July - November 2007

Life in General

          At the end of August, I moved, partly because the new house is cheaper, but mostly because I wanted to sever any dependency I had whatsoever with the owner of the English center I had been working for previously.  This house had been vacant for a long time, and needed (still needs) some repairs.  Thus far, I have fixed a few of the plumbing issues – since plumbing isn’t my strong suit, I have to wait a bit and pay someone to fix things for real – re-wired nearly the entire house,  painted and done some tile repair work.  You will see more of the before-after pics.  Let me know what you think.  :D  The “classroom” is in use but still needs work.  I haven’t even touched the wiring and the bathroom, but I painted, cleaned and acquired desks and a whiteboard.  It still needs some curtains and stuff, but I’m happy to say that the classroom is already seeing a reasonable amount of use, which I’ll elaborate on in the following section.  A most important development, however, is that I finally found a church that I can call home, at least until all us Foursquare Thailand people decide what to do about starting a church here.  The service is in English, and there are a lot of other missionaries there.  There’s an older man, named Tom Smith, who shares my passion for cooking and though he is a bit eccentric, he condescends to bring cornbread for Kheb and I on occasion.  J  I look forward to Sunday night every week, and it’s so good to be able to worship and fellowship.  The pastor’s wife, Wendy, is super nice and has a beautiful singing voice that seems characteristic of Philippino ladies.

In October, I went to the South and moved the rest of the things that were down there up here to Udon.  It was nice to see everyone down there.  A friend of ours, Wikie – pronounced “Vickie” but with the German speeling -  has adopted the strangest animal I think I have ever seen outside of a zoo.  It’s something like a cross between a raccoon, mongoose and a cat.  No-one we know has any idea what it is.  Maybe it’s the missing link!  Hahahahahaha!  Anyway, they’ve named it Wombey Dompey, which seems to suit it well.  She said she was going to send me some pictures of it, because I didn’t have my camera with me at the time.  I’ll pass them on whenever I get them.  It’s possible that she sent them, but they were deleted, because I haven’t been able to use the internet for the past few months.  All in all, going to the South was a fruitful endeavor.  I have all of my Bible study tools again, as well as pictures and odds and ends that I really missed, especially the refrigerator that was so graciously supplied when it was most needed. 

 The orchids that I have been raising for the past few years are doing well, and I had the first bloom a few weeks ago.  You may remember that I brought the orchids from Singapore as seedlings in glass beakers.  Each beaker contained about 20 orchid plants each less than 1 inch tall.  They are growing well now and some are more than 1.5 feet tall. 

The Holidays:

Thanksgiving will be spent with some other missionary families this year.  I do have to work all day and also in the evening, but I have a few hours in the middle of the day to spend with my somewhat extended family.  I’m bringing a pumpkin pie made entirely from scratch – since you can’t by anything remotely convenient for baking here.  :D  Anyway, I am earning a reputation as a first class cook among my colleagues, which brings me to Christmas…

On Christmas day, I’ll be cooking a Christmas feast for more than 40 people at my friend’s restaurant!  We’ve already done the test run and it was beautiful!!  It should be a delightful evening.  I’m teaching one of my friend’s daughters violin, and she will serenade the diners.  At school, we are doing the Christmas play and some other fun things.  I’m really looking forward to that.

 I am planning to go to visit Kheb’s family in Nong Khai for the New Year.  It’s always nice to be out in the nice quiet clean country.  Aaahh.  Really looking forward to that rest!

 
Work/Ministry

These passed months have seen me busy with various forms of community service.  I help out as a translator at the Udonthani Provincial Courthouse when they need and English/Thai speaker, and have somehow found myself in a consultant type position with a restaurant and a few other small businesses around here.  You know how much I enjoy cooking, and that I did a lot of research on restaurant management ever since I started working on the community center project.  So this is turning out to be a useful venue to practice what I’ve learned.  The restaurant I am helping with went from being in the red to turning over a really decent profit in just a few months – enough to reduce working hours and supply a raise to the staff, thus improving their working conditions significantly.  Everything is much more efficient now, and I am now considered an insider on all matters in the owners family life which allows for evangelism as opportunities arise.  J   I have been running an English school out of my house during my free time.  I currently have roughly 20 students ranging from soldiers and doctors to elementary school students.  It is my goal to have enough students to be able to support myself so I can devote more time to ministry by not working full time.

Since quitting at I Can Read, I have been working at a government high school.  It’s been quite an adjustment, but it has helped me to grow and rely on the Lord so much.  We never know what’s going on or what anyone is thinking.  The other foreigner teacher, Chris, always says that we must be secret agents or something, because everything is top secret at the school.  J  Anyway, I am doing all my work as unto the Lord and I know that He’s proud of me regardless of any other outcomes.  That is my greatest comfort.  I do like my job, however.  It’s an honor to have a place in the lives of more than 800 young people.  The vast majority of the students like and respect me a lot.  On the evaluation forms, they even requested that the other teachers learn to teach like me.  Though I admit that I am flattered by the compliment, those comments have made things a little bit difficult for me in relationships with some other teachers who are trying not to lose face.  Cultural issues are really hard sometimes, even now. It’s not matter, though, because I have good relationships with the administration and have earned a reputation for being honest.

Well, though I do have a lot to say, if I do not send this it will never be sent.  Therefore, I’ll leave you with a few more pictures.  Check my MSN live space within the next few weeks, because I plan to catch up on some much needed blogging and add a few picture albums.  Prayers for blessings and joy go out to you with all my heart.

Jen

"All good people agree,
And all good people say,
All nice people, like us, are We
And everyone else is They:
But if you cross over the sea,
Instead of over the way,
You may end by (think of it!) looking on We
As only a sort of They! "

Rudyard Kipling "We and They