Just another good Sunday

Another good Sunday in Bangkok.  The day started with Seth and Thank (and Bat, who you can not see) doing a special song to close the main service.

After that, it was off to Jarurat slum community, with the kids there.

Fern teaches the kids their memory verse for the day.

Boss gets a face full of powder in a game we played.

Bat gets one, too.

The funniest part was the kids getting Ting !

And then there was this....

Eddy On Leave !

For those of you who have followed the growth of Young Leaders Group for the past year and a half, Eddy needs no introduction.  Young Leaders started with Eddy.  Eddy is one of the young men from our church that I first met when I came to Immanuel three years ago.  He was drafted into the military and, because he was a pretty young believer, I was worried about his ability to maintain his Christian walk when he was in the army, surrounded with lots of new temptations.  I asked if he would be willing to meet with me once a week until he reported to bootcamp.  We would get together and talk about what it means to really live as a Godly man.  He agreed, and I told him he could bring a friend if he liked.  He brought his two buddies, Ting and Sontaya, and I invited my friend Greg Brown, a missionary here at the time.  The five of us formed the first meeting.

The intent was to meet until Eddy left for the army and that would be that.  The other guys, though, said they really felt they needed to continue to meet, and we have done just that.  Today, young leaders numbers better than twenty with fifteen or so meeting every week.  There are churches in the U.S. who are interested in starting their own Young Leaders Groups and Immanuel Church has just formed a Young Ladies group, to give our girls the same opportunities the young men have.   I have had constant contact from parents and other adults in the church about the real impact they see Young Leaders Group having in the lives of our young men. 

And all of this started with Eddy.  Today, Eddy is still stationed at a base in Lop Buri, a few hours north of Bangkok.  He serves in the Thai Army Airborne, and he loves jumping from airplanes.  He has seven months remaining in his army service, after which he plans to return to Bangkok.  This weekend, he was on leave, and his friends were thrilled to see him again.  He even found time to join us in our weekly trip into the slums.

left to right:  Bank, Eddy, Ting

Eddy and Bank

Eddy tells the kids in JaRurat that his faith is what gives him the courage to jump out of airplanes.

Our soldier has a fan club!

Ohm and his little brother pose with their new soldier friend.

Some random January photos

Boyd teaching at Young Leaders the week after camp and reviewing the Greek terms Ahjan Greg taught us.

Boss and Knot listening intently.

Bank approves.

Back into the slums on Sunday.

The dynamic duo, White and Steve-O, two of our newest Young Leaders.  White is in the Merchant Marine Academy and is a young believer who is excited to be a part of the group.  Steve-O lives in Chiang Mai, but traveled ten or eleven hours by bus to be back with Young Leaders this weekend after going to camp with us.  He is such a great young man!

Grabbing lunch together.

Buddies.  Rainny and Thank speak to the church to tell them about camp.

Thank is becoming a Young Leader in the true sense of the word.

Rainny.  A natural leader.

Seth offered to make spaghetti for Young Leaders last week.  It was great!

Enjoying dinner and fellowship.

Our chef, Seth, in the dark grey shirt. 

Now, time to get down to business!

Thank sharing about his week.

Bat enjoys birthday cake just before camp.

Boyd has his birthday celebration two weeks ago.

Cooking with Big C

I finally decided it was time I learned how to make some of the Thain dishes I love so much.  Most of them are so cheap at neighborhood restuarants that you can buy them there much cheaper than you can make it, but still...

One of Thailand's signature dishes is tom yum kung.  Hot and sour soup with shrimp.  It is an explosion of flavors with the first spoonful.  It is easier than I had imagined and this batch tasted great.  Now if I can figure out how I did it!

This is not really Thai, this is C.  Stir fried veggies with chunks of chikcken in oyster sauce and soy sauce.  Add some crushed chilli peppers and serve over rice.  Wow!  Soooo good.

Another of the most loved dishes in Thailand, krapow muu.  Minced pork with holy basil.  This is available in almost every restaurant and is one of my very favorites.

And you want to serve krapow muu kai dao - with fried eggs.