty adults as well. What an incredible experience to see the excitement and happiness, especially in the eyes of the adults. We really feel doors were opened here today.

Bringing in the equipment.

Ting and the little drummer boys.

Two hundred gift bags ready to go.

Standing room only!
Master of ceremonies, Thanee keeps things moving.

Near tragedy at Ja Rurat

We arrived at church today, ready to head to Ja Rurat this afternoon and host the Christmas party, only to be greeted by the news that a fire had broken out the night before and consumed several homes. With the houses so tightly packed in Bangkok slums, any fire has the potential to be disastrous and deadly. Thankfully, this fire was extinguished after only five or six homes were totalled.

At first, the party was in real doubt, but after Vee and Thanee inspected the area, we determined we could and should go ahead with the party. In addition, we loaded up bags of rice and canned fish for the impacted families, and Immanuel sent money to help cover the cost of refilling the fifty or so fire extinguishers which had been used.

Actually, the fire gave us an opportunity to shine, as this group of Christians that folks had seen coming into the community all year, now was reaching out to them in a tangible, difference-making way. You could really feel the acceptance and appreciation of the adults in the community today.

Stairway to the pedestrian bridge just outside the Ja Rurat community. Tagged.